VMRJ: Welcome and news

15 April 2004

Selected articles available in PDF format

Beginning with the 15 April update (this one!) selected articles are being made available in Adobe Acrobat PDF format. Just click the PDF link to the right of the article listing on the home page.

In this issue

A short line of distinction. John D'Angelo shares the story of how he researched and is now building a prototypical New England short line, the Belfast & Moosehead Lake. John's description includes modifying existing rolling stock for use on the line.

Meet Peter Pardoe-Matthews. Best known as Narrowgauge, Peter is one of the most prolific builders of Trainz locomotives and cars. You can learn more about Peter from our interview with him.

Railroad fiction. We've provided the complete short story "Holding up a train" by O. Henry. We don't recommend you follow this robber's advice.

Download gold. John D'Angelo continues his exploration of the Trainz Download Station. This time he's looking for American heavyweight passenger cars and finding a nice supply.

Prototype data. We've added a tip on where to find modeling data for TTX freight cars.

Enjoy!

1 April 2004

Casey's last ride

In "Casey Jones, the legend, the man, the facts" John D'Angelo takes train simming to a new dimension by demonstrating the last ride of Casey Jones and casting new light on what may have really happened on that fateful, rainy morning in the near dark when Casey's train ran past a flagman and rear-ended a stalled freight on the Illinois Central. John's simulation should be available at the Trainz Download Station by the time you read this.

John's article points the way to another capability of Trainz: historical simulations. Anyone care to tackle the Andrews Raid? We'll be exploring less ambitious historic simulations/operations in the future.

Also in this issue

Northeastern Junction. "Down by the depot at Northeastern Junction" introduces a core module for others to expand as they see fit. The module centers on a fictitious interchange between two railroads. The route, NEJ, should be available at the Trainz Download Station by the time you read this.

Prototype data. Finally, we've added a new section to house prototype data and stocked it with two articles: "Shelburne Falls: New England railroad town" and "Shelburne Falls & Colrain combine number 10." The former provides information about a Western Massachusetts railroad town that combined the intersection of two railroads and a trolley line, and the latter article provides information about a car that ran on the trolley line and has since been restored to operation by the Shelburne Falls Trolley Museum.

Stories we're following

Maine 2-footers. Wayne Cooke (a.k.a. Cookie) has released the Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington 2-foot gauge route, inspired by the prototype. Although we don't yet have WW&F rolling stock, the Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes equipment will be perfectly at home on Cookie's route.

Wiscasset.

Cookie's route is loaded with detail, which could be good or bad depending on your computer's capabilities (my 733 MHz rig has trouble). Wiscasset is particularly interesting, being on the waterfront and loaded with industrial and sea-related detail. The rest of the route is inland with plenty of great New England scenery. Thanks for a super effort, Cookie, and thanks for adding to the growing lineup of 2-foot gauge routes.

American steam. Gary Hoorn has created a beautiful rendition of an American icon, the American 4-4-0 type steam locomotive, in Pennsylvania Railroad livery. The loco is shown here on John D'Angelo's Altoona PA route. The scene is somewhat reminiscent of a Currier and Ives painting.

American 4-4-0.

Two more American steamers were just released: Rio Grande Southern #20, a handsome 4-6-0 narrow gauge Ten-wheeler by Todd Hohlenkamp (a.k.a. Prowler) and P10, a classic 4-6-2 standard gauge Pacific by Gary Hoorn. The Ten-wheeler is complete with engineer and fireman, and has loads of detail. The P10 is a good candidate for reskinning to a road of your choosing. You can find the former at Prowler's web site (http://www.steammachine.com/prowler/) and the latter at the Trainz Download Station.

Rio Grande Southern #20.

P10 Pacific.

Thanks for the super effort, guys.

Oh, and one more thing!

The line made famous by Steve Jobs just before making a blockbuster announcement is most appropriate here. Every time I think this issue is ready, someone releases something new and special. In this case it's the TrainzProRoutes release of their TPR Scenario Creation System. You can find it at the TPR web site (http://www.trainzproroutes.com/). We'll have more to say once we get a chance to read the manual and try developing a scenario. Meanwhile, this release should be a much-needed tool for people like myself who are not all that good with scripting. Three cheers for TPR!!!

Enjoy!

15 March 2004

The grand faux pas

The March 15 update came out 13 days early -- by mistake! I planned to post a preview for the Editorial Board to review, but instead of getting it all into the preview folder, the high-level pages went into the live folder. All attempts to reverse this failed -- or apparently failed -- leaving me with no alternatative but to go ahead and make the best of it. The good news is that you have more articles sooner than expected. The bad news is you will have to wait longer for the next batch.

What's new

We've got a travelog article -- "New England ski trip" -- that presents a filmstrip of a run from Portland to Sugarloaf on John D'Angelo's Boston to Portland route. Creating this "show" led to two articles for the Resources/Tips section: "Learning a new route" and "Managing screen shots." We also have two articles by John: "Moving your freight with LARS" and "Tracks to expand your railroad world." LARS is an exciting new animated industry system from the folks at TrainzProRoutes. Both articles complement each other as they will help you plan and expand your freight operations.

Finally, we've added another piece of fiction to the Library, "The Locomotive That Lost Herself," by Cy Warman, 1897. Here's the opening paragraph:

A ENGINE 13 had been designed by a genius who was called a crank. He was the inventor of some of the most useful tools and appliances in use in the shops. He was an enthusiast. If he had not been, his design would never have been accepted by the superintendent of motive power and machinery. He claimed that his new locomotive would steam better, pull harder, and run faster than any engine on the K.P. She was so constructed that she could run farther on a tank of water, the enthusiast said, than an ordinary locomotive would run on two; and that was good, for water was scarce on the plains. She had patent lubricators and balanced valves -- new inventions at that time -- and being fresh-painted and handsome, she was regarded as a good "catch" by the engineers of the Smoky Hill Division. The genius who designed her had been sent out East to the locomotive works, to superintend her construction; and long before the engine was completed, the mechanics employed upon her had arrived at the conclusion that the Western engineer was as crazy as a jacksnipe.

Enjoy!

1 March 2004

In this update

Scott Monsma shows us how to create panoramas within Trainz and place them on a web page. His technique builds on the InvisiCAB created by Rich Blake and described here last month in the article on using Trainz for 3D presenations.

Next, Rich Blake describes terrain and scenery development in part 2 of his series on his Clear Lake Logging Company route.

Also in this update John D'Angelo introduces us to the wonderful world of American steam. To go along with John's initiative we've added a Library to the Resources page where we'll be adding articles, stories, and fiction -- much of which will harken back to earlier times when America was enthralled by the train. Most documents in the Library will be available in three formats: Adobe Acrobat PDF, Palm Doc, and plain ASCII text. By way of introduction, I've added an article on railroad fiction. Just to get you warmed up, we've set aside the opening paragraph from Rudyard Kipling's 1898 story ".007" here. You can find the entire story at our Library.

A locomotive is, next to a marine engine, the most sensitive thing man ever made; and No. .007, besides being sensitive, was new. The red paint was hardly dry on his spotless bumper-bar, his headlight shone like a fireman's helmet, and his cab might have been a hard-wood-finish parlour. They had run him into the round-house after his trial -- he had said good-bye to his best friend in the shops, the overhead travelling-crane -- the big world was just outside; and the other locos were taking stock of him. He looked at the semicircle of bold, unwinking headlights, heard the low purr and mutter of the steam mounting in the gauges -- scornful hisses of contempt as a slack valve lifted a little -- and would have given a month's oil for leave to crawl through his own driving-wheels into the brick ash-pit beneath him. .007 was an eight-wheeled "American" loco, slightly different from others of his type, and as he stood he was worth ten thousand dollars on the Company's books. But if you had bought him at his own valuation, after half an hour's waiting in the darkish, echoing round-house, you would have saved exactly nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine dollars and ninety-eight cents.

Finally, John provides a first-look look review of Vulcan's nifty animated bascule bridge.

New board member

Scott Monsma has joined the Editorial Board. Scott contributed our lead article on panoramas. You can read more about Scott here.

New features

As mentioned, we've added a Library to our Resources section. We've also added a Reviews page to our Resources section.

Enjoy!

15 February 2004

Big E Trainz show

Last weekend was the annual train show at the Eastern States Exposition Center (a.k.a. Big E) in West Springfield, Massachusetts. I had the pleasure of meeting Henk Plaggemars (a.k.a. Café) from Auran and watching him wow the audience. There was seldom a quiet moment as young and old alike were transfixed by the wonders of Trainz.

Henk Plaggemars showing off Trainz at the Big E, February 7-8.

If you haven't seen Trainz on a flat screen monitor, you have a treat in store. The sharpness is something I haven't seen before in a simulator. It certainly puts my old CRT monitor, which I thought was quite good, to shame.

Auran was sharing a booth with Walthers, the big U.S. model railroad distributer. Neither was selling direct at the show, but Walthers had provided two dealers with a total of 50 copies of Trainz. Both were sold out before Saturday was over. Henk felt he could have sold 200 copies if he'd had them. I think if the kids were buying he could have sold 500!

Mann's Creek animated coal cars

Peter Pardoe-Matthews (a.k.a. Narrowgauge) has released a beautiful pair of 3-foot narrow gauge wooden coal cars. One is loaded; one is empty. The lower side flaps are movable. You can get the cars at Sirgibby's TrainZONE site (http://www.trainzone.co.nz/).

Mann's Creek coal cars by Peter Pardoe-Matthews. Screen shot by Alfred Barten.

Peter provided us with some background notes:

Mann's Creek Railroad was a 9-mile-long 3-foot-gauge short line coal hauler between Clfftop and Sewell in West Virginia. The operator was the Babcock Coal & Coke Company. In addition to the coal line, which was the company's reason for existence, a small logging branch extended from Clfftop at the upper end of the line. The line ceased operation in 1955. Coal was hauled from the mine to a tipple at Clfftop and subsequently rail-hauled to Sewell for processing or shipment. The line was worked exclusively by balloon-stacked Shays with link-and-pin couplers. The coal cars pictured were made in the company machine shops.

Trainz Learning Centre

If you haven't seen the new Trainz Learning Centre you're in for a treat. See http://www.auran.com/TRS2004/community.htm. The center is filled with useful tutorials created by members of the Trainz community.

Enjoy!

1 February 2004

Focus on Trainz

We're putting out this February edition at the start of the month to bring you some big news. From here on, VMR Journal will be focused on Trainz. There are a number of reasons why I'm making this move.

First, keeping up with any train sim takes a lot of effort. Keeping up with all train sims takes a major effort. Since I still have a day job, this is an important consideration. By focusing on Trainz, I'll be able to give Trainz my undivided attention (and have more fun doing it, too).

Next, Trainz is fun, pure and simple (see my article "Focus on Trainz").

Then there's the Trainz community, where I have developed some great friendships (though to be fair, I've developed friendships in several other train sim communities as well).

Finally, there's Auran, a company who's people are still accessible and willing to be involved with the community. Auran has shown it is a company striving to bring us as great a product as possible, given the conditions of marketplace and technological development.

In short, the Trainz community is a comfortable, enjoyable place to be. It's a community I'm pleased and proud to be a part of.

New Editorial Board

With the focus of our magazine settled, I'm pleased to announce the creation of our Editorial Board. In addition to myself, there is Rich Blake, John D'Angelo, and Brian Eckard. We're all Trainz-focused and enjoy writing, editing, and publishing. We hope you find our efforts as satisfying to read and look at as we do in bringing them to you. You can find more about the board members and our other contributors on the Credits page.

Also in this issue

Trainz is turning out to have practical uses beyond game playing. In my article "Using Trainz for 3D presentations," I show how easy it is for architects, engineers, and other designers to study and present their creations by using Trainz as the display engine.

We've put some effort into our Resources page, expanding the Links section and adding two articles. One article describes what we're looking for in news items and encourages you to submit your news for publication. The other is what will be the first of many tips. This one is by John D'Angelo in which he shows how to build a dock. John's article is formatted in what we refer to as a filmstrip. Let us know how you like it.

Stories we're following

Rich Blake's Sandy River route, mentioned in the last issue, will be available at the TrainzProRoutes web site as soon as the redisgned site comes online. One added feature is a dirt road along which you can drive Rich's 4-door Ford, available at the Download Station (DLS) as KUID 86661:701.

Rich Blake's drivable Ford. Screen shots by Alfred Barten.

Continuing with the Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes theme, Peter Pardoe-Matthews (a.k.a. Narrowgauge) has released two more pieces of SR&RL rolling stock; a lo-o-o-ng caboose (#553) and a flange car (#505). You can get them at the DLS. Look for KUID 44700:19553 and 44700:19505, respectively.

Peter Pardoe-Matthews's long caboose, SR&RL #553. Screen shot by Alfred Barten.

Enjoy!

15 January 2004

We've jumped the gun a bit with our latest posting. We've done it to get in step with what will be our normal posting date around the middle of each month. One attractive aspect of middle-of-the-month issuing is it avoids all the major holidays here in the States, thus making it a little easier to put things together.

This latest post includes a description by John D'Angelo of the making of Nancy's Cove on his Caribou & Cape Porpoise Railroad, which is under construction. If you've ever thought of constructing a seaside village, this is a good place to start.

Don Hughes reviews Train Dispatcher 3, a CTC-type railway control game. This is a bit of a divergence from full-fledged 3D simulations, but it is a fascinating game in its own right. It can come in handy if you are traveling with a low-spec laptop PC or just want a change of pace.

Rich Garber, a renowned developer of MSTS add-ons, gives us a glimpse of what it's like to go from freeware developer to payware developer.

Finally, we've put our guide to writing and submitting articles on the home page list where it will be more visible. It also remains in its permanent home on the Resources page. This guide is a reminder that we encourage you to submit articles for inclusion in VMRJ. You don't have to have a completed model or route. Just tell us what you're doing and how you've gone about it. We're considering putting up a works-in-progress page where you can display you're progress shots. Also, if you would like to make a comment, please do so. Let us know if you are willing to have it published or not.

I almost forgot -- we've also tweaked our format a little and added some external links in the Resources section. We'll keep adding links and tweaking things as we go along.

Stories we're following

Rich Blake is ready to release his fictional Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes route. It will be released on the TrainzProRoutes web site.

Rich Blake's Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes 2-foot gauge route. Screen shots by Alfred Barten.

In other Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes news, David Marlor has released his Snow Mountain route for the Maine 2-footers. This is not only fictional, but fanciful, with spectacular mountain scenery in a winter setting. You can find this route at the Trainz Download Station.

David Marlor's Snow Mountain 2-foot gauge route. Screen shots by Alfred Barten.

Industry news

Auran has announced on their web site that Paint Shed will available next week for free download by new owners of TRS. There will be an option to order PS on CD-ROM for the cost of shipping and handling.

The grapevine has it that BVE will soon increase its screen resolution from 800 x 600 pixels to 1024 x 768 pixels. Most people now set their screen resolution to 1024 x 7687 pixels or higher.

Enjoy!

1 January 2004

Happy New Year and welcome to our first issue. Be sure to bookmark VMR Journal and check back at least once a month for new articles.

The featured news item in this first issue is the blockbuster release of the Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes 2-foot narrow gauge equipment by Trainz Narrowgaugers. Read about it here.

Please send us your comments. Enjoy!