Hawk & Badger Railroad Forum

Gumboots wrote:

Just Crazy Jim wrote:The fact it is diesel also bothers me. In 2003, there were already maglev trains in operation and the principle of maglev trains has been around since the 1910s. So why not electric at the very least? Granted, the Catenary/OHLE system used in the game is a bit out of step with 3rd rail electrics, which is what most RW maglev systems have used.

If you want to run maglev, you need to generate the power to levitate the train, all of it, as well as push it forward. Trains have very low rolling resistance per ton, so maglev is not always going to be a better solution. You're falling into the trap of "Oooo, teh future! Must be all magical n stuff!"

Surely, Sir Gumboots, you will concede that since it is a game, there is some wiggle room allowed on the realism.

It's the future, Gene Roddenberry told us it would be all magical n stuff. Gene would never lie to us....

But still, diesel? In the scenario that introduces the DD 080-X, they establish that they know about global warming, and whether you agree with it or not, it does not follow that if you start a scenario saying greenhouse gases have wrecked the planet that you then use a diesel locomotive to try to "fix" anything. That's running your argument the wrong way.

Depends how you get your fuel. There are various ways of making biodiesel. Or you can run them on gas, which can be made from garbage dumps.

For this particular instance (Greening Greenland), I am somewhat taken with a line from one of the college kid's dystopian novels I found after he moved out:

Question: How do you power all this?
Answer: By burning whales in our power plants.

But, seriously, if you look back at 2003, there wasn't an especially strong biodiesel movement within the railroad industry. If they were looking at anything with seriousness, it was LNG. Even now, biodiesel use in railroads (in the USA at least) is more a publicity stunt than anything. Much the same way that electric companies offer you the ability to pay more for green energy is something of a scam or publicity stunt (depends on how you look at it), since they over-sell the amount of green energy available by a factor of about 8:1. Pretty much the same business model with cable companies selling "blazing speed broadband".

You can also find a slew of locos at TrainSim.com, but you'll most likely find them too high poly also.

http://www.trainsim.com/vbts/tslib.php? ... layviewsec

Hawk wrote:You can also find a slew of locos at TrainSim.com, but you'll most likely find them too high poly also.

http://www.trainsim.com/vbts/tslib.php? ... layviewsec

Much thanks for the link, Hawk! I'll take a look. Worst case scenario, I'll have excellent guides to use for modelling low-poly versions. :D

In a flight of pure fantasy, I have been looking at UCW Ajax-class 0-6-0 industrial diesel, with an eye toward making a "future" 0-6-6-0 (or maybe even 0-6-6-6-0) caterpillar straight steam or steam-turbine. And, for whatever reason, I'm finding the clean lines of the Ajax class done out with the road paint yellow with hazard stripes livery to my liking. We'll see what comes of it.

A lazy afternoon in Milkshape 3D yielded this rough idea of a future set...

Looks very retro. I get the feeling of 1930's commuter, trundling along at low speeds for short distances.

Question: why are there three trucks under a pax carriage? They run on two trucks just fine, even back during the heavyweight era and even with modern double deckers. What reason would there be for sticking a third truck in the middle, where it's not needed for load-bearing and will only screw you up around bends?

At the moment, the middle truck is just there for visual filler. Kind of a left over from when I was thinking about quad trucks on the loco, two front, two rear, but then I thought about what a pain in the backside it would be to get working and that was the end of that.

Rough texture on the loco

Getting closer...

A bit more polish

I didn't know they had trains like that in Poland.

Gumboots wrote:I didn't know they had trains like that in Poland.

*snork*

Just Crazy Jim wrote:

Gumboots wrote:I didn't know they had trains like that in Poland.

*snork*

Once on our way to my grandparent's house in Detroit, we passed a car wash that had a sign that said "Polish Entrance" and I wondered aloud why they made people from Poland use a separate entrance. Just goes to show that context is everything

Wolverine@MSU wrote:

Just Crazy Jim wrote: *snork*

Once on our way to my grandparent's house in Detroit, we passed a car wash that had a sign that said "Polish Entrance" and I wondered aloud why they made people from Poland use a separate entrance. Just goes to show that context is everything

Lovely!

When I first arrived in the USA, I had a steep learning curve with American English. For instance, one does NOT go to a stationary supply store asking for "a box of rubbers".

A fueling station (water tower) for a future setting.

Closer to the final stage

I like the Ferrari badge. Although Lamborghini might be a better fit, since they got their start building tractors.

I did consider the Lamborghini logo when I was doing the texture. I couldn't manage a bull that looked much like a bull. The best I managed was a sad looking thing that, at best, looked like a water buffalo needing a chiropractor.

Just grab a Lambo badge off the web. There's stacks of them.