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Stephenson's Rocket, by Infinity Freight
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Test drive it in-world at the SLURL link below
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In Rainhill, England in 1829, a competition was held to find the best way to move goods on the Liverpool & Manchester Railway. The entry by Robert and George Stephenson won the contest, and 'Rocket' took its place in history.
It was not the first steam locomotive by some margin, but the innovations it introduced have influenced the design of steam engines ever since. It was, as we would say these days, a 'game changer' in transportation.
I have done a whole lot of reading and researching (and maths!) in order to build this replica of Rocket for SL, and hopefully you will find it fun to drive!
I welcome any and all feedback, good and bad. Just IM me or drop a notecard.
Rocket is built with a fully scripted steam pressure boiler simulation. You must shovel the coal to manage your fire, and monitor the steam pressure to match the speed you wish to travel. The boiler water must be topped up from the tender to keep it from boiling dry.
Rocket also features animated mechanical components, including the pistons, cranks, the valve timing lever system, and the cam-pushrods that coordinate the sequence.
The consuming of coal, fire, water and steam are all factors in how Rocket will drive, which I hope provides a fun and engaging experience within SL railroading.
Rocket's tender and wagons are linked onto the locomotive, so you can never leave them behind. You can 'switch off' the wagons if you just want to run Rocket as loco and tender only.
Rocket includes many built-in features, including :
- Shovels to 'wear' for adding coal animation
- Multiple camera views
- Sit position adjust to suit a wide range of avatar heights
- Footplate floor adjustment, to further customise for smaller avatars
- Co-Driver controls - you can enable your co-driver to add coal or water, and make regulator adjustments
- Switch the wagons on/off by the menu if you don't need them
- Load/unload the coal in the wagons
- Rez a refueling stage to top up the coal and water in Rocket's tender
- Fast Refuel option for if you can not access land to rez the fuel stage
- Front lamp & footplate lantern with on/off control
- Re-rail function to re-connect with the track if you hit a red signal
- Flip function to turn Rocket around to face the other way
- 'Unsit' detection- if you are left behind by a region border crossing, it waits and sends an SLURL to teleport back to it.
- Two avatars can be on the footplate : the owner plus one other.
- Can be used in the SL game GTFO! (get the freight out), its 'vapi' code is GTFO!AITRAINSROCK
In the box :
Stephenson's Rocket loco, tender and 3 coal chaldron wagons
Drivers coal shovel (wear it)
Full instruction manual with quick-start intro
Landmarks of places to begin
A map HUD of the tracks on the Heterocera Atoll mainland continent to help navigate
Also, inside Rocket's own contents are :
Co-driver shovel (give it using the menu)
Refueling stage which Rocket will rez to top up water and coal to your tender
Notes :
- A linkset train has advantages that you can't lose the wagons, but the disadvantage is that it is technically rather difficult to make it go backwards. So at this time, Rocket has no 'reverse'. Instead use the 'Flip' function in the menu which turns it around to face the other way.
- The animated mechanism is quite busy, as it constantly updates the parts while you are moving. If you enter a region that is experiencing heavy lag, the mechanism might look a bit jumpy. It will return to normal once you leave the affected area.
Land impact :
Loco and tender (with 'Wagons Off' selected) - 68 LI
Loco, tender & 3 wagons ('Wagons On' selected) - 124 LI
Mesh is mod/copy
Scripts are copy only
Modifying Rocket :
There are modifiers notes in the instructions, though be warned that modifying it will require significant SL building experience, as Rocket is a complex little beastie :)
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It has been an epic build, having taken 6 months to complete :o but I am now excited to hear if you like it, so let me know!
Have fun, and happy shoveling!
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See item in Second Life- Unique scripted steam pressure boiler
- Animated pistons & valve timing
- Fun to drive!
- Proper steam train locomotive !
- SLRR & Bellisseria compatible
A fantastic way to see SL
The Rocket is a work of art, easy to drive but engaging as well - watch the coal and water levels! - it really is the smoothest train I have come across to use. But why a train? Well, you get to see the amazing work and artistry that the Moles, et.al. have done to make SL a beautiful experience. This train is the perfect way to see it and appreciate it, without drama or the jerky corners that every other train seems to inflict on the eye and without the stress of trying to keep your car on the road whilst seeing nothing of the surrounding craftsmanship. Claire has made a wonderful product here, with excellent graphics work a well as incredibly good scripting. Her articulated trucks are beautifully scripted, but this is beautiful in every way, including the loading of coal and water en route during your journey.
All that is wanted, no, needed, are a couple of passenger cars to replace the coal wagons and even the Stephenson family would be proud to be seen in this tribute to the engineering skills of the great man himself.
Thank you, Claire, for yet another great product .
Great fun
Absolutely love it.. my only wish is that it could be used by a group.. then i'd have a working coal train that led up to my coal mines ...
Simple wonderful!
Claire has really out done herself with this little gem. From the realistic "click clack" to the pressure relief valve blowing off steam to having to shovel the coal and manage your water level, the operation of the Rocket is involving and enjoyable. It crosses sim lines beautiful and trouble free.
Her textures are crisp and authentic, the mesh work is detailed and well done. You won't be sorry for buying this, I know I'm not!
This train absolutely deserves 5 stars (or more)!
This is impressive! I love realism and love vehicles that keep me busy and here's it! I never thought SL would have such a train. Honestly, I was never a fan of exploring SL by trains even though I've enjoyed small trips but I think this one makes me want to travel by train very often. This kinda teaches me how trains used to work back in very old times. Claire does a great job always, she makes everything from scratch which makes it more special I think. Great product I love it!
Stunned!
I am stunned by this product! In my previous reviews of Atomic Infinity's trains, I requested that they made a steam engine and DAMN, they delivered! The realism of how to operate this engine is incredible! The detail of the scripting is almost as impeccable as the meshing of the locomotive and trailing freight cars! The Atomic store is the only store I have found any trace of that has put their own spin of the SLRR (a neglected feature of SL that truly deserves more attention than it presently gets) into their locomotives. I am extremely pleased with this purchase and encourage anyone who has clicked on this item (because you obviously have some curious interest in this product) to purchase it at once. I am terribly happy with it and with the craftsmanship of this creator. Please continue to create more steam locomotives like this, and I would adore some passenger trains from this store too, please make me some, I would buy ANY SLRR trains from you no matter the cost without a second thought because I know your quality and attention to detail. Thank you so much for your creation. I shall treasure it always!
