The Royal Palatine

[eholly]

Hi Chaps

I'm working on an excursion activity for a group of NSR enthusiasts, based on a steam trip hauled from Crewe through the Potteries by BR 71000 "Duke of Gloucester". The special is remembered fondly by several members and a photograph has been made available to me. The trip took place on Wednesday 10th May 1995. A Mr Bob Hart was on the footplate of the "Duke".

I've more or less finished the activity but need a headboard for the "Duke" naming the special. Do any of you wizards out there know if such a headboard exists and if so, where can I find it?

Cheers

Eric

[slipperman12]

Hi Eric,
This won't be of any help to you, mate, but is my twopennyworth!!

I've had a quick check of the headboards already available from the library, but 'The Royal Palatine' isn't included. Also, Google doesn't come up with anything!

The problem with the headboards already available, and probably suitable for re-skinning. all have one problem. They are contained on a separate .wag file which is coupled to the front of the main loco. This gives it the undesired effect of moving about the smokebox when negotiating curves! The loco you're using (71000) doesn't use a Freight Animation, so my suggestion is that one could be added to contain the headboard. Unfortunately, I'm not offering to create an FA because it's beyond my current level of expertise, but I'm sure there will be at least one member of the Community who is able to do so

Cheers,
Ged

EDIT : CORRECTION!! I must be getting forgetful (blame age!), because I HAVE created FA headboards before - in 2014 for my Sarah Siddons reskin. I must back-track to see how I did them.

[eholly]

Hi Ged

Thanks for your reply. I have an invisicoach wag.file for the "Palatine" - gained from Clive's Thames Trent Route. There are also wag's for "Robin Hood" and "Condor". I've tried the "Palatine" wag in front of the "Duke" but it doesn't show! Therefore some of the distances need adjusting as I believe these wags were designed to fit in front of Jubilee class engines.

I'll email Clive - ask if he can help.

Cheers

Eric

[slipperman12]

Hi Eric,
Yes, you need to use Shape File Manager to position the headboard for any specific loco, be it in a separate .wag file or a FreightAnim.

Using an FA, this is how it might look :
<IMG SRC="http://www.atomic-album.com/showPic.php ... tine.jpg/1">
Cheers,
Ged

EDIT: Sorry but the Atomic Album image doesn't want to show!! I've also tried the [album ....] approach.

[dorlan]

Hi Eric,
Yes, you need to use Shape File Manager to position the headboard for any specific loco, be it in a separate .wag file or a FreightAnim.

Using an FA, this is how it might look :
<IMG SRC="http://www.atomic-album.com/showPic.php ... tine.jpg/1">
Cheers,
Ged

EDIT: Sorry but the Atomic Album image doesn't want to show!! I've also tried the [album ....] approach.

I think the "album approach" doesn't work because of the hyphen in the file name.
{img}http://www.atomic-album.com/showPic.php ... e.jpg{/img} using [ ] istead of { } does...

[slipperman12]

Hi,
@Ian : Many thanks
I did try it without the hyphen, but still was out of luck.
It also appears that the <IMG...> doesn't work, for me, at least!!

@Eric : This is using Clive's headboard shape, .sd and .ace files copied into the 71000 folder and an FA entry added to the .eng file. I was assisted in its positioning by SFM - it may not be correct, but is easily changed!

Cheers,
Ged

[eholly]

Hi Ged

As I've explained in my pm - the word "Royal" is missing from the headboard.

Cheers

Eric

[eholly]

Hi Chaps

Many thanks for all your help in this matter, it is now resolved.

Clive Heard has kindly modified his original invisiwag and the headboard now includes the word "Royal" - and looks brilliant when placed in front of the "Duke"!

I will be uploading the activity once the NSR members have approved my efforts.

Thanks to you all.

Eric

[slipperman12]

Hi Eric,
Many thanks for this interesting, albeit short, activity! I love the headboard!!

Have run it in both MSTS and Open Rails (v1.3.1-70); all traffic was encountered at similar locations and time in both, especially at Stoke on Trent! The route looks even better and more realistic in OR!

I was a little concerned that the activity was written using v4226 of the route, as mine is v4355 (v2 Patch 2), but no problems were apparent.

Cheers,
Ged

[eholly]

Hi Ged

Yeah, I thought about that Patch afterwards. Not to worry I'll update today.

Cheers

Eric