2015 news:

 

October 21st, 2015

Wow - time flies.... The 2015 V&T Conference is now over, and I've almost recovered. This year's presentation was significantly more work than I was expecting, but it's done now :). I've posted this year's presentation, along with the presentations from previous years, on the new presentations page.  As always, if you see something I got wrong, or left out, or just have questions about, please let me know.
Other miscellaneous updates: I've posted the Blender source files for the SD9s (thank you, Ben Neal!), and I've updated some of the old water tower and wood rick models for use in Train Fever.  I should be able to bring the updated models and textures back into Trainz sometime in the next year or five....
I uploaded a fixed version of V&T mogul No. 4 (as built) to the DLS; as well as some updates to the NG30 flat car and boxcars, the two early versions of cabeese Nos 9 and 10, the V&T ore car, and one of the NG36 tracks.
Finally, I also pruned several dead links from the links page.

June 5th, 2015

The steam schooners have been completed and are now available on the DLS. The Central Pacific combination car *should* be complete; I'll put it on the beta page soon (tm). I also noticed and fixed an issue with the V&T caboose 9 trucks; they should be on the DLS tomorrow...

May 14th, 2015

The cliff splines are almost ready for release; hopefully in the next couple days. I've updated the custom ground textures for TransDem for TANE, they are now available.
I've started updating the steam schooners for TANE, and have been making a bit more progress on the Minden area on the V&T route. Placeholders for the V&T depot, Meyer's Mercantile, the CVIC hall, and the fire station are now in-game.
Drafts of both the cliff splines and one of the schooners are available on the beta page.

April 30th, 2015

I've been working some more on the updated combination cars; most recently on updating the trucks. I'm also working on a set of cliff and tunnel splines for use on the V & T route. And, I've recently seen a couple of the Portland & Western GP39-2's around town, so I've started working on a model of those. I'm also working on animating the mogul bell in Blender using vertex animation to deform the rope. It looks pretty good in Blender, but not so much when I export it to Trainz. I think I'm close, though...

March 24th, 2015

Trainboi has released his Virginia and Truckee No. 25 (2nd) model over at TrainzForge, along with several more narrow-gauge locomotives and freight car updates; head on over and get them!
In other news, I've done some more work on some Portland and Western locomotives - I have 3 more SD9's that should be ready for the DLS - if no issues; expect to see them uploaded within a week or so. I also have two more PNWR engines in progress. The models are largely complete, but the textures still need quite a bit of work. I've also updated the two PNWR locos already on the DLS with some minor updates. All 7 locomotives are currently available on the beta page. Finally, I've done a bit more work on the Franktown depot, as well as starting the Minden depot model.

February 23rd, 2015

Still working my way through upgrading content for TANE. I've uploaded a fixed version of the Virginia and Truckee ore car, and I'm in the process of converting my remaining models from GMAX to Blender for future work. I've also started work on another set of Portland and Western SD9s, again using Ben Neal's model and textures as a base. This pair is from the Chicago and Illinois Midland, and still wore that line's green paint on the PNWR.

February 9th, 2015

Slowly working my way through upgrading content for TANE; I fixed and uploaded three shacks and the log flume set. I also finished the old Washoe City grade crossing, the Steamboat passenger depot and a store model. The store model is based off of reidh's Lincoln Store model on Blendswap; although I did some pretty heavy optimization for Trainz and built new textures for it. (The original textures were from the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, and I was unable to get reproduction permission.)

January 23rd, 2015

The Skagway roundhouse is coming along nicely. The new turntable is largely complete, and looks quite a bit better than the old TS2004 model. I updated the 34' Haggis reefer to fix an error in TANE. Also, I've updated a couple of fill splines; adding some segments to one of the meshes so that it bends around sharp curves better. I also made a quick version that's a bit desaturated (more tan and less yellow) which seems to match some of the sand ground textures better.