WIP AT&N Class 280-157 Consolidation

[evafan002]

hmm it would appear to be a small steam powered generator for the headlight to me

[mrennie]

hmm it would appear to be a small steam powered generator for the headlight to me

Yep, that's it. I always wondered where they kept the generator on US steam locos. Thanks!

[evafan002]

You're welcome mate happy to help

[harryadkins]

You're right. It's a steam powered electric generator for the lights.

[jpetersjr]

Strange thing though, seems like on different kinds of American steam locomotives the steam generator is always found in a different place.

Not one is the same.

[mrennie]

Strange thing though, seems like on different kinds of American steam locomotives the steam generator is always found in a different place.

Not one is the same.

I've found other photos showing them placed just in front of the cab. I also found a video of NNR #93 where the steam/air compressors aren't even on the side of the boiler ... they're placed right in front of the smokebox, either side of the door! Not very aesthetic.

[mrennie]

More pictures (part 1 of 3) ...

280WIP29Aug12-001.jpg

This one was before I'd painted the motion support beams beneath the boiler.

280WIP29Aug12-002.jpg

280WIP29Aug12-003.jpg

280WIP29Aug12-004.jpg

280WIP29Aug12-005.jpg

The eagle-eyed might notice in the last picture that the piston isn't centred vertically with the cylinder! I'd accidentally dragged the whole wheel arrangement up an inch or two (the wheels were floating). I've fixed it now.

[mrennie]

More pictures (part 2 of 3) ...

280WIP29Aug12-006.jpg

280WIP29Aug12-007.jpg

280WIP29Aug12-008.jpg

280WIP29Aug12-009.jpg

280WIP29Aug12-010.jpg

[mrennie]

More pictures (part 3 of 3) ...

280WIP29Aug12-011.jpg

280WIP29Aug12-012.jpg

280WIP29Aug12-013.jpg

280WIP29Aug12-014.jpg

[mrennie]

Also, soon could we have a beta video of it running as it is now in Railworks.

I've uploaded a video to YouTube just now. There's a post about it in Railworks Videos. Enjoy!

By the way, I had to record it without sound because FRAPS slows the fps.

[jpetersjr]

This is looking great, I think I'm going to start on a small town prairie route to run it on. Something that doesn't take as long and doesn't require mountains.

Also, the video was great.

Will be looking forward to seeing progress on the cab, will be looking for various controls pictures.

[mrennie]

That would be a good route for it. I'll be looking for road names too, to provide a selection of liveries.

[jpetersjr]

Was there a version of it as either New York Central or Anne Arbor, would love to see any one of these liveries.

But perhaps you should just do one road name of it and let the re-painters do the rest of the work since it will be freeware when done.

As for the route, I might be able to get some more done after I build some more buildings, "houses and factories," I'm working on a different route for now, a simpler Prairie style route.

[mrennie]

I think I'll start with the one I had in mind right from the beginning ... the Alabama, Tennessee & Northern.

I found a much better programme for recording video ... PlayClaw (http://www.playclaw.com, which doesn't affect the fps at all (it uses spare cores). The only problem with it is that the watermark on the freeware/trial version is very intrusive (more so than FRAPS), but I might just pay the price to get rid of that. It'll make for some really good videos. Today, I've been making huge improvements to the frame, while adding the axle (journal) boxes, hangars, saddles/pedestals and equalizers (part of the spring rigging / suspension) and now it looks far more realistic when viewed from the trackside, because you can see through the gaps to the wheels on the other side, just like the real thing. I'll post some new pics when I've added the coil and leaf springs.

The fps are still fine. I ran a double-headed freight on the SB-B route, RW graphics options on maximum, AA on x8, 1920x1200 resolution, and the fps, while watching it in the drive-by view, were mostly hovering around 25, sometimes reaching 40, and very rarely dropping as low as 19.

[mrennie]

Here's what I've been doing today ... the spring rigging. It's not finished yet, but you can see part of it in this shot.

280WIP2Sep12-001.jpg