Virginian EL2B 125

Going into beta...

came out better than I ever dreamed of.Thanks to everybody for all the help.Frank MusickMoving America into the 19th Century!

www.kelticsylk.com

Alert | IP

Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top

RE: Virginian EL2B 125, tryagin, Jul-23-04, 10:14 PM, (1) RE: Virginian EL2B 125, ATF1224, Jul-24-04, 00:30 AM, (2) RE: Virginian EL2B 125, dadio2k, Jul-24-04, 01:19 PM, (3) RE: Virginian EL2B 125, chuckzeiler, Jul-25-04, 10:01 PM, (4) RE: Virginian EL2B 125, KeltikSylk, Jul-25-04, 10:42 PM, (5) RE: Virginian EL2B 125, asamtrak911, Jul-26-04, 00:13 AM, (6) RE: Virginian EL2B 125, chuckzeiler, Jul-26-04, 10:41 AM, (7) RE: Virginian EL2B 125, tryagin, Jul-26-04, 04:18 PM, (8) RE: Virginian EL2B 125, chuckzeiler, Jul-26-04, 05:15 PM, (9) RE: Virginian EL2B 125, tryagin, Jul-26-04, 05:51 PM, (10) RE: Virginian EL2B 125, KeltikSylk, Jul-26-04, 05:53 PM, (11) RE: Virginian EL2B 125, tryagin, Jul-26-04, 06:06 PM, (12) RE: Virginian EL2B 125, KeltikSylk, Jul-26-04, 08:51 PM, (13) RE: Virginian EL2B 125, chuckzeiler, Jul-26-04, 09:18 PM, (14) RE: Virginian EL2B 125, KeltikSylk, Jul-27-04, 08:38 AM, (16) RE: Virginian EL2B 125, tryagin, Jul-26-04, 10:07 PM, (15) RE: Virginian EL2B 125, KeltikSylk, Jul-27-04, 09:22 AM, (17) RE: Virginian EL2B 125, tryagin, Jul-27-04, 11:16 AM, (18) RE: Virginian EL2B 125, KeltikSylk, Jul-27-04, 09:43 PM, (19) RE: Virginian EL2B 125, tryagin, Jul-27-04, 10:12 PM, (20) RE: Virginian EL2B 125, KeltikSylk, Jul-27-04, 11:39 PM, (21) RE: Virginian EL2B 125, tryagin, Jul-28-04, 00:41 AM, (22) RE: Virginian EL2B 125, KeltikSylk, Jul-28-04, 07:53 AM, (23)

Conferences | Topics | Previous Topic | Next Topic

"Came out better than I dreamed of" - - don't you love it? Well, I do! I am very impressed at first try tonight. This pair of locos is awesome. My biggest gripe is the LODs. I'd rather have hits on my OS performance, than loose an engine a block away. Other than that, I'm enjoying the million pounds of motors on my beta of Lukas Lusser's Mountain Electric, they fit right in:
Thanks, Frank, for the look-see! Tim

Street and Interurban Electric Railway Models
Sumpter Valley B&B Gang
Willamette Valley Route
(No timetable for release)
T.W.Muir

Alert | IP

Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top

NICE!!!!! I'm gonna have to electrify East River!

Jake Mensel

The Norfolk Southern Winston-Salem District

Alert | IP

Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top

Frank, I got the beta and installed it. It looks and runs great on my system. I know how much time and labor you've put into this engine, from my initial efforts. I appreciate your taking on this project and am glad to see it coming to completion. Thanks again.Mike Adams

Alert | IP

Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top

I guess we all know where this is, Essex on the Marias Pass route.I don’t know that much about Bounding Boxes, but it appears that Frank exceeded their original design. I thought the purpose of Bounding Boxes was to define collision points, but the Bounding Boxes on the EL2B overlap, yet it still performs OK. There are three .eng (and associated .s and .sd) files for each unit, and the middle one overlaps the end two considerably.
So what is the purpose of Bounding Boxes?I attempted to take the EL2B’s up Marias Pass, but stalled before I hit the grade. I’ll look into that. Note the weird pattern on the grills behind the cab. Maybe a straight gray pattern would be better. Just a suggestion.
But, excellent #5 Passenger view. I never would have thought about it myself, very creative. It’s 30 meters above the cab, and provides a great forward view, almost like a model railroad.

Alert | IP

Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top

Please tell me it was simple to electrify Marias! I was thinking about trying the same thing with the St Alton (or whatever Swiss Alps route comes with MSTS).The B-box...I think one of the incarnations floating around actually has the EL2B-2 B-box between EL2B-1 and EL2B-3...It took me weeks to get it there, and now it's wandering again There is a newer version with corrected bounding boxes and some small changes to the nose. The riveted plate has been repositioned and the headlight no longer intrudes into the logo...
I had the sbeast tow 100 loaded hoppers through the Alps, and the only time it stalled was when the diesel fuel when dry...Which reminds me, I was gonna look up the ENG setting for "never runs out of fuel".The grille is transparent, so you're getting a "moire" effect from the openings...I blocked the view because you could see the pantographs and stuff through the deck. I fixed that and now you can only the green interior walls through the grill...

The little "chrome" effect at the front of the grill is a happy accident...I stretched the graphic and it ended up looking right.Anyway, it just seemed that the see thru grill work should be "see thru". I hadn't thought about the final appearence.I wish I could take credit for the passenger view, but it actually came from a post in which Jim Ward and a few others were discussing yard views. Since I didn't think I could make the whole Swiss route a yard, I went with Otto's suggested eng modification.Frank MusickMoving America into the 19th Century!

www.kelticsylk.com

Alert | IP

Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top

About the bounding boxes, they do indeed define collisions, but when you start the sim with your cars already coupled together, the bounding boxes are ignored. I don't know what type of couplers are defined on the EL2B, but if you could uncouple the different pieces, you'd probably find it impossible to recouple them where the bounding boxes overlap.I had that problem with a model I was working on. I'd start out with a consist of 4 of them, then experimentally uncouple the rear unit. It took me forever to figure out why every time I went to recouple, I just kept bouncing off. Finally I realized that the bounding box extended past the coupler faces, so I shrunk it down and it worked fine.Quick recap, starting the sim with the cars already coupled worked fine, but trying to couple them myself would cause a collision between the bounding boxes. If the EL2B sections have bar couplers, the overlapping boxes shouldn't ever be a problem.I know some cars seem to bounce back and forth when they're assembled in a consist...I thought that might also have to do with the bounding boxes, but if the EL2B sections don't bounce around, maybe it's caused by the coupler or inertia tensor settings in those cars' .wag files.Alex Stroshane
http://www.trainweb.org/asamtrak911

Alert | IP

Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top

Thanks for the Bbox explanation Alex, I was having trouble trying to figure out why the EL2b wasn’t colliding with itself.Frank, any route can be wired easily, with Wordpad. Open the route’s .trk file (located in the route’s root folder), and locate this line:
ELECTRIFIED ( 00000000 )
change the last number from 0 to 1
ELECTRIFIED ( 00000001 )Then set the wire height (in meters) at this line:
OverheadWireHeight ( 7.2 )Finally, make the wires visible in the Advanced Display Options of MSTS by placing an X in the associated box. If you don’t like this plan, you can open the route in the Route Editor, and select File/Properties, and set it there. You will still have to turn the wire on in the Options.Also, if you want overhead supports, you will have to add them with the RE's Auto Gantry feature.I made three more engines, and reversed them. So the consist is now six separate .eng files, numbered –1 through –6. The reason is that the trucks (bogies) swivel backwards (opposite the curvature of the rails) when a front running engine is reversed in the consist editor.
This created a dedicated reverse running engine. Somehow, in the process, the Extra flags got placed at the back end of the rear unit, and the pan on the rear unit got screwed up. I’m still fooling around with it, but maybe I should send the .eng and reversed .s and .sd files to you and see if you can put it back together.

Alert | IP

Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top

LAST EDITED ON Jul-26-04 AT 05:09 PM (EST)

Chuck, try reversing the file EL2B-D.s too. This is the FreightAnim parts. It looks to me like that is the problem in your bottom screenshot.Frank, have you considered making a dedicated reversed model, like I ended up having to do with the MILW EF-4 (E77)? ( And the MILW boxcabs running in reverse as well).Tim

Street and Interurban Electric Railway Models
Sumpter Valley B&B Gang
Willamette Valley Route
(No timetable for release)
T.W.Muir

Alert | IP

Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top

Hi Tim, that's what I did, sort of. I made a copy of the front EL2B, reversed it in SFM, and sent it to Frank. Once I figured out what was contained in the EL2B-d.s file, I made a copy of that file and reversed it, re-named the copy to EL2B-D-2.s, and added it to the reversed EL2B. That put the grab irons and flags back, although the flags are flying backwards. That didn't fix the pan, which is still screwed up.On another note, below is a pix of the #1 cab view, and to the right, a pix of the headout view. Somehow, in the headout view, all the world objects get filtered out. The terrain is there, but no trees, cars, or support poles are visible when looking through the windshield. Any ideas?

Alert | IP

Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top

LAST EDITED ON Jul-26-04 AT 05:52 PM (EST)

I think Frank is going to have to break down and build a dedicated reversed unit. It's the only way around all this. As far as the disappearing act through the windows, that's a sure sign that Frank is using alphahlfbrt-, alpha and alpha+ materials for the body, which doesn't show certain scenery items on the other side. Tim

Street and Interurban Electric Railway Models
Sumpter Valley B&B Gang
Willamette Valley Route
(No timetable for release)
T.W.Muir

Alert | IP

Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top

I had to come home and test that reverse bogie thingy...My curves were so wide, even through the crossovers that I never would have noticed it. Thanks...It looks like it would just as easy to flip the DST files (famous last words) and create a permanently coupled pair. I think the only time these babies were seperated was in the shop, if then. So unless someone writes an activity called "Locomotive gets repaired" it shouldn't be a problem.I working on the suggestions offered and should be able to fire off a modified copy soon.I'm not quite getting the head out problem...Both screen shots look the same to me. I'll check it out..What bothers me more are the open seams in the cab (and the Acela cab view) The more I can work out on this, the less problems I'll have with the "W" (more famous last words).Frank MusickMoving America into the 19th Century!

www.kelticsylk.com

Alert | IP

Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top

Yah, Frank, flip those DST files! Those open seams in the cab and windshield are a problem, alright. When i made the South Shore Little Joe, it was even more noticeable because of the orange color. There were verticle seams running down the cab at about where the windshield slope ends along the bottom, too. I spent hours just tidying up all the seams around the winshields, and still wasn't able to get rid of all of them. But most of the glaring cracks were sealed. The nose piece was a real bugger. The mapping around the number boards got transposed somehow, so that any textures in that area had to be appled in Poly Mode, after assigning the nose textures in Part Mode. It was a good evening project while watching a movie.Frank, Howabout aliasing the cabviews and sounds to the common MILW units? The MILW EF-2 sounds are really great on these.Tim

Street and Interurban Electric Railway Models
Sumpter Valley B&B Gang
Willamette Valley Route
(No timetable for release)
T.W.Muir

Alert | IP

Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top

You spoiled me, I don't think I could NOT build an electric without that B-29 drone you used on the EF's. It just wouldn't sound right. I just haven't aliased the sound files yet.Are you still using that South American cab view? It seems the closest to the EF-4.I wish there was a photo somewhere of the EL inside.Frank MusickMoving America into the 19th Century!

www.kelticsylk.com

Alert | IP

Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top

Frank, I think this is an accurate picture of that cab. Now to come up with a cab builder for this project, eh?

Alert | IP

Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top

I've been hankerin' to give it a shot...Besides, I found a tutorial (these search engines reallt are a godsend).It looks generally the same as other cabs, equipment wise. I guess when you need a throttle you go to Acme Throttle Makers, no matter what kind of engine your building...Frank MusickMoving America into the 19th Century!

www.kelticsylk.com

Alert | IP

Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top

LAST EDITED ON Jul-26-04 AT 10:10 PM (EST)

You hear B-29, I hear B-17!
Without the flak hopefully.The South American Cabview is from the FEPASA_E-3234.And yes, I am using the cabview for the 125.Chuck, where did you find that pic?Tim

Street and Interurban Electric Railway Models
Sumpter Valley B&B Gang
Willamette Valley Route
(No timetable for release)
T.W.Muir

Alert | IP

Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top

Oh no, I'm having flashbacks "Bandit on your six Johnny!, Break right...Johnny?...Johnny?..."I'll give the FEPASA a shot...One question. You had mentioned to Chuck the Alpha- Alpha+ etc...I do know what you mean now, the worst case I can think of is the Head-out view on the Winans. Because of the way it was done (the head-out is inside the cab area), it's really obvious that objects are disappearing as they enter the "greenhouse" on the front of the cab.Anyway, my point is...Are you using one of the other methods for windows? I had played with seperate parts for glass areas. I like the fact that you get a clean edge (not the pixelation you see from the alpha channel method, but it seems like a lot of work.Frank MusickMoving America into the 19th Century!

www.kelticsylk.com

Alert | IP

Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top

Remember "12 O'Clock High", Frank? Who was the actor who played General Savage? Anywho, the method I use for windows is just the down and not-so-dirty Transnorm, single-bit alpha channels. All materials in TSM that I choose for transparencies are of this family, i.e. TransHlfBrt for lit interiors, TransNorm for normally lit interiors and exteriors. This, of course, is for those parts where there will be a transparent area in it somewhere. Of course, this precludes any sort of texturing on the windows, such as dirt, or reflections. But at least you can see the background, which is my preferance. It a "six of one- half dozen of the other" proposition, and purely subjective.
( The TransHlfBrt works great for interiors which are to be lighted, such as with interiors for the streetcars that I am building.)

Tim

Street and Interurban Electric Railway Models
Sumpter Valley B&B Gang
Willamette Valley Route
(No timetable for release)
T.W.Muir

Alert | IP

Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top

Got you on that one...Gregory Peck played the general in the movie and Robert Lansing was Savage in the TV show.Who played the guy who replaced him after he died (in the show)?If you use TransNorm, etc, how are you getting around the "one sided car" appearence?I tried a simple attempt at a cab view, using Chucks photo...

I just replaced the Acela (or whatever) with a doctored version of the real EL3B. I can see that right window will have to change perspective a bit...If only I had a clue as to what I'm doing Frank MusickMoving America into the 19th Century!

www.kelticsylk.com

Alert | IP

Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top

Robert Lansing! Yep. I wasn't even thinking about the movie and Gregory Peck. Good one. Lansing's repalcement was Paul Burke, wasn't it? Speaking of B17's, did you ever see this (in another post)? My dad used to get gas here when we were kids:
It'd make a good MSTS object.I'm not sure what you mean by "one-sided car Apperance". You mean no inerior? If so, I always make an interior part also Transnorm (or TransHlfBrt for lited interiors).Hey your cabview looks good so far. Just keep hacking! Tim

Street and Interurban Electric Railway Models
Sumpter Valley B&B Gang
Willamette Valley Route
(No timetable for release)
T.W.Muir

Alert | IP

Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top

I could see his face, but I wasn't sure of his name...Paul Burke sounds about right...I'll have to go look him up...I always think of Robert Lansing as "that guy who looks like Robert Stack"...I like it. I have seen a picture like that somewhere, in a hot rod magazine I think. Famous Gas Stations or something. Nothing like fueling your car in the shadow of a B-17 G...Which reminds me of a story...When we still lived in Philly, one of our friends got wind that the "Confederate Air Force" had flown some planes into Northeast Airport. So we got the kids and we all hopped into our cars and drove up. We got there after dark and the guard let us out on the tarmac. It was a little chilly and a mist was rising. Sitting there in the mist was a B-17 (D I think) and a B-24...For a few seconds it could have been any field in England in '43. It was a very cool experience.My uncle Jack was in the Eighth, assigned to the Ninth Tactical, He serviced the shuttle missions out of North Africa when they landed in England. Married a girl he met there.I just found this link http://www.memphisbelle.com/Do you know the story of the B-24 Liberator "Lady Be Good"? http://www.historicwings.com/features2002/ladybegood/We did have a restaurant in PennDel, Pennsylvania with a Super Constellation on the roof. They used it as the cocktail lounge...I never made the time to go there and now it's gone...Oh Well...The plane was saved, however...
http://www.conniesurvivors.com/1-amc_connie_july_03.htmBack to the important stuff I had used transnorm on my earlier models, but there was always a problem...When you look through the train you couldn't see the other side at all, it was as if the car was only half there. All you saw was the "world" behind the car...I wish I had an example to show you...I got a chance to reverse the second unit...

Needs reanimation of the pantographs. Soon as you mess with that origin they explode...Frank MusickMoving America into the 19th Century!

www.kelticsylk.com

Alert | IP

Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top

The gas station was called "The Bomber" and is still there today, but missing the nose section from top turret to the nose. It's closed and derilict, a shame, really. I believe that the nose was used to help restore a flyable Fortress.In the early days, they had steps going up into the crew hatch in back. I barely remember being inside once, and that there were sharp edges everywhere. I must've been about 5 years old. Best place was up in the bombardier's station, looking out that plexi nose. They removed the steps shortly after that because of souvenier hunters had removed gauges, switches, anything that could be pryed off. I have some old pix around here somewhere, that I took of it with a Brownie about 35 years ago.Good links. I've seen the Memphis Bell one.9th Tactical - was that Martin Marauders? We ought to take this to The Yard, and talk warbirds.Now, about the TransNorm materials. As long as you make both the inside and outside a Trans material, you should be able to see the other side of the train.Did you get Chuck's scans?Tim

Street and Interurban Electric Railway Models
Sumpter Valley B&B Gang
Willamette Valley Route
(No timetable for release)
T.W.Muir

Alert | IP

Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top

Marauders would have been a different bomb group, but still a part of the Eighth...I have a book on the Marauder groups (my all time favorite plane), I'd have to look up the specifics.The Ninth Air Force was actually based in North Africa. They were the bunch that hammered Romania (including those ill fated raids on Ploesti), Italy and anywhere else they could reach. When they started shuttle bombing, flying out of Africa accross the Reich to England and "unloading" on the way, they needed their own ground crews in England. So units from the Eighth Air Force were assigned to the Ninth temporarily. The same thing happened to Ninth units in Africa. They were assigned to the Eighth Tactical to service bombers from England.You're right, we should take this to the Yard...It could get to be a long thread.I'll have to try TransNorm again. I'm skeptical, but I'll give it a go. It would solve some issues with a steamer I'm working on.Yes, I saw Chucks first scan this morning, when I got into work.Frank MusickMoving America into the 19th Century!

www.kelticsylk.com

Alert | IP

[ Home | MSTS Forum | MSTS FAQ | How To... | File Library ] Copyright © 2004 by Nels Anderson. All Rights Reserved.