Elvas Tower: 35ZephyrC.zip - Elvas Tower

1935 Lincoln Zephyr Set
MSTS Scenery Objects
August 14th, 2013
Original model by Frank Musick
Original textures by Dan Palatnik used by permission and modified by Frank Musick


"Transition Era" covers a wide span of time. Internal combustion had been used since the early twentieth century, if only in minor roles. Things really got into swing in the early 1930's with the advent of trains like Burlington's Pioneer Zephyr and Union Pacific's M10000. By the time World War II ended deisels were everywhere from lowly freight switchers to 2000 HP passenger engines. Save for a few diehard coal haulers, the steam engine had been eclipsed. Steam was being relegated to the less important jobs on the railroads. By the mid 50's the party was all but over. Other than engines the railroads themselves preserved most were cut up for scrap. Within less than a decade, the only rails to bear most of the few surviving steam locomotives were in city parks.

The problem with modeling the "transition period" in train simulators is that there are very few examples of contemporary vehicles. I decided to make some using a relatively simple shape (about 1000 polygons) to keep the frame count down. These models use high resolution 1024 x 1024 textures based on the work of two extraordinary artists. Dan Palanik and Niko Moritz. Both graciously granted me permission to use the graphics from their beautiful creations. Check out the originals at www.palat.br and www.eevamoritz.com/3d_models.html

The very first automobile of this series was a 1935 Lincoln Zephyr. It used the original colors Dan Palatnik chose for his rendering. In this new set I have "repainted" the cars by using shades that approximate other colors available from Ford Motor Company in 1935. The cars definitely do no justice to the Palatnik original but hopefully they are passable enough to work as scenery objects.

Models have no "working" lights nor have I made any attempt to add license plates.