Thats right, after months of work and scripting, Nimoui, our new Guards van is now in service! First of all, lets explain why this van has a name, Nimoui is named in honour of the late Nimoui Chenier, one of the incredible creators behind Dreamshire who sadly passed away in 2022. This new Guards Van has been rebuilt from scratch with reference pictures kindly sent over by members at the Talyllyn Railway, this allowed us to make the interior more accurate to the real thing and refine the smaller details.
Van No5 (Seen in the picture above), that has been our guards van since 2017, will be enjoying its retirement in the carriage sheds at Cyfnos works, keeping our 2nd class passenger carriage company.
The New Features!
So, we didn't just update this van for the sakes of it, nor to make it more pretty, or even more accurate to the RL counterpart that runs on the Talyllyn Railway in Wales, we wanted to make a guards van that now reflects how advanced the ZZR has become since Amalia became head engineer of the ZZR, whose work behind the scenes i always feel is not mentioned or thanked enough publicly (she would disagree!). Here be a list of some of the brand new features!
- Sliding doors! Why do you ask that is important? because we can now lean out and keep an eye on the train like guards should be able to, plus, nice and cool on those hot summer SL days!
- Server Based Access List! Gone are the days where we have to update the notecard onboard the guards van to allow people access to the van, now we can add and remove people with ease via a clipboard in Cyfnos works, upon the desk of Eesoov, our Head Timelady.
- Tickets now show the current free tier of ticket in the machines! One of those small features that will just add to the small details of the ZZR.
- Overflow from the passenger carriage! Yes! You read that right, when the passenger carriage becomes full, the guards van will open up to the public, increasing the capacity of the passenger train from 8 to 12! (of course if one of the access listed people is sitting in there, access won't open up, because.. crippling social anxiety!)
- Fully animated brake linkages! Before the brake wheel was the only animated part, now the whole brake assembly is animated!
- Directional lights! Its been a dream of mine for the ZZR tail and headlights to change on the loco and van to show the direction of travel, this is now a thing!
- A openable window in the rear! For all that through draft!
- Fold down seats in the booking office area! For comfort!
There is honestly more features but its getting an incredibly long list!
MOOOOAR Pictures!
Here be some more pictures of the new van, for those who can not get inworld yet to see it.
Above: "Nimoui" Van No6 From Behind.
Above: Looking inside at the rear bench.
Above: Looking inside towards the front.
Above: Booking office area.
Above: Access list clipboard with current ticket displayed inside the van.
Final comments.
This was our first mega project of 2024, while yes it took a little longer then expected, i am proud of the work we did on this guards van, Amalia did an incredible job scripting this project, without her it really would of only been a visual upgrade, so as always a massive thank you to her, this was also her first big scripting project after her health crisis last year. I am really happy we was also able to honour Nim, she was a treasured member of the narrow gauge railway community.
Come on over and see the van for your self here - http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Somdari/238/211/46
Hopefully you all enjoy our new van as much as we do.
Stay Safe.
Zen, Amalia & Eesoov.