To whom it may concern I have been a Train simulator player for almost five years now. Along the line, I have loved all the locomotives that are out there in the shop. However, what i have not seen is any Norfolk and Western locos and routes. I am proposing that dovetail makes the following locomotives: the Norfolk and Western Class j (611), Class Y6b (1218) and the class A. I am proposing this for a few reasons. One, I find these locomotives very fascinating. Second, there are other famous american locomotives in the game as well, like the union pacific "big boy", the southern pacific "daylight" and the union pacific "challenger." I thank whoever reads this and hope they take it into consideration for me and other fans of the Norfolk and Western Railway. thank you =)
If I had the drawings...I'd do it, but I'm working on the SP GS-3 4-8-4 and the 1937 Coast Daylight Consist in a few weeks for the next two years.
We need a N&W Route for these locos, plus some great rolling stock. I'd suggest the Pocahontas or Powhatan Arrow with the J-Class and some coal hoppers and other freight, plus an N&W caboose, for the Y6b and A-Class.
I would love to see the 611 in TS20**, or in of Dovetail's train games for that matter, but the main problem is that the Virginia Museum of Transportation (the current owners of the locomotive) have put a trademark on the locomotive. Which makes it very difficult for people who want to model it as they would have to get through the laws of copyright first. You can read more about VMT's trademarks here: http://fireup611.org/trademark/
Great idea, but we need an N&W 1950s route to run these, or we could get the 611 and use it on excursions on an NS route.
If someone does end up making a N&W J, I'd also love to see the "warbaby" non-streamlined J. And also the C&O 4-8-4, because they and the N&W J are basically the same design.
Actually the N&W J had a much bigger firebox, bigger boiler, higher boiler pressure and smaller drivers than the C&O engines.
The 5% licensing fee that has to go to the VMT is one of the reasons why I haven't done the 611 (much as I'd like to). Another is the high cost of obtaining the necessary engineering drawings from the NWHS.
We would need a route for the N&W steam locos. The route needs the 4-8-4 J-Class, the Y6b 2-8-8-2s, and the A-Class 2-6-6-4s, plus a full passenger consist and some freight cars and caboose. This needs to be done. More steam locos!
If a route were to be done, I think it should have Roanoke VA somewhere along the route. I really would like to see some more US mainline steam added to Train Simulator, so I'm all for this idea.
To those interested in a freeware Y6a: https://www.machine-rail.com/era-do-vapor Just discovered this and thought I might share!
Just wondering, does the copyright on 611, which is streamlined, also apply to the non-streamlined 605-610? On the trademarks page, it says here: This includes (under copyright) the likeness of the Norfolk & Western Class J streamlined locomotive, including its shape, color scheme, and unique features. In other words, what I'm trying to ask is, does the copyright apply to all J class locomotives?
If we were to have an N&W route, this is how I would plan it out. Title: Train Simulator: Virginia Steam - Norfolk to Roanoke Route Add-On. Base Route: Norfolk - Roanoke. Date: 1950 Trip Length: About 5 hours @ 50mph freight speed. Base Locomotives: - N&W Y6b [Heavy Freight] - A USRA 0-8-0 [Switching] - N&W K class. [Mixed Traffic] Some diesel pioneers would be cool too. - EMD E8 [Passenger] I'd personally be fine with the Amtrak E8 simply being repainted, but with updated sounds and physics of course. - Fairbanks-Morse H-20-44 [Local diesel-powered frieghts]. - ALCo S-1 [Switching partner for the 0-8-0] - C&O EMD GP7. - Virginian 0-8-0 and 2-8-0 (for interchange AI, so it doesn't have to be as detailed). ---------------------------------- (People might be asking why the J class wouldn't be in the initial release). I think it'd work wonders as a DLC locomotive IMO. Perhaps the profits from a J class DLC could be donated to keep 611 running. Price: $69.99 (Yes, I think 70 dollars is good enough for a 250-mile route, 9 engines and standard transition-era rolling stock for 3 railroads). Base Rolling Stock: - N&W-built hoppers. - N&W Boxcars (40 and 50ft variants). - Other N&W standard rolling stock. - Virginian and C&O Rolling stock (For interchange workings) - N&W Heavyweight coaches. (Lightweight Coaches should be reserved for bundling with the J-Class) DLC: Route Expansion Title: Train Simulator: Elkhorn Electrics - Roanoke to Bluefield Expansion Add-On DLC Route: Roanoke - Bluefield (about 130 miles) and some branchlines. Date: 1950 (The last year of electric operation). Trip Length: About 2 hours @ 25mph electric freight speed (on the electrified portion). 2 1/2 hours @ 50mph (steam-powered train). Locomotives: - N&W LC-1 (electric) - N&W M1/M2 (for switching and branchline freight). - N&W E2B (light commuter trains and branchline trains). - EMD NW2 (diesel switcher) *All rolling stock would be included with the original route above. Price: $34.99 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Loco DLC Title: Train Simulator: Norfolk and Western J Class Steam Locomotive Add-On (A TS Pro-series engine) Date: 1944-1950 Route for Scenarios: Norfolk - Roanoke Route. Locomotives: - N&W J (1941), J-1 (unstreamlined), and J (1950) variations. Rolling Stock: - N&W Lightweight Coaches for Cavalier, Pocahontas, and Powhatan Arrow consists. Price: $24.99 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- All in all, it'd be awesome to have Norfolk and Western in the game, especially the mainline from Norfolk to Roanoke.
Very thought out and professionally displayed, nice. However I doubt we'll see a full 250-ish mile route in one package. Largest routes out there never seem to get bigger than 80-100 miles. I'm on board for more N&W content in the game, even more for a transition era NA route for TS.
True, 250 miles would probably yield reviews of, "it's so boring", "it's too long, "Ughhhhh... Another scenery mountainous route." And 10 locomotives in a package does not sound like DTG either.
Guys, it's happening! The Loco Shop announced yesterday that they will be releasing a FREE Norfolk & Western J for TS2020 soon! https://www.facebook.com/TheLocoShop/
Going by the detailed wheels/cylinders, its just a modifed reskin of Smokebox's FEF-3. (just disabled the 844's meshgroups and custom 611 shell slapped on top) Still nice to see something 'new'being added to TS's NA steam catalog.
Unfortunately guys the 611 is kind of a flop, still needs a bit more work. Texturing is great, but the sound is missing and the whistle sounds like it’s breaking the ground. (Bit too much of a bass boost).
Sadly, the Virginia Museum of Transportation has trademarked not only 611, but the entire J Class, meaning not only would you have to strike a licensing deal with NS, you'd have to pay royalties to the museum as well, or at the very least pay a hefty fee. For a one-man job like Smokebox, having to fork over that much money for something he does as a passion project essentially probably wouldn't go over too well. Plus, you have to consider the availability of the original builder's drawings. The Big Boy is being built from 2,800 original drawings from ALCo themselves, and it might be hard to find as many for the J Class. Mike's a busy guy, too - he's set a tentative completion date for the Big Boy in September, and after that he wants to do a Challenger, so that's another year or two. While he's said in the past that a J Class by him probably won't happen, he did say the same thing about an updated Big Boy, so I guess only time will tell.
Yeah, I guess you're right. I wasn't really being serious, as I knew about the stupid trademark, but it would be really neat to see.
But I guess the trademark isn't that bad, because we'd know where that money is going, to keep 611 on the rails.
I think I said this before, but would we be allowed to make the un-streamlined version, 605-610? It says the likeness of the N&W Class J streamlined locomotive, including its shape, color scheme, and unique features. - They don't have copyright over a standard steam locomotive shape. - They don't have copyright over the color black. - Do they have copyright over small drivers and the 4-8-4 wheel arrangement? Or do they have copyright in combining the 2?
really hate to be a know it all but the 1218 is actually an class A heres a link Norfolk and Western 1218 - Wikipedia
I wish I saved it... I did a wipe of all my TS files a while back (before I knew it would be gone). Sorry about that, it's quite a loss...
Yeah Auran took it down of all people, and it's possible that Trainz 12 won't even be sold anymore soon (it's aging harshly), so the model wouldn't be for profit much longer.
They own the rights to that model, so they have the rights to license it out, or indeed to not to do so. Taking their model without their permission is taking away potential licensing revenue. Also it's still available on the Download Station in TANE onward, so you could easily argue that having that model in TS Classic is taking away sales from Trainz. Because someone that would otherwise buy it for the Y6 potentially aren't anymore if they can just freely download it for a competing product. So in both those senses the model's still very much a potential revenue earner at the very least.
I have to say. As long as I've been playing Train Simulator 2021-2022. It's time for a N&W route, locos, and a freaking Retro Pack. We need these things. I mean, there's horseshoe curve (which should also have a modernized version for NS, Conrail, and BNSF Fans), why not add a Norfolk And Western route?
I'm very new to all the intricacies of trademarks, copyrights, etc., and how all that affects modeling railroad stuff, so maybe my questions are stupid. Nevertheless... I have always reasoned this way: I have a thing I'd like to sell. It cost me $Z to have the thing. I price it at $X, and it doesn't sell because the price is too high. Then I have two choices: keep it and have no profit, or lower the price to $Y and sell it. If I choose 4-2, now I have $Y. As long as $Y>$Z then I'm still ahead. Why not lower the price, if keeping it guarantees $0 for the owner. So how does it benefit the VMT or the NWHS, or whoever it is who owns whatever it is that's preventing private individuals who want to model N&W stuff, to price any of it so high they never sell it at all? If the thought is they wouldn't sell any lower because the entity doing the buying plans to sell something based on the thing purchased, could the Norfolk Southern or NWHS or VMT (or whoever) not sell, with a percentage of the secondary sale coming back to them, kind of like a royalty, I guess? Plus, we're talking about electronic data that already exists on some server somewhere, right? Nothing physical? So how much cost could there be to make the data available? Another thing: if the TM and copyright holders facilitated the creation of models of the locos and routes, it would generate much goodwill, which I think would come back to benefit them eventually. So if nothing is selling, they would still benefit, even if they just gave it away. I hope some one of you can show me where my reasoning is flawed, because what you folks are saying about why there's no N&W stuff just doesn't make common sense to me.
First of all, the NWHS drawings are very costly because they're scanned and then printed, using specialised and expensive equipment, on large pieces of paper. They aren't available on a low-cost DVD (at least not last time I checked). Each printed drawing costs a lot, and there are thousands of them for all the parts that constitute a locomotive (and for a detailed model such as those I make, I'd end up using almost all of them). Secondly, once all those costs have been covered, including the royalties for the VMT, and the percentages of the gross price that go to the publisher (Dovetail) and distributor (Valve), there has to be enough left over to make it worthwhile for the developer (me?), who will probably have taken about two years to make the model. That means it has to make enough money, taking into account that there's a limit to how many will be sold regardless of price (there are only so many people, playing TS, who are fans of American steam locos) to justify making that particular model instead of something else that might put more bread on the table. I've done the sums myself and, frankly, I'd probably starve.
Wow! I had no idea (obviously) of that cost. I'm surprised anyone ever models anything, if that's involved. Thanks for taking the time to reply to a dolt!