Trainz Forge: Routes, Reskins and Renders

[otaylor]

Absolutely fantastic work, as always!

I wonder if I've installed some things incorrectly, as virtually all of the lightweight streamlined passenger cars in one of your last updates have running numbers that appear as a sort of teal or turquoise colour. Any ideas what might be causing that?

[jacksonbarno]

Not sure, do you have a screenshot of the issue by any chance?

The Midnight Limited, the flagship passenger train of the Lake Erie and Eastern Transportation Company (renamed from the Lake Erie and Eastern Railway in 1929 (also not to be confused with the similarly named Lake Erie and Eastern Railroad paper subsidiary of the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie)) is spotted at Sterling Falls in December of 1931. The depression is beginning to take a stronger grip on the nation, and times are rapidly changing for the worse. Passenger ridership is dramatically falling week by week, however the LE&E has remained steadfast in maintaining the quality of their passenger services.

R1 northern 3702 Hermes, less than six months old, is in charge of the railroad's flagship today. The train is still running heavy, and much like other top trains of its stature, such as the New York Central's 20th Century Limited or the Santa Fe's Chief, it seems still be a top performer. The Midnight Limited is also one of a select few trains in the country for which the Pullman name is replaced by the train name in the letterboard on all regular Pullman operated cars in the train's pool of equipment, similar to trains such as the C&O's George Washington, the PRR's Congressional, and the B&O's Capitol and National Limiteds. A defining mark since the mid 1920's, this distinctive feature of the train will not last the year, eliminated as a cost-saving measure in just a few months.






Carrying out the head-end duties today are 70ft RPO 663, and baggage-smoking lounge-barber shop Boston Club. Mail revenues remained a top priority for the LE&E, and being one of the fastest methods of travel between Boston and Chicago, the post office provided a large amount of business for the Midnight Limited in hauling top priority mail en-route. Boston Club is a plan 3951 baggage club built in 1927. Providing the barber shop, train secretary, and other Pullman extra fare accompaniments, this car and its sisters could be found at the head-end of the Midnight Limited, and a select few running mates at the top-end of the LE&E's extensive fleet of passenger trains.


The dining services of the Midnight Limited were handled by two separate cars in 1931. An 1850 series diner, built in 1929, is a regular on the Midnight Limited. In this era, as common for nearly every passenger train of the time, diners will be cut and added en-route in order to reduce weight, keep crews and cars limited to their respective operating districts, and more easily utilize them across multiple trains. The eastbound Midnight Limited will cut 1851 in Akron, Ohio, after meal hours have concluded. After its night time sprint across the northeast, it will pick up a new diner in Albany in order to provide breakfast for the rest of the journey to Boston. Following 1851 is Pullman lounge-diner Tremont Street, built in 1930. In addition to providing extra lounge space, this car also functions as an extension to the train's regular dining car. With the dining/table section positioned adjoining the table section of the car ahead, the Midnight Limited can offer extra seating for dining car passengers during meal hours. After meal hours, the entire car functions as a lounge-cafe space, with the small Pullman-operated kitchen providing light meals and snacks to passengers wishing for something after dining hours have concluded. The train also contains an onboard radio in the rear lounge section, a novelty in this era of train travel but soon to become an industry standard.


Bringing up the rear, we have a 1929 built 1-1 observation car from the River series, one of several cars built for the LE&E to bring up the markers on its top trains. These cars also featured an onboard radio, among other extensive amenities, as well as the ultimate in Pullman accommodation in the heavyweight era - the illustrious master room.

[jacksonbarno]

Shortly after the Midnight Limited has faded into the distance, we glimpse its New York-bound running mate, with R1 3701 Aphrodite in command. The Midnight Limited began carrying New York-bound cars in 1914, however the growing popularity of the New York section pushed the LE&E to inaugurate a dedicated New York-bound train when they re-equipped the Midnight Limited in 1926. While business was good enough to sustain this train through the 1920's, the Depression, plus the nature of the highly competitive New York - Chicago passenger market, has caused this train to struggle throughout the last year. Much like the train name in the letterboard, the New York-Midnight Limited will not survive to see 1933, however the Boston-Chicago train will not regain its New York cars with the cancellation. The slightly secondary nature of this train is evident in that, while it pulls from the larger pool of Midnight Limited cars, much of the equipment is not specifically named for the Midnight Limited and its room offerings are slightly less in variety than its better known Boston counterpart.

[Piere]

Great shots Jacksonbarno. Thanks for sharing.

That's some very impressive trackwork in the earlier yard shots too.

Cheers,
Piere.

[jacksonbarno]

Thanks!

The whole shebang is spiritually based on Center Street junction in Youngstown, Ohio. It's actually where the whole rebuild of EricMP's Anywhere Ohio started, and since I've started to rebuild Sterling Falls to get the route that much closer to a release, I wound up reworking the whole junction a bunch to get it looking and functioning a lot better. In essence it's a crossover of the NYC (two mains and a running track), PRR (two mains and a running track), the LE&E (two mains and a running track), the steel mill inter/intra plant railroad, and all of the various connectors leading between them. The NYC and PRR have smaller town/feeder yards on either side of the junction to serve the mill and local industries, the steel mill road has its own separate yard, and then on the other side of town is the LE&E's absolutely giant 8th Avenue yard complex. With how busy everything technically should be, I rethought out the whole arrangement, and.... it got complex.


Here's a shot of Center Street in its heyday, so you can see where I got the inspiration:

[Piere]

It looks amazing. I love the look of trackwork like that.

Cheers,
Piere.

[mikeman]

So whom was responsible for the maintenance on all those crossovers?.......

[john2002]

Thanks!

The whole shebang is spiritually based on Center Street junction in Youngstown, Ohio. It's actually where the whole rebuild of EricMP's Anywhere Ohio started, and since I've started to rebuild Sterling Falls to get the route that much closer to a release, I wound up reworking the whole junction a bunch to get it looking and functioning a lot better. In essence it's a crossover of the NYC (two mains and a running track), PRR (two mains and a running track), the LE&E (two mains and a running track), the steel mill inter/intra plant railroad, and all of the various connectors leading between them. The NYC and PRR have smaller town/feeder yards on either side of the junction to serve the mill and local industries, the steel mill road has its own separate yard, and then on the other side of town is the LE&E's absolutely giant 8th Avenue yard complex. With how busy everything technically should be, I rethought out the whole arrangement, and.... it got complex.


Here's a shot of Center Street in its heyday, so you can see where I got the inspiration:

I would love to see that in a working module with AI trains going to and from points, so fun to watch.

[SteamingJake]

With the Timken/NCL pack update on the horizon, I want to ask how I will get the update since I already purchased the pack. Will I have to buy it again? Will the update be sent to people who provide authentic proof of purchase? I didn't have an account to the TF website when I bought the pack in question, so I hope emailing my receipt back to the team works as well.

[trainboi1]

With the Timken/NCL pack update on the horizon, I want to ask how I will get the update since I already purchased the pack. Will I have to buy it again? Will the update be sent to people who provide authentic proof of purchase? I didn't have an account to the TF website when I bought the pack in question, so I hope emailing my receipt back to the team works as well.

As with the previous pack updates, any proof of purchase is considered valid reason to get the update. Users who ordered the pack after 22 March 2020 (when the site update went live) can get it from the original site link; those who ordered before will likely need to get a new link unless they've previously gotten a new one for other reasons.

I've run the later iterations of Four Aces through Substance, and applied heavier weathering on the 1940s model. I still need to update the oil burning version of the cab, but after that point, it should be done. Additionally, I've updated the passenger car scripts so that the user can select a default drumhead to display in the config using drumhead-base and the number used for that drumhead. So the 3-2 solarium observation cars will natively display the NCL drumhead, the pool 1-1 observation cars will natively display the 20th Century drumhead, and the LE&E-assigned 1-1s will natively display the Midnight Limited drumhead. Swapping them out works as normal.

[SteamingJake]

Wonderful. I can't wait to enjoy the new PBR North Coast Limited.

[mtldrm38]

Hey jackson are you using EIT for controlling those crossings?

[wpn96]

Those look very nice!

I've had the Willamette locomotives for a little while now. There is only one thing I see wrong with them.



When the bell is moving, the bell chord sorta sticks out from the cab. It's kinda hard to see in the picture.

Has anyone noticed this at all?

[trainboi1]

Hadn't noticed that but I see what you mean. I'll take a look at how to fix it.

[swsettle]

Are the Washoe Valley "War Baby" 4-8-4s getting the updated like the 4 Aces package? I use them all the time. I can't wait to get the updated 4 Aces.

Thank you for all your work, the updates look great.

Scott