Annie's Virtual Pre-Grouping, Grouping and BR Layouts & Workbench

[Edwardian]

44 minutes ago, Annie said:

My daughter seems to have turned a corner and has been a lot more well these past few days.  As for me I largely crashed out and slept for hours and hours once the pressure of being on duty and caring for her has largely lifted of my shoulders.  Finding myself at a loose end I decided that i was going to play trains.  After a long break away from running anything on Tristyn in Winter I decided that I was going to run the local passenger schedule, - which is something I've not done for months.

 

 'Earl of Berkeley' takes a 'B' set and a 4 wheel Siphon as its train from Gwladys Ddu and heads off in an easterly direction around most of the stations on the mainline and some on the secondary line as well.  'Tristyn in Winter' is essentially an enormous continuous oval which enables the trusty Dukedog to arrive back at Gwladys Ddu about an hour and a half after it set out.  I have yet to set up the passenger service in the westerly direction from Gwladys Ddu, but hopefully I might get a chance to do that during the weekend.

'Earl of Berkeley' is a clever old thing because as it comes to a halt at Branwyn Station it sets off a trigger to start the schedules for the pair of 48xx's waiting at the east and west bay platforms, - which will send them off with their motor trailers down the branch lines west to Gwenadwy and east to the other branch which I've gone and forgotten the name of  Melangell.

At Secombe station the Dukedog triggers another 48xx and motor trailer which will send it off down the Seisyll branch calling in at various minor stopping places on a circular route which also takes in Gwenadwy returning to Seacombe.  Once the Dukedog and the 48xx's are set in motion they will continue to run their scheduled timetable automatically without further intervention, but with the whole cycle taking around an hour and a half I've not run it much past three hours.

 

Leaving Gwladys Ddu

 

Approaching Tristyn Junction.

 

 

On the secondary bypass line to Rathtyen.

 

Great atmosphere, I love the way the landscape whites out in the distance. 

[Annie]

3 minutes ago, Edwardian said:

 

Great atmosphere, I love the way the landscape whites out in the distance. 

I have four weather settings I can use.  A clear day, light snow, medium snow, and heavy snow.  The weather was set to 'medium snow' in the screenshots which gives that wonderful atmospheric whiting out in the distance effect.  I have run trains under heavy snow conditions, but it's a real challenge since it becomes almost impossible to see the signals or anything else beyond the end of the locomotive's buffer beam.

[Edwardian]

Certainly a contrast with the lovely weather we currently enjoy on the old sceptred isle. 

 

Continuing the theme, here is something from Robert Duckworth Greenham (1906-76)

 

 

 

[Annie]

12 hours ago, Edwardian said:

Continuing the theme, here is something from Robert Duckworth Greenham (1906-76)

That is one very fine painting.  Thanks for posting it here James.

 

A Collett Goods has the honor of taking the westbound local passenger service.  For this service I needed a tender engine and not a tank engine, but when it comes to the post-grouping 1930s I am seriously short of useful tender engines.  I have a very old 43xx Mogul from TS2004 which I've retired because it's really not that good a model.  I have a Manor, but to run it I'd be pushing things much too close to the pre-war time limit.  Much the same would go for the 'County' class engines I've got.  A Grange would be nice, but I haven't got one of those. 

I don't do 'Castle' class engines because I like 'Saints' too much.  Out of the 'Saints' I have, - St Agatha, - St Catherine and St Dunstan, - only St Dunstan was still about for my time period having survived until 1946.  Not to mention the fact that I would need a 'shirtbutton' tender; - actually the Collet Goods and the Dukedog need one as well, - and some of my 57xx's need shirtbuttons without the tender attached.  Whose silly idea was it to stop putting 'GREAT WESTERN' on the side of tenders anyway.

 

 

 

And yes I know the running in board should be in capital letters, - it's another job on the list......

Edited June 22 by Annie
Um.........

[Annie]

I don't think we're fooling anybody.  'Hook Norton Manor' (built Dec 1950) from my early BR Penzance to Camborne layout with a borrowed 'Saint' tender.  The schoolboys trainspotting at the end of platform two at Tristyn Junction would have it picked for a fake the moment it came in sight.  It does look nice though.

 

 

I did find an older Grange model from Trainz TS2006 in my digital trainset box that I was given some time ago, - 'Bodicote Grange' built March 1939.  Unfortunately even alongside 'Hook Norton Manor' which is a Trainz model made to TS2009/TS2010 standards it didn't look very convincing.  I think I'll ask Paul of Paulz Trainz if he can sell me a couple or three Granges from the 1936 batch.  They will have a similar state of detail and finish as 'Hook Norton Manor' which is one of Paul's models he made about the same time.

[Annie]

Alright, - no more GWR 4-6-0 cheating.  Having determined that a Collet Goods is likely to find working a passenger service on 'Tristyn in Winter's mainline somewhat of a challenge and fast running out of options I opened up my purse (creeeek) and took the only available option. After spending $12.00 with Paul of Paulz Trainz I now own 6801 'Aylburton Grange' (built August 1936), 6803 'Bucklebury Grange' (built September 1936) and 6807 'Birchwood Grange' (built September 1936).

 

Some fettling is still going on with these new engines to bring them up to the same spec as my 1950s BR Penzance 'Manors', though fortunately 'Aylburton Grange' was sufficiently far along with its overhaul to be seen this morning 'on shed' at Gwladys Ddu.  I use that driver figure posed next to an engine 'on shed' to indicate that it's not in service yet. 

With my 'Manors' I know that they both were at Long Rock shed at Penzance during my layout's time window.  But with 'Tristyn in Winter' being entirely make believe who can say if and when my new engines would have turned up in South Wales.  At least they fit the time window I've set for 'Tristyn in Winter'.

 

 

'Saint Dunstan', one of my 'seen at' Penzance Saints from the late 1920s time window of my 'Penzance to Camborne' layout.  Survived until December 1945 when it was withdrawn at Swindon.  I can find no details of where 'Saint Dunstan' was assigned during the 1930s.  The Saint was at Bath Bristol Road when new, but after that I haven't a clue.

This is an older engine from the Paulz Trainz stable and it does have a few detailing faults, but after a fair bit of fettling it does run well.  Please note its darker pre-1928 green paintwork as compared with 'Aylburton Grange'.  As you can also see 'Saint Dunstan' has borrowed a shirtbutton tender instead of its usual GREAT (crest) WESTERN one.

This particular Saint will be an occasional visitor with a flashy rake of Collett corridor carriages coupled up to its tender drawbar as it rushes past rather than being assigned to Gwladys Ddu shed.  Like the new Granges it will be mainline only and definitely not allowed to visit the secondary lines and branches (Oh dear me no.).

 

 

 

Edit:  Possibly I might be able to buy a 93xx Mogul with side window cab from the 1932 batch.  I already have an early pre-WW1 43xx Mogul which isn't the most brilliant representation of the class, - but it does run well.  Only problem being that these older Moguls were the ones that got dismantled to create the  4-6-0 Granges.

Edited June 23 by Annie
Messed up with a picture

[Annie]

After running the new passenger service schedules I now know that the mainline circuit is 23.5 miles in total, - and the secondary line circuit is 24 miles in total.  Not bad really for what is in effect a huge model railway layout.  With both the Dukedog and the Collett Goods instructed to not exceed 40 mph the Dukedog took more than ten minutes longer than the Collett Goods to complete its schedule.  Not surprising really since the mainline is mostly made up of long clear runs between stations,  - whereas the Dukedog had to deal with more speed restrictions as well as a few 'interesting' trackwork alignments and steeper gradients.

 

EDIT:  

Quote

Collett Goods loco's used to work local passenger traffic out of Neyland. To Carmarthen and Swansea, Annie.

A fellow Uk modeller on the Trainz forums gave me this useful piece of information.

 

Edited June 23 by Annie
More information

[Annie]

So I went ahead and did it and ordered three 93xx Moguls.  This last batch of twenty Moguls built in 1932 had an improved side window cab and longer frames and due to being heavier than their older cousins needed to carry a red spot on their cabsides instead of a blue one.  And yes that's a little job for me to do since the 'bluey' shouldn't be there.  I have the correct font for GWR numberplates as well so that one's on the list.

Having purchased Paul's older 43xx Mogul some time ago and found it very much wanting in appearance despite my efforts to make a good runner of it I did feel somewhat wary about buying his 93xx Mogul, - but as it happened all was fine.  The 93xx's were made some time after the 43xx's when Paul had properly got his hand in with loco building and the 93xx's are generally much better all around in a nice friendly 'O' Gauge coarse scale kind of way.

An interesting addition to the usual interactive headlamp codes is that I have the option of carrying two spare lamps on the left hand side running board should I ever feel the need to do it.

 

 

 

Edited June 24 by Annie
can't spell for toffee

[Annie]

Valleyfields had a considerable amount of work done to it some months ago with the sawmill and its sidings being completely overhauled and rebuilt.  Then the station itself needed a darn good tidy up and with Valleyfields having no goods shed to speak of I managed to fit one of those in as well along with a cattle dock.  With the timber mill being so close to the station I didn't have a lot of space to play with, but somehow I got it all to fit together in a functional manner.  Next came realigning the trackwork in and out of the station, completely overhauling the signalling and installing a small single road engine shed.

Along the way I gave some of the township a tidy up before I ran out of steam and decided it was time to go play trains instead.

 

With the arrival of the 93xx Moguls I decided that Valleyfields needed to be properly upgraded to an official subshed.  Previously my aged and now withdrawn 43xx Mogul had been handling timber traffic in and out of the sawmill so I knew the Moguls were up to the task, - i just needed to get my hands on some better ones.

Space was going to be tight for a two road engine shed, but fortunately I had a very nice 19th century timber engine shed of possible Broad Gauge origins and what do you know it just squeaked into the space available.  Water and coal facilities were arranged and by and large that seemed to be that.

Only my eyes drifted over to the township and a further hour and a half was spent continuing  on with the general tidy up I'd already started.  There's more I could do yet, but I decided that would be enough for today.

 

 

 

[Annie]

Where's everybody?  Ah of course, - you are all outside enjoying the fleeting delights of Summer.  We've been having some wonderful thick and swirling river mists here in the Waikato, - makes everything look delightfully mysterious.  Sunlight is overrated.

 

This morning I replaced the original 93xx's engine specs and sound files with the latest versions and what a difference.  The new sound files and whistle sounds are based on recordings of a preserved Manor and they are really excellent.  The three engines have gone from having almost no controllable low speed running and rough sounding asthmatic engine sounds to being engines that are a delight to drive and shunt with.   They might not be particularly finescale in their appearance, but they certainly sound like it now.

 

TANE is setup with the ability to put a different driver on the footplate at each running session with the fireman remaining the same.  It's a bit of a gimmick really and with most of my engines I've modded them so this doesn't happen.  With both the new Granges and the 93xx's I've left them unmodified to see what happens.  Most of the time a driver figure who looks like a steam era driver arrives on the footplate, but for this particular trip shunting session Mr Casual Friday turned up.  I did have an odd looking anime Japanese girl wearing a Japan Railways uniform turn up once though, - and then there's elderly cardigan man who must've been down at the local shops and decided to hitch a ride on the footplate.  I have no idea where Trainz is finding these folk.   In TRS19 and TRS22 scruffy council bin men and down and out looking pizza delivery people wearing hi-vis try to climb up onto the footplate, - so I can count my lucky stars I haven't got that problem in TANE (Trainz A New Era).

If it gets too annoying I'll take the engines into the 'works' and rename the attachment points for the drivers to stop this from happening. 

 

 

Valleyfields seriously needs a turntable installing.

 

Edited June 25 by Annie
More words needed.

[Moria15]

Annie greetings. 
 

have read through a lot of this thread and am intrigued,  I looked online at trainz. Is there a specific version I should be looking for and where do all these wonderful locos come from.. is there a set of sites to look at and do all versions work with the latest trainz?

 

regards

 

Graham

[Annie]

1 hour ago, Moria15 said:

Annie greetings. 
 

have read through a lot of this thread and am intrigued,  I looked online at trainz. Is there a specific version I should be looking for and where do all these wonderful locos come from.. is there a set of sites to look at and do all versions work with the latest trainz?

 

regards

 

Graham

Hello Graham, - beware Trainz can be highly addictive, - you have been warned.

 

I've been messing about with Trainz for almost a decade now having started off with TS2004 and then shortly afterwards TS2009 World Builder Edition.  I've owned all the versions of Trainz since then all the way through to TRS22 and TRS22 PE which are the current versions.  Recently it's all got a bit muddy with a subscription version in two tiers as well as the retail versions.  N3V seem to be treating TRS22 as an on-going experiment with their customers as the lab rats to ultimately (hopefully) end up with a high quality railway simulator product, - only their continual program of upgrade patches are known to break about as much as they patch.  So my advice is to stay away from TRS22 and its cousins until you have much more experience with Trainz and the way it works.

 

TANE Platinum Edition is on sale at the moment at $US29.99  https://store.trainzportal.com/collections/best-sellers/products/trainz-a-new-era-platinum-edition

 

Or the vanilla basic version of TANE is on sale at $US9.99  https://store.trainzportal.com/collections/best-sellers/products/trainz-a-new-era

 

TANE stands for Trainz A New Era and it's a reasonably stable completed version that's vice free and won't see anymore 'updates' that might suddenly make a mess of everything.

 

My 'Tristyn in Winter' layout is built up in TANE and I have other old favourite layouts of mine stashed away in TANE as well.  For someone who is new to Trainz I do think this is the best place to start.  Items and rolling stock made for the older versions of Trainz are usually fine in TANE.  Most of the engines and rolling stock I've posted in my Tristyn in Winter screenshots date back to Trainz TS2009, TS2010 and TS2012 times and they are perfectly fine.

The one thing you can't do is load anything made for TRS19 and TRS22 into TANE, but with the range of compatible models available for TANE and earlier version I don't think that will bother you too much.

 

TRS19 is a stable completed version as well and I do make some use of it and I like it well enough, but there's a bit more of learning curve with learning how to get the best out of it.  Problems with setting the environmental lighting were never really solved in TRS19 and they still aren't in TRS22 if I want to be picky about it.

 

TRS19 Platinum Edition is $US10.00 on sale at the moment.  https://store.trainzportal.com/pages/trainz-railroad-simulator-2019

 

The sale ends on July 1st by the way.

 

The big strength with Trainz is the Download Station (DLS) with thousands of items of community made content which are completely free.  Each version of Trainz will also have bundled Payware routes (DLC) included as part of the deal. 

 

There are independent third party creators of Trainz items out there on the internet as well which is where much of my GWR engines and rolling stock have come from.

Edited June 25 by Annie
more to say

[eheaps]

 

Now is the ideal time to buy because of the sales mentioned by Annie! I have a subscription, but I don't think that's the best choice for a new player, especially as the sale on stand-alone versions is such a good offer.

 

I would always recommend getting the latest version of Trainz, which is currently 2022 Platinum edition. If you are starting out as a new player you are less likely to see many issues with the game, as these often stem from trying to import content from previous versions. It also means you can instal all the latest routes which increasingly are only available for the newest version of the game (e.g. Lynton & Barnstaple). If you were to go for an older version don't go any further back than TS19. Due to changes in the game most new locomotive and rolling stock models will not work in anything older.

 

The other thing to consider is that as a new player you won't have got used to the old versions. Much of what people complain about in the newer versions is that it has changed from before, but this won't affect you. Starting at the newest version means you can learn how to use the current system and be ready for the future. If you buy an old version you will be learning to use an obsolete system and will effectively have to double the learning process in the future if you choose to upgrade. This particularly applies to the route building tools that have recently been completely replaced. The new system is excellent in that it gives much more flexibility to build what you want but is very different from the old system...

 

I would also say from a personal point of view that I've never had any major issues with the newest versions of the game and the patches haven't caused any major problems with breaking things (I find on the rare occasion this happens it was due to old content that was already broken, I just hadn't noticed yet).

[Annie]

9 minutes ago, eheaps said:

The other thing to consider is that as a new player you won't have got used to the old versions.

Ah, - that's true.  Having worked my way up from TS2004 has coloured my thinking in many ways.  The fact that I'm still running engines and rolling stock from as far back as Trainz Classic 3, TS2009 and TS2012 no doubt adds to my old stick in the muddish ways.

 

TRS22 PE at $US17.50 is certainly a bargain and I'd be tempted into buying it if I didn't own it already.

[Annie]

Well the sub shed at Valleyfields got its turntable, - only it's a bit smaller than they might have wanted.  Fitting turntables into a tight space in Trainz is not much fun at the best of times due to most of them needing to fit exactly on the underlying baseboard grid with absolutely no wriggle room for adjustment.  The Valleyfields site was only really just big enough due to the station area and yards being squeezed between the town and the sawmill so really I was lucky to get a turntable in at all without having to resort to tearing everything up and starting again.

As you can see a Collett Goods just fits onto the turntable with just a few inches at each end to spare.  I've used this turntable before on my Norfolk layout and most pre-grouping 0-6-0's will fit.  A GER Y14 fits nicely without too much trouble and my 1860's Hicks 0-6-0 being even shorter was dead easy to position on this turntable.

The shed at Gwladys Ddu has a turning 'Y' which is good for the larger engines and the station at Daere has a turntable which should be fine for the new 93xx Moguls, but I'd really like to install a turntable at Branwyn as with its large goods yard and the colliery nearby having the capacity to turn an engine would be very useful..

 

 

[Annie]

Correct red route availability 'dot' now in place, numberplate sorted out with proper numbers and one of Paul's later and better 3500 gall tenders now attached.  I didn't have an unlined tender so I had to do some messing around with textures and the lining mesh on a lined tender to end up with what I wanted.  It's been so long since I last did any texture modding it took me a while to get my brain into gear and end up with what I wanted.

The only other thing I might do before declaring the 93xx's fully fit for service is revise the steam and smoke effects.  I'll have a think about it.

 

Edited June 26 by Annie
more to say

[Annie]

Aaaaaand the young anime  Japanese Railways driver is back on the footplate again.  She might need to be careful to make sure she doesn't  get her nice uniform all mucky.

 

 

[Annie]

It was elderly cardigan man's turn on the footplate for this test run.  I wanted try out the smoke script that I've used on several of my Penzance engine to see how it would work out for the 93xx Moguls.  No. 9310 is presently my steam and smoke test engine and once everything is working fine the other two will be modified in the same way.

These 93xx models have 10 steam and smoke attachment points on their main body mesh which is a bit unusual as most steam engines for Trainz only have 4 - 6 attachment points.  I haven't found out what they all do yet, - which I'll need to do if I want to modify the safety valve and whistle scripts.

 

 

Well it looks like the smoke test was successful, - so I can tick that one off the list.

[MikeOxon]

5 hours ago, Annie said:

It was elderly cardigan man's turn on the footplate for this test run. 

He is looking very nonchalant with hands in pockets.  I hope he notices the red signal ahead.

 

The smoke looks good - no soap in the boiler on this one 😃

[Annie]

1 hour ago, MikeOxon said:

He is looking very nonchalant with hands in pockets.  I hope he notices the red signal ahead.

Unfortunately some of the so-called driver figures available in my version of TANE don't look very driverly at all and don't inspire much confidence.  Eventually I'll get tired of the footplate sideshow and set up permanent drivers for the new engines.

 

1 hour ago, MikeOxon said:

The smoke looks good - no soap in the boiler on this one 😃

Yes the old smoke animations were a bit strange with all those spherical smoke bubbles popping up out of the chimney.  The new one is based around a proper smoke mesh which gives a much nicer result.

Sorting out the whistle's steam animation was fairly straightforward, but I think the safety valves might be a bit more tricky.

[Annie]

The correctly dressed properly attentive and reliable engine driver makes a return.  One of his also correctly dressed cousins is often seen driving a 56xx 0-6-2T.

I see there's still the odd smoke puffball about, - these ones are being generated by the safety valves so they will need to be dealt with fairly soon.

 

[Annie]

Work is still ongoing with setting up the timber mill at Valleyfields as well as fine tuning the operating schedules for the goods workings to and from the timber mill.

As originally set up there were no sort sidings or any kind of sidings at the mill which made attempting to work with any kind of semblance of realism more than a little difficult.

The drivers arriving to work a shift on the 93xx's seem to have got the message since they've all been properly dressed and equipt like a steam era driver from the 1930s should be.  One even had a beard which made him look a bit nautical, but at least he knew how to drive an engine just fine. 

The Collett Goods is a bit weird though in that when it first moves from rest it blows an enormous shiny graphite coloured balloon out of its chimney and after that breaks away and drifts off it produces smoke normally after that.  Apart from that it's a really nice well behaved engine that runs very well.

 

Edited June 28 by Annie
can't spell for toffee

[Annie]

A snap I took while playing trains doing important schedule testing.

 

[Annie]

Something I did not realise with the Collett suburban coaches I'm using on 'Tristyn in Winter' is that they had a three layer coach side option system so that they could be selected to be in any one of 1922 or 1930 or 1934 carriage liveries.  Of course the 1922 livery is absolutely corker and the best, but it would have been a rare sight at the mid-1930s time period of the layout.  I've got one or two coaches still carrying the 1930s livery and the rest have got post-1934 shirtbuttons on their sides.

 

 

I have Collett corridor coaches as well in my digital trainset box, but I haven't got around to doing any express passenger trains yet.

[Annie]

Trying out Mogul No.9303 on the mainline passenger service with a train of four Collett suburban coaches.  As you may have noticed No.9303 still has a bubble tea boiler, but that will be sorted out soon enough.  I did give 'Birchwood Grange' a test run with this passenger schedule, but the Granges still need some additional fettling before they go onto the roster on a regular basis..

 

 

Red Jumper Lady was the driver on the test run with No. 9303 and all went well. This is a semi-fast passenger service that takes in the mainline stations at Secombe, Lynelle, Rathtyen and Tristyn starting from Gwladys Ddu.  Timings are fairly smart and eventually this will be a Grange turn once I have them properly sorted out.

 

 

On a lesser note I setup a 48xx and Autocoach service from Daere to Lynelle via Branwyn and St. Elaine and return.  Lynelle is well known for the great shopping opportunities in the town so this will be a popular service.  I have it setup now so that the branches and secondary lines on Tristyn & District are mostly served by autocoaches.