Annie's Virtual Pre-Grouping, Grouping and BR Layouts & Workbench

[MikeOxon]

28 minutes ago, Hroth said:

(I almost mentioned the flights of green and red birds too....)

 

 

that had me puzzled for a while - OK - a bit slow.  I was searching the images for something like these:

An Eastern Rosella parakeet - introduced from Australia, unlike all those other invaders from UK - which I photographed on the Coromandel peninsula in 2016.  I thought Annie might have introduced a few to Norfolk

 

Edited February 3, 2020 by MikeOxon

[Malcolm 0-6-0]

8 hours ago, MikeOxon said:

 

that had me puzzled for a while - OK - a bit slow.  I was searching the images for something like these:

An Eastern Rosella parakeet - introduced from Australia, unlike all those other invaders from UK - which I photographed on the Coromandel peninsula in 2016.  I thought Annie might have introduced a few to Norfolk

 

 

It's actually an Eastern Rosella without the parakeet (sorry to be pedantic). From late October to this time of year I usually have a pair (male and female) nesting somewhere, and I see them in my backyard regularly. They're, as the name suggests endemic to eastern Australia. Quite beautiful birds, ground feeders but rather timid and form pairs rather than flocks. The male and female have quite similar plumage, the only distinguishing difference is that the male has a slightly larger expanse of red.

 

At times I have them in the backyard and a crowd of Rainbow Lorikeets in my front yard around the bird bath.

 

   

[Annie]

Pretty birdies  

 

Here's a three snaps taken while I was running trains on the layout and testing things.

 

Platforms!  A snap taken at Brenton Wood platform 2 showing the much better appearance and clearance gap with the coaches at the platform.  And before anyone asks those GCR coaches a yet more reskinned Midland coaches.

 

 

Faux MS&LR class 11a heading away from Little Keldon.  Definitely not one for the purists.  The locomotive is a reskinned by yours truly GNoSR D41 and the tender, - also reskinned by me, - is from a Highland Rly locomotive chosen because it looked (vaguely) like an older type of MS&LR tender.  All very implausible, but all the other GCR passenger engines I have are too modern for my layout's time period.

 

 

And while I'm bending reality about with implausible engines here's GER No.040 shunting at Hopewood on Sea.  I have a second one of these engines, No.044, that I kitted up for tramway running.  No.040 lives at the small sub shed at Barrow Hills and is doing a trip working to Hopewood to collect empty wagons having crossed the fen lands between Barrow Hills and Hopewood.

I don't know what prototype these little 2-4-2T's represent since they are essentially a 'what if, let's try this' exercise by a talented digital loco builder and when they were offered to me I certainly wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.  I did the reskin into GER livery and I have to say they do look rather smart.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[CKPR]

Very nice  -is the engine in the third picture  possibly a GER Y65  'Crystal Palace' 2-4-2 T ?

[Annie]

4 hours ago, CKPR said:

Very nice  -is the engine in the third picture  possibly a GER Y65  'Crystal Palace' 2-4-2 T ?

'No' is the short answer.  It certainly has been influenced by elements of a Y65, but it also has many NER influences as well.  It's essentially a digital loco doodle done by a skilled creator who wanted to try out some ideas.  I do have an older Y65 model that I don't use due to texture problems and seen side by side it's plain they are very different.

 

Photo GER Society.

[Annie]

No.044 at work running the passenger service on the tramway.

 

Nodding Keep a local landmark can be seen in the background of this snap.

 

 

A busy afternoon at Moxbury.  The GER R24 (correction, S56) has Arial fonts disease and needs to go the workshops to have it cured.

 

Edited February 4, 2020 by Annie
more to say

[Annie]

Update:  The GER S56 has been cured of its awful case of Arial fonts disease and is now feeling much better.  It was identified by its creator as being a R24, but it's carrying a S56 number '87' which is the preserved S56 at Bressingham.  Possibly I could have fudged it to become a rebuilt R24 by changing the number, but I decided not to.

I've sorted out a second S56 - No. 84, - to be its running mate and they will be working trains out of Moxbury to Foxhollow to help out the B&FER  'Sharpies'.  The 'Sharpies' are doing an outstanding job, but they are getting a bit overwhelmed by the increase in traffic on the line.

These S56 models are from TS2010 days, but are certainly nice enough models despite some of their simplified details.  Giving them a bit of a refresh with proper GER lettering has made them a lot better in their appearance.  There is another S56 model around, -No.88, - which is more detailed, but its textures are locked down in some kind of Photoshop format I can't open which is why I'm modding the older ones.

 

Pictures later.  The weather people are predicting cooler temperatures for the next few days and today is certainly a lot nicer and pleasantly cooler so perhaps i might be able to get something done today instead of sleeping.

[Compound2632]

@Glenn652, particularly liking the Dean Goods as it's inspiration for one I'm supposed to be building in the flesh - conversion from a well-known RTR model. 

[Glenn652]

Seeing how well the route can cope with Holiday traffic, Luckily some of the original stations had Welsh names which allows me to have... Flexibility on extra traction. 

[MikeOxon]

1 hour ago, Glenn652 said:

Seeing how well the route can cope with Holiday traffic, Luckily some of the original stations had Welsh names which allows me to have... Flexibility on extra traction. 

 

 

 

 

How about the Cambrian?

[Glenn652]

2 hours ago, MikeOxon said:

 

How about the Cambrian?

Honestly I would but unfortunately there’s no content available, Taff Vale will be more likely to come about in the future. 

[Annie]

Various snaps.  Last night was lovely and cool so I got quite a bit done on my rambling little empire.

 

S56 No.87 looking all bright and clean on a local train to Foxhollow.  The cleaners at Moxbury shed take pride in their work.  I had a look at the later model of a S56 and I'm not going to use it.  For a start the loco model's creator has done the texturing weathered and grimy sufficient to rival the last days of BR steam and frankly I'm not interested in that kind of look for pre-grouping engines.  True enough the mineral and goods engines on the E&GR are a bit mucky, but working mucky if you take my meaning.  The S56 model in question is so dirty that it's hard to see if it's actually blue and the lining is all but invisible.

The other thing is the model has what are called chameleon scripts to change its number on the number plates and buffer beams, but the numbers are just plainly not GER ones, but some modern font that just looks wrong.  the shape of the number plate is wrong as well and doesn't have the small lettering above and below the loco number.

I use a large resolution GER number plate image to do my number plates and I have library of the correct type of plate numbers.  I also have a library of GER buffer beam numbers with the correct 'No.' lettering to go with them.   The older S56 model I'm using might not be as well detailed as the other one, but I'm going to keep using it simply because I like it.

 

 

Y14 No.555 working a coal train on the Joint line.  The GCR don't have it all to themselves by any means.

Poor old 555 looks like it's blown something.  I checked the config file and the volume rate for steam from the glands is set way too high so I'll have to take both the Y14's on the layout into the works and fix that.

 

The gantry signals in the background are 1940's GWR with steel posts, but there's nothing else in the way of a decent range of gantry signals available.  I could ask their maker if he could do some wooden post versions, but it would be a big ask and I might have to do some untidy grovelling.

 

 

And yes I know the signals are GNR ones, but I'm really struggling to find useful pre-grouping signals at the moment.  I already have a bunch of yellow distants that need fixing for when I feel like doing a boring and repetitive task.

 

 

The E&GR's amazing second hand Fletcher 2-4-0 at Brenton Wood, - complete with Beyer Peacock tender and Stratford rebuild plate. ( I would be very grateful if the NER enthusiasts on the forum could restrain themselves from sending me hate mail.)  This is the E&GR's most modern engine and naturally they are very proud of it.  When purchased it had no tender so the E&GR fitted it up with a Beyer Peacock tender since they had a spare one.  Its smaller capacity doesn't matter since none of the passenger services it works are what you would call long distance ones.

 

In the background can be seen further evidence of work having been done at Brenton Wood.  For some unknown reason I'd had this blind spot about the lack of footbridges at Brenton Wood so that's been remedied now.  The standard B&FER colour for footbridges was red and while some on the line have been repainted the ones at Brenton Wood (GER) , Bleakhorse Road and Foxwood are still in their old paintwork.  It does make it a simple task for station staff at Brenton Wood though when intending passengers enquire about the GER (ex-B&FER) trains to Foxhollow because they can say, 'Just over the red footbridge', which makes it all very easy.

 

 

B&FER 'Sharpie' No.12 working a parcels train to Great Mulling from Moxbury.  Several different lines have connections into Moxbury from the West (all conveniently on the other side of a portal) so it's a good place to see see a variety of carriage liveries with parcels vans and carriages being taken on to Great Mulling and sometimes even to Foxhollow.  I'm hoping to be able to include this daily parcels run into the working timetable, but I'm still sorting out some details at the Great Mulling end of things.

Certain local historians at Moxbury have pointed out to me that the B&FER should be named the MB&FER, 'Moxbury, Barrow Hills & Foxhollow Extension Railway', but I don't feel much motivated to revise the company crest artwork or reletter the passenger carriages so it's going to stay being the B&FER for now.

 

 

 

 

Edited February 6, 2020 by Annie
Apostrophe crimes

[Glenn652]

A friend of mine has kindly reskined some period poster boards to use for the route, It’s really helped in adding flavour.

 

On another note what could make a route more Victorian/Edwardian than a Brunel Timber viaduct? 

 

Answer: A Brunel Covered Station!

Edited February 6, 2020 by Glenn652

[MikeOxon]

Looking at recent posts, the light and shade in Glenn's images convey better 'realism' to me than the rather even lighting in Annie's.

[Annie]

I'm running TS2012 Mike which is 8 years old and I have shadows turned off since they eat computer resources in this older version of Trainz.  If Glenn's images weren't better than mine he  would be wanting to ask for his money back.

 

Those posters are really nice Glenn.  Simple things, but they really do make a difference.  And I do like that Brunel over roof.  

Edited February 6, 2020 by Annie
Grammar crime

[Compound2632]

@Glenn652, really liking the LNWR element! It's a shame that Brunel roof obscures the sighting of the rather nice LNWR signal gantry - perhaps some underslung repeater arms?

[Edwardian]

10 hours ago, Annie said:

Various snaps.  Last night was lovely and cool so I got quite a bit done on my rambling little empire.

 

S56 No.87 looking all bright and clean on a local train to Foxhollow.  The cleaners at Moxbury shed take pride in their work.  I had a look at the later model of a S56 and I'm not going to use it.  For a start the loco model's creator has done the texturing weathered and grimy sufficient to rival the last days of BR steam and frankly I'm not interested in that kind of look for pre-grouping engines.  True enough the mineral and goods engines on the E&GR are a bit mucky, but working mucky if you take my meaning.  The S56 model in question is so dirty that it's hard to see if it's actually blue and the lining is all but invisible.

The other thing is the model has what are called chameleon scripts to change its number on the number plates and buffer beams, but the numbers are just plainly not GER ones, but some modern font that just looks wrong.  the shape of the number plate is wrong as well and doesn't have the small lettering above and below the loco number.

I use a large resolution GER number plate image to do my number plates and I have library of the correct type of plate numbers.  I also have a library of GER buffer beam numbers with the correct 'No.' lettering to go with them.   The older S56 model I'm using might not be as well detailed as the other one, but I'm going to keep using it simply because I like it.

 

 

Y14 No.555 working a coal train on the Joint line.  The GCR don't have it all to themselves by any means.

Poor old 555 looks like it's blown something.  I checked the config file and the volume rate for steam from the glands is set way too high so I'll have to take both the Y14's on the layout into the works and fix that.

 

The gantry signals in the background are 1940's GWR with steel posts, but there's nothing else in the way of a decent range of gantry signals available.  I could ask their maker if he could do some wooden post versions, but it would be a big ask and I might have to do some untidy grovelling.

 

 

And yes I know the signals are GNR ones, but I'm really struggling to find useful pre-grouping signals at the moment.  I already have a bunch of yellow distants that need fixing for when I feel like doing a boring and repetitive task.

 

 

The E&GR's amazing second hand Fletcher 2-4-0 at Brenton Wood, - complete with Beyer Peacock tender and Stratford rebuild plate. ( I would be very grateful if the NER enthusiasts on the forum could restrain themselves from sending me hate mail.)  This is the E&GR's most modern engine and naturally they are very proud of it.  When purchased it had no tender so the E&GR fitted it up with a Beyer Peacock tender since they had a spare one.  Its smaller capacity doesn't matter since none of the passenger services it works are what you would call long distance ones.

 

In the background can be seen further evidence of work having been done at Brenton Wood.  For some unknown reason I'd had this blind spot about the lack of footbridges at Brenton Wood so that's been remedied now.  The standard B&FER colour for footbridges was red and while some on the line have been repainted the ones at Brenton Wood (GER) , Bleakhorse Road and Foxwood are still in their old paintwork.  It does make it a simple task for station staff at Brenton Wood though when intending passengers enquire about the GER (ex-B&FER) trains to Foxhollow because they can say, 'Just over the red footbridge', which makes it all very easy.

 

 

B&FER 'Sharpie' No.12 working a parcels train to Great Mulling from Moxbury.  Several different lines have connections into Moxbury from the West (all conveniently on the other side of a portal) so it's a good place to see see a variety of carriage liveries with parcels vans and carriages being taken on to Great Mulling and sometimes even to Foxhollow.  I'm hoping to be able to include this daily parcels run into the working timetable, but I'm still sorting out some details at the Great Mulling end of things.

Certain local historians at Moxbury have pointed out to me that the B&FER should be named the MB&FER, 'Moxbury, Barrow Hills & Foxhollow Extension Railway', but I don't feel much motivated to revise the company crest artwork or reletter the passenger carriages so it's going to stay being the B&FER for now.

 

 

 

 

 

I see that the WNR has acquired a rather fine full brake.  I suppose I'll have to do something about that!

[Hroth]

7 hours ago, MikeOxon said:

Looking at recent posts, the light and shade in Glenn's images convey better 'realism' to me than the rather even lighting in Annie's.

 

What worries me is the unnaturally alert posture of the inhabitants, no-one slumps, no one stands about with hands in pockets, none with even a half-smoked ciggy between their lips whilst they wait for a train to turn up!  Even the cart driver with the milk churns has a fine upright seat!

 

They all look as if they are being inspected and someone is taking notes... 

 

Otherwise, a fine railway!

[Annie]

4 hours ago, Edwardian said:

 

I see that the WNR has acquired a rather fine full brake.  I suppose I'll have to do something about that!

Express lavender biscuit traffic James.  One of the scheduled expresses, - more like a semi-fast passenger train actually, -  from Moxbury  usually has a WNR full brake attached as well.

After a few revisions on my Norfolk layout and much changing things about it's finally become Moxbury that sees traffic from the W.N.R.

[Edwardian]

5 hours ago, Annie said:

Express lavender biscuit traffic James. 

 

Of course!  

 

Royal Sandringham Lavender Biscuits, Norfolk's finest, en route to Selfridges!

[Glenn652]

Hi all, So I won’t be working on the route for a few days as I can afford to do so now it’s in the very advanced stages.

 

So I've turned my attention to a making one asset for the route. There will only be one placed on the route due to the advanced era of the route but I feel it’s important to have at least one operational one, Its not perfect or 100% accurate but with my limited modelling skills I think it’s good enough for the time being. 

 

Much thanks must go to Camscott for helping with the animations and a few mesh intersections.

[Annie]

Very nice.  Camscott does nice work.  He just recently made a Broad Gauge B&ER 4-4-0ST for me.  The old disc and crossbar signals survived in one or two out of the way places for a surprisingly long time.

 

It's nice when a layout moves beyond being a construction zone and can actually be operated without any problems.  I'm at this stage now with my GER Norfolk layout and it's just sooooo good to be able to work the timetable and not have to stop and fix something.

[Annie]

Various snaps taken at Moxbury.  I have yet to change the platforms at Moxbury and I'm not looking forward to it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Glenn652]

5 hours ago, Annie said:

Various snaps taken at Moxbury.  I have yet to change the platforms at Moxbury and I'm not looking forward to it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I envy the the variety of signals you have to use, I’m having to make do with LNWR pattern type signals on a GWR route because TS doesn’t use a standardised signal script.

 

Luckily I’m able to make the meshes for signals so I’ve got a couple of Summersault meshes stashed away, but the shear versatility of Trainz system with signalling is so desirable.

 

Example: I can’t use other devs signals because they use a different scripting method, So this Brunel signal I’m making will have to reference the same script as these LNWR LQs otherwise it won’t work. 

[Annie]

Fortunately in the very early days of Trainz a clever chap devised a way to animate semaphore signals and developed a set of scripts for them.  From then on everyone who made a semaphore signal for Trainz used his scripts (with permission) which means that pretty much every semaphore signal made for Trainz will work with every other semaphore signal made for Trainz.  I guess this is because Trainz very much has a freeware base with just about everything available having been made by members of the Trainz community and most content creators are quite happy to work with and advise other content creators on how to do things.

When I first started re-texturing goods wagons and coaches for the pre-grouping era I was as green as grass and it was the help and support of other creators for Trainz that got me to the point where I was able to successfully re-texture models to a reasonably high standard.

 

More than once I've seen some very nice signals in Train Simulator screenshots and wished that Trainz had ones as nice as those, but I didn't realise that they didn't share common signal scripts.