Upon going into the forums early this morning, 07-27-08, I was surprised to learn that no one could download the beta versions of Ben Neal's museum pack as well as John's Cass No. 5, understanding that these guys depend on feedback from these beta units to make fixes and needed adjustments, I can give some feedback on the three engines I did some running of, the others will have to wait till I have time.
This Cass Scenic Shay is beautifully rendered, the coloration is nice, a little bit dark, and could stand a little soot, not much since this is a tourist locomotive, therefore, should also remain in tip top condition.
The cab isn't really there from what I could tell, if John puts a nice cab in this Shay, it can be deemed, Perfect! At least in looks.
Cons- There needs to be some steam puffs coming off the cylinders as the shay is running, any sound problems I might have been experiencing might have more to do with the fact I'm running TRS2006, so can't say much about any sound problems do to just that.
Adding an engine crew would help with the looks as well, other than that, this engine in my estimation is just about ready.
Ben Neal's Heavy Mikado
What a beautiful engine, the color rendering is perfect, Ben is getting as good at weathering his engines in the virtual world as I am at doing the same on my HO scale engines.
When I tested these engines on my Withlacoochee route, they pulled a lot of poly's, and my frame rates were horrible, when I moved them over to my Forney Museum module, the frame rates picked right up, (I guess my Withlacoochee River is over detailed!).
The Mike ran beautifully, would like to see a little more smoke when the engine is struggling to start a train, and wouldn't mind seeing steam shoot out of the cylinders on takeoff, however, there is only so much we can do with the technology, I'm not sure that anyone can capture that effect.
Ben's new cab is terrific, I like it a lot better than the old cabs on his earlier efforts, I hope he sticks with this cab, though the detail is sparce in the cab, its still offers better visibility in this cab view than in the light mike and his earlier engines.
Overall, this engine is probably ready for release, as I didn't see anything wrong with it, other than part of the engine crew is missing, wheres the fireman?
2-10-0 Decopod
Or Russian, as they were commonly called, in about 1917, there was an order for a bunch of decopods by the Russian rwys, when Russia fell to the communists, naturally Baldwin found themselves stuck with a bunch of 2-10-0 steam engines, they became known simply as the Russians, and were subsequently sold off to American railroads.
Ben has finally done what needed doing, making a decopod, and she is a beaut, again, Ben has mastered the weathering on his steam locos, that till now, I had only seen on actual model train engines, these engines not only will look great hauling tourists on a tourist line, but will also look right at home hauling freight and passengers on the Johnson City route, as well as on the Withlacoochee River route.
I'm definately looking forward to the release of all of his engines, and usually do go to Subpar Productions website to look and see if he has done anything new, sadly, unless your a member of the Carson Car Shops forum, now you can't go and download the "Public" beta's any longer, so I guess we will all have to wait for the full release.
The cab on these decopods is the same cab as on the Heavy Mikado's, there were no issues with any of these engines that I could find, other than those already mentioned, of which nothing can probably be done on those issues as it is.
This Cass Scenic Shay is beautifully rendered, the coloration is nice, a little bit dark, and could stand a little soot, not much since this is a tourist locomotive, therefore, should also remain in tip top condition.
The cab isn't really there from what I could tell, if John puts a nice cab in this Shay, it can be deemed, Perfect! At least in looks.
Cons- There needs to be some steam puffs coming off the cylinders as the shay is running, any sound problems I might have been experiencing might have more to do with the fact I'm running TRS2006, so can't say much about any sound problems do to just that.
Adding an engine crew would help with the looks as well, other than that, this engine in my estimation is just about ready.
Ben Neal's Heavy Mikado
What a beautiful engine, the color rendering is perfect, Ben is getting as good at weathering his engines in the virtual world as I am at doing the same on my HO scale engines.
When I tested these engines on my Withlacoochee route, they pulled a lot of poly's, and my frame rates were horrible, when I moved them over to my Forney Museum module, the frame rates picked right up, (I guess my Withlacoochee River is over detailed!).
The Mike ran beautifully, would like to see a little more smoke when the engine is struggling to start a train, and wouldn't mind seeing steam shoot out of the cylinders on takeoff, however, there is only so much we can do with the technology, I'm not sure that anyone can capture that effect.
Ben's new cab is terrific, I like it a lot better than the old cabs on his earlier efforts, I hope he sticks with this cab, though the detail is sparce in the cab, its still offers better visibility in this cab view than in the light mike and his earlier engines.
Overall, this engine is probably ready for release, as I didn't see anything wrong with it, other than part of the engine crew is missing, wheres the fireman?
2-10-0 Decopod
Or Russian, as they were commonly called, in about 1917, there was an order for a bunch of decopods by the Russian rwys, when Russia fell to the communists, naturally Baldwin found themselves stuck with a bunch of 2-10-0 steam engines, they became known simply as the Russians, and were subsequently sold off to American railroads.
Ben has finally done what needed doing, making a decopod, and she is a beaut, again, Ben has mastered the weathering on his steam locos, that till now, I had only seen on actual model train engines, these engines not only will look great hauling tourists on a tourist line, but will also look right at home hauling freight and passengers on the Johnson City route, as well as on the Withlacoochee River route.
I'm definately looking forward to the release of all of his engines, and usually do go to Subpar Productions website to look and see if he has done anything new, sadly, unless your a member of the Carson Car Shops forum, now you can't go and download the "Public" beta's any longer, so I guess we will all have to wait for the full release.
The cab on these decopods is the same cab as on the Heavy Mikado's, there were no issues with any of these engines that I could find, other than those already mentioned, of which nothing can probably be done on those issues as it is.
A few things about No. 90 though: The pilot is incorrect, it doesn't have those step.... uh..... thingies on it, and the classification lights don't seem to be in the right position. Other that that, I think these engines are perfect!!!! (Other than the lack of a Reading 6 chime whistle for No. 90. 
)
