WIP AT&N Class 280-157 Consolidation

[jpetersjr]

Sounds great, can hardly wait to see the new video.

[mrennie]

Ok so hopefully you didn't finalize anything with the cab. I just crawled up inside a locomotive today and I'm wrong! The light is slightly different than the gg1s light. I'll post an example in a bit.

Great! I've been working on some pipes and cables on the outside of the loco, haven't touched the cab.

I found a section in the original manual for the turbo generator that says there was a junction box on the front of the cab (I can see it in other photos), and a switch for the headlights on the right side where the engineer could get at it. I'm not sure if they mean inside the cab or outside.

[mrennie]

Thanks Mike. I've got as far as connecting the turbo generator to the cab, so now I can start to spread the cables about inside the cab. I'll do the cab lights in the same way as the K4.

I think I'll put the headlight selector knob on the front inside wall of the cab to the left of the door.

[mrennie]

I've been working on the outside of the cab. Turns out that the numbers were on the cabside as well as on the tender sides. It's just that in the photo I have, the engine was so dirty, you can hardly make out the numbers!

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2012-10-07_00026.jpg

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I put a few extra ones on my blog.

[jpetersjr]

Looking great, can't wait to see the finished item.

[XDriver]

please make some diesels

You're joking, right? LOL!
Let's see. Current diesel count for RSC. 100+
Current steam engines U.S. steam 20?

[mrennie]

alright I agree, maybe some PRR steamers?

I'm certainly going to do more steamers. The next one wouldn't take as long, now that I've learnt how to do them. I've also got a lot of parts that in the Consolidation that I can reuse, or use as the basis for similar parts.

[evafan002]

alright I agree, maybe some PRR steamers?

I'm certainly going to do more steamers. The next one wouldn't take as long, now that I've learnt how to do them. I've also got a lot of parts that in the Consolidation that I can reuse, or use as the basis for similar parts.

if i may put in a request for your next work of art? how about an American standard 4-4-0 like the general or Jupiter plus a coach or two to go with it?

[mrennie]

if i may put in a request for your next work of art? how about an American standard 4-4-0 like the general or Jupiter plus a coach or two to go with it?

Funnily enough, just the other day I was watching a documentary on YouTube that had a lot of footage from The General and it got me thinking about that. Those 19th century steam engines had a lovely querkiness to them. I'd certainly consider it. The problem though, as always is laying ones hands on the detailed drawings (plus, as I live a long way from the USA, I can't easily go to a railroad museum and have a look at one for myself).

[jpetersjr]

Would love to see a very early 4,6,2 Pacific from the late 1800's early 1900's.

I've seen some vintage blueprints of them on google images and I'm sure I can find some.


Need something powerful like that to continue on my Rattlesnake Ridge route, set in the 1800's, I can easily reset the date for the route to about 1905, one of the first Pacific's used in the US would have been around 1900 and was actually imported from England.


I couldn't find any drawings for the General, but I did find a very good blueprint of a late 1800's 4,4,2 Atlantic

[mrennie]

Some news about the Consolidation ...

Through a series of peculiar circumstances, alignment of the planets or whatever, there's now every likelihood that the Consolidation will actually end up being payware. I hope that's good news for those who said they would feel better if they paid for the model (and thank you again, from me, for having said it!) and I also hope that it doesn't come as a big disappointment to those who fully expected it to stay as freeware.

It wasn't a straightforward decision to make, but I had to consider the fact that I have indeed spent hundreds (many hundreds) of hours on this one model, since starting in May, and to be frank, I decided I owed it to myself to have a go at turning it into a commercial venture, if that were at all feasible (which, apparently, it is).

If the model is successful, it would be good news for everyone who wants to see more of this type of loco available for the sim. I might otherwise have done this one loco and then gone off to do something else, but if sales are good, I'll have a definite reason and motivation to do more along the same lines.

One thing I won't be able to do from here on is to continue posting work-in-progress screenshots of the Consolidation on the forums. The marketing and advertising will be in the hands of RSC, so it'll be up to them to choose when to post screenshots on their facebook page or their own website, and to make the final decisions regarding presentation. Same goes for the release date ... it will depend on when the model is actually fit for release and on when and how it'll be packaged by RSC. I'll post here when there's something in fb for you to look at.

I hope I won't get lambasted for "going over to the dark side". I honestly don't see it like that anyway. I see it as a step forward and good news for all concerned.

Cheers,
Mike

[dogmouse]

I think that is great, Mike! Congratulations, and good luck to you as a 3rd party developer. Your work is fantastic, and it shines bright! Looking forward to seeing all of your creations.

Best,
Rich

[mrennie]

I think that is great, Mike! Congratulations, and good luck to you as a 3rd party developer. Your work is fantastic, and it shines bright! Looking forward to seeing all of your creations.

Best,
Rich

Thanks Rich, I appreciate it

I'm glad you pointed out that I'm going to be (once the publishing contract is signed) a 3rd party dev. I won't be on RSC's payroll (not an employee) and the deal is only concerning the Consolidation. So, I'll still be here every day, just with fewer pictures to show.

I really hope this will encourage the rest of you who are into making models to keep at it and see if one day you find yourselves where I am. Everything's possible.

Cheers,

Mike

[mrennie]

To show you that it all started from small beginnings, as well as to show that there's nothing stopping me from posting screenshots, here for your delight (or not) are some pics of my early modelling attempts:

An advertising hoarding (sorry, can't show the other side, it would be free advertising for a particularly nice brand of Yorkshire bitter):

ScreenShot002.jpg

This one was meant to be a horse but ended up looking like a donkey:

ScreenShot001.jpg

This trolley was getting more advanced (I never did get around to replacing the wacky textures):

ScreenShot003.jpg

and then came The Doctor:

ScreenShot004.jpg

[mrennie]

You should consider putting this on steam, it can definately compete with the RSC K4

Which one, the donkey? (scratches head)

I like the look of the K4 but I avoided buying it because I didn't want to be influenced by it (prefer to do my own thing). I'll get it after the Consolidation is published.