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
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| Boston & Maine #1260 |
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| Boston & Maine #1262 |
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| Boston & Maine #1263 |
MAINE CENTRAL RAILROAD
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| Maine Central #301 |
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| Maine Central #302 |
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| Maine Central #303 |
CENTRAL VERMONT RAILROAD
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Central Vermont #7919
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Central Vermont #8093
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NEW YORK, NEW HAVEN & HARTFORD RAILROAD
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| New Haven #0600-0621 (Auto-Numbered) |
BAY COLONY RAILROAD
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| Bay Colony #1052 |
WESTERN VERMONT RAILROAD (FICTIONAL)
BOULANGER GRANITE CO. (FICTIONAL)
(For the CV Champlain Division Route)
Rick, I have an Interesting Request. As i have no other place i know of to communicate with you, this will have to do. You seem to share My passion for New England routes, and i have an idea for one: The Manchester and Lawrence branch. But here is where things get weird; It would be nice to have it in a semi fictional modern day time era. You might have read the I-93 transit study, the 2012 state rail plan, and New Hampshire railroad Revitalization association's efforts to get this line up and running again. I think it would be nice: Pan am local freights, MBTA Commuter rail, and some heritage locomotives, such as a B&M Sw7 Or Gp7. There would be a number of lineside industries, but they would be very small, about one or two, maybe even three, cars per industry, and that's what would make the route so special, not to mention working those locals between frequent MBTA Commuters.
ReplyDeleteHello,
ReplyDeletethanks for the comment! Always nice to know there are other New England railfans playing the sim. The Manchester and Lawrence Branch is a railroad line that I have considered making for the sim a few times as it is very close to home. It is one of my areas of personal study outside of the sim and I have spent a lot of time walking along what is left and gathering photographs from the past. However, route building in Railworks is no easy task, especially when it comes to a real-world route. You have to spend a lot of time perfecting terrain to make it look like its real-world counterpart, and it's even harder to locate buildings that match the unique ones that line the railroad. This is one of the reasons I find making fictional routes so much more enjoyable. That being said, it is still on my list of possible route candidates in the future. If I was to create the line in Railworks it would be in the late 70s-early 80s era because that's when it was last used, and I seriously doubt it will ever be used again with the current commuter rail plans focused on the mainline between Nashua and Concord. I would probably focus on Londonderry to Windham in the first release and possibly expand to Salem and Manchester in an update.
Seems like a good idea. Thanks for the response!
ReplyDeleteAlso, i Don't mean to turn this into one big "This will happen, this won't" But here is how i might picture some things happening:
ReplyDeleteCommuter rail will be brought up to Manchester and Concord Via the Capitol corridor, in the meanwhile, like the study said, All the towns along the M&L, including mine (Windham, yay!) Will grow (were already cutting down a lot of trees here to make way for new houses.)
Commuter rail will be a hit along the Capitol corridor. Along the M&L, the people who have to traverse our lovely 4-lane (Maybe 5 in some places) parking lot (Interstate 93) Is going to whine about the traffic, and not having another option.
NHDOT, not now, but later, maybe 2030, will look into it again, and it Might work. Rail trail groups will whine. But they have to give it up. I think it might be NH law.
M&L might go up to Salem in phased implementation, then Derry, then Londonderry to just south of the airport
Finally, the M&L might reach its namesake city, Manchester.
Salem, as they said (in a small paper i read) would do back in 2008 when the M&L was mentioned over and over again, would most likely follow it's motto (Commerce, industry, recreation-i think) would zone rail liking industrial, and combine those industries with some industries near Derry and the airport, Pan Am would might look back into freight, and things would run full circle from the 1980s
Now, if this was a perfect world and a perfect state who doesn't put most of it's money on highway, this would be a thing happening right now. However, there isn't enough money for it at the moment until the population grows and people can be shown that CR is a good idea.
But Most Definitely you should focus on the 1970s-80s for this route! In my opinion, there was no better railroad up here in New England than Boston and Maine (And Maine central, but that doesn't apply here) And Guilford decided to instantly cut back the line after they bought it, and under maintained it. So yes. Also, in response to your first sentence, i am also glad i have a New England rail fan making such quality railroad content!
However, enough about my rants, that is just my opinion.
ReplyDelete