The Mojave & Panamint Railroad

Feedback, questions, updates on current projects, you name it!
User avatar
Kegg_Works
Posts: 90
Joined: Fri Nov 07, 2014 6:53 pm
Location: Albany, GA

Re: The Mojave & Panamint Railroad

Post by Kegg_Works »

Hey all! Continuing from where I left off on my previous post, here are more shots of Ballarat. First up is more of the main street. One goal I have with this route is keeping it as "true" to Craig's original HOn3 layout. Of course in model railroading you often have to condense scenes, buildings, and sometimes you have to pick and choose which buildings you can have and which ones you can't. Not to mention having to "condense" a structure all together. With that in mind I'm digitally modeling a "Full Scale" railroad, so I've taken some creative license and made a few educated guesses when adding life and body to Ballarat. So with this next shot I've added some more buildings which look right at home here in the desert.

Image

They are made by a guy called Cayden on the DLS and I've used several peices of his content on this route and others. He makes some really cool stuff that looks right at home in the old west or the Turn of the Century, like the M&P! This next shot is of the lumber spur, where the railroad delivers and unloads lumber for the local mines to pick up and use as timbers, or whatever else they need to use it for. Unfortunately I never could get a good look at this part of Craig's layout in his RMC (Railroad Model Craftsman) article so, again, I took some creative license. At the moment it is not industry active. I've added a large "office" towards the end of the spur with a loading dock. I plan on adding a stiff leg derrick here to help offload lumber from arriving trains.

Image

The M&P is a GIGANTIC route, in terms of it's map size! Though that is honestly because when this route it exported to T:ANE I want one of it's "selling points" to be its vistas. That's one of the awesome things about the desert, you can see across them for MILES!! Though that said, most of the fine detailing is going to stay focused around the railroad and drivable roads. So expect a lot of details added in, such as this. :wink:

Image

Moving on a bit we head over to the engine facilities. Here is a some sort of shack or shed, perhaps it's the yard office. But here we see some of railroad's officials discussing and observing the day's operations.

Image

And next up we have the railroad bunkhouse, where the crews for overnight and layover trains can get some rest.

Image
Image

Next up is another part of town that is often overlooked or neglected entirely on a lot of Trainz routes. And that is the town cemetery. This was interesting to do, and a bit of a challenge, to fine the right location. I set up my laptop along side my PC so I could use Google Earth to find it and then used a similar view while in Surveyor to approximately place the cemetery. Now the "fence" was temporary as I wanted to use a wrought iron fence, but couldn't locate it at the time.

Image
Image

And now I leave you with one final view looking south-ish where the railroad enters town. I've also added some trackside signage, taking inspiration from the SPNG.

Image

Well after all of that, I did manage to make one rather critical mistake. The entire town, rail yard, engine facilities, everything... was shifted too far southeast by about 100 or so yards, perhaps more. So I used the copy-paste tool to move everything. I don't have any shots of that just yet, but now all the roads and structures match up to actual roadways and landmarks. It was a minor annoyance, but a relatively easy fix. Anyway, that's all for the moment, I'll catch you guys later! :D
Eat Yer' Beans...
Route Building A.D.D!! :wink:
User avatar
Kegg_Works
Posts: 90
Joined: Fri Nov 07, 2014 6:53 pm
Location: Albany, GA

Re: The Mojave & Panamint Railroad

Post by Kegg_Works »

Hey guys, I almost forgot to share with you another revamp, but this time it's in Panamint Junction, which is the southern terminus of the Mojave & Panamint. With much appreciated aid from PCB99, he was able to reskin Pencil's cars shop to look REALLY beaten and weathered. It looks quite at home now on this part of the route. Thanks again, Pencil, for letting us reskin it! Another addition is a small whistle stop, "Borax Flat".

Image
Image

Is it obvious that I love Trainboi1's C&C 4-4-0s? How can I not? They look so completely at home here! At least to me they do. Although I am fond of just about everything he releases, including something quite recent. A "Modernized" Virginia & Truckee #20!

Image

In all honesty I think this is my favorite standard gauge locomotive for the game, ever! As much as I enjoy box headlamps, balloon, and diamond stack... I am a sucker for TOC steamers with oil lamps and capped stacks. Perhaps with some tweaking #20 here can be a possible freight loco for the Los Angeles & Independence? :wink:

Image

A picture of some of Trainboi's fine locomotives, posing for a photo with the reskinned engine shed in the background.
Up next is the aforementioned whistle stop, Borax Flat. A lonely, desolate place not far from a grade crossing.

Image
Image

Borax Flat sits at milepost 8.8 on the M&P's right of way. It's a lonely place and I suspect that it would be either a request stop or a transfer/meeting point for local stage coaches.

Anyway, I have some other screen shots, but I will save those for later. Again, not much of an update but at least it's something after my long silence. And once all the detailing is in place with structures, people, ect... I can FINALLY get around to ground texturing!!
Eat Yer' Beans...
Route Building A.D.D!! :wink:
Pencil
Site Admin
Posts: 1287
Joined: Sat Oct 08, 2005 10:28 am
Location: Portland, Oregon

Re: The Mojave & Panamint Railroad

Post by Pencil »

Congratulations on the move, and it's great to see your progress on the route!

Curtis
User avatar
Kegg_Works
Posts: 90
Joined: Fri Nov 07, 2014 6:53 pm
Location: Albany, GA

Re: The Mojave & Panamint Railroad

Post by Kegg_Works »

Pencil wrote:Congratulations on the move, and it's great to see your progress on the route!

Curtis
Thanks, friend! I really appreciate it! The route is about to look a WHOLE lot better soon as I recently bought a copy of T:ANE, so we'll be able to really see this route's scenic potential! It's going to take a while for it to reach my house, but at least it's on the way. :wink:
Eat Yer' Beans...
Route Building A.D.D!! :wink:
User avatar
Kegg_Works
Posts: 90
Joined: Fri Nov 07, 2014 6:53 pm
Location: Albany, GA

Re: The Mojave & Panamint Railroad

Post by Kegg_Works »

Well, once again it's been quite sometime since I've made a viable update. And I believe an explanation is warranted.

The primary cause of delay is out of frustration... Not with the route or the game, but with my PC itself. Courtesy of my Tax Refund I elected to acquire a copy of T:ANE and upon installing it discovered I have an outdated graphics card. So after sever alloyed sighs I bought a suitable graphics card.... and I've been unsuccessful with installing it into my machine. I attempted to install the new hardware multiple successive times, but to no avail. And I became so fed up with the situation I reinstalled the old card and never touched or thought about Trainz for weeks. At some point I hope to take my PC to a professional and see if they can get the darn thing working. As good as the M&P looks in TRS12 it will look even better in T:ANE!

And now with that out of the way lets get to the pictures! First up is small isolated section around milepost 28 or so. (give or take a mile) It's a small dry wash and it was one of the first areas I started "practicing" with textures and vegetation.

Image

Scenery here is still pretty minimal, but I'll add more as I work my way towards it. At present my scenic focus is on the M&P's "High Line", which starts at Slate Range Pass and ends around the junction for Whitaker. This next shot is looking "south" along the grade and the big canyon bridge is just out of frame to the bottom. For the most part I've only used two different scenery splines to create the effect I have here. The first is a sagebrush spline and the second is a grass spline. The create a good look, but are a bit dark. In particular the grasses which are too green. Tans, Browns, and Yellows would be preferred, but this will most certainly work if I can't find something better in the mean time.

Image

Next is the "North" end of tunnel 3, with added textures and vegetation. I may need to go back and edit some of the splines as I may have some sage brush magically floating inside the tunnel or "growing" off of the walls. And we can't have that, can we?

Image

In this next shot we take another look at the "South" portal of tunnel 2. It's probably obvious that this is one of my favorite vantage points. But the scene looks all the better now with some ground cover! Again, I've only used a few different splines to create this effect. Layering them atop of one another creates a great realistic effect.

Image

This next view is almost directly above the entrance to Tunnel 2. This time looking "South" to where the line clings dangerously to the mountain side. Although this is a relatively small scene on the railroad it's one of my personal favorites because of how dynamic it is.

Image

This next view I somewhat stumbled upon when navigating from one place to the next on the map. I REALLY liked how you could look back and practically see all the way back to the Summit tunnel! You can certainly make out the "High Bridge" just before it. I had thought about placing a static camera here, but I felt it would interfere with the tracking one right by the exit of the rock cut. Still makes and excellent vantage point in free-roam though!

Image

Only a select few have had the privilege of seeing this route in its entirety, but for most it may be difficult to make out some of the proximity of some of the locations along the right-of-way. This next shot shows how close the rock cut is to tunnel #2.

Image

And for the final shot for this post, here is a view looking out from the high bridge. Things are really starting to look like an actual desert, aren't they!

Image
Eat Yer' Beans...
Route Building A.D.D!! :wink:
User avatar
Kegg_Works
Posts: 90
Joined: Fri Nov 07, 2014 6:53 pm
Location: Albany, GA

Re: The Mojave & Panamint Railroad

Post by Kegg_Works »

And here is one just for fun, or the history books. You guys decide! ;)

Image
Eat Yer' Beans...
Route Building A.D.D!! :wink:
Trainboi
Posts: 217
Joined: Fri Jul 05, 2013 9:16 am

Re: The Mojave & Panamint Railroad

Post by Trainboi »

Indeed it is starting to look like a proper desert - keep at it!
I don't know if the greens are too dark, I'd actually tend to say the more "grey" bushes are the real issue. Either way, suitable replacements for either or both would be good to have.
User avatar
Kegg_Works
Posts: 90
Joined: Fri Nov 07, 2014 6:53 pm
Location: Albany, GA

Re: The Mojave & Panamint Railroad

Post by Kegg_Works »

Trainboi wrote: Thu May 11, 2017 6:30 am Indeed it is starting to look like a proper desert - keep at it!
I don't know if the greens are too dark, I'd actually tend to say the more "grey" bushes are the real issue. Either way, suitable replacements for either or both would be good to have.
Yes, I feel the same way. I've recently been looking at the region I'm modeling using Google Street View as a guide and, as much as it pains me to do so, I think I'll delete all the scenery brush splines I've used and start over. The area seems to be more "grassy" that with bushes and such. And a lot of the vegetation is either pale tans or yellows. Some bits of VERY pale green and some various browns. So I'm going to re-evaluate my methods and plant choices. So there's still plenty of messing around to be had. But at least there's a glimpse into how the route may look when finished! :wink:
Eat Yer' Beans...
Route Building A.D.D!! :wink:
Trainboi
Posts: 217
Joined: Fri Jul 05, 2013 9:16 am

Re: The Mojave & Panamint Railroad

Post by Trainboi »

Heh, problems always follow route building...
It could be worse, I laid tracks for my Washoe Valley line in Railworks from Fallon to Salt Wells and Parran, along with the mainline to Hazen and the N&C branch back to Fallon. Unfortunately I realized I'd set up my DEM wrong, and am in the process of moving everything - track, yards, towns in progress, canals - a few thousand feet up.
User avatar
Kegg_Works
Posts: 90
Joined: Fri Nov 07, 2014 6:53 pm
Location: Albany, GA

Re: The Mojave & Panamint Railroad

Post by Kegg_Works »

Hey all, been a little while again, hasn't it? (A little while may be a bit of an understatement...)

Anyway, unfortunately work on the M&P has been a little slow, however there have been a few updates! Like taking another crack at scenery and got some new content for the route! Thanks to PacifiCoastBorax of course.

First up, scenery. Now bare in mind that this is just a small section of the route and it's gonna' take me a while to 'vegetate' the whole ROW. But it is a good start.

Image

After looking at some photo comparisons of the region this looks MUCH more accurate now! Took me forever to find some decent grass splines that looked "right" if you know what I mean. Scenically speaking, the ground textures and these grass splines will make a good base to build off of. In retrospect I believe I should have kept my original shrubbery from my first attempt and then add this over it. I think that would have don the job. Oh well, we live and learn, right? So here are another couple of shots to show off the look of things so far.

Image

Image

I think the grass provides just enough transparency to let the ground textures through. So I think this is going to work out. The only draw back is it takes a LOT of time to do. Next up, NEW LOCOMOTIVES!!

Image

Image

Image

Image

Yep, finally the spots for engines 8 and 9 have been filled! PCB did an amazing job reskinning Trainboi's NCNG #9 and N-C-O #14 to fill the roles. I made an inquirer with PCB a few days ago on the subject and requested he used N-C-O 14 for M&P #8. Mostly because I like the look of those boiler mounted air tanks and older style headlight. I think it adds some nice variety to the loco roster, since otherwise both engines are identical. So now that leaves only one engine left in order to complete the loco roster, #6. Some time ago Trainboi seemed to take up interest in modeling it, as it's based on a C&S Mogul, with a few cosmetic changes. Been a while since I've heard from him, I hope he hasn't lost interest as I know he'd do a bang-on job of modeling it! But I also understand he has a lot of his own projects to do to which take priority over my little request. Besides, I was elated to see his Stevens Ten-Wheelers released!! Wonderful models they are, and for an earlier version of the M&P would make a lovely addition to the SG portion of the route.

I did make a few other updates. Did some more work up at the Whitaker Iron mine and also rebuilt/updated the Ballarat Cemetery. (since it didn't copy right when I had to up and move the whole town 50 yards or so) Sadly I neglected to take any screenshots of that. Hopefully I'll remember to do so the next time I'm working around there.

That's about all for now and hopefully, God willing, and with any luck, I'll have some more updates for you shortly!
Eat Yer' Beans...
Route Building A.D.D!! :wink:
User avatar
Kegg_Works
Posts: 90
Joined: Fri Nov 07, 2014 6:53 pm
Location: Albany, GA

Re: The Mojave & Panamint Railroad

Post by Kegg_Works »

Well, reading back on this thread a bit, I seemed to have overlooked something that I forgot to post about....

I've made some pretty notable changes to the engine facilities in Ballarat and somehow I've neglected to share it with you all. >_<
First up is an overview of the roundhouse, turntable, ect... but with a few more buildings added.

Image

Image

I've also added Pencil's Virginia City car shops next to the roundhouse (not shown) in lew of an erection shop. Seeing as Ballarat was the primary location for locomotive maintenance it would make sense for such a building to be there.

Now these next for shots may seem a little.... confusing... as it shows "No. 8"... but as a 4-6-0... I just realized I made a number goof. THIS #8 is accurate, as according to Tice's loco roster #8 was the road's lone Ten-Wheeler and #7 was the other 2-8-0 identical to #9. (DOH!!) >_<

Image

Image

So the question here is, do I want to take a creative liberty and re-number this engine as #7? That would be the simplest solution. Or should I see about renumbering 2-8-0 #8 to #7 and be accurate with Tice's roster? *sighes* Oh well, I'm sure I can work something out. One a side note, it should be obvious which loco I used for make the M&P's only 4-6-0. Oahu Railway & Land Co. #64. It was the only 3ft gauge ten-wheeler I could find that would actually work in my version of TRS12. Ideally, I would prefer a loco more along the lines of SPNG #18 or #9, given that Mr. Tice's inspiration came from the N-C-O and the SPNG. Hopefully in the not too distant future we'll see a model of one of those engines for Trainz. And here is a pic to illustrate which engine I'm talking about.

Image

And now for one last image, this one more for fun and to, hopefully, set the atmosphere I'm aiming for in this route. (Not to mention hinting at what other things you can "drive" in the route.)

Image
Eat Yer' Beans...
Route Building A.D.D!! :wink:
Trainboi
Posts: 217
Joined: Fri Jul 05, 2013 9:16 am

Re: The Mojave & Panamint Railroad

Post by Trainboi »

Looks like my draft horse may have some engines to outpace once again... :twisted:
I haven't forgotten about #6, no, just been busy. You'll be interested to know I've got a copy of Sierra RR/Rayonier #38 ready for release from ANL, and I've been working on updating his diesels and TTT-6s. I've also got Rayonier's 3-truck shay thanks to him (needs finishing) and I've done the as-built CRI&P "Rockets," which need more in-service variants and proper Commonwealth trucks now. Finally, I've got an AC-11, a P-1, a GS-2, an ATSF doodlebug, an entire Coast Daylight, 15 wood reefers, a Leslie rotary, a complete set of Sergent couplers for my fleet, my first DCC set, an E6A/B/B and PA/B/A-1 set (for a friend's birthday and Christmas gifts, I'm going to build and customize them for him), and I'm bidding on a V&T 2-6-0 which is probably going to become B&L #3. (Yeah, I've been a little E-bay happy of late) So I'm probably going to be taking a break until my tiny layout is running fit to burst! I'm also going to try and complete the Uintah mikes and some Argentine Central for Dangavel by year's end. If I'm lucky I will get #6 done sooner rather than later, though, as I've more or less finished updating my C&S moguls at this point.
User avatar
Kegg_Works
Posts: 90
Joined: Fri Nov 07, 2014 6:53 pm
Location: Albany, GA

Re: The Mojave & Panamint Railroad

Post by Kegg_Works »

Wow, you have been busy!! I figured as much and all that new conent sounds awesome!! Can't wait to see more of it, especially tbe Argentine shays and Uintah locos!

Thanks to PCB thw M&P will now have a full line of freight stock. All reskins of your (Tainboi's) SPNG content. Still need to work on some cabooses as they are painted in thw M&P's earlier passenger scheme. (Yellow/Buff with brown roofing) so still need to figure that out.

And with all this content now I may need to find a place where it can be downloaded. Or upload it to the DLS. With permission of course and propper credits will be given~

On a side note, felthomesicke homesick so I started another period route set in the 1920s ir 30s. I'm originally from Maryland and was just 20 minutes shy of the state line, so I'd go up to PA all the time. So I started a small freelance narrow gauge set in Pennsylvania I'm calling the Oil Creek & Mineral. I may start a new thread on that at sone point. Though I'm working on it sparatically so this route doesn't overwhelm me. ;3
Eat Yer' Beans...
Route Building A.D.D!! :wink:
User avatar
Kegg_Works
Posts: 90
Joined: Fri Nov 07, 2014 6:53 pm
Location: Albany, GA

Re: The Mojave & Panamint Railroad

Post by Kegg_Works »

Hey all!! Sorry that it's been such a long time simce the last update. Sadly I've been having some PC issues which has brought progress to a near standstill. Among other things going on in real life. But hopefully I'll an update not long after the New Year, if not sooner!

Merry Christmas everyone!!
Eat Yer' Beans...
Route Building A.D.D!! :wink:
NormHart
Posts: 274
Joined: Tue Nov 01, 2011 9:22 am
Location: Calistoga, California

Re: The Mojave & Panamint Railroad

Post by NormHart »

I was wondering what was going on, Merry Christmas (belated) and a Happy New Year to you and yours!
Post Reply