Merry Christmas from New England Railworks!

March of the Alcos

Railworks America content creator Rich Chargin (Dogmouse) released his long time project, a free Alco S2 diesel locomotive, and I have to say it is one of the most impressive models I have yet seen. It was a five year work in progress and has an immaculate detail, wonderful sounds and on top of all that, an extremely easy repainting template complete with guides.

I began repainting the model into New England railroad schemes and at the moment, have completed the following roster. Hope you enjoy this wonderful, completely free locomotive by Rich and these repaints! Check over at Railworks America to see the great repaints others are creating.

BOSTON & MAINE RAILROAD

Boston & Maine  #1260

Boston & Maine #1262

Boston & Maine #1263

MAINE CENTRAL RAILROAD

Maine Central #301

Maine Central #302

Maine Central #303

CENTRAL VERMONT RAILROAD

Central Vermont #7919

Central Vermont #8093

NEW YORK, NEW HAVEN & HARTFORD RAILROAD

New Haven #0600-0621 (Auto-Numbered)

BAY COLONY RAILROAD

Bay Colony #1052

WESTERN VERMONT RAILROAD (FICTIONAL)

BOULANGER GRANITE CO. (FICTIONAL)

(For the CV Champlain Division Route)

Content Update 11/9/2015

Happy November everybody! The temperature has dipped into the chilly and the leaves are almost gone now....looks like we're heading into another cold, New England winter.

The past weeks have kept me busy, but not busy enough to pump out some repaint work. There have been a few excellent releases as of late, including a wonderful freeware 1970s 57-foot refrigerated boxcar available at http://railworksamerica.com/ and a GE U30c, available for sale at http://vrailcreations.net/.

Guilford Rail GE U30c #663, the "USS Bickmore"

One of the repaints that I have been working on is a repaint of that U30c into Guilford Rail livery. GRS purchased a U30C from Detroit Edison in the late 1980s to supplement its aging roster of failing GP9s, GP7s, and other power inherited from the railroads it took over. The locomotive, like many U30Cs, broke down often and had trouble pulling trains. It earned the nickname "USS Bickmore" because it was a GE U-Boat, it was as much help as a boat anchor for pulling trains, and because Tim Bickmore at Waterville was constantly trying to save it from the scrap line. 

Another project that has since been released are repaints of Larry Goss' freeware 57-foot PFE Refrigerated Boxcar. This is a wonderful and generous model, giving us a well known railroad car from the late 20th century. I have repainted it into several liveries for the Maine Central and Bangor & Aroostook Railroads. They were used to transport Maine perishables like fish, blueberries and potatoes all over the country.

Lastly for today, I have been working on several packs of repaints of  Larry Goss' freeware 50 foot FMC Plate-C Boxcar. Right now I have Guilford Rail (Maine Central), Providence & Worcester and Maine Central repaints mostly completed. I may include Vermont Rail System and Bangor & Aroostook on that list soon...

Well that just about does it for this update, all of these will be uploaded to the file library at http://railworksamerica.com/. Hope you enjoy these next few weeks, and stay warm!

Rick Kfoury

New England Railworks

Central Vermont Champlain Division 1990 (And other odds and ends)

I have completed and uploaded the update to the Central Vermont Champlain Division, which takes place 30 years after the original (sounds like a movie sequel...). I think you'll enjoy spotting all the differences, some good and some somber!

I have also completed and uploaded a few projects I've been plugging away at. 

Lamoille Valley Railroad 50ft FMC Boxcar

Central Vermont EMD GP9 (late scheme), perfect motive power for the route update.

Boston & Maine 50ft FMC Boxcar (Late McGinnis scheme)

Going forward from here with a few small ideas, but mostly a clean slate. Updates will be posted here. 

See you down the track!

Recent Releases and Projects

It's been a busy and hectic few months, but I've made a lot of progress on content for Railworks. Here are some of the completed and uncompleted projects as of late:

COMPLETED AND UPLOADED

GMRC 50 Foot Boxcars

CV 50 Foot Boxcars

Battenkill Railroad Alco RS3s

CV Wide-Vision Caboose

WORKS IN PROGRESS

B&M 50 Foot Boxcar - McGinnis Logo

Central Vermont Champlain Division 1990

Western Vermont Wide-Vision Caboose (ex-MEC)

Simulator Review: Trainz Simulator 2012

For all of my "career" as a railroad simulator content creator (short though it may be) my simulator of choice has been Railworks Train Simulator. I have grown very used to its dynamics, and even some of its quirks and shortcomings don't really bother me anymore. I have adapted to both repainting and route creating, and have turned out some content that had made both myself and others happy. Railworks is still my bread and butter, however.....


There have always been other options in the realm of Railroad Simulation, all with their own offerings, weak points and promises. I never got into MSTS (Microsoft Train Simulator) as my interests were in other places when it was at its peak. It seems too complicated and not quite worth getting into at this point, although I do appreciate the amount of content available for the sim.

There are other simulators like Run8 that are just starting out, however they either have very little content available right now or do not appeal to me for various reasons. And then there is Trainz.

Trainz is a unique simulator in that it never really got the amount of attention that MSTS and Railworks received, yet there is something about it that has drawn me in time and again. "Trainz: A New Era" is the current title but at the moment there is not a great deal of content available and there is a general "controversy" about its promised quality. So, I have decided to focus on Trainz 2012 which has by now a lot of routes, rolling stock and assets available. I am starting to explore the simulator, and so I will share some of my observations about the program.

My first impressions of the simulator were actually quite poor. The included routes and rolling stock had unrealistic textures and recycled sounds. The controls and layout were confusing and meddlesome, with the zoom feature greatly limited in its range. Railworks has very fluid controls and the controls for Trainz felt sluggish and forced. Frustrated and looking around on the internet, I saw screenshots of beautiful routes and stunning locomotives. There had to be more to this.

Trainz deals with the downloading and installation of its content through an application called the "Download Station" or the "Content Manager." Once you get past its crude appearance and memorize the controls, its actually a pretty useful tool. Each major asset, like a locomotive or a route, require smaller assets or "dependencies" to run correctly. Locating all the dependencies can be a hassle but once you know where to look it gets a lot easier. Finding more enjoyable routes in the DLS started to turn my opinion around, and that's when I discovered the user generated content online. There are many websites that host content for Trainz. Everything from locomotives to routes can be found, and the best part is that they're all mostly free. That's right, I've found more freeware rolling stock for Trainz than all the American payware content available for RailWorks, and when you're a dedicated sim user that is a literal godsend. Some of the better quality locomotives on websites like JointedRail are payware, but they're more reasonably priced than RailWorks locomotives. I've even been able to locate my favorite diesel locomotive, the EMD SW1, which is absent from RailWorks altogether.

As you can see, many dependencies were still downloading so the route looks unfinished. This is the "Emily Bay Branch", a model railroad-esque route. The GP9s I purchased from JointedRail for $6. The SW1 and all the cars were free.

Repainting is also a heck of a lot easier. There are no changes of alpha channels or exportation of files; all you have to do is make a copy of the locomotive, edit your files, then save them. That's it. Granted a lot more of the content creators have strict policies on repaints so you'll probably have to save some of them for your own usage. But it's nice to have them to yourself sometimes. The repaints that are allowed are often found on the DLS or on hosted sites. I haven't tried the route builder yet but I hear its ridiculously easy to use. Whether that means it gives up quality and realism remains to be seen.

Finally, one thing I have noticed about Trainz is that it has a bit of an "identity crisis". Some routes are set up like model railroads complete with human sized objects like doors, windows and chairs. Other routes strive for the realism of RailWorks. I really like the unique model railroad approach, it hasn't really been done and it can make shorter routes really enjoyable. However, I also like a realistic approach. The fact that it can do both is definitely cool.

Spotting a car at an industry. Everything seen here is freeware. You can see the "model railroad" aspects of this route, the Emily Bay Branch.

I have outlined more of the pros and cons below. I encourage you to take a look yourself!

Pros:

• A very large amount of free, quality content.
• More locomotives available than RailWorks.
• Cheaper prices on payware content.
• Easier repainting abilities.
• Interesting "model railroad" approach to some routes.
• Dynamic narrow gauge routes and locomotives.
• Industries that are animated and sometimes even load railcars.
• Greater range of content for "vintage" and "specialty" routes.
• You can have many trains running at a time, eliminating confusing AI preparation. You can easily jump from train to train.

Cons:

• Awkward and sluggish controls with limited zoom angles.
• Locomotive controls are always set up like a model railroad controller, unless you like always sitting in the cab.
• Dependencies for routes can take days to download and you are have limited MB per day.
• Content included with the game lacks quality.
• No central community website (I.E. Railworks America) so you'll have to dig for content and dependencies.
• Less realistic and engaging than RailWorks.

Here are some links of interest for Trainz: 

• http://www.theerectinghall.info/
• http://jointedrail.com/
• http://trainzforge.weebly.com/
• http://trainz.banal.net/catalog/catalog.html
• http://rrmods.com/

Boston & Maine Late Scheme GP9s (RSC)

The Boston & Maine of the late 1970s and early 1980s was all about change. A new progressive president, Alan Dustin, had taken over and was doing everything he could to bring the railroad back from its 1970 bankruptcy. Among this was a complete stylistic overhaul.

The railroad did as much as they could to distance themselves from the previously destructive McGinnis administration. They darkened the blue on their locomotives, greatly reduced the usage of the iconic "McGinnis cross" logo and instead went with a large "Boston and Maine" script on the sides of the long hood.  "BM" appeared on the noses of the engines.  This bold new paint scheme was simpler than the extravagant McGinnis Bluebird scheme, but still managed to look modern and progressive; befitting of the railroad's new intended image. Unfortunately, it was only a few years before the B&M would be bought completely by Guilford in 1983, so this last new paint scheme was soon replaced by the Guilford grey and orange, although a few managed to stay "true blue" into the 1990s. However, in the years that it ran on the B&M, this new look managed to be just as identifiable and memorable as their past schemes.

Although the B&M had by now purchased new and more powerful locomotives in the form of GP38-2s and GP-40s, their venerable GP9s still served the railroad well both on the remaining (and quickly disappearing) branchlines and the mainlines. During this time the B&M also renumbered a handful of their GP9s from the 1700 class to the 1800 class, however not every GP9 was renumbered; some retained their 1700-class numbers.

 It is notable that many of the last photographs taken on branchlines abandoned in this era (1976-1982) are of GP9s in the Late scheme. I am reminded of a particular photograph of B&M GP9 #1714 crossing Main St. in Keene, NH in 1984; the last train to ever leave that city.

I have repainted the RSC CN GP9 into the final Boston & Maine Railroad paint scheme. There are six units included in the pack, which will be available for download on Railworks America shortly.

\

Happy Independence Day!

In honor of the day, I have created a few patriotic locomotives for the Champlain Division Route: a fictional Bicentennial scheme for Western Vermont GP7 #106, and the real-life Bicentennial paint scheme for Central Vermont GP9 #1776. I hope you all have a safe and fun-filled 4th!

Central Vermont GP9 #1776

Western Vermont GP7 #106 (Ex-NYC) in its usual paint scheme, named "City of Fraser".

The same unit in its Bicentennial paint scheme applied in 1975, re-named "Ethan Allen" after the Revolutionary War Vermont hero.

Next Route: The Milford-Bennington Railroad

After recently completing and releasing the large fictional Champlain Division Route, I have decided to create a route that will be much simpler, the real life Milford-Bennington Railroad of southern New Hampshire.

The Hillsboro Branch of the Boston & Maine Railroad was always a "twilight line" at best. In its earlier days it stretched from Nashua to Keene, but by 1972 the line had been diverted and cut back to a paper mill at Bennington, just south of Hillsboro. Thus, the B&M didn't even serve the line's namesake town anymore. The B&M continued to run the 20+ mile Branch from Nashua to Bennington up until 1985, when a strike on the newly created Guilford Rail System caused a huge delay in rail service. Frustrated by late deliveries, the Bennington Paper Mill switched to trucks.

With no reason to travel to the far end of the Branch, the trains stopped and Guilford had plans to abandon the Hillsboro Branch past Wilton, NH. However, the State of NH stepped in and purchased the Hillsboro Branch from Wilton to Bennington. They hired a new shortline, the Milford-Bennington Railroad, to serve a stone quarry in Wilton.

Armed with an ex-Canadian National SW900, several ex-Delaware & Hudson ballast hoppers and a B&M caboose, the MBRR ran the 8 or so miles from the quarry in Wilton to a processing plant back down in Milford. Guilford Rail continued to service the few other freight customers in Milford and Wilton, causing great legal issues with the MBRR and ensuring that they only had one customer, the stone quarry. They soldier on today, as they have for over two decades, hauling several stone trains a day between Wilton and Milford.

Berlin Mills Railway FMC Boxcar

In the late 1970s, the Berlin Mills Railway, a long-running industrial railroad serving the many paper mills of Berlin, NH, leased 50’ boxcars for paper service and painted them into a jade green scheme with white lettering. Some can still be seen today in their original paint, scattered far and wide. These boxcars traveled quite far distances and I have even seen a photo of one on a train in Mt. Shasta, CA. I have repainted the wonderful freeware 50' FMC boxcar from MaineLines, which is available on Railworks America. This model is easy to work with and a lot of fun to repaint, and best of all is it free so you will all be able to download any repaints of it. The Berlin Mills Railway repaint of the FMC 50' Boxcar will be available soon on Railworks America.

Champlain Division Route Released

The Central Vermont Champlain Division has been released on Railworks America! There are also a ton of repaints that myself and others have done in the past week for the route. Simply search "Western Vermont" or "Central Vermont" in the File Library searchbar.

Content Update 6/16/2015

My apologies for the lack of posts recently, its been a very busy week Train Simulator wise!

I have finished and uploaded the Central Vermont Champlain Division to the RailWorks America file library. It should be available for download by Saturday of this week. I had a lot of great enthusiasm, feedback and help from the RailWorks America community, and without them the route would not have been as enjoyable to create.

It was a busy week in terms of uploaded content as well. Harry Adkins, an excellent content creator at RailWorks America, has created many repaints for the route as well as much-needed granite flatcar loads for the quarry. I have completed and uploaded a number of repaints for the route as well. I will list them below.

At the moment I am working in the project of updating my route to the 1990s. So far I have replaced the roads, cars, and a number of buildings. The Western Vermont beyond Wilkesboro Bend has been abandoned and pulled up, and most of the Waterton yard is gone. The changes surprise even me!

Uploaded Content:
- Two Western Vermont cabooses
- Western Vermont MOW Hopper
- Western Vermont Alco RS-1
- Central Vermont Alco RS-1
- Two Central Vermont cabooses
- Canadian National Passenger coaches

Repaints in Progress:
- Central Vermont GP38-2
- Western Vermont GP7
- Western Vermont Alco RS-11
- Central Vermont FMC Boxcars
- CN, CV and Western Vermont Wide-Vision Steel Cabooses

The Champlain Division: 30 Years Later

As I add the finishing touches onto the Central Vermont Champlain Division Route, I am currently planning my next short project. Just what exactly would this area in northwestern Vermont look like if the dial could be set ahead 30 years? What would still be around? What would be left to memory?

These are the questions I am asking myself as I plan to make a copy of the route set in the early 1990s, as the Central Vermont Railroad began to separate itself from its parent company, the Canadian National. Many familiar sights along the line will be much different for sure, while some will remain the way they are in 1960. It will be a fairly easy process, swapping out the roads, vehicles and some of the buildings along the line. Perhaps the most striking changes will be seen on the Western Vermont Railroad, as 30 years can bring a lot of change to a small shortline railroad. Keep checking up for more information on the project!

Route Update 6/9/15

It's been a busy few days for my current route in progress, the Central Vermont Champlain Division! The route is now in beta and I have sent it out to testers. I can't say enough about the beta testers, taking the time to check the route over thoroughly. Thankfully there are only minor issues that can be fixed easily! I have already made a number of changes and have a few more to make before the route should be ready to release.

I will be including two free roam scenarios with the route, one featuring the Central Vermont as the focus and the other the Western Vermont. I have whipped up repaints of the RWA Alco RS-1 for both railroads to serve as "default" locomotives for the free roams. They will have to be installed prior to installing the route but that should be no problem as the RWA route is required anyways to run my route. The repaints have been uploaded to RailWorks America and should be available this weekend. I will also be including 2-3 basic standard scenarios.

More news as it comes! Keep an eye out for the Steam Sale, scheduled to start on June 11th.

Covered Bridges

     Railworks assets creator jpetersjr (http://www.i-m.mx/jpetersjr/BigJProductions/) has built for me two covered bridges that I have incorporated into my current route, the fictional Central Vermont Champlain Division.

     In addition to an covered railroad bridge (top photo), he has also created a covered railroad bridge (bottom photo). I have placed two covered railroad bridges on the shortline Western Vermont Railroad segment of my route. The reason for not placing any on the mainline Central Vermont portion is because although they were once used on mainline tracks, by 1960 (the route's time period) all mainline covered bridges had been replaced with stronger steel and wooden structures. However, they remained in use on branch lines and shortline railroads. Covered railroad bridges were very common in Vermont, even until recently. In fact, a real life Vermont shortline, the St. Johnsbury & Lamoille County Railroad, operated freight traffic over a number of these until the late 1990s. Although the line is now abandoned, one still stands at Wolcott, VT.

There were a staggering number of railroad covered bridges in my home state of New Hampshire as well. Many of them can still be visited today, albeit almost all of them are abandoned and home to rail-trails. However, if you visit Clark's Trading Post in Woodstock, NH, you can take a ride through the last active covered railroad bridge in the world.

Delaware & Hudson 50ft Boxcars

Tonight I worked on some D&H repaints of GreatNortherner's freeware 50-foot boxcars. These will be seen on the Delaware & Hudson segment of my Central Vermont Champlain Division Route and can be run appropriately on many routes currently available for Train Simulator 2015. 

Although I live far from the former-Delaware & Hudson system, I have actually seen quite a few of these boxcars in person. When Guilford Rail Service famously took over the Delaware & Hudson (albeit briefly) in the 1980s, many of these boxcars made their way up the New Hampshire Mainline to the Concord, NH area, where they were carried in freight service by the New England Southern Railroad. Even today a few battered, overgrown and rusted examples survive in the Concord area and up the White Mountain Branch, serving today as storage. 

Route Update

The Central Vermont Champlain Division is currently about 98% done. A major push in the last few days resulted in the completion of major scenery and track work as well as the placement of ambient sound effects. We now head into the final stage, which will be a sweep of the route. During this sweep, I will look for breaks in the scenery, inconsistent speed limits and any other minor errors that may persist. The route should go into Beta mode next week! 

Route Progress: Wrapping up the CV Mainline

Well you wouldn't want to drink hot milk, would you?

Tonight I plugged away at finishing the last major segment in my current WIP, the Central Vermont Route (officially named the Central Vermont's Champlain Division). The southern end of our CV Mainline is located in a city known as Bloomfield, VT (no relation to the real life Bloomfield, VT). Our Bloomfield much more resembles Bellows Falls, VT; a small industrial city bordered by a winding river and steep, wooded hillsides. At the center of Bloomfield is the Central Vermont mainline and yard, including a short spur serving Green Mountain Creamery, a major customer. There was once a branch leaving the mainline here that headed south, but is recently abandoned at the route's date (1960-65).

Completing Bloomfield is the last step that stands before the "technical" work begins on the route, which includes adding ambient sound effects, labeling sidings and adding speed limits. It shouldn't be too long before the route will be available at Railworks America.

An aerial view of Bloomfield showing the Creamery, Depot, CV Mainline and yards as well as the abandoned branchline.

Bloomfield Depot, showing CN/CV power and the Green Mountain Creamery in the background.

The Central Vermont Railroad: Coming soon to Railworks America!