Freelancers Anonymous

My apologies for not getting your 'handle' right. While I agree with your perception of thy self, it would be improper and rude for me to "flush' your birds
So I'll quote from Steamboat's 'Book of Life'; Chapter 72;.......................
item 947.....Para. 0003; "So!"

Oh! By the way Alchemy does work. It just takes a little imagination and a lot of hard work.
Regards
 
Thanks for your courtesy, my good man.

Anyway, a proof of concept drawing for you all now that I did because... well, I got bored. This is for No.1 - the well tank I mentioned earlier. Constructive criticism on the concept would be appreciated, but please don't critique the art and lack of detail because I know it's rubbish. It's a proof of concept drawn on Paint, not the Sistine Chapel.

HqWXL35.png
 
I am starting to think that putting up that concept may have been an error.
No, the idea is perfectly good. And as a concept, it is fine if if helps you get the overall look just right. Another creator is always welcome. Some of my earliest objects didn't look much better so don't worry. The only downside is that early concept drawings can lead to wild speculation and exaggerated expectations. Sometimes it's better to be more discreet.

Off topic: Alchemy does work IF you have access to a suitable nuclear reactor. They routinely change one element to another. You could change lead into gold and even gold into lead if that's your desire. If you only have access to purely chemical reactions, then alchemy doesn't work since they cannot affect the atomic nucleus.
 
To the first paragraph: Ok. Maybe in future a more detailed drawing is required if I am going to ask for advice. Still, for what I need it's perfectly fine as it gives me a rough idea to work from seeing as I have no formal plans.

To the second paragraph: This is an excellent point, and as such I have changed my signature to something a bit more esoteric. The original was a contracted version of the line "Alchemy doesn't work... believe me, I've tried" which comes from a review of the anime series Full Metal Alchemist I did on my old, now nonexistant YouTube channel. I feel the new one is a bit more fitting. In English, it roughly translates to "unhinged alchemy" and the reason for this choice of words is probably quite clear by now considering that several people on this thread alone have now had to bear with my aimless rambling.
 
My opinion on freelance is that it should be plausible, but you can still imagine things and make it your own. For example if I was building a narrow gauge line I wouldn't build it set in modern times with narrow gauge ES44AC's and narrow gauge wellcars and concrete ties. I could design my own locos, as long as I had them make sense.
 
Well, maybe you shouldn't be too hasty, now. There is prototype precedent for modern, high (4000) horsepower, narrow gauge locomotives: the GE BB40-9W, which is used in Brazil to haul the heaviest regular iron ore trains in the world on meter gauge track. (cf. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_transport_in_Brazil>).

From the photos in the link, it certainly appears that the clearances along the line might well accommodate containers and container cars, though with axle loading of 25 tons, they would likely not be double stacked well cars. Maybe like the old ATSF / TTX 10-pack spine container cars. Haven't found a photo to tell whether the railroad uses concrete ties, or not, but if they're using 4K horsepower power, I don't see why a narrow gauge line couldn't use concrete ties.

ns
 
Just a gently comment, both TS12 and TANE are capable of using textures in mysterious ways that I've never quite understood myself but apparently standard GMAX isn't quite clever enough to use them. It might be worth trying Blender, Paul Hobbs has some tutorials and there are others lying around. From memory Paul also has a Blender library of bits that helps speed the process of modelling.

Cheerio John
 
Well, maybe you shouldn't be too hasty, now. There is prototype precedent for modern, high (4000) horsepower, narrow gauge locomotives: the GE BB40-9W, which is used in Brazil to haul the heaviest regular iron ore trains in the world on meter gauge track. (cf. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_transport_in_Brazil>).

From the photos in the link, it certainly appears that the clearances along the line might well accommodate containers and container cars, though with axle loading of 25 tons, they would likely not be double stacked well cars. Maybe like the old ATSF / TTX 10-pack spine container cars. Haven't found a photo to tell whether the railroad uses concrete ties, or not, but if they're using 4K horsepower power, I don't see why a narrow gauge line couldn't use concrete ties.

ns

I just relaized that after I posted, but I meant if I was building a US NG route it wouldn't be set in modern times.
 
Sadly, it appears we're scoffing at the idea of freelancing equipment here. Sure some people have made assets before that are freelanced, but those in the past were not necessarily different than what we have now. We have to keep in mind that many of the early locomotives and other rolling stock were in fact freelance, or scratch built in the companies own shops. This was particularly true of many narrow gauge and logging railroads who needed specialized equipment. Even some of the bigger railroads, such as the New Haven, for example, had their own freelanced equipment. The Roger Williams trainset, a multiple unit RDC trainset, and the more famous FL9s and other equipment, were all custom. The FL9s went on to live many more successful years and their technology has become the norm for many dual traction environments today.

Transit and trolley companies seemed to always freelance, or customize equipment they purchased on the market. The old Boston Revere Beach & Lynn (BRB&L), aka The Narrow Gauge" was a 3-foot steam narrow gauge railroad that ran from East Boston to Lynn. In the early 1910s, GE assisted them in electrifying their lines. At the time, the had a choice to go with 3rd rail and to upgrade to standard gauge, which was something they should have done as that would have guaranteed their survival. Instead they chose to go with overhead catenary and added trolley motors to their Laconia Car Shops- built passenger cars. These were standard passenger cars and parlor cars with a motorman's controls added to the ends and trolley poles on the top. Sadly, these customized trains were too heavy and never had the speeds that a real electric could be capable of.

In the end, the Narrow Gauge went out of business just before WWII. If they could have survived, I'm sure it would have been a different world. In the early 1950s, however, the ROW was converted to standard gauge and rebuilt as far as Wonderland Park in Revere, MA. This is now the MBTA Blue Line, which features dual-mode electrics that run under full catenary above ground and 3rd rail through the East Boston tunnel and into Government Center in downtown Boston. There are plans, amazingly how things go in reverse, to rebuild the line back to Lynn.

So, don't disregard custom or freelanced equipment. There's a gem there somewhere which may be the future technology elsewhere.

John
 
Firstly I want to say that I am utterly flabbergasted that a Trainz legend like John Whelan commented on my post. First martinvk throws in his two cents, now John. Who next, skipper1945? I'm going to stop before I start fanboying. John, I will take your comments into serious consideration, though I was initially avoiding Blender as my little brother, a video-games design student, tells me its a royal pain to use. I'll probably give it a go, but I'm going on holiday for the next 11 days so don't expect any updates until after then. Thanks.

My opinion on freelance is that it should be plausible, but you can still imagine things and make it your own. For example if I was building a narrow gauge line I wouldn't build it set in modern times with narrow gauge ES44AC's and narrow gauge wellcars and concrete ties. I could design my own locos, as long as I had them make sense.
MeowRailroad, you have really gotten it spot on when it comes to doing freelancing logically; your comment makes a pretty perfect companion piece to one of mjolnir's earlier comments. Of course you wouldn't have, say, an LNER P2 running on a small GWR branch line, because that would be utterly ridiculous. It needs to make some sort of actual sense, you are correct.

Sadly, it appears we're scoffing at the idea of freelancing equipment here. Sure some people have made assets before that are freelanced, but those in the past were not necessarily different than what we have now. We have to keep in mind that many of the early locomotives and other rolling stock were in fact freelance, or scratch built in the companies own shops. This was particularly true of many narrow gauge and logging railroads who needed specialized equipment. Even some of the bigger railroads, such as the New Haven, for example, had their own freelanced equipment. The Roger Williams trainset, a multiple unit RDC trainset, and the more famous FL9s and other equipment, were all custom. The FL9s went on to live many more successful years and their technology has become the norm for many dual traction environments today.

Transit and trolley companies seemed to always freelance, or customize equipment they purchased on the market. The old Boston Revere Beach & Lynn (BRB&L), aka The Narrow Gauge" was a 3-foot steam narrow gauge railroad that ran from East Boston to Lynn. In the early 1910s, GE assisted them in electrifying their lines. At the time, the had a choice to go with 3rd rail and to upgrade to standard gauge, which was something they should have done as that would have guaranteed their survival. Instead they chose to go with overhead catenary and added trolley motors to their Laconia Car Shops- built passenger cars. These were standard passenger cars and parlor cars with a motorman's controls added to the ends and trolley poles on the top. Sadly, these customized trains were too heavy and never had the speeds that a real electric could be capable of.

In the end, the Narrow Gauge went out of business just before WWII. If they could have survived, I'm sure it would have been a different world. In the early 1950s, however, the ROW was converted to standard gauge and rebuilt as far as Wonderland Park in Revere, MA. This is now the MBTA Blue Line, which features dual-mode electrics that run under full catenary above ground and 3rd rail through the East Boston tunnel and into Government Center in downtown Boston. There are plans, amazingly how things go in reverse, to rebuild the line back to Lynn.

So, don't disregard custom or freelanced equipment. There's a gem there somewhere which may be the future technology elsewhere.
You, JCitron, have said exactly the sort of thing I wanted to say but was afraid to as to not seem like I'm trying to force my point. Admittedly, I'd have used a UK-based example, such as the large amount of unique industrial locomotives that exist here having been built for specific tasks, such as Bressingham Steam Museum's William Francis or the Bluebell's Captain Baxter, and I far prefer steam locomotives, but the mentality is exactly the same.
 
Hello again all. I've not been on recently due to a combination of work and other projects (Transformers stop-motion stuff mostly, but that's irrelevant.) I have been fiddling around with Blender frequently amongst these and have come to one rather annoying discovery: I have no talent with the software. At least with GMax I had some prior experience, but with Blender I haven't the foggiest and it just doesn't seem to click no matter how much time I spend trying to work it out. I'm aware that it's probably something wrong with me as a user rather than the program itself, but I just can't seem to get it to work for me. I know you're all going to call me impatient and various such things, but I really have had enough of trying to use this beast of a program.

However, this did get the altruistic part of me me thinking: someone really needs to just release a bunch of standardised parts (boilers, smokeboxes, cabs, etc; in similar vein to Paul Hobb's parts library) to assist people like myself who are totally inept at modelling but want to construct their own unique locomotives. Opinions on this suggestion?
 
That has been suggested before and never happened, the thing is there never where standardized parts like boilers or cabs, just some smaller parts like air pumps and bells. The larges number of steam engines built to one design was the PRR K4 and under 500 made.
 
That has been suggested before and never happened, the thing is there never where standardized parts like boilers or cabs, just some smaller parts like air pumps and bells. The larges number of steam engines built to one design was the PRR K4 and under 500 made.

That is an extremely good point. What I meant to say was generic, but you still show the flaws of this idea.

And thus, it seems, this thread comes to something of an abrupt end, as I have failed in what I had originally set out to do. However, I would suggest keeping an eye for future threads as I should be putting up some stuff about my actual route and the now seemingly inevitable Aryle Valley liveried SR and GWR locos.
 
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I do know that the PB-15 cab control stuff was just re-released fully to the public a few months back by Zec Murphy. Although outdated, it can still serve some purpose.
 
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