Elvas Tower: Union Pacific #998 / #999 Baldwin DR-12-8-3000 Set - Elvas Tower

Union Pacific #998 / #999 Baldwin DR-12-8-3000 Set
UP998 Version 1.1
June 20th, 2009
Original model and Textures by Frank Musick.
Physics by Matt Imbrogno and Chuck Zeiler
Sounds by North American Locomotive Works
Cabview courtesy of Columbus Locomotive Works (Cameron Lashley and Verne Horton) modified and redistributed with permission

REVISIONS
Updated #999 with same fixes as #998. Added #999 to consist.

OVERVIEW:
This model of Baldwin Locomotive Works DR-12-8-3000 is part of a series of "Centipede" replicas created for MSTS. None of the series is 100 percent finished. Some of the units are what Microsoft likes to call "ALPHA" versions, which may be a unique way of getting out of trouble for producing buggy software. In my case it most definitely is. I don't have the skills required to complete all the various components of an MSTS model and some of the more obscure parts, like lighting, physics and sounds I have borrowed from the guys who really know how that needs to be done. Other models in the series, like this one, I still consider BETA. While the models may look half decent they may use parts or textures cobbled from more complete versions without being as integrated as they should be. They are being "released" with fair warning that they need further testing and development, but are still a bunch of fun to run in the sim.

SOME HISTORY:
Among the largest diesel locomotives built by any manufacturer, 2 of these 3000 horsepower giants were ordered by the Union Pacific Railroad in 1947 as a drawbarred set. Each unit was 91 feet long with a total weight of 409,000 pounds (almost 205 tons) carried on 24 wheels, 16 of which were powered by 750 horsepower traction motors. With 102,000 pounds of tractive effort these units would have been the largest and most powerful diesels on the UP. It was not until 1966 that any other manufacturer offered anything close to the size and power of a set of DR-12's

Union Pacific cancelled the order before delivery. The units were painted blue and cream and became the Baldwin Locomotive Works demonstrators. In this capacity the pair was tried by several railroads, notably the Bessemer & Lake Erie, Baltimore & Ohio and the Chicago & Northwestern. Baldwin stored the set within a year after the demonstrations failed to attract any new orders. The units were scrapped in 1952 after being held in storage as part of steam turbine project that never materialized.

This model of #998 / #999 attempts to represent the set as it might have appeared in 1948 had the Union Pacific NOT cancelled the order. While it is not known by the author whether the Union Pacific intended to run the set as one 6000 HP locomotive, standard practice on the road resulted in many high horsepower single units. Since the Pennsylvania Centipedes were operated as a drawbarred 6000 HP set, the Union Pacific might have operated their DR-12's in the same fashion. The units may be run separately if the user desires, simply by creating a consist using the three models that comprise each unit.

Original File Name = UP998.exe