B&O West End

[landnrailroader]

Good looking art work there but if I was the Road Foreman, this engineer would be on the street, not for speeding, for we know the simulator was speeded up, but for excessive use of the train air brakes. Most railroads today do not use the air brake except in emergency situations or the final stop. Speed regulation during a run is handled by the dynamic brakes.

Jerry Sullivan

[frliss]

Whatever direction you choose will be fine with me. This is a fantastic route.

Fred

[scfe_fan]

I'm about 1 month away from releasing a "finished" version of my 1940's West End route including everyone's contributions - proper CPL signals, sidings, platforms, mile markers, turntables. So it will be an Open Rails only version.

Then the question is going to be - extend west to Parkersburg or east to Cumberland and up Sand Patch. Remember this route is set in the steam/diesel transition so scenery, track and signals reflect that. What says everyone?

WestEndSignals.jpg

As someone who is both a HUGE B&O fan as well as a HUGE History Buff, My vote is to do Cumberland and Sand Patch as it was in the 40's. Late Steam/Early Diesel routes are rare and this would be a GREAT one to have in Open Rails as it was during the war years.

[tdbaer]

At the beginning of the week I stumbled across this and the Ohio Division thread never dreaming there would be current ongoing conversations about modeling this route.

I't's bringing back feelings of a 5 year old, days from Christmas just seeing these images, reading each update and dreaming of the possibilities.

As a young avid rider of this route from Parkersburg to Cumberland several times a year, the chance to simulate this route again to me is priceless!

[longiron]

I think we're doing pretty well given the differences in resources, time, and money invested. BTW, my Westvaco is set in the 1940s, so I used period pictures to guide my modeling efforts.
WestvacoOR.jpg
vs
WestvacoTS.jpg

[longiron]

I believe this route compares pretty favorably to TS. Much darker, dirtier due to transition period. Everything was coated with soot based on period photos.
GraftonOR.jpg
vs
GraftonTS.jpg

[longiron]

Update on the West End route project
1. Lots of minor corrections, scenery fixes and other things most won't notice.
2. Signals installed from Dawson (east of Keyser) to Terra Alta.
3. Working through some complex signaling for that interlocking
4. Then down Cranberry Grade and onto Grafton

TerrAltaSignals.jpg

Jerry Sullivan was nice enough to share his route extension from Grafton to Parkersburg, so that is where this project is going next. Going to be fun.

[scottb613]

Hi Chris,

Looking good - sounds good.

Just in case you can find a use - a Bracket Mast and (2) Track Signal Bridge - full indiscernible LOD transitions.

SCO_SignalBridge.zip

I've got some homes that I never uploaded - added pix in link in my sig - let me know if you have any interest.

Regards,
Scott

[longiron]

Beautiful models of farm houses. Someday like to get a copy of your USRA mike into B&O colors.

[scottb613]

Beautiful models of farm houses. Someday like to get a copy of your USRA mike into B&O colors.

Hi Chris,

Let me see if I can pack the homes up - I had intended to use LOD's on the homes but that is still an outstanding task. The models were originally Ron Picardi's work - but - I loaded them into Blender and fixed them up a bit - did some mods - and added some higher res textures.

Yeah - LOL - so much work - I'll have to finish a full import on the Mikado into Blender (the import is not too big of a deal) - to make all the B&O specific changes - this also means a complete redo of the rod animation - which as you know - is a considerable effort. I'll add it to the list - if you ever want the source - just shout. I had tried it on your route - due to the massively steep grades - the Mikado seemed pretty ineffective.

Regards,
Scott

[rrdiesel87]

I'm really ecstatic to see this route nearing completion. Alongside Sand Patch this will certainly be a favorite of mine considering it has always been fairly local to me. I have one of the original CPL heads that was installed at Mountain Lake Park, MD. That will be neat to see in the sim.

I also did an extensive retexturing of nearly all of Ron Picardi's objects. If there is an interest, I can look in to contributing those to this project.

[scottb613]

Hi Andrew,

I'll send you my houses as well - things I fixed on the models that Ron didn't have tools for - is that the pixel densities are exactly the same on all surface - so no bricks or tiles being several different sizes or stretched - and - I made sure all roofing was able to be shingled in the proper direction for a RW roof.

Regards,
Scott

[rrdiesel87]

Hi Andrew,

I'll send you my houses as well - things I fixed on the models that Ron didn't have tools for - is that the pixel densities are exactly the same on all surface - so no bricks or tiles being several different sizes or stretched - and - I made sure all roofing was able to be shingled in the proper direction for a RW roof.

Regards,
Scott

Please do...newer high-resolution textures have really given new some new life to that collection of shapes.

This is an example of some of the silos with reworked textures...

[CSXT Q-317]

As a B&O fanatic I vote for going West to Parkersburg. I believe that Train Simulations is doing Cumberland to Connelsville, so I think Parkersburg is the better choice. Just my opinion. Thanks for the route - spectacular.

Right, I have the track-only version of the Branch which I haven't started yet as I have been busy backdating and reworking a copy of my Ohio Division Parkersburg to at least Chillicothe. I have the track for that laid clear to Cincinnati however from Chillicothe eastward is has the majority of scenery. No time frame for the Ohio Division is on the table at this point. I think any release of that would be have the western half "Chillicothe Sub " left without scenery for the time being.

[scottb613]

Hi…

Originally - I was just going to keep the homes for my own use - I used the shape converter to read the shape - converted to 3DS - then imported into Blender. It’s not perfect and takes some cleanup. Subsequently - I got in contact with Ron and he graciously granted me permission to share the reworked models.

Regards,
Scott