A new project of mine, a GT-30 Crawler-Tractor.

The GT-30 sitting in my yard.

The following in blue is a short story of how this new project came to be, skip if you wish.

For years I have enjoyed looking at machines, whether it be videos, images, or by the roadside whenever I am out and about, they always seemed cool to me. I guess some of it came from my dad as he's worked jobs relating to equipment for many years. I generally prefer the older machines as they are simpler, and typically have a more eye catching look to them. 

It wasn't until recently that I started checking Facebook marketplace, mostly joking to myself about what I might buy, some machine, a forklift, dozer, tractor, whatever it is I might just buy one someday. One of my friends even sent a link to me to a machine joking that I should buy it.
Well a few weeks ago, I went onto the Marketplace and saw a listing for a TerraTrac crawler tractor, for only a 1000 dollars. Having no knowledge on what a TerraTrac is, I did some fast research, found that ATC (American Tractor Corporation) was the manufacturer of the tractor, and had made many small models like the one I was looking at. 

After all the time spent looking at the market place for something I might just buy "someday", I decided to buy it now. Surprising my family and myself, I drove to the guys house, looked at it with my dad, and later that evening bought it. My folks didn't care too much for the idea of buying a tractor, but I felt it an opportunity I couldn't let pass me by. 

I have a truck, but legally I cant tow the dozer and a heavy trailer with my truck, it weighs too much together. It took about a month or so to get the darn thing to my home, it was something that should have been simple but was awfully long winded and filled with stupidity. I am very thankful to the fella' I purchased it from for being kind through the whole process and holding it whilst we figured out how to move it.

But now I have a tractor, one with tracks at that, and don't forget a dozing blade! It's a personal project for me, something to learn about, to take apart, and to fix up, and care about for years to come! It will take a while to get rolling, as I spend 48-60 hours a week at work, some of my time doing house work, a beetle project, and some for CBH Trains. But a little bit here, a little bit there and this GT-30 will be growling on.

The first goal of mine is to move the machine to the back yard. I constructed a pad of gravel and landscape timbers so that I have some place clean(ish) to work at. Once I get the thing back there my focus is likely on the motor. When I purchased it from the seller, it had sat for 3 years, and 5 years before he bought it too. So it's been sitting a while, with the motor seized up. I need to unseize the motor, which I will do by taking the heads off, seeing if tapping the pistons will help free it up. 

The motor in the GT-30 is a Continental F140, a motor that found use in many small machines at the time such as forklifts, welders, and of course many tractors. Continental's F140 is in a family of many small motors like it produced by Continental with a flat head. As such there are many engines around like it, and manuals can be found for it. I purchased one such manual from Ebay, so when I get a chance ot take apart to motor for inspection, I can check everything and know if anything is wrong. Lets hope I don't have a broken motor, Ha! 

A view of the F140 from the left.

And from the other side.

However, due to the weather where I live, pulling it into the backyard is difficult. The rain has made our area a muddy mess, end even though the machine rolls well, I wont have enough traction to move it. 

So in the meantime I decided to play around and take the hydraulic control valve apart. 

The control valve, sitting atop the hydraulic tank. 

It has two levers, one with a detent in it. I took off the spring covers outside and out came a ball bearing for the one with a detent. I found it but dropped it and couldnt find it in the grass. My first mistake, ha! Oh well it's a simple thing to find. I took it off the tank, brought it inside and took it apart. 

In a big ol' tote.

It doesn't look bad, took it apart mostly to see how it worked. It's got some build up on the inside which needs to be removed, the levers are slightly bent with play in them, but overall in good condition. I'll find a seal for it, and properly seal the connections, might as well do it now. 


A lot of work is needed. 

• There is no seat
• All gages are not working
• Starter is not installed
• Motor is seized
• Track frames need work
• Blade needs repair
• Whole hydraulic system needs work
• Radiator has a hole in it, needs ot be repaired.
• Fuel tank has a big ol hole in it, needs work. 
• Exhaust pipe is missing

Here's to the next steps. I'll make more posts covering this project as it progresses. 

A new GMod train map is on its way.

It's been quite a while since my last blog post, almost a year in fact.
Many events in life have happened since my last post, I got a job, I got responsibilities, a deepened love of music, and of course, I got a bit older. But no fear, my break from Gmodding is closing to an end, and hopefully I am here to stay -this time-.

I've made a few things over the past year, but nothing much substantial, alas I won't discuss these as they are of no current importance but I have been trying to get back to the flow.

My first mods I had even released, years before trains/railroading were even on my mind, were maps. Over the years I have been making maps but never getting them close to a point of release. My current map is no different, it is no close to release at this point, but I have been mapping steadily and strongly and hopefully, it will be released.



If you're looking for a specific era, location, or railroad, you will not find one here.
I like sand, lots of sand, and dirt, and a few rocks or trees here and there. Deserts are my favorite thing to look at and see trains and other industry operate in.


Currently the map is one-half of a mile long, with a lot of expansion planned.
Do I have any idea what the next parts will be? No, not really, but I can imagine.


Water is a rare thing, but it contrasts with the desert so beautifully.
So do bridges, and many there will be, of high detail design.




Currently i have to go to work, but here are a few pictures of the map I am making. I am back to gmodding, so maybe in the future, there will be a lot more happening in these pictures than just a couple boxcars.

-CBH

Prangles Industries. ["Shovel" map prop update]

I have completed more work on the shovel prop. Last post I was only half finished with the clamshell, and had the Face Shovel and Crane modeled. Now, I have the all five:

• Face-Shovel
• Backhoe
• Crane
• Dragline
• Clam-Shell

Modeled, texture mapped, grimed, and have one skin as of right now. I plan on making 7-8 more skins, including my own fictional company. All skins will be fictional, but most will be of my friend's and those I have asked from my steam group. The first skin I have slapped a "Prangles Industries" logo onto, it works.

I can't wait to see these props finished, it's going to be swell, especially if some other mappers decide to use them. The Pump-jack needs to have 5 more skins made, and the Grain Silo and IBC tote need to be mapped and textured too.

Not much to talk about in this post, so here is some images.

A dirty face-shovel, looking lean and mean as ever.

The humble clam-shell, sitting still and closed for the moment.

Don't mind the clutter in the background, this is the crane, and it's idling like a crane, nothing fancy.

The dragline, grimed up and showing it has worked!

The Backhoe attachment, as it's called. With quite a bit of grime.

A bit of an older image, no grime on the attachments, but it shows them all together.

Work continues on the "shovel".

(UPDATE: I have done some more work on the LYR class 27/28 and the cab is now done. Just need to do valve gearing and the such, and I can texture it and get it out. But this isn't my focus as of right now.)

I took a couple days off of working on the models I am making. Generally couldn't focus, and that's a thing I need to get stuff done, we all need it.

I put quotes around shovel because it is no longer just a shovel, I have moved forth into making other attachments. If you are a fan of older equipment, you'd probably notice that what I am modeling is a bit similar to Bucyrus-Erie's 15b/22b line of "shovels". Though entirely my design when I am modeling, I do look at them for some points on how they would function. You wont find internals in my models or extreme detail, after-all, these are just map props. But I do my best in creating with what I know, and putting my own wist on things, and for the most part, these should work mechanically, if they were to be replicated in real life. 

Back to the "shovel" thing, there is now going to be the following attachments:
• Face-Shovel
• Crane
• Clam-shell
• Drag-Line
• Backhoe

These attachments as I call them, were quite common for many pieces of equipment, and could be changed out with one another, without needed a dedicated main machine. This allowed for a good amount of versatility in work with what they had. Nowadays this really isn't done anymore, there is either dedicated machines for the task, or the use of an excavator which can do a large variety of tasks, is used. The modern day equivalents would be quick-changing buckets/attachments we see on wheel-loaders and excavators. Hydraulics really changed the game as far as how machines worked, and the ways they were designed.

However hydraulics are new(well, not really, around the 50's they came into use for machinery.) and I am focusing on the old currently. So far, I only have the Face-Shovel and Crane modeled and texture mapped, and most of the Clam-Shell modeled. What's left is the Drag-Line and the Backhoe attachments.

Currently I have 6-8 ideas for fictional companies to be textured, and  I am thinking of doing a few simple animations. Remember that this is for map makers mostly, to be placed on a map as a prop, these aren't scripted, nor are they operational vehicles like my trains. They can be placed in game though, for scene making and such. And have bones.

Here are some pictures I have so far. Remember, the textures aren't complete right now.

Face-Shovel attachment.

Crane attachment, holding an example IBC tote.

Clam-Shell attachment, not completed as of yet.

A lot more work to be done.

A preview of an old Face Shovel I am modeling.

This is gonna be fun.



























Just a preview image of a face shovel I am modeling. There is no real-world basis for it. This is based on what I know and what I see, though I do sometimes refresh my mind to understand how some things work. For instance, I had to peak at a video to see and get inspiration for how a dipper works(Video here). So far, this has been quite fun to model, and I can't wait to model variants of this.

A shift in focus.... (Map props)

Where's my mind at? 

After over 2 years of modeling, you can tell that I love modeling trains, and I enjoy all things railroading. However, I also enjoy many other topics and industries that exist in our world. The allure for me about railroading is the industriousness of it, partially why I enjoy freight so much more than passenger. Railroading isn't the only industrious thing I like to look at, or read into, and they can't exist without what feeds them. Construction, oil, farming, consumer products, ect, they build and determine what a railroad does to operate, without this supply, we wouldn't have millions of miles of track around the world.

Industries, more specifically non-consumer industries like Construction and oil, have peaked my interest for a while, construction being an interest my whole life. Garry's Mod maps have a lack of props centered around filler props like you would see in everyday life (depending), like cranes, excavators, and various containers.

I have noticed a desire for certain railroad maps to fill their scenes with more things previously discussed, and a desire to model these things I enjoy so much, is something I have in plentiful amount.


(For now)I will be shifting my focus from railroading to "General Industry", and most models coming from me wont be able to be interacted with like my trains. These will be props used in the background of maps, and maybe the foreground, a foreground to any scene, especially railroad related, is always accompanied by an interesting background, and in Gmod, we tend to focus too hard on the central object and forget what's around in the world.

(Gosh, I talk too much and ramble on for so long, don't I? My English teachers would be disappointed, heh.) 


I hope you enjoy my move and shift in focus, as I do.

Now, onto what I have thus far.

So, what do I have to show so far? I have 4 props (only two of which textured at the moment).

• A pumpjack, used for oil fields and extracting oil from a well. 
• A drilling derrick tower. No drill but does fill up a scene nicely.
• An IBC (Intermediate-Bulk-Container) tote. Used in more modern applications for (generally) fluid     storage. 
• A set of small Grain Silos.

What do I want to make after?

• A custom Face Shovel/Drag-line/Clamshell/"Backhoe" equipment, similar to a Bucyrus-Erie 15-b.
• A highball signal. A request made to me by a mapper JoeConqueror .
• More variants of the small silo.
• A larger silo?


Now, this is all for Map pack "Phase 1". There will of course, be progression past that phase, alongside with my current railroad projects. 

I will be busy for a while. Also, keep note that I am entering adulthood so time has to be placed into work now. Hopefully I can keep my production much higher than it has been in the past few months, and focus on IRL things for now.

Are you a Mapper and have a request for industrial-related props? Contact me and I will see what I can do. (No promises now :p)


It is really nice to get back in the swing of things, now let's hope I stay here this time.