The attention to detail in this is amazing. I love how every single background for the interurban line isn't just random streches of track - it's streetrunning, side of the road trackage, the sharp curves interurbans take, the hills - it's all things you would see on an interurban. I also like the small detail of the rural interurban crossing having pre-crossbuck signs, which was very common on interurbans. Not to mention the animated vehicles in the background, and the fantastic sound design. The vehicles themslves are very detailed, and antropamorphized perfectly, nothing looks off. Love the use of the front coupler as a hand. Amazing work.
Your insight is most appreciated! I really liked drawing environments based loosely on the kinds of places where interurban cars would frequent, as a visual way of providing context for what Shelby's supposed to be doing (Travelling through the woods between urban areas, picking up random people along the way, taking them to catch a steam railroad, etc) and I'm so glad it came across well! And thanks! The coupler hand is an artistic license that I wanted to experiment with before I went ahead and did more animations with it - Especially switching scenes, which ought to be fun!
I’ve never seen this channel before, but as an animation fan who’s also a locomotive enthusiast, the fact alone that the thumbnail features a Mohawk is what captured my attention!
Many thanks! I really enjoy animating cartoon trains! The choice of including a Mohawk as a guest character was pure coincidence - I just needed a suitably "mean" looking steam loco for Shelby to delay, and the L3s and L4s fit the bill!
I genuinely have no clue how I got recommended this video but I absolutely love it. Stumbling upon your hidden gem of a channel is easily the best thing that's happened to me this month. Thank you.
Ahoy, many thanks! Welcome to the channel! If you're interested in seeing more cartoons I've made, another I'd highly recommend is "Isambard Inkblot and the Canals of Mars"
Just think this is lovely - the details are really good. The look of dislike in the railroad carriage's one visible eye as she rolls past Shelby is so easily missed, but says so much about the rivalry between them, for example; the period clothes and cars in the backgrounds (which latter, of course, spelt Shelby's doom), the Iriquoix road roller, the proper valve gear on the Mohawk, whose 'face' looks like an elephant - so much to enjoy.
Much obliged! Thanks for the insight regarding the greater historic themes present here - For some other Shelby stories in mind, I wanted to tease some elements which may play into later ones, such as the mainline train interaction, the gradual encroaching of paved roads and automobiles (In the form of Shelby's very shy steamroller friend) Animating the Mohawk with proper valve gear and such was a means of both testing out a technique (The wheels are animated like a "walk cycle" and are the same 16 drawings spaced out evenly until the little wheel slip at the end) and also flexing on the countless other studio level projects where they shy away from animating the valve gear. Which is a shame, because it adds a fun "dance" to the loco's movement!
Very familiar with the line, as my family has used AC equipment for three generations. Still have a C, D-15, and an 8010. While I can't say I've seen an interurban car at the grade, it was my job to take the C, very similar to a B except with a tricycle front end, to the fields to rake during hay season, big straw hat and all, so the scene brought back good memories of working with my dad. Being a railfan as well as a farm boy, I was likewise impressed with the attention to detail throughout the rest of the animation, from the old diamond crossing signs to the glow in the ashpan of the Mohawk. Very well done!
Although it's only a 2 minute exchange, The flow felt like there was going to be a story about noise complaints/impatience (Thomas and the Policeman style) the music/sound design is splendid, and it all feels alive! :)
That can definitely be arranged! I have another Shelby cartoon from some years ago ("Shelby's Moonlit Journey") but also have some other cartoons in the works. We will definitely be seeing more Shelby...
Many thanks! I took a lot of reference pictures and some audio recordings of most of the real machines featured in this short film. Certainly! And it's hard to beat them on energy emissions, since they're all electric without need of lithium batteries or charging stations.
This remind me of Virginia Lee Burton and Bill Peets books I used to read growing up! I always dreamed of these anthro vehicles animated like this! Hope to see more from you!
She was also a huge inspiration to me! I wrote a lecture about her work for one of my college illustration classes. Virginia Lee Burton picked some very fun subjects to bring to life, and had such a unique art style.
Air whistle, yes! When the streetcar first came around, air horns weren’t invented yet, or at least weren’t in widespread use. Some later trolleys had horns like a lot of the north shore cars, but many had air whistles.
Also, in some parts of the world, diesels and electrics use whistles instead of horns. In Japan, for example, the freight locomotives, even the modern ones, have very high-pitched whistles and I agree, it definitely felt off at first when I was there.
Quite well explained above, but, yes, Shelby has an air-operated whistle! Because she was built in the 1920s, before diesel trains became common, most people assumed all trains to have whistles. This was also important because interurban and streetcar lines often ran down busy streets with road traffic, and having a whistle made it more obvious that there's a train nearby that has to follow a track and can't "change lanes" and so on. Since these electric railroads were built around the 1910s, most of their cars would use scaled down steam whistles running on air supplied from the air brake lines. By the 1930s, some companies started making air horns for the pioneering diesel streamliners, and the "new sound" became a bit of a trend associated with fast trains. So, things like North Shore's "Electroliner", the Cincinnati and Lake Erie "Red Devil", and even some steam locomotives (Lackawanna "Pocono", Southern Pacific "Daylight", Milwaukee Road "Hiawatha", etc) were kitted out with air horns to be better heard at high speeds.
The attention to detail in this is amazing. I love how every single background for the interurban line isn't just random streches of track - it's streetrunning, side of the road trackage, the sharp curves interurbans take, the hills - it's all things you would see on an interurban. I also like the small detail of the rural interurban crossing having pre-crossbuck signs, which was very common on interurbans.
Not to mention the animated vehicles in the background, and the fantastic sound design. The vehicles themslves are very detailed, and antropamorphized perfectly, nothing looks off. Love the use of the front coupler as a hand.
Amazing work.
Your insight is most appreciated!
I really liked drawing environments based loosely on the kinds of places where interurban cars would frequent, as a visual way of providing context for what Shelby's supposed to be doing (Travelling through the woods between urban areas, picking up random people along the way, taking them to catch a steam railroad, etc) and I'm so glad it came across well!
And thanks! The coupler hand is an artistic license that I wanted to experiment with before I went ahead and did more animations with it - Especially switching scenes, which ought to be fun!
Gosh, your cartoon about Shelby is amazing and that Mohawk have a coupler for a hand, like Baldwin's Big Adventure.❤❤❤
Thank you! Shelby is a very fun character to write, and my friend Gothnisa did a great job providing the voice!
@RockyRailroadProductions_B0SS I want more train cartoons, please!
I’ve never seen this channel before, but as an animation fan who’s also a locomotive enthusiast, the fact alone that the thumbnail features a Mohawk is what captured my attention!
Many thanks! I really enjoy animating cartoon trains!
The choice of including a Mohawk as a guest character was pure coincidence - I just needed a suitably "mean" looking steam loco for Shelby to delay, and the L3s and L4s fit the bill!
You’re welcome! You’ve certainly made a great choice, and at the right time too! ;)
Extremely underrated
Great work! Probably one of the best train animations i’ve seen!
Many thanks! It means a lot!
I genuinely have no clue how I got recommended this video but I absolutely love it. Stumbling upon your hidden gem of a channel is easily the best thing that's happened to me this month. Thank you.
Ahoy, many thanks!
Welcome to the channel! If you're interested in seeing more cartoons I've made, another I'd highly recommend is "Isambard Inkblot and the Canals of Mars"
@RockyRailroadProductions_B0SS Apologies for the delayed response and I will absolutely check it out. :3
This is very adorable! I love your animation style, I also love the coupler movement like a hand lol!
Many thanks! Was quite fun to animate that!
Just think this is lovely - the details are really good. The look of dislike in the railroad carriage's one visible eye as she rolls past Shelby is so easily missed, but says so much about the rivalry between them, for example; the period clothes and cars in the backgrounds (which latter, of course, spelt Shelby's doom), the Iriquoix road roller, the proper valve gear on the Mohawk, whose 'face' looks like an elephant - so much to enjoy.
Much obliged!
Thanks for the insight regarding the greater historic themes present here - For some other Shelby stories in mind, I wanted to tease some elements which may play into later ones, such as the mainline train interaction, the gradual encroaching of paved roads and automobiles (In the form of Shelby's very shy steamroller friend)
Animating the Mohawk with proper valve gear and such was a means of both testing out a technique (The wheels are animated like a "walk cycle" and are the same 16 drawings spaced out evenly until the little wheel slip at the end) and also flexing on the countless other studio level projects where they shy away from animating the valve gear.
Which is a shame, because it adds a fun "dance" to the loco's movement!
Great animation, got a big smile seeing the Allis Chalmers along the way.
Many thanks!
Miss Allis Chalmers is based on a friend's tractor, a Model B, which does nine miles an hour
Very familiar with the line, as my family has used AC equipment for three generations. Still have a C, D-15, and an 8010.
While I can't say I've seen an interurban car at the grade, it was my job to take the C, very similar to a B except with a tricycle front end, to the fields to rake during hay season, big straw hat and all, so the scene brought back good memories of working with my dad.
Being a railfan as well as a farm boy, I was likewise impressed with the attention to detail throughout the rest of the animation, from the old diamond crossing signs to the glow in the ashpan of the Mohawk.
Very well done!
Amazing job lad.
Although it's only a 2 minute exchange, The flow felt like there was going to be a story about noise complaints/impatience (Thomas and the Policeman style) the music/sound design is splendid, and it all feels alive! :)
Many thanks! This was originally going to be a longer film, though, I may produce some other scenes as a part 2
The algorithm actually brought me something I wanted to watch, lovely work keep it up!
Glad to hear it! To date, out of all 60+ cartoons I've made, this has been by far the most successful on here
Nice work! This is so much better than my Nutty Railroad Episode 1 I did a year ago.
Shelby Is So Silly I Love Her
I really liked this I cannot wait to see more of Shelby.
That can definitely be arranged! I have another Shelby cartoon from some years ago ("Shelby's Moonlit Journey") but also have some other cartoons in the works.
We will definitely be seeing more Shelby...
You going to make more of films? I can imagine these will be very popular. It’s beautifully charismatic.
Thank you!
I have a playlist of some more animated films, another one I'm quite proud of is "Isambard Inkblot and the Canals of Mars"
I love how this world feels so cartoony yet so realistic. I really wish we'd go back to interurban railways, they had so much charm to them.
Many thanks! I took a lot of reference pictures and some audio recordings of most of the real machines featured in this short film.
Certainly! And it's hard to beat them on energy emissions, since they're all electric without need of lithium batteries or charging stations.
You have potential dude!! Keep up the good work!
This remind me of Virginia Lee Burton and Bill Peets books I used to read growing up!
I always dreamed of these anthro vehicles animated like this!
Hope to see more from you!
She was also a huge inspiration to me! I wrote a lecture about her work for one of my college illustration classes. Virginia Lee Burton picked some very fun subjects to bring to life, and had such a unique art style.
Nice work
Please do more animations in the future. I'm very much enjoying them.
Thanks! Definitely have more planned, this one was great fun!
This is amazing
w work my guy
Its rough but theres lots of charm, with more time put in it can look even better. Don't give up!
It’s wonderful
This feels like something from 2011, but it's cool
I hope we see more of Mohawk
It is a lovely cartoon.
1:21
YEAAAAAH
Using the couplers as hands. That is how it should be.
Anyways, wonder what other Locomotive characters will be envisioned.
Thanks!
Some other characters that may appear in future are a saddle tank engine, an electric locomotive, and perhaps a diesel switcher
I hope Thomas doesn’t see this cartoon.
My name is Shelby and I have a Mohawk! 😂
Sounds and looks just like street car #64 at the Ohio Railway Museum.
Subbed
Nice cartoon
I'm confused, electric tram with a whistle?
Air whistle, yes! When the streetcar first came around, air horns weren’t invented yet, or at least weren’t in widespread use. Some later trolleys had horns like a lot of the north shore cars, but many had air whistles.
Also, in some parts of the world, diesels and electrics use whistles instead of horns. In Japan, for example, the freight locomotives, even the modern ones, have very high-pitched whistles and I agree, it definitely felt off at first when I was there.
Quite well explained above, but, yes, Shelby has an air-operated whistle!
Because she was built in the 1920s, before diesel trains became common, most people assumed all trains to have whistles. This was also important because interurban and streetcar lines often ran down busy streets with road traffic, and having a whistle made it more obvious that there's a train nearby that has to follow a track and can't "change lanes" and so on. Since these electric railroads were built around the 1910s, most of their cars would use scaled down steam whistles running on air supplied from the air brake lines.
By the 1930s, some companies started making air horns for the pioneering diesel streamliners, and the "new sound" became a bit of a trend associated with fast trains. So, things like North Shore's "Electroliner", the Cincinnati and Lake Erie "Red Devil", and even some steam locomotives (Lackawanna "Pocono", Southern Pacific "Daylight", Milwaukee Road "Hiawatha", etc) were kitted out with air horns to be better heard at high speeds.
coolz
Shelby kind of sounds like the female version of Bruce from Family guy.
💀
Huh?