The Illinois Railway Museum Route

Hi Everyone, had another day off work and took some time to work on the route some more. but first I would like to thank Adam for taking on this Tank Car for me. He did a excellent job on it and there will be more schemes of this tank car coming soon to JR.

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Now onto the route.

Added in some more foliage by Olson Road
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Added in 3 new signs done by Bendorsey to the parking lot area.
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Added in some more foliage to the west end of track at Jefferson Street.
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More to come in the next post.
 
Here are some overhead shots of whats been done today.
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Also I uploaded a new video to youtube yesterday and in it we take a cab ride in 1630. Special Thanks goes to my buddy Jason in the Steam Department for arranging my first ever Cab Ride in a Steam engine.

Thats all for today, stay tuned for more updates.
 
Yeah boiii! Gosh, I don't want to ask this. Everyone does, but Matt. Do you know somewhat of an ETA of when you're going to release this map? Or is there a place where I can sign up to test it? I've been going to the IRM a lot this year, and plan to get a membership again or possibly volunteer there next season! But I am super excited for this release! Keep up the great work Matt!;)
 
Yes there is a model being made of that engine that my buddy BenjaminW (although progress on it has been slow on it due to him being busy with School). Plus I have a small announcement to make. I will be downgrading the route to include just the Town of Union and the museum (with its mainline). It's was a decision that I had to make to keep the routes chances of a release at some point.
 
Hello Everyone, as you may know Im in the process of downsizing my route, Over the past few weeks I've been looking over the route and looking at the overall progress that has been made on the route, I estimated with the amount of work being done towards the route in its current state would mean a unlikely chance of release of this route (due to the small amount of contributors towards my project in regards towards Scenery) so to give this route a fighting chance of a possible release I had to downsize it. So far, I finish deleting areas of the town of Huntley IL on the East end of the route. The route will now end just outside the town of Huntley (which is where the future mainline track expansion will likely end at, when It come to a time to update the track work on the route). Here is a screenshot.

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I still have to go over how much I will delete in the routes western end where the town of Marengo is, once that is done, I will go thru all the extra baseboards I have on the route that are very far away from areas I want to model and by then the route map will look a lot more skinnier on baseboards as it looks right now shown above. This way I can just work on doing the areas I know what I need to focus on. I would like to thank those of you who have helped me make it this far in the project and I cant thank you enough for your support and contributions.

Now I also have been fouling around with the Post Processing setting (to try to get my screenshots to look better) It also got me the chance to show off Paul's improved electroliner (With the correct color of the trucks) and his newer model of the CTA 5200 series cars on the route.

Scene 1

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After
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Scene 2

Before
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After
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I also have been very busy volunteering at IRM the last few weeks and I uploaded a new video to youtube a few weeks ago. Here is the video

but I'm still working on the route whenever I can get the opportunity to do so. I hope to get some more work done on the route within the next two days.
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Got to say , fantastic work . A Q thought . Is the track bed in that bad of shape ? From the reading up on the museum . And watching your video's and others , It doesn't seem to be that bad ?

Matt
 
Got to say , fantastic work . A Q thought . Is the track bed in that bad of shape ? From the reading up on the museum . And watching your video's and others , It doesn't seem to be that bad ?

Matt
Thanks, and to answer your question, no the track bed shown on my route is not final, I am unable to adjust the track bed at this time due to the fact (and I've stated this several times) that the google map images I'm using are big square scenery assets and if I start messing around with the ground hight now it will cause things to disappear under the google map images. So until I can get all of my scenery placed down and finalise the track work, I can't do anything to the ground height at the moment and with only 1 person helping me out with Scenery it's going to be awhile before I can finally remove those google map images and begin working on fixing the ground hight and adding ground textures.
 
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Hello everyone, After a few busy weeks, I finally got around to doing some work on my route. I finally deleted the extra baseboards on the west end of the route and what you see in the screenshot below is what the route looks like now.
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I started to do some work on the route (mostly by Johnson Siding) but unfortunately not enough to show the new progress (due to I have to leave for work really soon) But I did do some more post processing tests that I thought I share.

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Hello Everyone, Well its now the year 2018 and I would like to look back at last year which turned out to be a pretty productive one for the most part of 2017, I was able to get a lot of work done on the route to get it even closer for a possible release and I am very thankful for the people who helped me get this far with the project, such as....

Bendorsey - I would like to thank him for making a lot of the custom scenery items and also some bits of rolling stock he created and boy did he deliver, I cant thank him enough as he help me get this far with the route, without him, my route would had made very little progress this year.

SimulatorTrain - Although he has yet to release the stuff that we have both worked on, I cant thank him enough for taking on a lot of interesting projects from freight cars and other things I cant reveal yet but when they are release they will surely be some of the best pieces of content for the route out there. I cant thank him enough for all of his hard work and effort he puts into his models.

Wearsprada - I would like to thank him for accepting those commission I requested from him and he sure impressed me with all of the great models of diesel locomotives he has took on for me like the model of ITC GP7 #1605. He is a great person to work with and I look forward to working with him some more this year.

Trainboi1 - Although not directly involved with my project, Trainboi1 has helped me out by producing some amazing pieces of content such as a good amount of passenger cars and even the CB&Q E5 #9911A "Silver Pilot". He is a absolute wizard with making models in Blender and Im very thankful for him accepting any project I might give him as long as what he says "Do you have the proper drawings for it". Keep an eye out because me and trainboi1 have some more stuff coming.

Dericm - I would like to thank him for making the excellent model of that GTW Sand Tower that IRM has for my route, he is a great content creator to have onboard and I hope to work with him some more this year (since IRM has a good amount of GTW Equipment) and he is pretty good at making scenery content.

PWeiser - What can say about my buddy Paul, he has been doing a fantastic job on pumping out some pretty amazing pieces of electric traction equipment content that is present in the IRM collection such as the North Shore Electroliner (which it was time for a update on it since the one from Landrvr1 was showing its age) he has been a fantastic person to work with and I'm glad he is enjoying taking on my list of projects. I continue to look forward to working with him some more this year as there is still a lot to make.

SteveLerro - I was a bit surprised when I got a message on Skype one day from Steve telling me what I wanted to commission for him to make? I told him, I wanted him to make Frisco 1630. He told me "Well it looks like your going to get your commission earlier than I thought because someone else has canceled their commission request, leaving a open spot to fill, do you still want me to make it?", I told "Of Course" and with that a few months later he finally released a fantastic model of 1630 with its Aux Water car and few coaches to go with it. By the time he had started to work on it, I was already a volunteer at IRM and my buddy's in the Steam Department were glad to help Steve fix anything that needed to be corrected with the model. They were all very impressed with Steve's model when I showed them all the promotional video and I cant thank Steve enough for all the hard work he did on it during his busy summer schedule. I hope that one day in the near future to work with him on another project.

Daylightrain - What can I say about my buddy Evan, He is quickly becoming a fantastic content creator and his skills are top notch, I was very happy when he accepted to do some reskin projects for me and he did not disappoint when he released some pretty amazing modified reskins of Subpars engines by releasing 3 steam engines (With a 4th one on the way) which were UP 2-8-0 #428, Tuskegee Railroad 2-6-2 #101 (with 4 types of different modified tenders), and Frisco 1630 (which is a fantastic model to use since its freeware and if you cant afford the one from K&L Trainz's, then this one is a good substitute) and even a great updated reskin of a UP Caboose. I look forward to working with him hopefully when I find another project he might be interested in tackling.
 
To continue on from the last post....

ns2616 - Another great person that helped contributed to the project, He did some pretty good reskins of stuff from my buddy Paul aka PWeiser such as CGW Caboose #601 and Milwaukee Road HH-660 #1603 (which is still pending release as there is a issue that needs to be fix). Unfortunately once we release that, that will be the end of his contributions towards my project as he has moved on with his own projects.

Joek5 - This one came out of no-where but when I was scrolling thru the forums one day I found a post from him showing he was making a model of a 2-4-4T engine from the NYC with him saying it was also sort of based ones from the Illinois Central which IRM has one. I spook to him by PM and he was happy to come on board and take on making IC 2-4-4T #201, he is a pretty fantastic guy to work with although progress has been slow since we are still looking for the proper drawings for the engine but we are very slowly but surely making progress on it. Im glad to have him.

davidakridge - My buddy David came on board because since DaveSnow did not accept content request anymore but has been accepting reskin's of his content, I approached David with some reskin request of Dave's Thrall Boxcars and he did excellent reskins of both Thrall Car Company #20306 and Minnesota Dakota & Western #3049. There was a third Thrall Boxcar that IRM has but that one was already made by my buddy Simulatortrain but since his model was made in a way that it was not reskin-able so thats how I approached David to see if he would like to take on this reskin project (Since I know he is pretty good at making weathered reskins), Hopefully I will find another project for him to work on for this year.

btvfd - Like Davidakridge, I couldn't ask for Davesnow for possible content request so I did the next best thing, since Davesnow has made some models of rolling stock that IRM has but did not make paint schemes I need for him, I approached BTVFD about if he would like to do some reskins of DaveSnow's Waffle sided PS1 Boxcars which IRM has two of. He agreed so I had him fantastic looking reskins of C&NW 161795 and Department of Transportation DOTX #503 (which is actually a very historic car as it was the 1,000,000th car built by Pullman Standard). We did plan on making a reskin of the car when it came out of Pullman Standard in a special paint scheme that it had for a short time, but we were unable to find any color photos of the car at that time before it was sent to DOTX and was repainted to what it ls today. Hopefully when Davesnow makes another piece of rolling stock that is present at IRM, I know who to go to when the paint scheme I want is not included as he is a fantastic reskiner.

DaveSnow - Although he has no involvement with my project, I will have to give him thanks for allowing the release of IRM related reskins of his content that both davidakridge and btvfd did for me.

rr_jdm - I cant thank him enough because if it wasn't for him, there would have never been a IRM route to begin with as he helped me get started with this project by creating this fantastic DEM for me to use and for providing the google map scenery assets I need to place everything down, this year, he sent me updated versions of the google map assets allowing me to make further progress on the route.

TweetsieDude - Like with Steve, I was surprised when I one day got a Skype message from Dusten saying he was interesting in making a model of T&D 4-4-0 #16 (a engine I was originally planning on having Trainboi1 tackle) but I decided to take up on the offer and right now he is currently still in the process of making the model, he is a good content creator and with him having a busy life, its amazing how he is able to create fantastic looking models, I enjoy helping him out with this project whenever I can.

Majekear - Another excellent content creator who has uploaded a lot of amazing pieces of rolling stock on the DLS over the years. What got him on board was after doing some research I noticed some pieces of rolling stock he made were examples IRM has and he is very good at modifying content, one of his best pieces he made for the project was making CGW Idler Flat car #W52, He's content creation skills really impressed me when he made that car and it cause me to do a couple more flat cars such as 3 C&NW Flat Cars, 2 of which were MOW ones. I look forward to working with again hopefully this year one some more stuff.

BenjaminW - My good buddy Ben has really improved his content creation skills recently which really makes me glad he was excited when I ask if he would like to make ATSF 4-8-4 #2903 for me, although he has a pretty busy life with school but I do enjoy helping him out with the engine when ever he has the time. Hopefully one day we will be able to finish this project.

USSc1798 - A Great New addition to the team, Like my buddy Ben and Evan, he has really accelerated his content creation skills and has pumped out some amazing first pieces of content. He did a fantastic job with making some railroad crossing signs and will likely be tackling some more scenery projects hopefully this year, he as also agreed to make CB&Q 4-6-4 #3007 and a model of the Borden Milk Car BFIX #520 (with special thanks to Mark from K&L Trainz for sending me drawings of the car to send to him), he is really excited to tackle these projects and I know Im going to enjoy helping him out.

BlackDiamond1964 - Last but by no means least we have my buddy Scott, Who I must say, his content creation skills are amazing and very good attention to detail, Scott here is what made my route progress really get going back in 2016 and he also gave me the confidence that my route could one day be release. Everything he made was outstanding and I do have to say his East Union Depot, The CTA 50th Ave Station and the Storage Barns were some of the best pieces he has ever made for my route. Unfortunately he left the project to move to a different train simulator and I still to this day miss working with him on because he was a big factor (With Bendorsey) with providing the push towards finishing the route. I am currently looking for someone to fill in his spot to finish the rest of the projects he did not get too. Im also looking for someone who has Blender especially since he sent me the blender file on what he got done with the IRM Diner Complex before he backed out. Hopefully when that person comes forward, progress on the route can get back into full swing.

PHEW!!! That was a lot to type but now I can finally finish off with my goals for 2018 regarding for the route. What are the goals I have planned for this year for the route, well they are to is to get the rest of the custom scenery finished and then lay down the road splines, so I can finally at long last removed the google map pieces and finally start fixing up the bumpy track work and level it out, edit the ground elevation and put in some ground textures, then the route can finally be ready for beta testing.

Thats all for now, cant wait to see how 2018 will turn out for my project. Hopefully for the better.
 
Hello everyone, Im here to show you the current progress my buddy USSc1798 has done so far on the Borden's Milk Car so far, here is the screenshot he sent me.
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Hello everyone I finally got a chance to do some work on the route. I manage to do some work to the town of Union IL, progress has been a bit slow as Im trying to find the right generic house to add. Ive also got to figure out if I will need to have custom content made for the industry complex's that are located in the town of Union or should I just try to slap on one of Dave Snows warehouses on it. Im also waiting for JR to release the content that I missed out on back during the Christmas Holidays. Here are some screenshots of what I did.

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Plus notice anything new here
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I will be doing some more work on my route. So expect another update soon.
 
Hello again everyone, I did some more work done on the route and decided it was time to add in some road to the route, I found a great looking dirt road spline to use and Im experimenting with country road splines for the main roads. Ive also added in some more generic buildings in the areas surrounding the museum. Here are screenshots from todays progress.

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And here are two scenes I set up before I called it a day.
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And here is what me and my buddy Paul have been up too, Its a Illinois Terminal Class B Electric
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Hello everyone, I decided to make a decision today that I needed to make more progress on my route (while still looking for someone to replace and take over from BlackDiamond1964) to make the custom content he never got to... I decided to try to edit the bumpy track work but I had little success trying to fix that while still keeping the google map assets on the route, after 2 hours of troubleshooting I gave up (FOR NOW!!!) and was about to call it a day when I decided that while I had lowered the google map assets I decided that now would be the perfect time to add some ballast textures for the track and lucky I found a good texture to use. Here are some screenshots I took showing off the new ballast texture. Finishing this is a big step forward to completing the route

[FONT=&quot]A Overview of showing off the new track ballast textures at the museum.
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[FONT=&quot]Showing off the new ballast textures at Johnson Siding.
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[FONT=&quot]And here is some scenes I set up to show off the new ballast textures. (Note) I have yet to add in the trolley wire as that is another thing that Blackdiamond1964 started on but never finished making the rest of the trolley wires and poles.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]1630 Ready to catch mail on the fly with the CB&Q RPO
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[FONT=&quot]C&NW GP7 #1518 pulling the Bi-Level Cars[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]UP #6930 does a meet with a par of Illinois Central Electric[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Milwaukee Road #1603 does some switching in Barn 3
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[FONT=&quot]The North Shore Line "Electroliner" Is receiving attention in Barn 4 aka Electric Car Shop.
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[FONT=&quot]A look at the new track ballast textures over by Barn 9 and the Steam Shop.
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Thats all for todays progress, while I did not accomplish what I wanted to do today, Im glad I got this done as its another big step forward for a eventual release of this route.
 
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