EMD GP40s from TravelByTrain

[buzz456]

How about you tell me what is inaccurate on the TBT model?

[Unoriginal]

Just the tiny little minor things and whatever I mentioned before. I never said me nor my friend hated the thing, and for me I’m actually wanting to see what he makes next. He just pointed that out to me (since he actually has that pack) and I wanted to know if anyone else could compare it to already existing GP40s (DTG/HIS, RRmods, VRC, or G-trax) as he cannot since he doesn’t have any of those currently. I don’t know where the need to insult came from him (might be a better word to use instead of insult).

[buzz456]

I apologize I have no idea what you are talking about.

[Unoriginal]

That’s probably just on me then…

But if you could, any chance you could couple this model to other GP40/GP40-2s just to see if there’s any significant difference in height?

[buzz456]

Here ya go.

20230920201542_1.jpg

[Unoriginal]

Well, thank you for that.

To my eyes, the TBT one seems to be ever so slightly smaller than the VRC counterpart. I'd say that wouldn't be that much of an issue unless your really looking at it hard enough (or if your just running them with locomotives a bit taller than it).

[buzz456]

And of course you are assuming the VRC one is the accurate one. Please advise me of the height of the GP40 so I can measure these and determine which one is the proper measurement.

[Unoriginal]

And of course you are assuming the VRC one is the accurate one.

No? I was just pointing that out. Honestly they both could be wrong and we could never know.

Height is 15 ft 5 in.

[mindenjohn]

The truck spring hangers are missing on the TBT and I have notified TBT.

[ElphabaWS]

Ah, the value of anonymous and second-hand information ....

No offense but how is it second hand information if he looked at manuals from the company that built the real thing?
I’m not trying to turn this into anything, but I’m basically taking that as an insult toward him.

This has nothing to do with anyone. It relates to the idea that stating things like "someone told me" gives the reader no idea if it valid or not and is a typical way, intended or not, that misinformation and rumor gets passed along.

[RAILSOHIO]

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I am going to chime in on this. I was in regular communication with Jerry when he was developing the GP 40's. I needed units without dynamic brakes,and he was generous enough to accommodate my request. At the time the Gtrax units were the only 40 series in game. It was not until later that I observed that they ALL sit too high. The proportions are right,just the engine is about 6 inches tall. (Too much gap between the carbody and trucks) All of the existing second gen EMD locos in this sim are at the same ride height. You will see from the attached screen shots a few examples. Later VRC donated the engines to the RWA library,and that was great. So what is unclear to me,is if Travel By Train is reworking the VRC meshes,or if they are new. Years ago I purchased some of their GP-35's,with the idea of doing reskins. But the fact is,I really needed non-dynamic 35's also,which they never did. I liked their product,and wanted to support them.
The posting of this new screen shot makes it seem the TBT unit is at a lower height. If so,I absolutely will purchase an non DB unit,to reskin for the DT&I,maybe the GT. I did not see any updates on the TBT website,and a search revealed their FB page,which I am now following. I look forward to more progress. Joe

[Unoriginal]

I'm pretty sure the travelbytrain models are made from scratch. Outside of the GP40 on rwa jerry took the rest with him. That is good information to know if they all sit too high, now I'm wondering how the RRmods and dovetail models compare to either.

Unrelated comment, but that DT&I unit definitely looks great.

[RAILSOHIO]

Thanks for the comment on the DT&I unit. I reread my post,and I want to clarify that all second gen EMD from all other developers match in height. It is just the VRC that rides high on the trucks. I am certain that TBT will fix the missing hanger,and I am looking forward to getting one.

[mindenjohn]

The truck spring hangers are missing on the TBT and I have notified TBT.

Martin has responded - it is being investigated and he will advise when resolved. So will I.

[ENR3005]

Thanks for the comment on the DT&I unit. I reread my post,and I want to clarify that all second gen EMD from all other developers match in height. It is just the VRC that rides high on the trucks. I am certain that TBT will fix the missing hanger,and I am looking forward to getting one.

You can actually edit the height of the body so it sits at a proper height above the trucks quite easily in TS Tools in the </SourceLToPTransform> section of the shape file. It just requires an understanding of what each of these lines do. A section below the </SourceLToPTransform> section, called <TransformName> tells you which each line is. The following tutorial written by Chacal https://railworksamerica.com/index.php/ ... t-position explains how to edit these lines. You just have to remember that if you move the body down, you need to move the horn, bell and everything it attached line by line. You can use Excel to do the calculations for you and manually edit in the new numbers within a few minutes. If you worked with MSTS's Shape File Manager years ago, this is the same sort of thing in many ways.