Aha! Extended Particle effects! I was searching on "smoke" and "steam" and not finding anything.

Cool, thanks

For the Extended Particle Effects mod it says:
"For all locomotives emissions are roughly based on their powe rating. The more power, the more emissions. ...
- main stack fume is now more animated and whiter.
- cylinder leakage has been greatly reduced."
This matches the image from Matt and I think was the cause when it's been reported previously.

I have the same problem, the only particle mod installed is:
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1948075812

@JK Thanks for looking at it so quickly. I'll have a look through my mod list but I don't *think* I have a specific mod just to change smoke effects, so it's probably an unintended consequence of something else.

Just weird that it only affects the Castles and Prairies specifically, *shrug*

@Matt - I suspect it's being affected by another mod that changes smoke effects somehow. The positions of those 3 looks right, but their size is greatly reduced and the initial colour has been changed too.

I don't know if it's just an interaction with another mod or some weird bug, but with these and the Prairies I'm getting three plumes of chimney smoke...

It's not a major issue in the grand scheme of things but if it is a problem with the mod itself, it's worth letting you know.

https://imgur.com/EAJXbio

@Wangsamuel - Thanks. I may do some of those other classes eventually. But probably more than a year away.

Very epic steam locos!Thanks author.
Also I wonder will you make King Class,Grange Class and Hall Class?

Fun fact not sure if mentioned but as a Brummie... 7029 Clun Castle was the first locomotive purchased by what would become Birmingham Railway Museum, now Tyseley Locomotive Works, Vintage Trains (excursions arm) and Tyseley Collection, where it still resides and it is currently mainline certified until 2025. It may be in current service on the vintage route but I'm not 100% sure after a bit of interweb searching.

Thinking of building some of the UK vintage rail routes and museums (Severn Valley, York, BRM etc) into my TF2 Midlands inspired map layouts so this will likely be used as a vintage service between Birmingham Snow Hill and Stratford-Upon-Avon for this reasonl.

So - Thanks for making it playable by adding the mod :)

Just wish somebody had built a Moor Street workshop station as it would look so good there! Modders....

i wish i knew about this sooner! Castle Class is my favorite class

I've used the GWR 1929 model and as there were only three textures to replace - cabside number, buffer beam number and name plates - I've managed to do this working within your original group system.

Just need to test it to see how it behaves itself alongside the original Castle loco.

@Quince99 - Yeah, I expect we can sort something out for this.

@JK Ah yes, true enough. Makes sense, thanks for getting back.

@Quince99 That would be super, thanks, good idea for a submod. For me I'd like the GW-Crest combo from the 20's-30's or so for Pendennis.Thanks.

@JK
@Blue Rookie

If JK is happy for me to do so, I can just make custom textures for nameplates and numbers for Pendennis Castle once I've finished the Hogwarts project. This will produce an additional model which will be integrated into JK's principal mod.

I would need to know which livery variant you would want in terms of GWR/BR era and tender emblem.

@Blue Rookie - Thanks.
I usually use make engine number the class number, to make them easier to identify and be broadly representative of the whole class. So the numbers don't always match the names, or the configuration of the specific name or number in a given year. So I don't plan to add more name/number variations.

Lovely mod, your work in general is outstanding.

And then comes the question; do you plan on adding any more named versions into this in the future, or would that be a job for someone else to work on? Basically the more the merrier. If I had to name one example it would be Pendennis Castle as I live in Cornwall and it is preserved.

Not everyone adds nameplates and I love that you've done that as a realistic detail, it just prompts me to ask.

I know you're probably already working on re-doing TPF1 mods as it is so I don't want to sound ungrateful. I just think it would add even more to this already great work.

Cool. Looks good.

https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/1822268498296400177/F941EAA94D6F176D858501AF4780F14EC350E3A1/?imw=5000&imh=5000&ima=fit&impolicy=Letterbox&imcolor=%23000000&letterbox=false

This is the first completed version of the Hogwarts Express using your Castle masquerading as Olton Hall, which is in turn masquerading as Hogwarts Castle.

I shall test this in-game to see how it looks and to confirm that your original mod remains fully functional alongside it. I should be able to reduce the amount of custom .mtl files from 49 down to just the ones that need custom textures; the rest can be referenced from the main Castle mod.

After this has been released I'll do a few coaches with the Hogwarts Railways branding from PlaneSimple's Mk1 set.

There's no need whatsoever to apologise for having far more modelling skills than I shall ever possess!

I've done what you suggested in the Model Editor and ended up with a large and inelegant .mdl file but, having corralled all the required .mtl files, I now have a model that appears in ME without errors and from which I can begin to work on textures.

It'll take a few weeks to get something up and running in the new livery, and I'll put some shots up in the screenshots section for you to see when I have a decent looking version.

And a very Happy New Year too!

@Quince99 - Sorry it is so awkward to work with. I think they're especially complex as they use multiple material sets of items and the old system passes their ID numbers to the group, then to the mesh (as matConfigs). It also has lot mesh items that are a painted colour.

I've now had a look and the model editor can successfully convert into the new format (open the new .mdl file and do Save). It will overwrite it with a new (rather large and ugly) .mdl file which has all .mtl references in it. It also rewrites all .mtl files it references, but these still have same filenames (so will work with the original ones).

Hope that helps.

UPDATE - I'm sorry, I can't work with the system that you've used for this mod. It's proving impossible to relate the material files to the model I was hoping to use. From what I've attempted to ascertain so far, it would likely involve a great deal of file duplication in terms of mesh files and the possibility for accidental error increases exponentially with that.

@JK - Thanks for a quick response, much appreciated. I'm happy to follow your requirements as I do this with all my other reskins as it helps keep the download size to a minimum as well as continuing to highlight and promote the original mod.
I can confirm this is not paid for or commissioned, simply a request from a friend.
So far I've begun to slim down the folder, removing things I obviously won't need, but of course not being familiar with the older system have run into my first obstacle:

Having selected the 1948 version to use as a base, I went through the MDL and checked which group files were referenced. Of course, having removed the ones that weren't referenced in the MDL, it still managed to kill something in the Model Editor... joy!

@Quince99 - Thanks for asking. I don't mind you doing this, provided:
- It requires this mod as a dependency and as far as possible avoids duplicating files. (Looks like you already do this for other mods.)
- The original mod can still also be used in the same game, without any compatibility conflicts. (I imagine you're experienced in this already.)
- It's not paid for/commissioned. (Since I put everything out for free, I don't think others should profit from derivatives of my work).
Also be aware:
- A lot of people may comment about it not being a Hall.
- I may eventually do a Hall, but it won't be anytime soon.
- I've used the older modding format, so I think you'll have to copy some of the .msh files, which is a bit more work than the newer format.
Other than that, I hope it goes well and Happy Christmas.

It's been suggested to me that as there isn't a Hogwarts Express for TpF2 I could do one...
I know it's a 4900 but as the loco's name is Hogwarts Castle it could use a genuine Castle class perhaps?

If you're unhappy with the idea of your Castle being transformed into a railtour/novelty item, please say so and I'll relay the bad news back :-)

Feel free to look at any of my mods to see the standard of work that I publish. And a very Happy Christmas while I'm here!

Thanks! That's also nice. Some mods have dynamic numbers, so if you name them "number - Name", the number is shown. That's a cool feature.

@GrafLukas - Thanks. The numbers/names are preset. 4073 for GWR version and 7029 for the BR version.

Does it show custom numbers? If I name it "4073 Caerphilly Castle", will it show the 4073? And is it even possible to display the name, as well?

Oh, excellent! Thanks!

Oh I've been looking forward to this update, thanks JK!

This mod has now be updated with the addition of the 4073 Castles (5 versions) and 2 more versions of 4000 Star.

Ok, thanks for the reply!

@jimw546 - That mod probably makes assumptions about how the smoke will be coded that mine doesn't conform to, since it has been customised. So I doubt I can resolve that.

I'm getting a double smokestack on this and the 2-8-0 when using the extended particle effects mod https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1948075812 can this be fixed on the loco or is it an error in the effects mod?

you should make a 14xx

Ah yes. Just got the upgrade and glad to see these.

yay!

Very nice !

Excellent, thank you so much!

Oh my! A Christmas miracle indeed!

They look absolutely incredible, A great improvement over the TPF1 models. Cant wait for the Castles, one of my favourite British locomotives.

Thanks for this Christmas present

This is an amazing Christmas gift, thank you JK!

Happy Christmas, and thank you for being one of three modders who reliably tide my endless appetite for British steam locomotives.

Lovely work, can't wait for the castle class, hope it will have a higher speed limit:)

Fantastic work JK, Thank you, and Happy Christmas

Fantastic work as usual and a very welcome Christmas present - I love the 'star' joke lol. Merry Christmas!

Nice Christmas present, Thanks! Hope you are having a great Christmas.

"After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him."
... "When they saw the star, they were overjoyed." - Matthew 2
Happy Christmas. :-)