Northeast Corridor PHL-Wash Progress Shots

[ktain.ny]

Here is a progress thread to show updates and work on a collaborative Northeast Corridor project that me and a few others are working on.

For the past few months I've been working with a former member of TrainzProRoutes, Jeff Ritter (n5vav). He's the one who originally put together the Ts12 builtin NEC route, which went from Philly to Wilmington. You can still download it off the DLS. It shows its age but you can still run operations and have fun. There's plenty of uploads on the DLS but here's a random one I found just now. <kuid:352088:100001> NEC Wilmington - Philadelphia

The DEM actually extends all the way from Philly to Washington D.C., that TS12 route was just a demo. It never really came to fruition back then, but that doesn't matter because it's being developed now, for Trainz 19 and future versions. It's a big project. Jeff is a trackwork wizard and has done an excellent job of getting the entire NEC mainline and the majority of surrounding freight lines laid down. Quazqaseat from The Swtchback has put together a really lovely switcher for one of the shortlines in Baltimore! I've been chipping away at scenery bit by bit. We are nowhere close to being done. It's a huge project. But we're working diligently, as we wanna bring this route to the community. 99% of all content used (not including rolling stock) will be sourced from the DLS. Jeff has been on my a*s about it, lol.

We are hoping to release a small section of the route which includes Baltimore, and some of the surrounding areas at some point soon. I wanna share with you some screenshots of a few different areas. I'll be posting some more updates to this thread soon. My progress is painfully slow as I'm still a novice at route building.

All criticism and comments welcome. Help me!

Ex B&O overpass. Now CSX. South of Philadelphia--PA

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Perryville--MD

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Elkton--MD

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Bayview Yard, just north of Baltimore--MD

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Downtown Baltimore--MD

More to come.

 

[Jdriver]

That's actually really good looking, I would actually play on this route when it's done (That if I finish on other routes in TANE i need to record) Going from Philadelphia 30th St to Washington DC will be better than going to ending at Wilmington

 

[Railwoodman]

That's looking really great . I'm hoping someday go from Philly to Perryville when and if I find a DEM I like . But those posts are nice to see .

Matt

 

[soap__]

This is looking really nice! Very excited to see an electrified American route for the newer versions of the game.

 

[KenRuof]

Very nice, love me some NEC (ex PRR).

 

[PWeiser]

I agree with all of the above - looks excellent. Would I buy a new desk machine just to run it? Well... maybe.

 

[Forester1]

Looking VERY good! I recall T8dagr8 doing quite a lot of work on Philadelphia back in 2020, but the thread appears to have died and it never was released.

 

[Robert3a0]

Looking really good so far. I like the level of detail you are including.

Regards
Bob

 

[Trainmaster189]

That's awesome and I wanted to do something similar years ago, but I never had the patience to do it. I even remember Flusi737's attempt several years ago, but things have gotten in the way for him.

Once I get TRS22, I will be able to enjoy the part of playing MSTS my childhood once this becomes available.

 

[ktain.ny]

Thank you all for your kind words.

And Pweiser... we could definitely use some PC skins for your NH electric motors! Kidding (not really).

Pweiser's New Haven EP-5 and EF-4 are prototypical for the 'southern' portion of the NEC, as they did make it into Penn Central colors. The EP-5 from what I understand was a dual service unit when used by PC, while the EF-4s were freight motors. The EF-4 was known as the 'E-33' under Penn Central. I have a pair of Bachmann Spectrum units in HO scale, very cool locomotives. Here are some prototype photos of EP-5s and EF-4s/E-33s in PC black.

EP-5

EF-4/E-33

When I was visiting home over the summer I pulled these off of the hard drive on my desktop from middle and high school. These are E-44s, and they were actually purchased by the PRR, and then subsequently absorbed into PC, and Conrail.

Sidenote: Any suggestions for better substation assets on the DLS? The only generic ones I can find are probably older then I am.

 

[PWeiser]

Thank you all for your kind words.

And Pweiser... we could definitely use some PC skins for your NH electric motors! Kidding (not really).

Pweiser's New Haven EP-5 and EF-4 are prototypical for the 'southern' portion of the NEC, as they did make it into Penn Central colors. The EP-5 from what I understand was a dual service unit when used by PC, while the EF-4s were freight motors. The EF-4 was known as the 'E-33' under Penn Central. I have a pair of Bachmann Spectrum units in HO scale, very cool locomotives. Here are some prototype photos of EP-5s and EF-4s/E-33s in PC black.

When I was visiting home over the summer I pulled these off of the hard drive on my desktop from middle and high school. These are E-44s, and they were actually purchased by the PRR, and then subsequently absorbed into PC, and Conrail.

Sidenote: Any suggestions for better substation assets on the DLS? The only generic ones I can find are probably older then I am.

A package of reskins to PC (E-33 and E-40 (EP-5)) should be do-able... just have to remember how to use an early enough version of Blender - or was it GMax? - since some of the meshes were NH-specific and PC decals would be useful. I note that the rip-track E-40 still has its much-disliked Hancock 4700 air horns. Much too soft-spoken, though I guess they'd also be hard to hear over the roaring "jet" cooling fans!

 

[ktain.ny]

A package of reskins to PC (E-33 and E-40 (EP-5)) should be do-able... just have to remember how to use an early enough version of Blender - or was it GMax? - since some of the meshes were NH-specific and PC decals would be useful. I note that the rip-track E-40 still has its much-disliked Hancock 4700 air horns. Much too soft-spoken, though I guess they'd also be hard to hear over the roaring "jet" cooling fans!

Interesting. Send me a PM and let me know what resources you'd need to make that happen and I will do my best to collect them. We definitely wanna build a comprehensive list of prototypical equipment to use over the route.

 

[ktain.ny]

New PC stock from Pweiser--Thanks for your contribution!

Pweiser has reskinned some NH electric motors into PC black, per prototype, for use on the PHL-Wash route. Grab them here, off of his site.

The full lineup of PC electric power:

 

[ktain.ny]

An Update!

I've been working on the route. Baltimore, and areas east of the city are progressing. With the new RRmods NS SD40-2s out this week, I threw together a little session and got to work switching out the transloading yard. Everything you see is subject to change. Especially any 2d billboard buildings. Those were probably put there 10 years ago. They'll be gone soon enough. But it's almost like model railroading, at least something is there for now. My progress is really slow. I tend to try and super-detail every area I work in. I'm no Smeyers, but I do my best. Anyhow, enjoy the video. More updates soon.

 

[Forester1]

The yards look well done! I skipped around a bit, as the bells drive me crazy, but overall, it looks good!

 

[escd84]

....

Years ago I built on the Fishlipsatwork map WAS-BAL. Only some parts in WAS and some parts around Curtis Bay, Riverside and Morrel Park in BAL are done and mostly some fictional trackwork in WAS. Track work for AMT and CSX for both lines and the MARC line between WAS and M&T Stadium[FONT=Google Sans, Roboto, Arial, sans-serif].[/FONT] If it would help you, I can give it to you for your project. PM me on Discord or so...

 

[ktain.ny]

Hey ESCD. I sent you a PM.

 

[Krupa]

In post #13, there is a 4 car unit on the far right in the photo. Is there any information available on it.

Thanks Les.

 

[ktain.ny]

In post #13, there is a 4 car unit on the far right in the photo. Is there any information available on it.

Thanks Les.

That would be the MP54 EMU set from K&L Trainz. I think it's like 5 USD. Pretty good value IMO, well put together and a lot of paint schemes.

 

[ktain.ny]

3/6/23 Update

Hey guys. It's been a minute.

We're still working hard on the route. It seems like another guy is doing the 'NEC North', from New York to Boston or something. We have the DEM to connect Philly with New York, but for those of you know the region... sections of Jersey would be absolutely nightmarish to model in Trainz. It's a whole other can of worms, but all that is just to say, there's stuff to be excited about here. Maybe the two routes can be connected someday and a full run through will be possible. Maybe. We'll see.

Back to reality. Here's some updates, got to working on Urban Baltimore in bits and pieces over the last 2 weeks. This area is starting to come together well but there's lots to do.

Honestly, thank god for RRSignal and his contributions to NEC modeling in Trainz. A lot of this would be impossible without the assets he put out, including the catenary, rowhouses, and other details and bits seen in these screenshots. That will become more apparent as we start working between Philadelphia and Wilmington once again, and are modeling various Septa lines etc.

Almost all the bridges we're using are custom built out of 'kits' we throw together using multiple splines. This allows us to achieve a more realistic result when modeling these types of urban rail overpasses.