Penn Central Retro Pack

[ElphabaWS]

Very nice work!

R/
Galen

Thanks, Galen, much appreciated.

[Minneapolitan]

I know this might be a dumb question - especially if I missed something skimming through this thread - but will getting this PC Retro Pack allow me to download the New Haven ALCo FA reskins rather than buying the PRR ALCo FA add-on from the Steam Store? If so, it'd be a much better bang for my buck...

...Even IF Penn Central sucks and it destroyed American railroading.

[august1929]

I know this might be a dumb question - especially if I missed something skimming through this thread - but will getting this PC Retro Pack allow me to download the New Haven ALCo FA reskins rather than buying the PRR ALCo FA add-on from the Steam Store? If so, it'd be a much better bang for my buck...

Texture mapping looks, on first appearance (only on opening the main texture file), to be the same. Depends on how comfortable you are using RWTools/TSTools. That utility will let you copy the the model you have under the name you choose and into the folder of your choice. Should then be a relatively simple job of copying the textures you want across.

I say should be, but there may be variations in placement, child objects etc.

Give it a go and see what happens - the worst is that you may have to delete the copy engine as it maybe doesn't load, work or look right. Come back here with your findings.

Rod

[Minneapolitan]

Texture mapping looks, on first appearance (only on opening the main texture file), to be the same. Depends on how comfortable you are using RWTools/TSTools. That utility will let you copy the the model you have under the name you choose and into the folder of your choice. Should then be a relatively simple job of copying the textures you want across.

Before I download the New Haven FA's, one should probably know where to find the Penn Central FA's.

If I go RailWorks > Assets > HIS > PCRetroPack01....there's just:

Screenshot PC FAs 1.JPG

Side note, since buying the Penn Central Retro Pack 01, the only other known addition to my files is RailWorks > Assets > PC PS140ftPack and that's obviously just for the 40' Pullman-Standard boxcars and there's nothing of use in there anyway.

So where did you find that info?

[ElphabaWS]

As with virtually all TS content now delivered via Steam, the PC assets are all included in the .AP file and you'll need unpack that first.

[EngineerJohn]

Screenshot PC FAs 1.JPG

So where did you find that info?

.AP files can be extracted using 7zip or winzip.

[buzz456]

Just so this is clear a.ap file is nothing but a compressed file to speed up downloading and take up less disk space on one’s hard drive. The game reads stuff outside the .ap first then that which is still compressed.

[pkz19]

Is this some kind of bug? Both of the trailing unit's headlights are on even though the switch for them is not engaged.

20220623200552_1.jpg

20220623200601_1.jpg

[ElphabaWS]

Is this some kind of bug? Both of the trailing unit's headlights are on even though the switch for them is not engaged.

Thanks for the head-up on this. Just took a look and yes, when two units* are lashed-up the headlights illuminate on the rear unit. The headlights function normally with a single unit.

Some refinements and bug fixes are planned for the pack and have taken note of this issue.

* As an FYI, the SW1200s are modeled without m.u. (as was the case with most ex-PRR units of the type), so most accurate to run these locos as single units.

[pkz19]

Is this some kind of bug? Both of the trailing unit's headlights are on even though the switch for them is not engaged.

Thanks for the head-up on this. Just took a look and yes, when two units* are lashed-up the headlights illuminate on the rear unit. The headlights function normally with a single unit.

Some refinements and bug fixes are planned for the pack and have taken note of this issue.

* As an FYI, the SW1200s are modeled without m.u. (as was the case with most ex-PRR units of the type), so most accurate to run these locos as single units.

Thanks Elphaba, I apprecite the quick response and the historical clarification!

[_o_OOOO_oo-Kanawha]

Is this some kind of bug? Both of the trailing unit's headlights are on even though the switch for them is not engaged.

Thanks for the head-up on this. Just took a look and yes, when two units* are lashed-up the headlights illuminate on the rear unit. The headlights function normally with a single unit.

Some refinements and bug fixes are planned for the pack and have taken note of this issue.

* As an FYI, the SW1200s are modeled without m.u. (as was the case with most ex-PRR units of the type), so most accurate to run these locos as single units.

Will the caboose get markers so they are steam/transitional/diesel era caboose?

[Shawmut]

I'm late to the dance here, but can't resist putting in my 2 cents, which is, to cut to the chase: I bought the pack (and at full price) and have been having a great time with it. So thanks, ElphabaWS!

Now for the extended, 49 cents worth .... When I was born, Harry Truman was president and Adolf Hitler was dead only 4 years. The town where I popped into the world was a division point on the Erie Railroad (not Erie-Lackawanna, harumph!!), and at its height was around 15,000 in population. It had a minor league baseball team affiliated with the Brooklyn Dodgers (L.A.? where 'dat?!), a brewery that boasted that it brewed its beer with artesian well water - one of only two breweries in the country at the time to do so, a local candy company (Lord's), a hosiery mill, a very fine public school system, and basically all the amenities of a thriving community. Undergirding the base of this town's economic structure, however, was always the Erie.

And I saw, firsthand, the devastation that the '60's brought and the brain-dead ICC decisions rooted in decades-old thinking not just to the Erie and my hometown, but to Northeastern railroads in general. By the time it was finished the Erie, then the E-L, and even the ignominious Penn Central would come crashing down and it would take until Conrail that the gutting was abetted and finally reversed. And by the time that happened, my town had lost about 1/2 of its population. So it's easy to understand the strong feelings that this "retro" pack engenders. The '60s-'70s for me are definitely NOT the good old days.

Now, with that said, why did I just state that I was having fun with the PC pack? Because I separate my train simming and modelling from what happens in the real world. To paraphrase the British modeler and author Iain Rice, to escape, if only temporarily, from the world of "bullets and bank statements." So I can run PC trains on my computer with complete abandon. There are no strikes because everybody's happy, the shops are fully staffed so the derailments that the real PC suffered are non-existent, and the trains, needless to say, run on time - or as close to on time as I can make them without endangering my pixelated customer's lives

Life's short; have fun!

Dave

[ElphabaWS]

I'm late to the dance here, but can't resist putting in my 2 cents, which is, to cut to the chase: I bought the pack (and at full price) and have been having a great time with it. So thanks, ElphabaWS!

Dave

Many thanks, Dave, and enjoy the Pack!!

[ElphabaWS]

We have issued a post-release patch to Penn Central Pack 01 which is on Steam. This patch addresses:

- The manual has additional content on use of the advanced brake controls

- FL9 controls and advanced brakes script reinstated (an issue that crept into the final build)

- SD35 headlight switch synced with HUD button

- Fixes for some QD preloads.

For this and all High Iron Products we will monitor for issues and make improvements on an ongoing basis.