New Passenger Rail Arrives!

[BigRedFish 24]

 

Here it is... release 0.1 of my CalTrain set for Rush Hour.

 

Contents: Three locomotives, usable in any combination, and five double-deck passenger coaches each with its own number and night-lighting pattern.

 

Read the README in the package before installing, as not all files are meant to be used at the same time.  I have followed the Trolca pattern in naming and packaging to help prevent conflicts.  Be sure to remove any other passenger replacements before using this one.

 

Due to file size limitations I had to split the package into two parts.  Here is part one, containing the locomotives and README.

 

EDIT: Argh, the attachment got eaten by the board.  Scroll down, it's attached three messages below, but now it says it's part 11.  *sigh*

 

[BigRedFish 24]

Here is part two, containing the passenger cars.

 

Credit to Trolca for the models of the double-deck cars, and the two passenger-style locomotives.  Credit to Dearnen for the GP9 locomotive model.

 

[SC4ROCKS 0]

i like it, where is zip 1?

[BigRedFish 24]

Weird, the part 1 zip was there a minute ago, board's eating attachments again I guess.  Here it is again.

 

[xiziz 11]

Those trains look really nice, now ive got somthing to look forwar to thyrsday for if i cant get a quik one on wenstad(yes later today )

[Smurfer2 7]

I have a complaint and there's not much you can do about it. Why can't we use more than one passenger set at a time! (I know why, but I still ask) You, Trolca, and Oppie have all kinds of cool passenger sets and I have a hard time picking between them. I hope that explains my complaint....

[BigRedFish 24]

I know you know the answer, Smurfer2, but just in case any one else doesn't:

 

I can make sets that will work at the same time as one of the other set-makers' passenger trainsets.  The only problem is that the cars will be mixed together randomly, because the automata engine picks passenger cars at random, just like it does with freight train cars and locomotives.

 

That said, I have reason to want to mix sets myself, as to really put the Caltrain set over the top I need to make a FP40 locomotive and a few cars in their 1980's-style blue/green stripe paint scheme and logo in Star Trek NextGen font.  You used to see these mixed in with the red-stripe ones during most of the 1990s.  Random mixing, that I can do.  But there's no way to make whole trains be one railroad or the other, unfortunately.

 

In the future, if I make a set that is logically compatible with an existing set (such as Trolca's Amtrak set and an Amtrak Superliner, or for that matter, Superliners and Amtrak California - these do get mixed in together in real life) I'll go out of my way to make sure you can install both.  I can't guarantee universal compatibility with everyone at the same time though - I'd have to know every ID number used by every set made by everybody to do that.  There's a very small space in the game for custom passenger rail, and it's likely that soon every ID number will have been used for something by somebody... so I have to know in advance what I'm trying to be compatible with.

 

[Dolfan348488 0]

Cool trains.  But i never zoom in close enough to enjoy the beauty of them, i never zoom in at all.  Theres really no sense to unless you are basking in the glory of your city https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/images/smilies/10.gif>

[stp243 8]

these trains look great! hope to see more in the future.

[BigRedFish 24]

Chicagolanders, celebrate!  Your train is arriving!

 

Here's a collage of a train pulling through Naperville, circa 1980 or so.

 

 

BN: We Can Move Your World

Metra: We Get Around

 

This is the first in a series of Metra passenger rail sets.  I thought it best to start at the beginning, which means the BN. 

 

This set contains two locomotives (one default-ID, one extra) in BN green.  It also contains a new method of packaging passenger cars, which works much the same way locomotives and freight do.  There are cars to replace the original Maxis car, and there's an add-on pack of more extra cars.   You can even use the extra cars with the original Maxis car (but it's ugly).

 

Future Metra sets will contain more extra car sets that are compatible with these, so you can model the transitional period when BN and Metra paint existed together.  Visual variety is good.

 

For now, BN/BNSF/Metra fans, enjoy!

 

[Trolca 15]

It wont be long before there's more Burlington Northern engines/cars then you can shake a stick at. I have plans on more freight in Big Green One's colors.

[ardecila 125]

Do you live in the Chicago area?

I would sure love to see some blue Metra trains, as well as the striped double-deckers.

[ErikMesa 5]

Great trains I luv em. I had a question for you or anyone. Will passenger trains only show up on tracks with passenger stations? Right now I'm running dedicated frieght trains only but seeing these nice models makes me want to put in a new mainline passenger train line that would only have passenger stations.

Thanks,

ErikMesa

[BigRedFish 24]

[bEGINQUOTE]

4/1/2004 7:20:33 PM[/quoteDATE]

ardecila[/quoteAUTHOR]

Do you live in the Chicago area? I would sure love to see some blue Metra trains, as well as the striped double-deckers.[/quoteMESSAGE][/bEGINQUOTE]

I used to live in Chicagoland until mid-1980 - Elmhurst, Skokie, Downer's Grove, and a brief stay in Naperville.  My brother and I used to love the trains, and Big Green always had one going by with an engineer or fireman who needed kids to wave at him. So I guess it worked well all around.  

As for the request, I'm already on it.  Sneak preview of Metra Phase 2, still needing a lot of work:

 
These cars are from the early transition period, when Metra quickly painted their logo over BN's and let 'em roll.  That locomotive is just TOO blue and TOO red, and I need to weather it a bit and fix the roof around the cab.  And make one with the Metra nameplate up above-left of the doors for variety... that should do it for Phase 2.  Maybe by this weekend I'll have it in uploadable condition. 

The red/blue stripe version is scheduled for Phase 3.  And they have some white cars with red/gray stripes, gotta make some of those too.  Those are a different make and have a different window pattern; that means I have to re-do the night-lighting for those, but I'd like to get them in somewhere. 

Then, if I ever figure out how to make a decent Acela engine and Bombardier cars, will come Phase 4.

Oh, while I'm sneak-previewing:

Here's one of the early ex-BN Metra cars, in-game, mixed with cars from the Phase 1 BN set.  The entire BN/Metra set will be mix-and-matchable, I promise.

 

[BigRedFish 24]

[bEGINQUOTE]

4/1/2004 9:15:35 PM[/quoteDATE]

ErikMesa[/quoteAUTHOR]

Will passenger trains only show up on tracks with passenger stations?[/quoteMESSAGE][/bEGINQUOTE]

Thanks for the kind words.  You have it right, no passenger stations, no passenger trains.  Except if passenger trains need to pass through town B to get from a station in town A to one in town C.  Then I think you'll see them.  But you have to have at least two stations somewhere on the line, and then trains will show up on the tracks between them. 

 

[BigRedFish 24]

Here's an extra bonus add-on locomotive for the BN passenger set.  I don't think the BN ever really did this, but in SimNation, anything's possible.

 

Two versions enclosed: One is named original and replaces the original passenger engine, and the other can be used along with any of the existing BN passenger engines I've made so far.

 

 

[DarkMatter 21]

Hey BigRed. Nicely done...I like the first set. Would you like me to post these on the mods section for you? It might make it easier to manage, but I'll ask that you package them all into one file, rather than many. It might be good to include a readme describing how to install the set you want, too.

[BigRedFish 24]

Good idea, DM.  Thanks for offering.  I'm going to make a small change to the Caltrain set in the next few days, so it'll support mix-n-match.  After that, as long as you don't mind me making updates for it periodically, I'll package them up with a master readme and credits page and PM you. 

 

 

 

   

 

[kassarc16 4]

Guess I'd better pop into this thread too.

Great work on these trains. I love any BN stuff you can throw my way.

Some constructive critisism.

The cars just seem too.. plain. At least the sides of them do. They seem flat. Trolca's had cars come out like that in the past too.

Keep up the great work though.

[BigRedFish 24]

[bEGINQUOTE]

4/3/2004 5:12:21 AM[/quoteDATE]

kassarc16[/quoteAUTHOR]

Guess Some constructive critisism. The cars just seem too.. plain. At least the sides of them do. They seem flat.[/quoteMESSAGE][/bEGINQUOTE]

Agreed.  I think I made a mistake when I tinted them, and lost too much detail.  Strangely, it looked fine when I was editing the skins, and even looked good in the reader, but not in the game.  I'll have to make a second pass at them at some point.

 

[Yugioh 3]

i really like your trains big fish red fish

[BigRedFish 24]

Just an update:  I re-rendered the BN cars, to have more depth like the Caltrain cars.  Also, I made a rather large Chicago Metra set, containing a red/blue locomotive, an RTA stripe locomotive, and several Metra car types: The red/blue stripe, the pink/brown stripe, and stainless steel with blue sign.

 

Here are some pictures:

This is a red/blue stripe Metra car.  Note the pink/brown car behind it, and the stainless steel car in front of it.  You can use any or all of the different Metra paint schemes at the same time, just like Metra does.

 

 

Here's a locomotive in the old RTA stripe paint scheme.

 

And a modern red/blue Metra loco, pulling a red/blue stripe car.

 

These are now available for download in the Mods section in my Big Red Fish Trainset #1 release.  The package contains all my work so far, PLUS, I've re-organized their ID numbers as promised, so you can use any or all of the sets at the same time if you want to!  Each paint scheme contains an original-replacement car, an original-replacement locomotive, and a package of extra cars, each slightly different and with unique night lighting, that will work along with any or all of my sets, and Trolca's, and Oppie's.  Even the original Maxis equipment.  Player's choice.

 

** Remove any of my older work, if you have it, before installing the packages from the Train Set in the mods section.  This is due to the ID renumbering.  **

 

Enjoy.  Feel free to report problems and post questions here in this thread, or PM me if you like.

 

[calm_blue_sea 3]

Cool trains! Any interest in making Toronto GO (Government of Ontario) trains?

Have a look:

http://gtabus.natransit.com/go/go-train1.html

[BigRedFish 24]

[bEGINQUOTE]

4/12/2004 5:31:37 AM[/quoteDATE]

calm_blue_sea[/quoteAUTHOR]

Any interest in making Toronto GO[/quoteMESSAGE][/bEGINQUOTE]

As soon as I figure out how to make those octagonal Bombardier cars they use, GO Transit will be probably be the first set I make with them.  When I feel brave I'll try the Sounder.  It seems that everyone is buying Bombardier sets these days.  Caltrain just bought a bunch of them for their new Baby Bullet service.

Sadly, I lost my original Caltrain artwork and my first attempts at making Bombardier cars when my disk drive crashed last week.  Those were in the folder I was moving when it happened.   Oh well, the Bombardier attempts were lousy anyway.

 

[Trolca 15]

They're looking better all the time.

[Ryan B 35]

Wow. Looking good!

Great job!

[BigRedFish 24]

Fellow Californians, here's one for you:

 

Amtrak California is a joint venture between Amtrak and the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans).  Amtrak operates the trains, Caltrans pays the bills.  The State of California owns the equipment. 

 

Here's an original replacement engine and car in Amtrak California colors as seen on the Capitol Corridor (Oakland/Sacramento) and San Joaquin (Sacramento/Bakersfield) trains.  The Pacific Surfliner (San Diego/L.A./Santa Barbara/San Luis Obispo) uses a different paint scheme in modern Amtrak colors; I'll get to that later.

 

Here's what you get (pardon the lossy photos, in-game they look better):

 

Amtrak California EMD F59PHI locomotive (more or less).  It has fuel-injection, and is considered the cleanest-burning diesel engine in N. America.  I had to fudge the paint scheme on the nose due to limitations of the model, but the four-arrow Amtrak California logo is there.  The real-life roof is rather plain and boring so I fudged it too.

 

Amtrak California Car.  Note wheels at far ends, and Caltrans logo near leftmost door.  Passage between cars is done on the top deck, per the Amtrak Superliner standard, making it incompatible with Caltrain cars and just about anything else but Superliners. California Cars have names, not numbers - this one is the Mount Shasta; the name is visible to the left of the leftmost door.  In-game the lettering is more legible.

 

The end car shows the upper-deck door, with headlights and number plates below the cab windows.

 

These have rudimentary night-lighting.  I was going to wait to make a complete detailed set, but it's such a pretty color scheme I thought I'd turn these loose for testing early.  The ZIP contains two files, and original-replacement locomotive and original-replacement car.  These should be placed in your ProgramFiles/Maxis/SimCity4/Plugins folder.

 

For mix-and-match fans, sometimes Amtrak and Amtrak California - even Caltrain on rare occasions -will share locomotives with each other.  My Extra Caltrain and Trolca's Amtrak locomotives that aren't numbered 00 will work with this. 

 

All Aboard Amtrak California!

 

[+Guest]

They look good, now only If I could see LIRR and Metro North Trains in this series.

[BigRedFish 24]

[bEGINQUOTE]

4/18/2004 9:26:54 PM[/quoteDATE]

tHe Dark_Child[/quoteAUTHOR]

They look good, now only If I could see LIRR and Metro North Trains in this series.[/quoteMESSAGE][/bEGINQUOTE]

Trolca already made a LIRR set; it is in his Train Set for Rush Hour in the mods section.  My double-deck cars are actually based on Trolca's LIRR models.  Come to think of it, his LIRR locomotive is strikingly similar to Amtrak's GE locomotives as seen on the California Zephyr and Pacific Surfliner trains...

As for the Metro North, those are the electric third-rail ones with the front cab-car, kind of like BART trains?  Two birds, one stone... hmmm... I'm going to start a passenger request thread for this, so people looking for trainsets don't have to wade through pages of requests to find them.

 

[+Guest]

[bEGINQUOTE]

4/18/2004 9:39:28 PM[/quoteDATE]

BigRedFish[/quoteAUTHOR]

[bEGINQUOTE]

4/18/2004 9:26:54 PM[/quoteDATE]

tHe Dark_Child[/quoteAUTHOR]

They look good, now only If I could see LIRR and Metro North Trains in this series.[/quoteMESSAGE][/bEGINQUOTE]

Trolca already made a LIRR set; it is in his Train Set for Rush Hour in the mods section. My double-deck cars are actually based on Trolca's LIRR models. Come to think of it, his LIRR locomotive is strikingly similar to Amtrak's GE locomotives as seen on the California Zephyr and Pacific Surfliner trains...

As for the Metro North, those are the electric third-rail ones with the front cab-car, kind of like BART trains? Two birds, one stone... hmmm... I'm going to start a passenger request thread for this, so people looking for trainsets don't have to wade through pages of requests to find them.

[/quoteMESSAGE][/bEGINQUOTE]

OK, forget LIRR, how about Metro North and NJ Transit?