Train Mods

[Trolca 15]

Date: 5/4/2004 6:34:55 PM
Author:
Trolca,
I just became a member, and I love all the trains that you have made to diversify our sim railroads, and I wanted to know if you still take requests for freight engines, speciffically a completly new design?
If you feel up to a new engine, could you please reply?
Thanks

quote>

If there's something you'd like, go ahead and post it, images if you have any.

Mexicanboy13r:
I'll try to create both of those models. I believe the first is a SD-40 or SD-40-2. The second looks like a AC6000.

[Mexicanboy13r 12]

Thanks!  Yes you are correct

[Trolca 15]

Here's another custom boxcar.

[pekeboo01 3]

Very nice Trolca! Love your freight cars as always!
I use trains in all of my cities and now I have a really nice variety.

[Duke87 1,070]

Hmm.... I was just skimming through this thread. There's a whole ton of FSH files, enough that one would rarely see repitition ingaame if he used them all...

The member freight cars seems to be a pretty hot idea...

There are mods out there unrepresented as of yet. Oakenshield, samantha, SkiGeek, etc. I'd make a request for a personal one, but I doubt anyone wants a boxcar with Kim Possible on it going around in their cities....

[MC6Ash 4]

I am not really that keen on the news car you have, but I like how you but Sim and Nation as seperate words, thanks.

[Trolca 15]

Date:5/6/2004 4:47:07 PM
Author:Duke87

Hmm.... I was just skimming through this thread. There's a whole ton of FSH files, enough that one would rarely see repitition ingaame if he used them all...

The member freight cars seems to be a pretty hot idea...

There are mods out there unrepresented as of yet. Oakenshield, samantha, SkiGeek, etc. I'd make a request for a personal one, but I doubt anyone wants a boxcar with Kim Possible on it going around in their cities....

quote>

This is my second attempt to reply, the system ate the previous one.

 

I've decided that I wont use avatars and user names of those that don't make requests. Many of them never give any feedback on my work. I can't help but think that either they never see it, are not impressed or perhaps even offended. I have been posting images of my work in other threads along with comments on the appropriate topic. I will no longer be using that method of showing off my work as well. Some might of found this pratice offensive. So from now on, I'll only use avatars and user names of the requesters themselves.

 

It's very possible that you'll see Kim Possible on a freight car.

[Duke87 1,070]

Date:5/6/2004 5:33:04 PM
Author:Trolca

 

It's very possible that you'll see Kim Possible on a freight car.

quote>

 

Okay, this I gotta see......

[chasemiles0 10]

http://www.google.com is a good source for images, sites and more. I think it would help if you used them for logos like mcdonalds, train skin ideas, train models, and more stuff for you train modding.

 

-Chasemiles0

 

I am back from a hard disk problem. It was not working so everything in my computer was deleted. I typed this on a laptop computer.

 

It's great to be back

[Pkmnrulz240 11]

Now you should make a boxcar that says something like Support Simtropolis, or Donate to ST!, Trolca. Something like an old War-effort boxcar... lol...

Simtropolis needs YOU!

[BigRedFish 21]

Here's the engine I use in my cities; I post it here as this is the freight thread.  Orignial-replacement and steam-replacement versions attached.

 

 

To me the BRF means Big Red Fish, but to you maybe it could be Brownsville Rail Freight or Billings, Ralston & Farmsworth, or perhaps even Big Railroad (Fictitious).  The posibilities are limited only by your vocabulary!

 

 

[Trolca 15]

Here's some cars to go with that engine.

  

 

BigRedFish, if you don't like the last one, I can change it.

 

Edit:

Now I'm starting to worry.

[BigRedFish 21]

Neat, my own railroad has its own boxcars!  Thank you Trolca!

 

I don't mind the last one; I'm always up for a good cheeky joke.  In fact, I'm trying to figure out what you could do to make me mad... you'd have to be really trying hard at it to do that, as I will assume that you mean things the nice way.  I appreciate the sensitivity though. 

 

The text on it seems a little busy to my eye, though, too much crammed in to too small a space I think.  Perhaps just Not Red.  Not Fish.  Big on Shipping. would fit better?  Or even just Big on Shipping?  Just a suggestion - you tend to have a good sense of aesthetics on your own.

 

I really like the weathering on the striped ones.  If you were going to re-work any of them (at your leisure and discretion), I wouldn't mind seeing that effect on the others too. 

 

EDIT: Don't worry if I've been a bit silent lately; Real Life has intruded a bit this week and forced me to re-synchronise with normal waking hours.  If I ever have an issue with you, I'll politely PM you about it.

[trainmanr5 0]

Dear, trolca
This is the first time I've seen your work. It is incredable. I skimmed the enire fourm and I think these trains are amazing! Are these in the exchange? I would love to sink my teeth into that amtrack train set.

It seems you guys like trains and simcity as well- I guess I'm in the right place, then. I love trains (hence my screename.) I was so happy when they finally added railroad crosssing arms into SimCity4, weren't you? Where did those dirt roads in the pictures come from, with the wooden crossbucks?

So, please tell me. Have you figured out a way to make the freight trains longer? Could you please repost pics of your best works together in one post so I could look at them? I had trouble looking throug all 42 pages of the forum. I really love your work though, espicially the Amtrak trainsets and the other passenger sets. If there is a way to have longer freight trains with piggy back cars please find it.

I'm new to this website- I used to go to SimCity4's official website. I really love the work you did! You're great!

Your friend and new impressed fan, trainmanr5

PS. How's the Acela project coming along for you?

[BigRedFish 21]

Date:5/7/2004 4:56:15 PM
Author:trainmanr5

[Heavily snipped by BRF]

 Are these in the exchange?  I would love to sink my teeth into that amtrack train set.

Where did those dirt roads in the pictures come from, with the wooden crossbucks?

I really love your work though, espicially the Amtrak trainsets and the other passenger sets.  If there is a way to have longer freight trains with piggy back cars please find it.

PS.  How's the Acela project coming along for you?

quote>

Where to start...

Trolca's custom train sets are available for download in the Mods section.  Just click the Mods link on the left sidebar, and scoll down until you see Newest 10 Prop/Automata sets.  Download Trolca's Train Set RH.  It has just about everything T-man has done in it.

The dirt roads are also in the Mods section.  Follow the link below and look for Trolca's Street Modd

https://www.simtropolis.com/modfiles/content.cfm?section=mods

If you like Amtrak, say hello to some killer Superliners.  Check out my thread:

  https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/view.asp?topicID=48466

Everything before Amtrak California is in the Mods section, just below Trolca's set.

Finally, I have a mod that makes freight trains longer.  It's available here:

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/view.asp?topicID=47496

The file to download is the one attached to the last post.  There are a few issues which can be discovered by reading the thread.

Enjoy!

 

[Phieeel 0]

Meh. I had a nice post typed up more or less in praise of Trolca, BigRedFish, Dearnen, Pegasus, and others, and the fine amount of work and whatnot... However, my computer managed to spasm, right as I was moving my mouse to click the submit button, and subsequently reboot itself as if rebooting itself is a normal behaviour for it. Hence, I shall attempt to retype what I can remember, but as I am posting this a few hours after said computer spasm, it shall be somewhat abbreviated compared to what I had in mind. That in mind, here goes.

Trolca=freight god
BRF=Passenger god
Dearnen=Locomotive god
Pegasus=Lot god
Teamwork=good.


Seeing as this thread is mainly Trolca's, I was more or less saying how I am astounded at both the sheer quantity AND quality of his work. Words fail me. Blah blah, some more praise and whatnot. (sorry, computer glitches that make me lose some of my better writing tend to make me irritable and/or more sarcastic than I am usually) Honestly though Trolca, the work you've done has managed to get me excited in a way I haven't felt in a while. No, I'm not female, and no, that's not intended as a perverse comment. To finish the thought, these boxcars and freight trains get me excited about a few things.

1.) I want to install every last one for variety (okay, I may be a bit more selective than that, but still, i love variety)
2.) When younger, I too enjoyed the hobby of nailing down HO scale tracks in simple ovals (hey, I was 10, and easily amused), and running my Hotwheels cars across the crossing, smashing them with the train; de-railing and subsequent re-railing of the train... Due to an unfortunate incident however, (in which my layout of track was so nicely nailed down, and I had started work on building a town and whatnot, in LEGO, of course) which left my layout in ruins, I lost interest. However, I've been wanting to get back into it, since I no longer have any association with the person who was responsible for said destruction. I'm wanting to do N-Scale, as I want to be able to do more in the same amount of space. This thread alone has just gotten me excited about doing it in SC4, and therefore, spurred my interest even more. As someone called it, it's SimTrainSet almost. Thanks to the dilligence of Trolca and company.
3.)I just want to play SC4 more as a result... Of course, that doesn't mean much, because I already wanted to play anyways. But I gave up SC4 for lent. j/k. Not really, but I haven't played in a while because I spent the past few days working and reading this thread (and helping family and friends with whatever else)

Trolca, I think what amazes me most is the fact that throughout the whole process, you have always been humble about your work. Don't think for a moment that any of the work you have done has gone totally unappreciated. Some may not appreciate this car or that tanker, but someone else enjoys both of those. The work you have done, and the spirit in which you have done it, makes me proud to run the Trolca Trains (alongside the other lines I like, Santa Fe in Red/silver particularly) in my SimNation. It goes without saying that you are a legend. (I know, I've just more or less contradicted myself by saying it. )

And to BigRedFish and others, you guys are also great, I shall reserve my exclamations of joy/jaw drops for your specific works for when I post in your threads.

But to me, the neatest part is how you have all collaborated on the trains so that we can enjoy all your creations at once if we so desire. (referring specifically to the distribution of ID numbers such that your mods don't conflict with one anothers.) That's just the extra mile you guys have gone that makes me realize that I've missed out on quite a lot in this SimCommunity.

I close with but a question, and a heads-up to Trolca.

My question is to you awesome modd squadders: How do you produce such quality works and still manage to find time to lead a (hopefully somewhat) normal life? It is beyond my knowledge at this point due to my slight ignorance of what goes into produce a box car and train (although I have learned a bit just by reading this thread), but it amazes me, especially on Trolca's part. (again, to the others, I'm not inferring you guys haven't done as much, but let me reiterate that I haven't gotten to your threads yet. I just got here. )

And to Trolca; I can only imagine what your SimTropolis To-Do list looks like at this point, but I shall be tacking a couple of request on the end of that, if you are still reading this thread and willing to do so. I've got the ideas, I just need to find the images I would like used as part of the creation. I would like a boxcar with a custom logo I have stored on one of my HDD's, and a tanker with a picture of the PipBoy from the Fallout series of games. Not sure if you've heard of Fallout, but I should be able to procure both images for you at some point. When I do find said images (assuming you need both; you might have Pipboy already somewhere ), I shall post here again.

Again, you guys are all awesome in your own respects. Keep up the good work as long as you can tolerate us non-modders.

 

Edit: Just discovered the Rich Text editor, and decided to color the names so as to grab the right people's attention.

[trainmanr5 0]

Thanks, Big Red Fish,
I followed your directions and looked at all of the Amtrak stuff. I was like, woah! I mean, this guy is good! You make them look so real! And I've been on those Superliners before, and they're just like that. I also downloaded Amtrak's amfleets. Is it okay to use these train mods together? Which ones should I use and which shouldn't be together?

Thanks, Big Red Fish, I was very, very impressed. I love trains and especially Amtrak. I like to watch their high speed trains go by. I live near the NE Corridor, so I get to see the Acela!

We'll talk again soon. I want to stay into this fourm cuz you guys are waay cool! Is that okay? Am I welcome to stay? We can hang and chat! I can send you guys some awesome pictures of my favorite real life trains.

Your bud, trainmanr5

[Phieeel 0]

Date:5/8/2004 12:29:03 AM
Author:trainmanr5

Thanks, Big Red Fish,
I followed your directions and looked at all of the Amtrak stuff.  I was like, woah!  I mean, this guy is good! 

quote>

Just a little note, BRF is actually not a guy.  The fact is located not only on her profile, but buried in this thread.

(See, I pay attention )

[jtportland 184]

Trolca, your trains are amazing! i got so bored with the same train over and over. your trains have really made the game a lot more realistic, thanks and keep makin more! (i'll be checking for updates )

[Trolca 15]

BigRedFish:
I'll get around to making the last boxcar less cluttered looking if you want. I can fade them too.

trainmanr5:
Like BigRedFish said. Look in the Dirt Road thread. Gizmo28 made the crossing signs for streets.

Phieeel:
Thank you for your words of encouragement. That's a lot of typing.

jtjportland:
Thanks for posting. I'm glad the mods help.

To everyone:
It might be a while before I make more custom cars but if you either post an image here or send it to trolca@aol.com , I'll add it to my library. Also let me know anything special you'd like to see on it.

 

Here's an attempt at a SD40.

 

It's hard to tell at the normal viewing angle but it has six axles.

 

I know it doesn't appear that I made very many changes. If something else needs changed, let me know.

[chasemiles0 10]

Maybe a little more texture on the railing and the platforms.

 

P.S What do you think of the google tip?

[cammo2003 20]

Ahh yes, model railroads... My uncle used to have one... When I was younger I would play with it occasionally. I want to get a set myself, I always loved that... My uncle had alot of SRA trains on his model railroads (don't worry, you won't be familiar with that is unless you live here in the state of NSW, Australia).

 

My uncle actually works for CityRail, too (and as a result I have been in the driver's compartment of several types of train).

[trainmanr5 0]

Hi, Big Red Fish,
I tried out your great passenger trains: The Amtrak Superliners and the Genesus engine. I also downloaded the NJT train, cuz I really like it. I see them in real life. I like the way everything looks so real at night.

I had a problem. Some of the Amtrak trains go out fine, but with others, their cars keep disappearing and re appearing. Then, sometimes, they all get bunched up and looked like a mangled mess at the front of the train. What do I do? Will it go away?

[BigRedFish 21]

I just sent TrainMan a PM about his train problem, to keep the static down here.  If it turns out to be a bug I'll post a report.

 

EDIT: Trolca, TrainMan may have found something here.  The RiverHaven Auto Transport car in your latest Train Set release may conflict with passenger cars.  I don't know if it's the problem Trainman is having, but it's a problem.  I'll PM you the details.

 

 DOUBLE-EDIT: the Auto-carriers weren't the problem.  It was a bug in my Amfleet Extra car set.  Thanks to Trainman for discovering and reporting it. 

 

[bueschern 6]

while the detail on the cab is improved, it looks like the platform and railing are out of proportion. ie, railing too high and thick (a post as thick as a sim's leg that is as tall as his sim head), and the platform extends too far in front of and behind the engine. just my 2c.

[Trolca 15]

Date:5/9/2004 12:31:12 PM
Author:bueschern

while the detail on the cab is improved, it looks like the platform and railing are out of proportion.  ie, railing too high and thick (a post as thick as a sim's leg that is as tall as his sim head), and the platform extends too far in front of and behind the engine. just my 2c.

quote>

There's some parts I wont be able to model very accurately. I'll correct the railing. Compared to the model, to me, the platform doesn't look like it's off very much.

The Southern Pacific image was mirrored.

 

One thing that Maxis did and I never corrected is the fact that the width extends to far past the rails. The outside of the trucks should be nearly flush with the railing.

[stp243 8]

trolca, good work on the SD40! that really looks great. i dont think the whole matter of the trucks extending too far over the rail is a really big deal, since its hard to notice from zoom 3.

[Trolca 15]

Here's some corrections flaws spotted by BigRedFish.

 

The Tri Oil and Peabody cars were outright flawed.

 

The two auto carriers had ID numbers in the passenger car range, I changed them. I updated the main download on the Mods page. I posted the corrected files here so there wouldn't be a need to redownload the whole bundle.

[bueschern 6]

since there weren't any jpegs in the freight mod pack (don't know about this newest one), i was using the ilive reader to look at the fish files to tell what car was what. I didn't know that the CSX cattle car has actual cattle! trolca, you should thin out the number of horizontal beams that run on that side wall and/or make them thinner so that people can better see your bovine handiwork on the interior.

also, does the Bolt Barley car conform to the new ID standards? It's date was old enough where it could have been included in your update pack, but I didn't see it there.

it's gotten to be that i'm having more fun collecting and organizing my train mods and BAT creations than playing the actual game.

[Trolca 15]

Here's something to help show which ones have the updated IDs.

 

Each ID has 8 hexadecimal digits. The first four is for the type of engine/car. The next two is for the set. Below is a list of set. I have found a three or so flaws that need to be renumbered.

 

Bay Line - 10
Boston & Maine - 70
Brand Names - 78,79
Burlington Northern - 38
Chamberlain Bowdoin - 74
Conrail - 68
CP Rail - 18
CSX - 28
Fictional Names - 84-87
Rio Grande - 48
River Haven - 30
Rocky Road - 40
Santa Fe - 50
Simtropolis - 7C-7F
Southern Pacific - 58
Union Pacific - 60

I have assigned new IDs for the Trolca Trains set yet.