Page 1 of 2

Changing The Size of General Goods

Posted: Sun Sep 30, 2007 12:54 pm
by Col Hogan
I've been wondering this dilemma for a while - the general goods that we see on the SG flatcars and boxes looks fine and I believe they are an Auran product. However, there is a huuuge disparity in the size it NEEDS to be if we are running 36ng or 24ng routes.

Rick, thegrindre, had posted a thread not long ago about the size of it poking through the top of a 36ng boxcar. Definitely too big.

My challenge to anyone who can do it would be to 'downsize' the general goods boxes and make them compatible for the narrow gauge fans.
I have already done some work to have the Camp Goods available as a siding product and is from Slugsmasher and Ben Neal. But no ordinary boxes to fit the smaller gauges.

Anybody interested ??

Ken

BTW - Camp Goods siding is here -

Image

Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2007 8:21 am
by Pencil
I made a new set of general goods a while back for this very reason - look for 124060:10001:2 on the DLS

Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2007 9:47 am
by Col Hogan
Thanks a whole bunch Curtis. I actually had them and totally forgot about them. I will use them a lot now.

Ken

Posted: Sat Oct 06, 2007 2:06 pm
by Dreadnought1
Prowler901 made "General Goods 1" - kuid2:43955:11003:1 - for use in his 3ft NG stock. That's a smaller goods pallet which I find most useful.
There's also an AUS Gen Goods by Natvander - kuid:61119:80000 (inbuilt in '06) - which is also a much more reasonable size than the General Goods. Natvander also created the Fertiliser Bagged product - kuid:61119:80006 (inbuilt in '06) - which is also used in Prowler901's 3ft rollingstock.

While were talking useful products, Prowler901 also produced Gold Medal Flour - kuid2:43955:11001:1 - and Domino Sugar - kuid2:43955:11002:1 -which are also pallet based as is John_SB's Cement Bag Pallet - kuid2:60318:10008:1 and his version of Fertiliser Bagged Pallet -kuid2:60318:10010:2.

All are quite useful as they're a good size especially for NG stuff.

Cheers,
Dreadnought1

Posted: Sat Oct 06, 2007 2:24 pm
by Pencil
Absolutely - there are quite a few alternate goods available. The only reason I made separate ones was to get rid of the pallets. Also, have the ones built into '06 made it onto the DLS? Otherwise, they may be a dead end for those with TC.

Posted: Sat Oct 06, 2007 3:46 pm
by Dreadnought1
The pallets give a standard size admittedly but aren't always really prototypical. I do particularly like the Old General Goods as kegs and boxes are useable into the '20s & '30s. BTW, most of the built-in '06 stuff isn't on the DLS as I believe there were backward compatability issues. However, John_SBs products can be used by those who still use '04 and they're available on the DLS together with a very good interactive loading dock.

Does anyone know of any good Trainz '06 SG rollingstock which I'd describe as "semi-old" - wood bodied fitted with auto couplers but with the types of products we've been talking about as default? We all know we can add them in as part of an operating session but I've always found that the rollingstock loses the added products capability when they go through a portal or interchange.

Cheers,
Dreadnought1

Posted: Sun Oct 07, 2007 6:45 am
by thegrindre
Personally, I really like Pencil42's Union Pacific (UP) and the Central Pacific (CP) series he did. They all load with sound and look damn good for 'old' stuff, IMO.

Posted: Sun Oct 07, 2007 9:25 am
by Pencil
They're probably a little too old, as they have link & pin couplers instead of the automagics.

Posted: Sun Oct 07, 2007 11:39 am
by Col Hogan
Don't you change a thing Curtis. Grindre and I like what you did and they look just fine. In fact, if you consider making anything else in the 1880 through 1920 era, please use the link and pin. I am a supporter.

Ken

Posted: Sun Oct 07, 2007 11:48 am
by Dreadnought1
Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking the link-and-pin couplers, I just want to have some old-style auto-couplered rollingstock for contrast but most I've seen about is of more recent construction.

There must have been a interim period where the bigger roads had moved to autos while other smaller roads still used L&P. There's a fair bit of L&P rollingstock available in 3ft too.

Cheers,
Dreadnought1

Posted: Sun Oct 07, 2007 4:43 pm
by bdaneal
There was actually a 5-10 year period when all major railroads were converting. Link & Pins became illegal in interchange service around 1905, so any shortlines that had their cars in interchange service would have converted them to autos. Cars that never left railroad property were exempt until the 1940s. At that point it became illegal for any railroad to use them in revenue service. I believe non-revenue were still exempt.

I've thought of making some turn of the century freight cars a few times. But, I keep starting new engines instead of freight cars.

Posted: Sun Oct 07, 2007 6:09 pm
by Dreadnought1
Ben,
Many thanks for that. I have to say that the "own-use-only" period was a lot longer than I had expected.

One comment in regard to the link-and-pin couplers (while we're talkin' about 'em) - With Trainz locomotives of the period, it's fairly obvious when the long link over the cow-catcher is not "up" in position when switching or coupled funnel-first to cars. Is there any way that the link can be arranged to raise itself to the correct height when attached to a car? Would something similar to the Trainz UK Bluestar coupling system be possible?

Cheers,
Dreadnought1

Posted: Sun Oct 07, 2007 6:12 pm
by thegrindre
Thanks for the info, Ben.
I have most of your stuff so anything you put out Imma gonna grab anyway. Don't forget the old wood burners. They have always been my favorites with the larger stacks and spark arresters... LOL

Posted: Sun Oct 07, 2007 6:41 pm
by Pencil
Also, early knuckle couplers had slots so they were still compatible with link-and-pin couplers.
And yes, we've animated the front coupler bar successfully on some of these locomotives - look at Terry's General for the 1st loco on the DLS to use this.
Here's a pic of an early prototype:
Image

Posted: Sun Oct 07, 2007 7:07 pm
by Dreadnought1
Ahhh....I've always wondered why some auto-couplers had those slots!

I'll download the General later today and give it a run.

Thanks again!
Cheers,
Dreadnought1