cwtice wrote:WOW! This is totally awesome! What a fantastic job you're doing and what a huge honor it is to see my old layout inspiring people some 25 years after it was completed. Keep up the great work and please let me know if there's any way I can help.
Sorry for the late replay and lack of activity on the thread recently. And Mr. Tice, it's an absolute honor to actually hear from you! I hope that what I've managed to create lives up to the railroad you envisioned.
So anywho... the lact of progress and activity is due mostly because of a recent relocation. I moved to a more central part of the state (near Athens, GA) and it took me a while to get everything in order. That also included the move of all my personal belongings, which I had to make on a separate, later time than the initial move. But, now with everything settling in I have been able to go back to work on developing the Mojave & Panamint!
My recent efforts have focused on Ballarat and updating the reskins on some of the locomotives. I have FINALLY found the right file to swap out and replace the boiler jacket texture and make it Russian Iron! I was very pleased as the engine looks even better in my opinion, not to mention looks closer to Tice's interpretation. I also managed to swap the roof skin to give it a red color, as per Tice's design on his early 2-8-0s.
The previous two pictures show the updated color schemes. I still have yet to locate the right file for the Steam Domes so I can add the decorative lining to them, other than that they're just about done. I've also updated the lettering on the locomotive tenders to look a little more period appropriate. Here's a close up of the new tender lettering.
Personally I find that it looks MUCH better than the previous font I used! I have to give a shout out to Trainboi as it was his font suggestion, so thanks again for the recommendation. I've also added another locomotive to the M&P roster, No. 8! The line's one and only 4-6-0.
Yes, it is a reskin of Togog's Oahu Railway & Land Co. #64, but it's about the only decent and/or suitable 4-6-0 for TRS12. Now given that Tice was inspired by the Nevada-California-Oregon and the the SPNG railroad(s) I suspect that he imagined No. 8 as an SPNG style Ten-Wheeler. I had a theory about swapping out the drive bogie on Trainboi's NCNG 2-8-0 with the drive bogie from Prowler's RGS #20, though I'm not sure how well that would look... let alone function. So for now, M&P No. 8 is a small, outside framed little Ten-Wheeler. Oh, and I updated No. 2's tender also!
And now for some of the updates in Ballarat. First up, I added one of the historical structures which is the town jail. Although not and exact match, it's still a pretty darn good representation of the original. Which amazingly is still standing there today!
I also started adding vegetation to the area. More specifically Post Office Spring. It's pretty easy to spot as it is where the most green plants are. I tried to match as closely as possible what you see in real life. I'm also not sure where the spring's name originated from, and I don't know if a post office was actually there or not. I'll assume it was and I may add a post office later, unless you have any info on that, Mr. Tice.
I've also started finding places for all the people and figures I've accumulated, adding life to the town as it were.
![Image](http://orig04.deviantart.net/a9b3/f/2017/013/6/3/main_street_by_gunslinger87-dav9ak0.jpg)