General North American 3rd Party News

Top Photo - Rico, Co (photo)

Bottom Photo - Vance Junction, Clifton-Burnett Coaling Chutes
40's
Present


In addition, the bottom right image of this teaser is bridge 55-a, a photo of which can be found here

Clicking on text in bold leads to an image, as some images are behind a paywall and are only viewable on the Cumbres and Toltec Photo Collection.

 

Not bad to have at least 2 variants of DRGW on both the rolling stocks (with 2 shades of red) and locos (on the tenders). Though very odd to only see the RGS variant on the Caboose for now, but I'm ain't complaining. As long as the route is in the Colorado Rockies with narrow gauge steam, I'll be fine.

 

Did you forget a photo?

 

No, you have to click on the bold text. The main site I have been using made it so the only way to access an image off their site is to purchase it for download, so I have to link the page.

 

Wow, that's bizarre. They know you can just save the image and upload it somewhere, right? LOL

 

Actually, no. Saving the image downloads a singular pixel. Same with opening it in a new tab or trying to reverse search it. Honestly quite clever of them, but it makes posting images here annoying.

 

Print Screen, my friend.

EDIT: Since drgw isn't at his computer and said go ahead and post it...got the image in about five seconds.

 

Smokebox's Challenger Cab.

 

This won't be released on Steam, but seeing as there was a Diesel Workshop post on here earlier and these guys are affiliated with them, I thought it would be worth posting here. Machine Rail is currently working on a Western Maryland H9. As of now they've just finished the as-delivered/factory version of the engine, with a later version, complete with Fireball logos and all, in the works as well. From what I can tell, it should be coming out either later this month or early next month.

 

I think it's worth talking about them now, especially since Machine Rail is bring their Mogul to steam.

 

SS has changed their cover photo for their upcoming UP AC4400CW, with an estimated time of release later this year on their store.

 

Some more Smokebox Challenger progress shots, which include the "Wind Wing" Smoke Deflector and Silver Trim

 

Well, let's hope Smokebox does have time to do the Rio Grande and Clinchfield Variants as well. Other than that, it looks awesome each and every time.

 

Already confirmed they're coming, not like much has to be done for them either, really it's just a logo swap on the tender, plus a new number board.

 

The Clinchfield models do need some work, as after they bought the DRGW ones, they modified the smokestacks.

L-97 Rio Grande Challenger.


E-3 Clinchfield Challenger.

 

There aren't many photos of Clinchfield Challengers with the double stacks, but they did exist with them for at least a short period.

 

That didn't take long...

L-97 Rio Grande Challenger

 

I'll fix the numbering so that it's in the correct range, 3800-3805, not the 3900-3905 that I read on the Wikipedia page for the Challenger!

 

Smokebox's updated L-97 Challenger.

 

Did anyone post from Machine Rail? 1921 Baldwin H-9 is out: https://www.machine-rail.com/product-page/1921-wm-baldwin-h-9-class-modified

 

Anybody else think that the lettering on the tender is too thin?

 

Yes, it's not tall enough. I'm fixing that as I write this. In fact, I've now got a very good close-up of the real thing that allows me to align the lettering precisely with the rivets on the tender.

 

New scenario pack coming for Mt. Shasta route. Looks very nice as every HIS product https://live.dovetailgames.com/live/train-simulator/articles/article/scenarios-for-shasta

 

I'm surprised none of the DTG staff posted this to the Live Article Discussion Today.

 

I am surprised too, I bumped into it on their facebook (HIS' one)

 

Cab preview of DWs ALCO C424

 

Looking good. Hopefully no funny business with the sounds this time.

 

Cab looks amazing!

 

Again, no link posted to this article on the forum.
https://live.dovetailgames.com/live/train-simulator/articles/article/southern-pacific-spectacular

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1922040/TS_Marketplace_Mount_Shasta_Scenario_Pack_01/

 

Usually, the articles that get posted are the ones for bigger products. I don't think they tend to report the scenario pack posts.

 

Previous HIS scenario packs did though, so it's a bit odd this one never got posted (Though it may have to do with the comments on the Penn Central Pack, which was locked)

 

What happened with the PC pack?

 

2 comments by 2 known members, LPsimulations (Did a few enhancement packs) and Schnauzahpowahz (Does reviews of most NA content), about the quality of HIS's Retro Packs, followed by Gary Dozalls rebuttal, and a random locking of the thread for no reason.
https://forums.dovetailgames.com/threads/tsc-a-most-uncommon-railroad.54727/

 

I̶n̶ ̶o̶t̶h̶e̶r̶ ̶w̶o̶r̶d̶s̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶a̶d̶d̶,̶ ̶a̶ ̶f̶e̶w̶ ̶w̶e̶r̶e̶ ̶c̶r̶i̶t̶i̶c̶i̶z̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶a̶b̶o̶u̶t̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶q̶u̶a̶l̶i̶t̶y̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶r̶e̶u̶s̶e̶d̶ ̶r̶o̶l̶l̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶s̶t̶o̶c̶k̶s̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶p̶a̶c̶k̶.̶ ̶H̶e̶n̶c̶e̶,̶ ̶w̶h̶y̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶a̶r̶t̶i̶c̶l̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶r̶e̶a̶d̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶l̶o̶c̶k̶e̶d̶ ̶u̶p̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶n̶o̶ ̶r̶e̶a̶s̶o̶n̶.

[Just for the record, I did not expect for this post to be turned into a fuse for someone. Did not think it would get a response like this that went downhill, my bad]

 

No, the article was locked because one individual in particular posted what in effect was a "review" of the pack before it was even released, and his comments were accordingly inaccurate. Opinion and constructive criticism is entirely welcome. False statements are neither fair nor useful to the community or the developers involved.

 

Fully agree.

 

Shame that review ended up being completely accurate eh?

 

Oh wow. I didn't know it went that far. I know there are some who don't like your scenarios; while that is fine for a personal preference (I hate ones that use 30 different requirements, to be fair), just outright bashing a product without even attempting it seems unfair. If you don't want to play something, don't, but one is in no position to say that product is bad, only to give the experiences one has actually had.

 

Accurate? The individual in question indicated all locos were "years old," when in fact, just as example, the SD35 model is less than a year old and features advanced braking performance (as do other locos); the individual indicated the treatment of the FL9 was "a hancock air whistle added" while in reality the model was fully back-dated from the ConnDot era to its "as built" appearance (changes to ditch lights, class lights, stream generator added, HEP removed, etc.), along with performance tweaks. Geeps, while older in origin were further updated and a GP9B introduced. In total, the GP9 was included in four accurate ex-PRR and ex-NH variants. The pack also included ten new career scenarios and freight equipment in PC, PRR, NYC, and NYNH&H liveries. We choose to create this pack because Penn Central content was previously unavailable via Steam and, based on sales to-date, it would appear there are many individuals who find the pack quite acceptable indeed.

 

Ah sorry you're right, the SD35 and GP9B only look 10 years old, and correct me if I'm wrong but aren't the number boards on the FL9 totally borked?

 

I am a massive fan of the advanced braking physics whilst the rest of the physics remain like slot cars. Half doing something is totally worth doing right?

 

Could you elaborate on this? Does the Smokebox brake scripting behave more realistically but the rolling stock is not suitable for it?

 

Yes correct. Mikes braking physics are quite good, but the locomotive performance falls quite short, with the default blueprint based physics leaving much to be desired as much stock equipment does. Rocketing off with minimal effort, snapping power levels, and dynamic brakes that range from either ineffective to so strong that the entire train slacks into the train like you threw an anchor out of the window.

 

Is this the reason for not having threads for the scenario packs in the article discussions subforum?

 

To hopefully bring appropriate closure to this topic, I can confirm that articles related to HIS products will in the future -- as the vast majority have in the past -- include discussion forum links and the opportunity for comment. I will also restate that we welcome constructive comment and especially specific information that can help us further improve our offerings. In cases where a product has required such, we have, as feasible, created fixes and will continue to do so. We are thankful in having a large number of TS community members who enjoy our products and we are grateful and appreciative of this support.

 

That's great news Gary, I really enjoy your scenarios (and of course the routes), and knowing about a new release is always good news.

 

Travel By Train with an SD70ACU post, they, umm, look like something....


There was also a cab photo posted on the 28th of June, which doesn't look half bad.