I won't lie to you - it's actually just one bridge. However, it was two separate visits to that bridge that made for one unforgettable pair of stories.

During the Great Race To Ogden, we stopped along a variety of places along the road and in just as many towns, but one spot sticks out in particular - a bridge in roughly, well, the middle of nowhere. Between the towns of Medicine Bow and Hanna, Wyoming sits a bridge that crosses over Union Pacific's transcontinental main, and it was here that many, many photographers wanted to get a few pictures of the UP #4014. We got the shots, but it was certainly not as easy as you'd think.

To get an understanding of what I mean when I say the middle of nowhere, I really mean it. From Google Maps, we can understand where we are pretty quickly.

The journey from Cheyenne to Ogden and back was unlike any other for a myriad of reasons, but one of them was the opportunity to get alongside the legendary Union Pacific #4014 while it was in motion. The trick was getting up there! Because so many other people wanted to the same thing, it was tough to get close at all. However, we did manage it multiple times throughout the journey. It was truly exhilarating to be able to do, and certainly not easy at times! So, now, we look at some of the highlights of getting side by side the Union Pacific Big Boy, #4014.

It's been quite some time since we've done pretty much anything at all on SMWorks. So, hello again - we're back with newer and better things! You may have noticed the website is completely different now in terms of content. Practically everything old is missing! (but not really)

Let's talk about what's new and answer some questions!

Firstly, SMWorks is rebranding as my own personal site that is not based on Trainz. Instead, we're going to be focusing on the things I actually enjoy that don't make me want to put a fist through a monitor: my photography and musical interests. These are the things I want to show off and present instead of an old, dead video game. So, the most important thing is how the line about "no future content will be in development for SMWorks" in my last blog post... is now completely false!

Well, technically, it's true, because it was about Trainz. Of course, this site has had Trainz content on it for years and there are people out there that have a use for some of the assets here, so it's not going away - yet. But for now, the big question any old user of this site will have: where is all the old Trainz content?
Short answer: Legacy tab.
All of the old stuff - Downloads, information pages, etc. - will continue to sit in the Legacy tab for a while until I decide to pull it permanently. As to when that'll be, I have no idea; it could be two months or two years. It will not stay forever, but it will stay for now. Everything is completely unchanged and the pages were simply moved, so nothing should be broken, but if anything is and I haven't caught it, do let me know. The other important thing to note is that, yes, Trainz content is still not in development anymore nor will it ever be, and any active support for issues that may come from installing it is now completely zero.

On the topic of what's new for the site, that would be primarily be the photography section. I want to have a good platform for showing off what I create that mirrors what I post on Flickr, as well as having a place to talk more in detail about some of the things done to get the final photo, whether that's the trip to get there, the moment the photo was taken, or the post-processing - that's what we're here for now. In essence, we have become your run of the mill photography website but, hey, these photos mean more than some .cdp files to me. More on this below!

That also does mean the blog here should get some more usage. In particular, I'd like to write more about some of the photos & videos created out of the trips I take and all the things related. Especially with the recent UP 4014 & 844 Great Race I've just returned from - that's generating quite a few published photos and soon, equally as many posts here about it! Do note though that I won't limit the blog to exclusively photography stuff, but I won't start posting personal stuff, either. This isn't meant to be a blog all about the ins and outs of my life, but if there is something relevant, I may post about. I'm talking major life event sort of things only, really, so don't worry about that if that's not your thing.

One other new addition is the musical stuff. Though I'm not quite at a producer level by any means (I have yet to create a track worthy of listening, so), I am becoming more and more proficient at DJing as time goes on and I practice more. This is something I'd like to do more of and ideally make something out of, so I'd like to highlight some of it here as well. I've been doing it in some capacity for about a year now and I like to think I'm not too bad at it - I'm no El Hornet or Andy C, but I'm, well, me, and I can fill a little niche in my area of the United States which is drum & bass in a dnb-less place, so... hey. That means something to me at least. Anyway, the music spot here on the site is meant to show it off a little more and act as as an example of what I can do to those who might be looking for something like this, especially if they're at all in my area... 

The last really, really big new change is coming soon this summer I'm going to be adding in a little bit of a storefront here. In particular, we're going to see photo prints become available! They may not be for every single photo, but generally you can assume that if it's on the "Photos" page/gallery, then you can buy a print of it. All of them will include a choice of different sizes (e.g 8x10, 12x16, 24x36, etc) all at different price points. Right now as to what those price points are? I'm still working on that. I hope to make them pretty reasonable based on what you get - there's no sense in me charging hundreds for a photo, as it stands. So unless you plan on buying the entire catalogue when it shows up, don't expect to break the bank for a print or two! Of course, this is coming later this summer - sometime in July or August 2019, so stay tuned for that (and more info).

But, anyways, yes, this is something that is going to show up soon. Before I make it public I want to make sure that what you get is actually of quality, so between now and summer I'll be getting samples and organizing everything to work as smoothly as possible and make sure everything is up to par. The Home page has a photo of what one of the store pages looks like right now, which is certainly early in the development cycle and not the final. I believe you can expect this to be released late June or early July if all goes according to plan (which will even include more photos I can't post right now!).

So, to wrap things up: SMWorks is finally getting the rebranding it deserves. Ever since I departed from Trainz last year, SMWorks has been completely and utterly dead. Now, the site is going to have some actual purpose and will be something more than a forgettable video game website. We'll see where things go from here, but right now, things look good for the site.

Oh, and one last thing... maybe it's time we actually got a proper domain name... :) As always, more to come in the future.

Cheers,
​SM

I believe it would be prudent to get the most important announcements out of the way first.

At present, there is no new content in development for SMWorks, and there is not likely to be any additional content uploaded in the foreseeable future. This is due to the game and people surrounding it, primarily. Trainz as a game is a nightmare to work with, regardless of how new or old your version is, and it is ultimately no longer worth it.

As well, you may have noticed a little bit of a change in colour on the site. I've edited the CSS a bit to give the site a little bit of a Spark-inspired theme. It's a nice look, I think. There were some changes to the buttons, and I think I caught all of them but if there's an issue let me know ASAP.

The site is planned to continue up to November 2019 after the next cycle (Nov 2018), but after that, we shall see. If it proves not to be worth it to continue to host the site, either it'll be downsized or everything moved over to my old friends at The Erecting Hall - they do a great job archiving all sorts of Trainz content, and they even have some of my creations there. You'll know here months before that happens if it were to indeed occur, so no worries. We've got over a year to figure it out - it shouldn't be a problem.

There's a lengthier post about this all on the Trainz Forums, but the detail isn't necessary here.
In short, nothing new is likely to show up here unless I'm straight up told I can post old skins or given something to host, but neither are likely. Site will continue till November, 2019, but after that the future remains to be seen (partially depends on Trainz as a whole continuing).

As always,
Cheers,
SM

Here we are! After a few weeks worth of work, SMWorks proudly presents the most massive update ever given to the website, period!

Since starting the site in 2014, SMWorks has been using the same theme the entire time - an old one, called 'Clean Lines'. It's a great theme, looks good and functions well, but it was definitely time for something fresh. So, after a little experimenting and back and forth, I've chosen a brand new theme that gives the site a much cleaner and brighter look.

Unite 2 proved to be the perfect solution. The biggest and best change with this new theme is the fact it's an actually updated theme that gives me Sections! Sections are really crucial for doing up the new site. You'll notice new scrolling effects on some pages and just how modern the site feels thanks to that handy tool in the build bar. Absolutely fantastic.

So, in total, how much was and wasn't changed? Almost everything was changed in some way. The pages that received the least attention were the Blog & Misc, Licensing, and Support pages. All they required were some touchups.

Everything else was rebuilt practically from scratch. Locomotives, Routes, Home, etc - starting fresh with most of them resulted in a great new look I'm very pleased with! The benefits of how all these pages were setup is also just how easy it'll be to add new items. Previously, adding a new item to the locomotive section in particular was an awful task of trying to perfectly line things up - no more! It doesn't just look good, but it also is far more functional than ever before.

As well as updating pages with the new theme, thumbnails and headers for most pages have either been updated or remade entirely to better fit. Lots of new images and even old, never-before-seen images were dragged out of folders I forgot I had in order to fill up some of the pages. Of course, the colour scheme here has changed pretty drastically too - from black to white!

There's just so much that was changed, all I can say is go check it all out!

This is the part everybody's been waiting for...

While there are no new locomotives to speak of, we have FOUR (4) routes/modules now available for download!

For routes, the Silver Lines V2, Silver Lines Electric, and Silver Lines Midwest are now all available for download!

For modules, the Silver Lines Steam module is now available for download - the largest module yet!

Silver Lines V2 is a complete rebuild of the original Silver Lines route, which was very briefly available for a few years here as a limited time download. The new route is much shorter than its original base, but it's much better detailed and looks better in every which way. It has a few operable industries, as well. Check it out under Routes!

Silver Lines Electric & Silver Lines Midwest are both some of the oldest routes I have and, as previously discussed in a post here, it would take years to complete both of them. So, I've decided to release them as-is. What does this mean? Well, there is a lot of blank space and incomplete scenery all over the routes, varying in designs as they each were worked on for four years with different design styles in mind at different stages of progress. Nonetheless, because I'm fully aware they won't be finished any time in the near future, I present them to you. Check them out under Routes!

Also added in this update is a Silver Lines Building Pack under Scenery - a required dependency for all the routes mentioned above! The V2 route also has a very small pack with a handful of extra dependencies that will be of use for that route.

Finally, the various MILW & SLRR SD9/SD7 packs have all been updated for full TANE compatibility - no more errors!

Not here, that's for sure.

I still have plans to build that route, but it's being put the side entirely for the time being. There are more important things to take care of before starting a 200-some mile route of a long dead railroad. As well, I do lack a fair amount of required resources (both documentation and photos), not to mention I don't even have a DEM.

Short answer: If the project continues, it'll be added under Routes.

Do people read changelogs? I know I do, so if you're interested, this is everything that has been changed in this update!

• Replaced old theme, 'Clean Lines', with new theme, 'Unite 2'
• Redesigned Home page
• Redesigned ALL Download pages (Locomotives, Routes, Modules, Scenery, Rollingstock, Misc & Deps, Downloads)
• Redesigned individual route pages (Silver Lines V2, Silver Lines Electric, Silver Lines Midwest)
• Removed Milwaukee Road: Harlowton to Butte (for the time being)
• Added new thumbnails for all Locomotives, Rollingstock, Scenery, and most Modules
• Added new graphics / headers for almost all pages (some were merely updated slightly to fit the new theme better)
• Added new page: The Silver Lines Railroad (in-depth write up about the railroad)
• Added new page: The Milwaukee Road (in-depth write up about the railroad, not public yet due to sheer volume of text. Will be made public in the very near future)
• Added download links for: Silver Lines V2, Silver Lines Electric, Silver Lines Midwest
• Added new module: Silver Lines Steam
• Added KUID lists on all downloads
• Updated all download links
• Updated MILW & SLRR SD9 & SD7 packs for full TANE compatibility
• Improved formatting, wording, grammar & spelling on Licensing & Policy, Support, About, and Acknowledgement pages
• Minor tweaks, adjustments, and bug fixes all around

That about covers everything. The Trello card for this has been fun to check off...

No idea what's coming next. As it stands, I've released about everything I'm allowed to, so, we'll have to see where Trainz goes and me with it. It could be radio silence for a year, I could release something in two weeks. Who knows?

I think I've said everything that needs to be said here. As always, if you have any questions / comments / concerns, feel free to contact me or write a comment here.

See you next release!

Cheers,
SM

For a few days, SMWorks will be undergoing major changes and redesigns, resulting in the site looking and functioning rather poorly due to the editing process. We'll be back online soon, looking and working better than ever before.

Cheers,
SM

There's major changes coming soon, and major content releases.

In the coming months, SMWorks will be receiving a ground-up redesign, fitted with revamped download pages, new and improved information all around, and it's highly likely we'll finally see a new colour palette. Right now, the site's main base template is a few years out of date, and the overall look of the site has yet to change since the earliest days. Time for something new!

There's more to that than just a site update, mind you. Along with that, we'll be seeing a pretty hefty release of content in the way of routes - at long last! The remake of the original Silver Lines (dubbed V2) is on the release slate as it nears completion, and, after much debate, other unfinished and old routes will become available even in their incomplete state. While not ideal, it's unrealistic to assume all of them will be completed in a timely matter. There'll be more on that when they're out.

And that just might be sooner than you think!

Cheers,
​SM

Well, it's that time of year again - the time where the year kinda ends. 

2017 has definitely been an odd year for the world, with the nightmare that is American politics, terrorism and scares of it around the country and world, more celebrity deaths, and not to mention that recent Amtrak derailment in Washington. Still, despite that, it's generally been a good year for myself.

This year marks the resolution of some of my own longstanding goals and personal issues, which makes this a good year in and of itself of course, though I also learned a lot this year. I'm now legally an adult, I got to experience railfanning a steam engine (twice!) for the first time, I discovered music mixing and how much I enjoy that (I'm not about to call myself a DJ yet, haha!) (Bonus: My 2017 'End of the Year' mix), I've even started tinkering with basic graphic design, plus my continuing enjoyment of photography. An interesting bonus appeared in the last few months in that I've found that I really enjoy writing, but with the length of some of these posts, you probably already figured that one out!

The downside of all that - among other things - is that I've done progressively less and less work with Trainz. A healthy combination of doing other, more fun things, disenchantment with the game, and waiting on someone to get me the dang DEM of Montana have all put me off of the game a bit. There's been far less content made and released by myself this year than I had hoped, and that's something I'd like to change for 2018. I've got a few goals for next year, the one I just mentioned included. What are yours?

So, to wrap up, 2017's treated me alright, despite whatever the hell is going on in my country and those around me. How about you?

As a little bonus (and because I have nothing else I can release right now), I'm putting up my Silver Lines / SLRR Phase 3 / Executive F7 units in the downloads section - shoot, it's Christmas time, why not?! Plus, take a look at the new 'Acknowledgements' page under the Misc tab, that thing's been a long time coming!

Cheers,
​SM

Something a bit different today; I recently followed MILW 261 on its Fall Colors 2017 excursion and I felt like writing a really long post about the experience. At the bottom, I'll also make a quick mention on some future content/site updates to come as well.

---

On September 30th & October 1st, the Friends of the 261 operated a full excursion train pulled by the 261. I came with my family to chase the train both days, driving up north to Minneapolis on the 29th.

It was about a 7-8 hour drive to actually get to Minneapolis, and by the time we had arrived we had decided we wanted to go to the starting point for the excursion for both days just so we had a better idea on where we were going for the weekend. Arriving there, we saw the Cedar Rapids and Super Dome #53 already out in the open, and then saw more cars - including their new acquisitions - and then the thing we weren't expecting: smoke! We had discovered that the locomotive was already steamed up early - we didn't plan on that! Initially, we were on some weird road behind a fence nearby and we got near the locomotive, but looking across the tracks (3 total), we saw a man standing and looking at the locomotive. We decided to drive over there and see if we could get a better view of the locomotive, since, hey, why not? ​

We arrived and got out and got near the lone track that curved away from the 261's facility, just where that person was standing. We didn't plan on chatting or anything, but he actually struck up a conversation with us. His name was Graham, and he was actually from England and had come to the US for a long trip with his friend, Russell from Maine, and the 261 trip happened to be just the right timing and location for them. We learned that Russell was over at the 261 since as it turns out: the locomotive was open to the public! Shortly after, he returned, crossing that one track, and we all had a brief chat until we decided to head over to the 261 ourselves.

Being in the cab of the 261 was, in short, incredible. While only there for a few short minutes, it's not something to easily forget. When we stepped in, they were shoveling coal into the firebox and my dad and I were told one thing: When in the cab of a steam locomotive, there are NO stupid questions! Gazing at the controls and gauges, you understand why they say that - there's just so much going on there, it's hard to believe these guys can understand it all and operate it! The heat from the firebox was incredible, even with the doors closed, and the difference in temperature between the cab and the outside was pretty significant, easily 10-20 degrees F hotter in the cab. I snapped a few pictures and took it all in, and after a few minutes stepped off and back outside to let anyone else nearby get their own look. We lingered for a while, took more pictures and a few short clips of the locomotive idling, and decided to head on back to the car and head to our hotel (which was actually a converted set of old steam locomotive shops, which was pretty cool actually). A surprise, to be sure, but a welcome one!

The 261 was scheduled to leave Minneapolis at about 9AM, so we made sure to get there plenty early to pick up the Chaser passes we had bought (both because, hey, gotta support the organization, non profit after all, and we also got directions to every stop and good photo op on the run for both days! Made the chase even easier) and also get another good look at the engine and its consist. 

We got there around 7:30AM (at the recommendation of the two we had met the night before), and as we pulled in close to the train as directed, lo and behold, who pulls up right next to us? Graham and Russell! (who will mostly be referred to as 'our friends' or similar, because that's easy and what we referred to them as during the chase). We all lingered for a bit, checking out the train, and eventually the passes/directions were brought out and we got ours and they theirs, and we proceeded to walk down to the locomotive (a few cars down). Still as incredible as last night, but there was a small crowd of people surrounding it this time! We realized then how lucky we were to arrive the day before to get that early preview, else there'd be no hope of seeing the cab or it without too many people around. Naturally, we took plenty of photos from the available angles and all. It was pretty exciting. Eventually, I decided to check out some of the rollingstock on the end of the train, and walked down the length of the train. There, we got to see the Super Dome #53 and the Skytop lounge Cedar Rapids up close, and they were some truly magnificent rail cars. You wouldn't think you'd be taking a ton of pictures of coaches, but these were just so unique and beautifully maintained, it'd be a disservice not to take plenty of photos, which we most certainly did.

The light rain and dew from the night before had given lots of the cars a very weathered look from certain angles due to the sunlight, but even then they were pretty incredible.

We took some more time to take photos of much of the train and then plan some of our route, going off of the new directions and spots we had been given. As the clock approached 9, we moved to a curve that would soon be taken by 261 in its exit from Minneapolis and set up a camera for video (we were using a Rebel EOS T3 that was a few years old by this point for the video, and my own T6 I had gotten the year before for all the photos, some shown here). Despite bringing the camera and tripod and all, video was the low priority as I was here to see the train in person and take pictures since that's what I enjoy doing, and I can take a decent one once and a while.

So, the waiting game ensued, and a few freight trains went by as the 261 was delayed a while. At around 10AM, however, it blew the whistle and it began to back out of its track and onto the BNSF Wayzata sub and proceeded to back up far enough to get onto the TC&W tracks that would take it towards Winthrop. Tell you the truth, one of those blasts on the whistle sounded remarkably like the original Milwaukee 3-chime it wore back in the 40s that they have, but maybe I was just imagining it. Anyways, it finally slowly rounded the bend and began its journey in earnest. 

This is where the fun begins.

The directions sheet we had gotten listed some excellent spots to view the train, and we headed towards the first notable one - the bridge over the Mississippi river. Unfortunately for us, traffic lights and general traffic slowed us and we confirmed we missed it when we saw people packing up cameras and jumping into their cars by the bridge. So, we had two options: head to the next place on the directions (which said if you checked out the bridge you'd probably miss this one), or head to Hopkins, MN. So, we headed to Hopkins. We did get a little bit lost at one point, and we even tailed our friends for a short while (and man, do they drive fast! Screams confidence, I'd say.) Eventually, after I stepped in with what people call buggy and wrong (Apple Maps), we got to Hopkins - just barely in time! Interesting to note that on the way there, we had briefly paralleled the 261 as it ran on an elevated track to the left of the main road we were following before we lost sight of it until Hopkins. A quick jog to the crossing - we cut it pretty close, I think they were going faster due to that late start - and we managed to be set up with less than a minute to spare as the train flew past us - extremely exhilarating! I almost considering hopping the guard rail and getting through the light brush, but dismissed the idea. Not wanting to miss any more spots, once the Cedar Rapids had passed by, we quickly packed up and made it back to the car and headed towards our next location.

The next location to see was in and around Cologne, and so we sped off towards that area. Between Hopkins and Cologne, there was no good places to stop to see the train, as no roads came near the tracks except one that pretty out of the way, so we had to guess the train's position, which didn't turn out amazingly. A spot in particular I wanted to see that I had seen on Google Maps was a small overpass just before Cologne, where the tracks and Highway 212 meet up for the first time. When we stopped there and waited a few minutes, my parents got a bit antsy and thought we had missed it, but I didn't think we had. After a little more waiting, though, we did decide to keep going towards the next location.

Well, we didn't miss it, we were plenty ahead of it. We did catch the train beside us a few times between Cologne and Norwood Young America, most notably at Salem Avenue just west of Bongards where we stopped and waited and got a beautiful view of the train racing past. At Norwood, it would take the southern track towards Hamburg. We caught it in Norwood very briefly before running down to Hamburg ourselves. We arrived there a few minutes early and got all set up and ready as others arrived as well. Hamburg was special in that it was the spot in which 261 would do a photo runby for the passengers. The train pulled in and stopped, and let everyone off who wished to see the runby. There was a convenient dirt clearing right beside the track that gave everyone plenty of space to spread out, and after some more vocal railfans appeared, there was a fine line of people who had a great view of the train. It reversed out and came back towards us at high power. What a sight to behold, black smoke across the sky and the driverods flying, and the whistle blowing. It actually did a second runby as well, which was equally impressive to say the least. Our video camera's SD card had filled up before the first runby unfortunately, right after the train came to a stop for the first time, but that actually became a blessing in disguise (and anyway, we had enough phone video afterwards to make up for it...)

After the two photo runbys, passengers climbed back onto the train and we - having parked on the side of the tracks that was now blocked by the train - waited for the train to get a move on out of Hamburg towards Green Isle. 

This is where things got interesting. From here to Winthrop, Highway 5 perfectly paralleled the tracks all the way with plenty of crossings to stop and take pictures of. One crossing just outside of Hamburg, we actually saw our friends packing up their equipment as we raced to catch up to the train, and I think they also saw us judging by the wave.

Between Hamburg and Green Isle, we stopped at crossings at least once before driving through Green Isle to catch the train at a small bridge that crossed an irrigation stream. It was, indeed, quite small, but proved to be a great spot to catch a few pictures. After choosing my position to take pictures at, I wasn't the only person, there were two other railfans who came up to the same spot (I guess we all had a a good eye, eh?) It was a cool moment, none of us even spoke to each other but we all sort of just understood one another, and kept to a good distance to make sure none of us were in another's shot, and when the train had passed we all left without a word. Non-verbal communication is a pretty nice thing.

A great set of shots came from here if I do say so myself. With Green Isle a success, we drove off. The next major stopping point was Gaylord after Arlington, after we elected to pass Arlington completely. Between Green Isle and Gaylord, we stopped at half a dozen or even more crossings and got plenty of pictures. 

Plenty of great crossing locations and wide open plains to make for some excellent pictures. I mentioned the accidental blessing that memory card had given us - by not having the ability to even put down the camera for video, we had made it easier to just turn towards a crossing, stop, grab some pictures, and then head back out and do it again and again. It was fantastic, just every once and awhile we'd quickly stop and await the train and hear it approaching and get plenty of photos as it raced past. While we did have plenty of time to drop the camera down, sure, the fact we weren't worrying about it at all made it easier to say yes to the opportunity each spot gave us instead of trying to think "do we have enough setup time?"

We arrived in Gaylord, MN, eventually, and made our way down through town to the crossing there that held some nice grain elevators as a great backdrop. 261 thundered through the town, naturally, and we got back on the road after it had passed. We caught the train at a few more crossings all the while, and one of them had a fun encounter. When we had stopped and I was walking closer to the crossing itself, a woman on the other side was asking us - well, me since I always was out of the car the fastest - about the train and all that, like where it was, if we had been following it, etc. From what I understood, someone had told her about it just a short while before and she just came out to see it - when I said I'd been following the train the whole day, she seemed pretty surprised. Little moments like these are always fun. After the train had charged through the crossing, I'd say she - and the rest of us - were all pleasantly surprised by the experience!

We continued from there on Highway 19 (which was the exact same as Highway 5) to WInthrop, the farthest west the train would go for the whole trip. We got there early enough to see the train pull in and stop.

This was the farthest west the train would go for the entire weekend, but the day wasn't over quite yet. While 261 received a quick service check and passengers had lunch served, we took a quick break for bathrooms and quick planning.

Whilst we were briefly away, TC&W 4300 - an ex-UP GP30 rebuilt into a GP30C - coupled up the Cedar Rapids to take the train back to Minneapolis. We didn't see it, nor the train pull out, but we did race ahead of it to catch it at a crossing a little ways east from town and another a short ways away from that one.

It's not as impressive as the 261, for sure, but it is still a cool sight, especially with the Milwaukee Road coaches at the now-front of the train. I used my main camera to grab a quick video of it at the first crossing, and took photos at the second. We followed it for a while and eventually headed back to Green Isle to catch it at the small trestle yet again and we just waited, finally seeing the headlight in the distance.

We were planning on going up to Hamburg in order to catch it again, however a missed turn caused us to go a few miles out of the way, and when we had gotten back to Hamburg and waited a short while, we believed we had missed it, even though, looking back, we did not miss it at all. The train was just simply going slowly. Though since it was just the 4300 leading now, it wasn't as important to find the train, so we ended up heading back to Minneapolis early in order to make sure we caught it there for sure. Not to mention, we were pretty tired! You don't think it's that tiring to just drive alongside a train and take pictures and video, but the adrenaline that you get trying to follow directions and predict where the train was... exhilarating to say the least! And anyways, much of the journey back with the diesel leader would be the same tomorrow, so it's not exactly a once-in-a-lifetime thing here.

So, we waited at Minneapolis for a while, and after seeing a few trains go nearby (local passenger, a UP steel coil train, and a BNSF intermodal), we finally saw the headlights of 4300 come towards us while another BNSF intermodal ran on the tracks the train needed to go on. We were waiting at the very curve we had started from, seeing as it was a great spot to see the train come in, and that was proven correct as the train slowly ran around the corner. It had to wait for the BNSF train to move, finally then able to drive out onto BNSF trackage, leaving the TC&W, and take the switch back into its idling track. While it was mostly out of sight, we headed up to where the locomotive would finally rest for the night and awaited it there.

A few short minutes later, the 261, back on as the head, steamed towards the place it had been sitting the day before when we found it, finally coming to a halt for the day. We had a great view of it coming down the track, as it stopped just ahead of us - our position was fantastic, as it turned out. We watched as some people began to disembark and the crew started doing some servicing and checkovers, and finally, we called the day quits. Comparing this day to the day we chased UP 844 in the summer was impossible, it was even more than we had imagined, but there was even more to go yet.

The rest of the day was spent finally getting to eat - there really wasn't any times to stop during the chase except at the end, which we still didn't do, so, you know - and checking out some of the photos and video we had taken. I made specifically sure that after importing everything from the full SD card, and checking to see it was all on the laptop we had, that it was wiped completely clean. Sleeping that night was easy!

Day 2 was equally as exciting, to make it better, October 1st is my birthday, I turned 18, making it a pretty big day! I won't lie, when I mentioned this excursion to my parents and not-so-subtlety pointed out the date it fell on, it was pretty much determined right then and there this was going to be our plan for it. It's only fitting, you know?

It was an excellent day.

The journey for today was to be different, instead of going south at Norwood, the train would continue straight west and drive through a few towns and arrive at Glencoe, MN. The trip was certainly shorter, but the train also wasn't running nearly as fast, and today's weather would make it very different. 
Forecasts for October 1st showed a chance of some light rain and notable winds, which would make the temperature feel far, far, lower than it really was, and I will personally attest to that.

To start off the day, we got to the 261 early and did things similar to the day before, taking pictures of the locomotive and cars and some of the surrounding area once more and planning the route a bit further. I also tried a scanner app on my phone and used some of the provided frequencies on the sheet, but I get the feeling I need an actual scanner or radio or whatever, because that app only picked up some other railroad stuff and nothing said on there alluded to 261. Oh, well. Today's #1 target - the Mississippi river bridge. We had missed it yesterday, and we absolutely could not miss it today. We decided also not to go to the curve to watch the train, instead choosing to move near to where the curve and the idle track nearly intersected and watch it go a little ways out and then hurriedly drive out to the bridge in hopes of catching it.

We took some pictures and video as per usual - now with a blank memory card in the 'video camera' (it's really not meant for video, but.. hey.). Once the train had gone a short ways down, we hopped in the car and drove off. On the way out of the 261's facility, we saw our friends yet again with their camera setup near the entrance to watch the train come around the curve and head out towards the curve. I'm pretty sure they even filmed us driving off when we waved, if the camera movement said anything. They were a great couple of characters.

Off to the bridge we went! This was the spot I absolutely had to see, because if anyone knows how I build my routes in Trainz... a bridge is the best thing to get a shot of. We eventually arrived after some slightly confusing directions (I believe at least one road had been partially renamed or there was a typo on the instructions... either way, it worked out) and we got set up in a good spot to view the entire bridge and not have any railings or brush in the way. Parking was more of an issue, because the small street had no actual spots nor nearby lots, but I at least got out to set up the cameras and all with my mother, while my father looked around a bit more (eventually, however, he decided to just drive up near us and put on the hazard lights, which worked fine as no other cars appeared on the narrow road, thankfully).

We waited a short while, a few other people having already shown up and one or two more arriving, and finally heard the sound of the ATSF 6 Chime 261 wore, and a minute later heard the crossing bells on the island the bridge connected to go off. Smoke billowed from the treetops as the locomotive drove through, and finally came into view. It blasted the whistle plenty while it just beautifully flew past us on the bridge, and after it exited the truss, let off a ton of steam from below the firebox.

What an incredible sight. That short scene alone, which took less than 30 seconds, was beyond worth the driving and weird directions (Google & Apple maps both really did not like the Twin Cities area! Google more so...) we had dealt with during the trip. The whole time it went through the bridge all I could do was just snap picture after picture after picture. In the video I took, if it weren't for that incredible whistle, you'd be hearing tons of clicks as I snapped so many photos. Now, while I can't choose a favourite spot or moment during the whole trip, if I had to, this might well be it. Wow.

After that incredible moment, we had to stop gawking and hop in the car. We wanted to reach Hopkins again this time and have a little more setup time and a moment to at least view the Milwaukee Road depot there. We managed to beat the train there with plenty of time to spare, and more chasers pulled up near us and across the track. We were also greeted by a stopped TC&W 2011 on the nearest track. Despite a few people's concerns.. ahem.. that locomotive being there made the photos more interesting, I'd say. One of the chasers near us was asking us about the train to confirm if it had been here yet or not and asked us a few questions, kind of a fun moment. I get the feeling he was just as new to this as we were. Though with the lessons learned from yesterday, we were far more confident this time around.

Eventually, the train came by and blasted past us yet again. I tracked the front with my camera as it came by, causing some interesting blur effects on the stopped unit, and on the general surroundings. Really makes 261 pop out even more, I'd say. After we had finished the picture and video up at Hopkins, we made for the next location: the bridge outside Cologne.

Having a better understanding of how fast the train was, we made it there with plenty of time and waited. But this is where things were different... rain started to fall. It was light enough, but it was there. This would pick up later. I ended up setting the tripod up just outside my car door but left the camera off of it until the train came by. Eventually, we heard it and I snapped the camera onto the tripod quickly - made easy by the removable top that screwed into the bottom of the camera - and hit record. With fantastic timing, the train came over the bridge just as a car went past - the video for that is some of my favourite I took overall. I didn't get any great photos there, but I was okay with that - we'd be back later, I knew. We drove off towards Cologne proper after the Cedar Rapids went past.

Originally, we didn't plan on stopping here, but after we passed the train and saw it had slowed greatly, we decided to take the opportunity. We waited there briefly as the train slowly approached the main crossing at the center of town, blowing the whistle all the while. Even as it came up to and past the crossing, it blasted the whistle continuously, and if I hadn't been listening to music extremely loudly as much as I had the past year, it might well have hurt my ears pretty badly! The whistle overpowered the camera, that's for sure. It slowly passed us all that were there at the crossing, beginning to speed up some after that. We got back onto Highway 212 after it had passed.

The next destination was Bongards. The sheet stated there'd be a photo runby here, and weren't about to pass that up. We arrived after the train had pulled in and stopped and began letting passengers off. I setup the camera at a good spot and we waited for it to begin.

After a few minutes, the train backed up a ways to pick up speed and blaze through town for all to see. It had begun to rain a little harder now, but it was still pretty good in terms of visibility. On a track behind us that led to some local industry, the people had lined up perfectly around the curve, it was a pretty magical sight, not gonna lie. 261 pulled off its photo runby, anyways, being another great success despite the rain and the surprising cold. 

After Bongards, we paced it for a good long while, we did view it at another railroad crossing. By this time, the rain had begun to pick up pretty significantly, enough as to where I couldn't reasonably setup the camera outside. So, a bit of fiddling with the tripod legs and using a car seat, I actually managed to get the camera in a decent spot to see the train despite the rain. Had to take photos right there, too, meaning that click of the shutter is pretty audible in some of the video. Pretty interesting moment there. Continuing on, we took off ahead of the locomotive and made a brief stop in Norwood, but not to view the train - we got out and to the next location pretty quickly, however - Plato. Plato was an interesting stop, with a large grain elevator and some wide open spots to get a good shot from. I had a good spot and all for picture and video, but the rain had picked up noticeably, and it was cold. My parents waited in the car while I hung outside with the cameras and all and waited - we knew the train was close, at least - for it to come through. The wind had picked up, too, and the combination of the wind and rain combined with the already low 50 or so degrees it was, it felt more around 25. The cold was, quite frankly, oppressive. Thankfully, the 261 did arrive and passed through Plato, though slower than expected, but in retrospect it made perfect sense. Once the train was through, we drove off to the final destination: Glencoe.

261 made its slow approach, steaming right past us (the heat the emanates from this thing! Made the cold more bearable, for sure) and slowing to a stop with the Cedar Rapids Skytop directly next to us. Other bystanders, including us, got plenty of pictures of that until a crew member came down and told everyone that they had to back up the train a little ways to meet up with their diesel. Everyone cleared the tracks and the train backed up a little ways, just past the depot and near a parking lot.

I decided I wanted to setup our camera and all near there, so I walked down closer on the grass lot that separated the road from the railroad track, finding a good spot to watch the new diesel hook up to the Skytop. It wasn't long before we heard the horn of the incoming diesel, which came in to take leadership of the train temporarily. 

TC&W 2301, a GP39-2, reverses and couples onto the back of the excursion train to bring it back to Minneapolis because, similar to the day before, there is nowhere to actually turn the train around on this route. After it had coupled up, the train sat for a little while, probably around a half hour or so, while just like the day before, the locomotive was serviced and the passengers were served lunch. During this downtime, we moved the car closer to the locomotive, seeing as it was farther down the tracks than before, bringing it to that parking lot near the old depot instead. My parents stayed there for the remainder of the wait while I hung out outside and taking the occasional photo and all. At one point I even hopped on my phone and joined the ongoing call in one of the TEH Skype chats and said hello and used that ever-so-useful camera mode (isn't unlimited data a great thing?) and we briefly chatted, told them a bit of how the day had been and what we were up to next (hint: chasing the train back!). After a few minutes I decided to move the camera nearer to the car because the train was most likely leaving soon, so I signed off and moved over. Good timing, too, as about 5 or so minutes later, things got started once more.

2301 was fully powered up and got a move on, dragging the train out of Glencoe entirely. Plenty of photos all around for that, and a solid video. We moved on, heading back to Plato once more, but taking a different position on the other side of the grain elevator, which turned out to be a great spot.

Plato was much more pleasant this time around, the rain having stopped, and wasn't nearly as cold as before thankfully. After Plato, we mostly just followed the train for a little bit before deciding we would really like to go to that bridge past Cologne once more, which we did. Taking up a similar position - though less rainy - we waited there for a while. We spent most of the time there just thinking of where else we wanted to see the train at before deciding that, like yesterday, we could do with just heading back to Minneapolis, seeing as we could only get to it again at Hopkins or the bridge.

During our, wait, however, a very familiar car pulled up beside us... somehow, again, Graham and Russell had found us. They said hello and we said a few words before they drove out a little ways, but it wasn't more than a few minutes until Graham walked back towards where we had set up and said they decided to stay and see it here, it was a good spot. And a good spot it was! It wasn't long after when we heard the distinct sound of a massive motor in the near distance, and all of us, including a few other people on the other side of the bridge, all got ready. 

No matter how many times we'd seen it this weekend, it was just an incredible sight. Hard to describe it using just words, really. I took plenty of photos and a few short clips of it just idling (because why not). People from the train and chasers and other railfans came around and took plenty of pictures with the locomotive, too, and it seemed like everyone was just having a good time around the thing. The best part was the access we had here! People were going right up, just a few steps away, getting their photos and whatnot, and even when they were bringing their loader around to drop coal into the tender (yes I did take photo and video of that, obviously!), no one was told 'it's time to leave' or pushed away. Even then, nobody had to scramble out of the way or be hurried away because it seemed people just moved on their own. It was a pleasant experience. At one point, another BNSF intermodal came through, prompting people to scurry out of the way for others to take some photographs of the 1944 steamer and the modern BNSF unit as it approached. At one point, some guy who was right near the plow of the 261 was yelled at by some railfan to move (he seemed confused at first, thinking he meant it for safety but then put two and two together, realizing everyone wanted a clear shot of the two trains!) Seems no hard feelings either, just a simple 'whoops okay' and he hopped out of the way. Glad he did, too! 

Not everyday you can get locomotives like these two together, eh?

Eventually, we decided to get a move on and call the day quits. Some last photos and then we finally had to depart, seeing as we'd been there a long while already. We stopped not far away to figure out some directions, so I did manage to snap a couple final photos.

Kind of sad to leave, really, but you can't stay forever! This is the end of the photos as well, if you want to see more of the ones I took, click this Link.

In summary, this weekend was simply incredible. Prior to this, I had only chased one train before, the UP 844 back on July 1st this year. That only lasted a few hours, but this whole experience lasted more like a grand total of twenty hours of chasing, driving, waiting, looking... it was a simply massive change. It was tiring, sure, but it was well worth it. There were moments of confusion and issues here and there, but it was overall a great success. Something about seeing and hearing this locomotive drive past - even just sitting idle! - is so imposing and simply stunning. It may seem overdramatic, but it really is beyond words. 

The 261 itself is simply in immaculate shape, being beautifully maintained by the volunteers of the Friends of the 261. They keep it shining - and shine it does! - and running smoothly the whole way of the trip, I remember my dad saying he was surprised just how reflective it is. Everyone that worked in and around the locomotive and its cars that we encountered was really friendly - the environment around it felt really welcoming to be honest. The event seemed really well done, especially for being non-profit. I would strongly encourage you to check out their site and what they do, and donating sure wouldn't hurt. We bought the chasers passes on the 29th after we had seen the locomotive up close, seeing as not only would we get some good directions, but after seeing it in person, it felt like they could certainly use the money to keep it in such good shape. Link

One absolutely incredible part of the whole trip is how accessible everything was to us. We could go right up to the engine, less than a foot away, I mean, you could even get up into the cab, which was beyond amazing. While they were loading coal up at the very end, they just worked around all the people at the locomotive, they didn't push anyone away, didn't ask anyone to move, they just worked with it. It felt like we were really welcome to view the train, which was just fantastic. We hadn't expected it, but it was a pleasant surprise. Not to mention, all the people - volunteers and railfans alike - all were just really cool. There wasn't any hostility or anger, nobody was really salty - everyone seemed pretty excited and happy, like us. It was a pleasant change from the hostile political and social media environments we see today, and was a great refuge. Even on Monday when we drove home, after hearing about the shooting in Vegas, I still felt overwhelmingly good about the weekend. I really didn't think anything could bring that down, it was just a great trip. I think I learned a lot during it, too. I discovered new things about how to chase a train like this, and new ways and ideas for taking photos. I also found myself being a bit more on the 'adventurous' side of things - getting down in embankments along Highway 5, for instance, and running down and crouching along the side of the hill at the Green Isle trestle just to get a handful of shots. It was overwhelmingly great trip, just the entire experience was really something magnificent. How's that for an 18th birthday trip? Simply unforgettable.

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If you read all that stuff, congratulations! I felt like I just wanted to write out the whole experience so I can look back at it and remember more of the details, and I felt like sharing the experience with anyone who was interested. It was an incredible trip - an excellent group, an excellent train, a fantastic experience (and I think I need to invest in a thesaurus!). I'd recommend doing something like this to anyone who hasn't but has any interest in steam or trains.

​So, as a 'reward' for all that, here's what's going on with SMWorks and content since the last post.

The next release should hopefully be just around Halloween. Up for release is a plethora of Milwaukee Road F7 units, freight and passenger, weathered and unweathered. There's also a bonus unit, a strange all-red MILW F7 that I don't know anything about other than it existed, so I did up a quick version. All of these F-units are pictured above. In addition, if all goes well, there'll be a pack of MILW SD7s and MILW SD9s - only issue is a problem with the bake layer I did not notice a while back, so if I can solve that (some sort of overlapping texture) I can finish those up and correct the SLRR ones and put them all up as well. Expect those sky assets after I tinker with them a little bit as well, and perhaps one other item if it's complete and and done. As a bonus, expect a Milwaukee Road SW1 pack to be released on The Erecting Hall in the future, as well! Stuff is coming, it's just slow!

Cheers,
​SM

Indeed, it has been a very long time since a release! Since Christmas/New Years actually. I hope to change that soon, but unfortunately I haven't got a ton of stuff up for release. I'll shortly discuss each major route project and when to expect them to be potentially released, and give you updates into each one. For now, let's talk other content!

So, in the locomotive/rollingstock/scenery/etc department (everything BUT routes), what are we seeing next up?
Unfortunately, not much. I do have an F-unit set that is about done that I'll release, I need to weather it up more first. Speaking of F-units, I do plan on doing up a quick modification and release of the other MILW paint scheme, so expect that as well. Another thing to look for is a probable Milwaukee SD7 unit, as that's on the list of things to do.
Scenery wise, we have at least 1 SLRR-themed building but that won't be released for now. I do have some sky assets I'll release, however, so look forward to storms!

Let's talk routes.

Known now as Silver Lines V2, it's been rebuilt completely from scratch. However, the route shares a similar aesthetic of mostly green and grassy fields with trees in the distance, and rivers still play a part. Though in order to better optimize performance and make the route really look better, it uses far fewer grass splines, but contains more trees and bushes in these fields. In the picture above, you can see a stormcloud asset like previously mentioned - don't worry about the mirroring, that's been fixed up to be significantly better now. Old picture!
​
This route is planned to have a few more operable industries and a total of 3 towns of varying size. Currently, we have one town still being built and a large yard to go with it. The other two have not been built yet.

​Estimated ~40-50% complete in grand total.
Soonest the route could be finished and released: Christmas/New Years (2017)

This route has been off-and-on worked on for a few years, and while parts of it are in a good spot, the majority of directly trackside scenery is outdated compared to the Silver Lines V2 and my general newer standards. It hasn't been worked on significantly enough to report on this year.

Estimated 30-40% complete.
​Soonest the route could be finished and released: Late 2018, early 2019

Silver Lines Electric is an old route, dating itself to be a little over two and half years old by now. One would expect this route to be a disaster and require a full rebuild.

I'm surprised to say... not really. Fascinatingly, the route is actually in a pretty good state. The biggest concerns are some terrain in the mountains is notably bad, the trackside grass is lackluster (and performance draining, easily fixed but hugely time consuming), and there's no bushes. It's time consuming to fix, but actually easier to fix rather than rebuild. There are some areas that do need fresh starts, and that is reasonable and is being done actually. It's receiving fresh textures - and from what I can tell a performance boost in that department - and updated trackside scenery. Another thing that has been missing the entire time was the lack of gradient. This is still being worked on, but a few inclines have been added here and there. In the areas that have not been built at all yet, we may see some very long grades, which is definitely exciting!

Now, before anyone gets their hopes up for this route coming out soon, don't expect it soon. Lots of work to be done, and 2-3 towns to be built and industries to operate in them and inbetween.

Estimated 40% complete
Soonest the route could be finished and released: Mid to late 2018

This leads me to my next point.

​

I'm happy to actually announce the electric project. Some viewers of my personal YouTube channel will know that I've uploaded one or two videos under this title, showing a speedbuild of upgrading some old areas of the Silver Lines Electric route. This is just one route under the title. 

Now, I've put some dates in the three routes discussed above. That's assuming I work on them a whole lot, and that's not realistic. Take that date and add 6 months to it, and in some cases add 12. However, many of these routes will shortly be put on the backburner. Coming up soon is the beginning of a huge route. Currently, we're still looking into how long we could reasonably make this one, but we know one thing - it's time to build the Milwaukee Road's electrified main! As of now, we're examining the best towns to work towards, and from what I can find, we're going to be running from Harlowton, MT to Butte, MT. Including all the towns and industry inbetween, within reason. As of now, some of the resources required are still being looked into, but not too long from now we'll have a DEM of the area and trackwork will begin. The era being modeled is likely to be between late 1960s through the 1970s till the decline and fall in the 1980s.

It's a big undertaking of course, but one I'm actually interested in working on. Expect a lot of time and effort to go into this route and not just the old Silver Lines routes. But wait, there's more!

There actually is. If it's possible, I'll probably be making more routes for the Milwaukee Road's lines. As to where? Well, that remains to be seen. I know one route will have to feature Deer Lodge, MT - big stopping point for locomotives. But all I know is that The Electric Project currently contains a Milwaukee Road electrified mainline,  Silver Lines Electric, and modules to go with both. Yes, modules. Very possible we'll see modules of individual towns along parts of the Pacific Extension that maybe aren't on the mainline, but are a part of the network anyways. Lots of planning and work to go for this all, but you can expect a slew of content to go with it all.

This is a common question I'm asked, "will it work in T:ANE?"

Fair question. The short answer? Maybe.
Long answer? Fine. Ideally, yes these routes will work in both versions. In reality? Hard to say. At this point in time, all routes mentioned above I plan to build in TS12, and so theoretically they can be 'upgraded' to work within TANE without too many issues. Biggest issue becomes the greenery thanks to the poor choice of N3V to change Speedtree versions. Regardless, I have a PC capable of running TANE now (more on that below), so I can actually properly test out the game. Long story short, I'm not impressed. However, I do want to make these routes function properly in TANE, but we will have to see how possible that is. Currently, SP2 is not at all as stable as N3V claims it to be - I can personally attest to this after freshly downloaded content from their servers breaks and the game crashes still. Performance is the only thing it has over TS12 for myself personally, and I don't care enough about performance to bother upgrading. My experience with SP2 has been generally negative, so until a Hotfix is released that is actually stable, don't expect TANE compatibility right away.

By the way, before you ask: No, my old routes are not going to be upgraded to function within TANE. No.

​Let's wrap this up.

I'll make this quick, I promise. In the recent months I've been working to fix up some real life stuff, not just limited to Trainz and computers. However, while working on some of these, I have acquired a pretty high end PC that can run, well, anything on it. This does mean it's more likely for some better, well, everything to appear - now I can run programs I haven't been able to before. That does include other video games, so I definitely put a lot of time into those! If you want PC specs, enjoy this Link.

The last thing to mention is that, while yes the last post here I made I was in school still, my summer has just ended and I am going back to school. While I'm taking very few classes that are noticeably difficult and potentially time consuming, this does reduce my time to work on Trainz drastically, due both in it actually taking time to do work and whatnot, but also from pure exhaustion. So, we'll see how that goes.

Long post, but it's been a long time since the last one! This might be a record, actually. Expect some stuff up for download in the near future - maybe next month? Oh, and enjoy that solar eclipse on the 21st! I know I will!

'Till next release!
​
Cheers,
SM