Building the Wallace Branch - New Series

Thank you for the nice comment! What thread on the Forum do you suggest?

Since I have quite a lot of work left on the mesh, I don’t need help just yet, but probably will when the animation comes along.

The tiny bumps on the top of the boiler, do you mean? I don’t see any other bumps, the white is just plain white, except some natural noise from the render in cycles. The bumps on the top are little raised knobs or bolts of some sort, not really sure what, they appear as two round knobs and they run all along the very top of the boiler.
Yes, the render noise. That's exactly what I get when rendering in certain modes in THEA, and sometimes V-RAY. I just wanted to know what caused it.
As for where to post a WIP, I would suggest Content Creation Support, here >>> https://forums.auran.com/forums/content-creation-support.12/
Or, in Freeware Announcements. I see more WIP locos in there >>> https://forums.auran.com/forums/freeware-announcements.20/
 
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The latest progress on the Northern Pacific Z-3, No. 4025.

Like any big project, a little bit each day and it's already looking like a real locomotive!
  • Mesh: mostle done, except bogeys, driving rods, valve gear, and related
  • Texturing: initial start, missing some painted-on weathering and stencils
  • Animation: not started
  • Tender: not started
 

New episode in the series today, this time covering the gigantic smelter complex. This is probably the largest single project on the route, and it will have a central part in operations.

Let me know what you think!
 

The latest episode goes into the building of the electrolytic zinc plant, located up a gulch in back of the smelter in Kellogg. This episode concludes the build-out of the Kellogg area. Next, we move a few miles west to the small town of Cataldo, where steamboats used to land cargo in front of the scenic Old Mission.
 

The Wallace Branch is set to grow! To complete the western end of the route, more baseboards are needed, so we can add in the steamboat docks and waterfront in the tiny town of Cataldo, home to the first building in Idaho: the Mission of the Sacred Heart, which overlooks the tracks.

Please give me a comment if you have time, I really appreciate those!
 
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In the latest episode of Building the Wallace Branch, I discussed the steamboat Coeur d'Alene, and I mentioned that a painting on our living room in my childhood house depicted this steamboat at Cataldo Old Mission Landing in the 1880s.

Well, I finally dragged the painting out of storage and took a photo -- before putting it right back into storage. Here it is. The loco is also a bit cartoonish. But otherwise I like the painting. Note the UP engine is pulling two NP boxcars. Painting purchased directly from the artist in the early 1980s.

My version of the Coeur d'Alene is based on photos of the Flyer, and you can see it differs from the one portrayed in the painting, which more resembles the larger Georgie Oakes. The Georgie Oakes was built using machinery and equipment from the smaller Coeur d'Alene. Later, the Flyer was built out of the shell of the Georgie Oakes. So, the three steamboats are all different versions of the same vessel. Kind of a real-life example of the riddle of the Ship of Theseus.

I'm a little late in posting the latest episode, episode 25 will be out over the weekend, most likely.
 
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Getting started on the famous Burke Branch, served by the NP and UP, and leading up to the mining heart of the district.
 

Getting started on the very last town on the route, the ghost town of Burke, Idaho.

Burke was famous for having two major American railroads running right down the only street in town. The UP and NP served all the mines in the valley, including the gigantic Hecla-Star, whose concrete structures still stand as a monument to the once mighty mining industry of the area.

Though everything else is now gone, in a sense the mining continues, since some of the shafts connect underground with the modern Lucky Friday mine way over in Mullan.

This is the last town, but there are a few more episodes left in the series. Would greatly appreciate any feedback or comments!
 
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IMG-9281.jpg


In the latest episode of Building the Wallace Branch, I discussed the steamboat Coeur d'Alene, and I mentioned that a painting on our living room in my childhood house depicted this steamboat at Cataldo Old Mission Landing in the 1880s.

Well, I finally dragged the painting out of storage and took a photo -- before putting it right back into storage. Here it is. The loco is also a bit cartoonish. But otherwise I like the painting. Note the UP engine is pulling two NP boxcars. Painting purchased directly from the artist in the early 1980s.

My version of the Coeur d'Alene is based on photos of the Flyer, and you can see it differs from the one portrayed in the painting, which more resembles the larger Georgie Oakes. The Georgie Oakes was built using machinery and equipment from the smaller Coeur d'Alene. Later, the Flyer was built out of the shell of the Georgie Oakes. So, the three steamboats are all different versions of the same vessel. Kind of a real-life example of the riddle of the Ship of Theseus.

I'm a little late in posting the latest episode, episode 25 will be out over the weekend, most likely.
Really like the old Boat. Age and Cartoonish not a problem, it's Art and I am enjoying it.. :cool: (y)
 

We’ve come a long way in 27 episodes, and it’s time to start finishing off the route, starting with Lookout Pass.
There a saying, Hemingway, if I recall, TIME STANDS STILL FOR NO ONE,,, however when you having a much fun as you are, creating both Route and Cool Videos, there must be some exception in there? 😜

Keep up the good work. ;)
 
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