Building the Wallace Branch - New Series

Hi everyone, just a short message to announce the final Wallace Branch build series video goes up tomorrow (Thursday, 16 April). Really hope you've found some of them enjoyable, even if you only watched a few!

But now that it's done, I need a break from route building, and asset creation, and even blender! Operations will be a nice change, especially using the spreadsheet technique of Mikerowchip. (Check him out, if you don't know what that is all about.) So, my plan is to begin streaming operations on Twitch, with a view towards having 2 or possibly 3 operational series. Mainly the Wallace Branch, obviously, but also the Pennsylvania & Berwind, and possibly one other route. I've been getting the two routes set up for operations, using the new MI2 track. I'm really impressed with how easy it was to set up the P&B for my spreadsheet operations. I also created a new Conrail diesel roster just so I could play it on the P&B.

In the future, I won't announce these videos here on this channel. (Cuts the spam.) Feel free to follow me on Twitch, I'm Wasted Triz. Or, if livestreams aren't your thing, I'll still post them to YouTube anyway. So if you're subbed to my Wasted Tris Wallace Branch series, you won't miss out.
 
Hi everyone, just a short message to announce the final Wallace Branch build series video goes up tomorrow (Thursday, 16 April). Really hope you've found some of them enjoyable, even if you only watched a few!

But now that it's done, I need a break from route building, and asset creation, and even blender! Operations will be a nice change, especially using the spreadsheet technique of Mikerowchip. (Check him out, if you don't know what that is all about.) So, my plan is to begin streaming operations on Twitch, with a view towards having 2 or possibly 3 operational series. Mainly the Wallace Branch, obviously, but also the Pennsylvania & Berwind, and possibly one other route. I've been getting the two routes set up for operations, using the new MI2 track. I'm really impressed with how easy it was to set up the P&B for my spreadsheet operations. I also created a new Conrail diesel roster just so I could play it on the P&B.

In the future, I won't announce these videos here on this channel. (Cuts the spam.) Feel free to follow me on Twitch, I'm Wasted Triz. Or, if livestreams aren't your thing, I'll still post them to YouTube anyway. So if you're subbed to my Wasted Tris Wallace Branch series, you won't miss out.
I'm a user of spreadsheets similar to Mikerowchip's on most of my routes, and I'm glad to hear that they fit into the P&B fairly well as I've had my eye on purchasing it for a bit now.

Will definitely be watching your operations videos, as I've been watching the building series, and watching operations on routes is something I really enjoy.
 

Episode 30 is out, with the complete route tour, showing the comparison between the empty route versus completed route. Hope you all enjoyed the series! Join me on Twitch or just stay subbed to follow the operational series, upcoming!
 
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A few updates on the Wallace Branch:

  • Operational series underway, episodes 5 and 6 just recorded for posting this week and next. (Wasted Tris on Youtube, Wasted Triz on Twitch -- note P&B sessions also underway, same channel, but I won't create a new thread to minimize spam.)
  • Feedback requested on how to improve operating sessions for viewer interest.
  • Current Trainz modeling work: GP9 cab interior task is kicking my behind. This is by far the longest I have spent on a project and probably the closest I have come to Trainz burnout. I hesitate to release any content related to the GP9 or RS3 or other locos until that is really done. And I would appreciate help from anyone who has experience with cab interior textures.
  • After the GP9 is done, I can work on releasing covered hoppers with skin changers and other related content.
  • Releasing the route is a LT project. Over 300 assets are now on the DLS, but already I see that some require further work for optimization and performance. I am new at Trainz (meaning, under 3 years).
Thank you for those who have followed the progress here, and I welcome your feedback and suggestions!
 
Current Trainz modeling work: GP9 cab interior task is kicking my behind. This is by far the longest I have spent on a project and probably the closest I have come to Trainz burnout. I hesitate to release any content related to the GP9 or RS3 or other locos until that is really done. And I would appreciate help from anyone who has experience with cab interior textures.

I suggest using JointedRail's GP9 interior until you recover from the burnout. That way, you can rest up and actually model the cab when you recover
 
Hi! I just found this blog, I had been following this in the regular forums, so glad to see it is still underway. Definitely take a break if you feel burnout, as it is not worth the stress and there are a lot more important things in life. I look forward to following once you have taken a rest and feel refreshed enough to come back to it.
 
Just a bit of an update on my Trainz progress, as regards potentially releasing the Wallace Branch.

First, I am finally feeling more confident of my GP9 cab work. It took a while to get up to speed with SP, but a fortuitous visit to a real BN GP9 at the Minnesota Transportation Museum helped! Here are some screenshots.

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So far, I have basically finished the SW1200, GP9, and RS3. These are the most relevant for the Wallace Branch. I also plan to do the RS1, S2, and RS11 cabs. Once I am done with those, I need to return to the Northern Pacific Z-3. Then I plan to work on the route again. Major tasks include uploading assets, redoing any assets that might be proprietary, and beta testing.

Meanwhile, I plan to continue my play-through of the roughly 4-day operating session, where the tasks are determined by a random function in Excel. Currently we are on Episode 18, and based on the present progress I expect it will finish around Episode 25. If there are any suggestions for how to make it more interesting, please let me know. And follow me on Twitch if you'd like to watch my stream. (WastedTriz.)
 
I saw the GP9 cab on discord and didn't say anything there besides reacting, but it looks great. Really fantastic work. Watched the P&B episode this morning and the SW1200 cab looks good too.

I'm quite the fan of the operations videos, and I watch all of them. You operate your routes very differently from how I do so that makes it interesting to watch.
 
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