Mike's space

I recently got back from the National Train Show where we finally had a public hands on demo of Microsoft Train Simulator 2.

I must say I am completely jazzed by the turnout and the feedback.  Below are a couple of shots from the show taken by Keith Thompson.  He is one of the guys on the team.  You may or may not know him.  He used to be the editor of Model Railroader Magazine.

In the top picture my back is to the camera and the bottom picture I am the one facing the camera talking up a storm.

The pictures were taken during a setup of the booth.  Vendors were coming over because we had the bass speakers cranked and the diesel engines were rumbling.  You could feel the vibration of the engine noise all the way across the hall. 

Soon I should be able to get back to more posts and responding to people in a much more timely manner.  Getting ready for a show is always stressful and busy and we have one more big one coming up.  Hopefully I can get back to doing tutorials and demos soon.

Every once in a great while I get to do my own art.  Being a lead is sometimes frustrating because you spend more time critiquing and less time doing.  I decided to learn ZBrush.  I have always puttered around with sculpting, but I spend so much time at the computer I really didn't have the time or the space in my house to devote to sculpting.  Zbrush is great because it allows you to sculpt digitally and takes up no more room than the computer you already have.

Here are a couple of celebs I decided to sculpt.  See if you can guess who they are.

I had a great time doing these and I think I will be doing more really soon.. when I have spare time.

Thanks for looking

Hope everyone is doing well.  It's been crazy here at work.  I have been crunching to get as much done as possible for the show.  If you are at the show in Anaheim be sure to stop by the Microsoft booth and say hi!

I found this link and wanted to share

http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2008/05/extravagant-designs-by-luigi-colani.html

Take a look at the model of a futuristic coal dust powered steam locomotive.  I wish that thing had been made.  it's a great piece of art.

Hello All,

We are quietly working away at getting ready for some upcoming events.  Sorry for the long delay in posts.  I am sure you would rather see cool stuff than hearing me drone on and on about work.  So here goes.

Here are some pictures from our travels to various locations.

The picture below is from a cab ride on the Horseshoe Curve route in Pennsylvania. Here we are just turning the curve.  As you can see it was a foggy day.  The day before this we walked a portion of this area to get a picture of the greaser units used to keep the wheels rolling smooth.  There is an observation area just to the left of the track and you can see a large black thing near the track.  That's a locomotive on display in the railfan observation area.

Next up is the Stevens Pass route. This picture is looking down from the hillside into one of the yards in Wenatchee.  One side of the Cascades is a nice lush green, with pines and ferns and the other side is high desert with scrub and small trees.  As you can see from the picture below, it's a busy place.  Lots of produce is grown in the Wenatchee area so this place is always bustling.

Here's a picture from Switzerland. This picture was taken from the road next to the station in Spiez.  The BLS facility where we were able to crawl around and on the locomotives is a short distance from this idyllic scenery.  I wouldn't mind working there if I got to see this view all the time.

And the final place we went...

Well you will learn that soon enough. Back to the grindstone!

Just kidding!

For obvious reasons I couldn't show her face, but trust me, not only was she very pretty.. she was very nice to talk to.  She happened to be at one of the stations that I was photographing, and I asked her about a nearby building.  She gave me a little information, I thanked her and went about my business.

This wasn't a unique experience, everyone I talked to were very pleasant and helpful and made my time there so much more enjoyable. 

When people hear that you are going to do research someplace, they automatically think "they are so lucky, they are going to have a great time"  It's true, usually it is an awesome time, but the reality is that you are walking for 12 to 14 hours a day.  You are also carrying around somewhere between 20 and 100lbs of gear and cases to make sure you have what you need.

Below is an image of part of the Horseshoe Curve route in Pennsylvania.  Keep in mind that the team that goes to these things usually sits behind a computer for 12 hours a day.  Rick and I are not what you would call petite. We started off in the parking lot there, then climbed all these stairs and then walked around a mile along the ballast to take a picture of a mechanism that slings grease up under the train to keep it running smoothly. Walking on ballast is like running on loose sand, except it bruises the bottoms of your feet.  Oh, that greasing unit, yeah, we found another one on a flat piece of land, right next to a tower we had to photograph anyway.

Sure, that's not a huge hike, but for fat boys like us, it might as well have been Mt. Everest.  Each time I do one of these things I lose about 10lbs, then swear to myself that I will go to the gym immediately in order to capitalize on the progress.. then I get back to work and sit my butt down for another 12 hours of talking to my square headed girlfriend.  That's what my wife calls my computer.

There ya go, I have shown the good beer and the beautiful women ( at least one ) and now all you have to do is wait for the announcement to see the fast trains.