Steam Locomotive modeling projects

[eric]

A steam powered E9?

You could always make a Crandall out of that for practice...




crandallCab.pdf

[BrandonS261]

You aren't hinting at something are you Eric? 🤣 Actually my plan was to make a generic E8/9 and then modify it to specific railroads. My first project for it was actually going to be the Milwaukee Road E9 32A that the Friends of the 261 have and maybe make the UP E9 units as well.

[eric]

I will admit, having the Blender source for the A unit available might be more than enough to get me kickstarted on a Crandall...

If you've made the A unit, you've got everything needed for the B unit by mirroring the aft end to the front. Then someone could cut away and fill in the Crandall portion.

Then there's the next degree.... if you've done an E unit, you've got the makings of a F unit.

Such crazy talk will get me in big trouble.

[BrandonS261]

I could easily do that for you Eric once for the E9 once I get the hang of Blender! I also plan on re releasing the Milw 261 and passenger cars as well with updated textures, and possibly a 3D cab if I get really wild. It already looks so much cleaner and crisp in Blender VS TSM I don't think I will be going back!

I also plan on updating the 261's water tender that originally came from the N&W Steam program that got me to thinking why not come out with a water tender pack that would include tenders from the 261, N&W Steam program, C&O 614, NKP 765 among others.

[superheatedsteam]

Looking good and looking forward to seeing your models progress.

I found with Blender you always keep learning, and the more you learn the better it gets.

If you get stuck, help is just a post away and it helps others who may be interested in getting started as well.

Cheers,

Marek.

[Tailterrier27]

Let's see, what steam locomotives would I like to see in Open Rails:
-Canadian National U2g 4-8-4

-Canadian National K5 4-6-4

-Canadian National U4a 4-8-4

-Canadian Pacific G-1/2/3/4/5 4-6-2s (which ever one Paul Charland didn't do; I love Paul's CPR Pacific-, I actually lost my mind when that got uploaded to ElvasTower, but now I want to see the other CPR Pacifics with updated models)

-A Canadian Pacific Mikado

-New York Central L-2a/b/c/d Mohawk

-New York Central L-3a/b/c Mohawk

-New York Central L-4a/b/c Mohawk

-New York Central J1e Hudson in it's original, as-built shape

-New York Central H-7a/b/c/d/e Mikado

-New York Central H10a/b Mikado

-Norfolk & Western E-1/2/3 Class Pacifics

-Norfolk & Western K-1/2 Mountain Type

-Norfolk & Western Y-3, Y-5, and Y-6 2-8-8-2

-A proper Norfolk & Western A-Class 2-6-6-4

-Norfolk & Western S-1 0-8-0

-Norfolk & Western M Class 4-8-0

-Grand Trunk Western U-3 4-8-4

-Grand Trunk Western U-4b 4-8-4

-A brand new Nickel Plate Berkshire (might as well do the PM and C&O while you're at it)

-Nickel Plate H-6 Class Mikado

-Nickel Plate K Class 2-8-0

-Wabash 4-8-2

-Wabash 4-8-4

-Illinois Central 900 series 2-8-0

-Illinois Central 1100 series 4-6-2s

-Illinois Central 2400 series 4-8-2

-Illinois Central 2500 series 4-8-2

-Illinois Central 2600 series 4-8-2

-Illinois Central 2700 series 2-10-2

-Illinois Central 1400/1500/1600 series Mikados

-Illinois Central 8000 series 2-8-4

-Illinois Central 3000 series 2-6-6-2 (yes, you read that right, the IC had ten 2-6-6-2s. They traded the CofG ten of their own 2-10-2s for these, but they only got used for hump yard duties in Chicago and New Orleans)

-Union Pacific's planned but never built FEF-4 (basically an FEF-3 on steroids)

-Union Pacific CSA-1/2 Challenger

-Union Pacific "Bull Moose" 2-8-8-0

-Union Pacific MT-73 4-8-2

-Union Pacific C-class 2-8-0

-Union Pacific Mk-Class Mikado

-Union Pacific TTT Class 2-10-2

-Union Pacific Late Challenger

-Union Pacific FEF-1

-Some more 2 and 3-Truck Shay variants. Straight stack, spark arrestor stack, different cab designs, different smokebox sizes. Obviously, I could go for Western Maryland #6, but other logging variants would be nice to see. I always felt like there was a lot missing in the way of geared engines in MSTS/Open Rails. I applaude the efforts of those who did make Shays for us, I'm grateful we have any at all, but there's so many others out there we haven't seen.

-Baldwin 90-ton Mikado (McCloud Railroad 18 and 19)

-Northern Indiana Railroad 0-4-0 #4

-Bonhommie, Hattisburg, & Southern 250 and 300

[BrandonS261]

That is quite the list and not sure if just one person can tackle all of that so you better get learning on how to do 3D modeling. JK. Actually some of these locomotives I have thought about building and a few of them I do have in the works if you have read through this thread you will see! At the moment I have quite a long list already and only one person can do so much at a time. For myself and most modelers out there this is not a job and just for fun. We do this on our free time and build models when time allows. Now if I am building the same locomotive class like the FEF-3 for example I look at the project and say okay so how close are the FEF class 4-8-4s to the FEF 1 and 2 classes before it? If they are similar with not too much trouble making a few modifications I might as well build all 3 classes.

Same thing applies for the MILW S3, RI R67B and D&H 4-8-4s. I already have the MILW S3 built and the RI R67B, and D&H 4-8-4s are all very similar to the S3 class so why not build all 3 classes of 4-8-4s? It is like killing 3 birds with one stone sort of speak so yes if I plan on building a specific class of locomotive I do look at ways I could convert one locomotive into another one in the simplest way possible.

The reason I like 4-8-4s specifically ALCO design is because many of them had the same exact components for different railroads like valve gears, driving wheel diamitor and same basic design. The more locomotives I built the more I will be able to produce in the future and the faster I will become at building them. I also like building modern day excursion locomotives and that is for a few reasons.

1. Many detailed photographs available to view online or in books.
2. Many technical drawings available at your disposal either from museums or easily found on the internet or books.
3. There are also many videos available to view to see how the locomotive actually operates and how many of the moving parts function as a whole or individually.
4. Talking with other modelers there is also a higher demand for excursion steam locomotives then there is just one that operated back in the day.

Brandon

Here are just a few more of my projects in Blender now that I am currently working on!

[Tailterrier27]

Well you did ask me what steam locomotives I would like to see in Open Rails, and you didn't specify that I had to limit it to just one, so I thought I'd give you my list of stuff I've wanted in game for years. Admittedly though I lean more towards early 90s CSX, Norfolk Southern, and Conrail. Don't get me wrong, I love transition era steam, but I also love railroading in the 1990s, and I don't want to sacrifice one for the other. And why should I? Why can't I like both? I love seeing doubleheaded Mohawks thrashing their way out of Riverside Yard and out of the Ohio River Valley, but I also love the sight of Conrail Dash-7s, Dash-8s, and SD60s flying along the Water Level Route with autorack and TV trains. So why can't I walk out of the bakery with both of the cakes that I want and eat them too? (not at the same time, mind you; I'm not that crazy)

I did try learning 3D modeling at one point, and. . .I don't want to go into full details, but it didn't end well for me. I think it's for the best that I just leave this to people like you who have time that they can dedicate to this and know what they are doing..

[Tailterrier27]

Oh, here's some food for thought: what if somebody were to tackle some Nationales De Mexico steam locomotives? Nobody seems to be interested in doing Mexican steam, and Mexican railroading barely gets any recognition as it is, but they had a lot of really cool things down there (may or may not have attempted to start building an NdeM 4-8-4 in TSM at one point).

[BrandonS261]

I actually have looked into building a NdeM 4-8-4but its not in the cards currently. Aren't they in the process of restoring one down there?

[Tailterrier27]

Possibly. I heard in a very brief, passing mention on a Pentrex video tape that one of them was supposedly still functional as late as the late 1980s/early 1990s.

Of course, we can't forget about poor old NdeM 3028. The poor thing; the future looked so bright for it back in the 1990s when it's restoration was first announced.