1891 Rogers - Sierra R.R No.3 Bundle

•This is a summary before you buy this package, please read it carefully•

At this moment, we are very proud to be able to offer you another product with our brand. If you are already our customer, you notice that we are constantly developing new techniques and improvements in our models, with each new release, you can expect new improvements added to it. That's exactly what happened in the Sierra Railroad No.3 Ten-Wheeler project; so we recommend that you take 5 minutes to read this post and understand all the details.

The first step for this project, after we had decided what was really going to be done, was to have a good drawing in hand with all the measurements of the machine and the tender. This is a locomotive very well known by train enthusiasts and especially old steam locomotives like this one, from the end of the 19th century. Fortunately, thanks to some technical information about the locomotive released through the RAILTOWN 1897 STATE HISTORIC PARK website, it was possible to make calculations and draw the locomotive in line with the real data.

The work of measurements, calculations and until we had the drawing 100% completed in hand took about 3 months, adding that to another 2 or 3 months to finish the rest of the project that included, the complete construction of the 3D mesh, all externally and internally visible parts of the locomotive, and everything that can be interacted with by the player. By far this was the biggest project our team has ever been able to experience, it was challenging to deliver it in the most effective and convenient way.

Exclusively in this project, more than 280 textures in high definition were created and used. We did this to achieve the most satisfying visual result possible supported by Dovetail Games Train Simulator 2022. Practically, each part built in 3D on this locomotive has its own texture, with 2K or 4K resolution. But unfortunately, this came at a cost at the end of the project; and you will understand why.

It was tricky as we didn't expect our website hosting servers to have a 1GB limit for each file placed here. Therefore, when you finalize your purchase of 1891 Rogers Ten-Wheeler locomotives, you will not receive the textures in the automatic download.

On the product page you will have all the information and guidelines and it is not complicated. You will automatically pay and receive the complete locomotive, and a separate link will be available for you to download almost 3GB of high definition textures for this model, on the same page. Just install the .RWP files and no installation order is required. And, of course, carefully read the operations manual.

So, we found that TS is capable of handling massive, highly detailed textures! But on the other hand, it's not worth it as it takes up much more disk space than anything else. Of course, our next projects will not receive this amount of textures, but we will approach it in another way to maintain or improve the quality of the final model.

And you may wonder: Why didn't they redone all the textures? And the answer is simple: We didn't want to spend another 1 or 2 whole months on this model, once it is finished and working perfectly. Also, it was tested numerous times, and in the end our team and our beta testers approved it. It will not harm you at all. Just make sure you have a good amount of free space on your hard drive. (approx. 8GB per bundle after unzipped and installed on your TS).

In one of the last updates before this launch on our Facebook page, we made it clear that we will have two releases for this locomotive, and perhaps a third in the future. The first release is this one. The second should arrive next week, and the third still doesn't have a forecast. We decided to release the bundles separately, as they literally have differences in 3D mesh and textures. The rest, it's all the same, but still; it's a new product, so they are separate.

This bundle is the 1891 Rogers Sierra Railroad Ten-Wheeler No.3 Bundle with 4 Sierra Railroad variations. The next bundle will be the 1891 Rogers Movie Livieries for Ten-Wheeler with 5 variations of the locomotive in movies. And as you already know, all textures are available for free on the product page due to the large file size which was not supported by the automatic upload from our store.

The third bundle if it comes will be the 1891 Rogers Locomotive & Machine Works Ten-Wheeler Bundle, with all units in original condition.

So if you put the textures in the wrong bundle, they will "show up" but not match the model, right? To avoid this, use the textures only with that bundle they are offered.

Other information about the locomotive and its use in the TS, you will find in the Read Me file and in the Operations Manual that comes with the bundle. We hope that we have made some considerations clear, if you have any questions, please let us know through one of our communication channels.

Enjoy!

Sierra Ten-Wheeler no.3 - Progress

Okay, today marks one month since the last update of Sierra no.3, a Ten Wheeler machine built in 1891 originally for Prescott & Arizona Central Railroad; which later became the Sierra Railroad. In just one month we were able to complete the entire 3D mesh of the locomotive and tender; a total of over 280 high quality textures were rendered for the entire machine, externally and internally.

The version of the locomotive that you will see below represents the Sierra Railroad period after 1948. A very important detail that we were told by Mike Ninneman makes clear why we chose this version as a favorite: Before 1948, Sierra no.3 did not have its original manufacturing plates, they were lost in the late 1890s. It remained without plates until 1947 or 1948 when replicas were built:

In this version you will have the conservative machine when it comes to its aesthetics. Sierra Railroad used the predominant black in its locomotives, with light gray or white accents; like the writings on the tender and the digits of the number 3. Our version shows the same scheme in its paint, but a little brighter, but we are analyzing the possibility of making a version with signs of use. But remember, we have a lot of textures to work with.

Almost literally, we count rivets to reproduce this locomotive in Train Simulator 2022. This is not a common practice of Machine Rail, we build the locomotives using references that we have at our disposal and sometimes we limit ourselves, in the case of this project, hundreds of references emerged , and we had to limit ourselves to most of the small details obligatorily; when the 3D mesh of no.3 appears above the supported limit we set for our locomotives. So don't be alarmed when you see that this machine will demand a little more performance from your PC compared to our previous locomotives.

Currently, the machine is complete and its operation is almost perfect. "Almost" because we are still dealing with some problems in the animation scripts and other limitations that we need to overcome. Sierra no.3 is an oil burner, it stopped burning wood a long time ago, so we would like to introduce the presence of some details that only locomotives that burn oil have, such as the sound of the blowtorch, the black smoke when oil is injected into the firebox, etc.

And as is our custom, you will be able to open the front smokebox door, the sand dome cover, among other very attractive external animations that you will soon see in detail.

Inside the cab, we tried to reproduce all the visible details for a certain era of the locomotive. Of course, some things are not 100% faithful, as here is a representation of a locomotive that has undergone many modifications throughout its life. All doors and windows interact with your mouse, the main levers, taps, buttons and valves will also respond to your commands. And as you are already used to our locomotives, don't expect extremely complex driving; but respect the machine, don't make it hungry or thirsty, and don't abuse its performance, or else you'll never make it to the top of the hill.

Current progress:

•Finalizing other animation details

•Technical adjustments of the locomotive using its authentic specifications

•Creating high quality and realistic sounds for the outside and inside of the machine

What versions are planned for release?

Well, this locomotive has been in dozens of old movies; at the beginning of the project we said that maybe it would be possible to represent every painting she received during these movies and TV series, but unfortunately there are too many; and most (if not all) still have their rights holders.

So what will be done?

We will continue to work on the original Sierra Railroad idea, and create its variations of the railroad; including your current preservation form, which will lead us to make some external modifications to your 3D mesh. It's the little details that make all the difference. We are also looking into the possibility of recreating its original 1891 version when it came out of Rogers' workshops. When everything is completed, before the official launch, we will leave in writing how the locomotive will be made available.

Thank you if you've read everything so far. Best regards from our team.

1891 Rogers: The Sierra #3 Being Built

The Sierra no.3 project for DTG's Train Simulator started almost 6 months ago when we took a vote and it won! We had almost no precise technical information about this machine, so we could start its 3D construction. With the help of some colleagues, and a lot of attention to detail, we were able to create a base technical drawing of the locomotive ourselves, with technical information available on the internet, and once again, with the illustrious presence of information from colleagues that were kindly provided to us.

Now finally, the machine is being forged, with the greatest possible attention to its details and of course, within the confines of a 3D mesh and that Train Simulator 2022 encryption is supportable.

At first we thought it would be easy to recreate all of its painting variations that Sirra #3 had throughout her life, but we found that to be next to impossible; so yes, we will have these variations, the most striking ones perhaps, but not all.

You can also look forward to an original version of the 1891 locomotive, and probably a current version after its major overhaul. Weekly, or every 15 days we are updating our Facebook page with news about the project, stay tuned.