New Hampshire steam?

[OldProf]

The magnificent 1.0 version of the VNHRR (Virtual New Haven Railroad) includes steam engine coaling and watering facilities, leading me to wonder whether there's a 1950-ish era steam engine suitable for use with it. Any suggestions? (Only engines actually available for TS, please, not your dream project.)

[philmoberg]

You're in fairly good luck, as it happens. The BritKits USRA Light Mikado is very close in overall outline to the New Haven's J-2 class Mikados, numbered in the 3100 series. The USRA Heavy Pacific is a passable stand-in for the I-4 class. Both of these would be even closer if it were possible to swap out the cab and pilot for the distinctive designs the New haven used. Springfield Line power tended to have the shorter tender designs than USRA standard, but I personally don't think that's a deal-breaker. The USRA 0-8-0 s a dead ringer for the Y-3 class switchers, which were stock USRA power, and kept their stock USRA tenders until the bunkers were cut-down for rearward visibility. In addition, the UP 0-6-0 bears a strong resemblance to many of the New Haven's 0-6-0 types, but these were mostly replaced by diesels by the era in which the VNHRR is set.

[OldProf]

Thanks, Phil. I should have responded sooner, but got distracted hunting for the BritKit website. I'll take a look at those locos; however, it also occurs to me that Michael, having added some steam servicing facilities to the route, will probably add a steam engine soon. At least, I hope so.

[arizonachris]

There is also an NH repaint here in the file library for Mike Rennie's neat little Consolidation.

[philmoberg]

... I should have responded sooner, but got distracted hunting for the BritKit website. ...

While we're at it, I should've remembered to post this link: https://sites.google.com/site/nynhhstea ... temap/list

Whether or when the VNHRR team have steam power in mind I don't know: they have a great deal of work in front of them just getting to Hartford, which was a very big deal in itself back in those days. FWIW, the New Haven officially dropped its last fires with the coal strike of '49, although the last steam fantrip wasn't run until some time in '53 (at least from what I've read and heard); and most of the fan base seems to be more interested in the McGinnis/Trustee era, which was colourful if otherwise depressing. That said, I have to believe that the more people who see A Great Railroad at Work (linked elsewhere in this forum), the more I think they will rediscover a very impressive (if largely forgotten) piece of American railroad history. IMHO, the New Haven was at ts most fascinating and effective in the '20s and '30s, and I hope to seem more of it preserved in virtual reality.

[OldProf]

There is also an NH repaint here in the file library for Mike Rennie's neat little Consolidation.

And here are the installation instructions:

Installation instructions
-------------------------

[Consolidation] means C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\railworks\Assets\Smokebox\Consolidation\RailVehicles\Steam\Consolidation

1. Create the following folders:
[Consolidation]\NH\Engine
[Consolidation]\NH\Tender

2. Use WinRar (or similar) to unpack the following folders from C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\railworks\Assets\Smokebox\Consolidation\ConsolidationAssets.AP:
- [Consolidation]\ATN Weathered
- [Consolidation]\ATN on Tender

3. Copy the contents of
[Consolidation]\ATN Weathered\Engine
to
[Consolidation]\NH\Engine

4. Copy the contents of
[Consolidation]\ATN on Tender\Tender
to
[Consolidation]\NH\Tender

5. Copy the contents of
[Consolidation]\ATN Weathered\Tender\textures
to
[Consolidation]\NH\Tender\textures

6. Execute C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\railworks\Utilities.exe

7. Select the Package Manager tab, click on Install, and choose the file SmokeboxConsolidationNH.rwp from wherever you unzipped it.

Enjoy!

Holey Moley ... is that all?

Thanks much, but I think I'll just wait for Michael to send out some steam stock to go with the water and coal facilities, thanks.

[mrennie]

There is also an NH repaint here in the file library for Mike Rennie's neat little Consolidation.

And here are the installation instructions:

Installation instructions
-------------------------

[Consolidation] means C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\railworks\Assets\Smokebox\Consolidation\RailVehicles\Steam\Consolidation

1. Create the following folders:
[Consolidation]\NH\Engine
[Consolidation]\NH\Tender

2. Use WinRar (or similar) to unpack the following folders from C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\railworks\Assets\Smokebox\Consolidation\ConsolidationAssets.AP:
- [Consolidation]\ATN Weathered
- [Consolidation]\ATN on Tender

3. Copy the contents of
[Consolidation]\ATN Weathered\Engine
to
[Consolidation]\NH\Engine

4. Copy the contents of
[Consolidation]\ATN on Tender\Tender
to
[Consolidation]\NH\Tender

5. Copy the contents of
[Consolidation]\ATN Weathered\Tender\textures
to
[Consolidation]\NH\Tender\textures

6. Execute C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\railworks\Utilities.exe

7. Select the Package Manager tab, click on Install, and choose the file SmokeboxConsolidationNH.rwp from wherever you unzipped it.

Enjoy!

Holey Moley ... is that all?

Thanks much, but I think I'll just wait for Michael to send out some steam stock to go with the water and coal facilities, thanks.

ermm, but where's the difficulty?

Actually, the complicated bit comes from these pesky AP files and having to extract stuff from them using WinRAR. Otherwise, it would be just a matter of copy-pasting some files and unpacking the repaint package. No biggy.

[dgallina]

Apart from the *.ap file extraction, it isn't any worse than any other repaint installation.

Go ahead and do it if you have the pay ware unit, the NH repaint is nice and looks very good on the VNHRR!

Diego

[mrennie]

NH repaint is nice and looks very good on the VNHRR!

Diego

Thanks Diego

[Noel]

If I remember correctly, there's some NH stuff in my MSTS Conversions.

The Blue Comet was one of them.