In days gone by, when the passenger train was the way to travel, the railroads issued passes allowing people to ride free. They were issued to certain employees and their families and to some politicians and officials who may have been able to do the railroad a favor. Having a pass was a real asset. Passes varied from railroad to railroad as did the restrictions and limitations as to division or trains to be taken that were printed on them. They were designed to fit easily into a billfold or wallet with the name of the railroad and authorizing agent and the word Pass. As the hobby of Model railroading grew, many model railroaders created a pass for their railroad. Some were very inventive and humorous in the restrictions and/or rules being printed on both sides and even folded allowing 4 sides. The NMRA created a Pass Exchange for its members with a number of the 'better' ones being printed in the NMRA Bulletin. Today, there are pass contests at many conventions with first, second and third place winners. I told you that to tell you this. Not to be outdone, model railroaders on the Internet have created an Electronic Pass or e-Pass to exchange with other modelers. As an example, most of the e-Passes are about 550x350 pixels in size and come in jpg and gif formats. They are as varied as the person (and railroad) that designed them. You can see examples of the ones that I have received on my East Central Indiana web site at http://cid.railfan.net/eci_new.html or directly at: http://cid.railfan.net/passlis1.html It is likely that a number of people on this forum have a e-Pass available. In any event, I invite you to join in the enjoyment of this part of the hobby. Roger Roger Hensley - madisonrails@railfan.net == http://cid.railfan.net/eci_new.html == == East Central Indiana HO Scale Railroad ==
I'm also becoming interested in this pursuit. Please tell us more about the concept, artwork, etc! BoxcabE50
Hi, I will try and explain how to make one. First of all, you need some drawing programme to enable you to produce the artwork and be able (If wanted) to import a photograph into it. As will be seen from mine, it is blank by the date area; this is where I would put someone’s name into it. When sent to a person who has requested one, they upload it to there website for others to view it, and hyperlink it to the person’s website who sent it to you. If you click on my e-pass, it will take you to my website
Hi, Here's my E-Pass. Same idea as Roger's and Paul's but as I don't have a layout at present it is issued to allow unlimited access to my website. Much more fun than a simple link John.
I as thinking something along the lines of these being an item collected perhaps on a zip floppy or burned on a CD. So we need a web site to become involved ? BoxcabE50
I've used the Paint prigram in Windows with some success. Are there any other options one could use to create an epass?
Mine is pretty basic stuff,done with paintshop pro. Getting old,it's time for a new design to match the new logo.
I may as well get in on this action, too. If you'll visit my website (at the URL in my signature line), you can find my pass as well as pictures of all those I have exchanged for. I've also put up a page which tells how I created my pass. Somebody asked if you need a website to participate. The answer is absolutely not! The passes you collect can be viewed with any number of graphics programs. One that I am particularly fond of is called Irfan View. It's a freeware product available at lots of websites. Go to www.google.com and enter "Irfan View" in the search box and you should find it pretty quick. By all means, make a pass for your railroad and start exchanging. It's a great way to make new friends (some of which you may never meet face-to-face).
OK. I found "Irfan View" and downloaded it. Checked out your web site, (Very nice!), and now perhaps it's time to play with MS Paint. See what sort of disaster I can create! If you never hear from me again, I may have painted myself into a corner! BoxcabE50
Well, as a number of people have given suggestions on how to make an e-Pass, I'll keep it simple. Notice that mine does NOT have a photo. Everything on it is a graphic that was done with a program called Photo Finish for all of the lettering and color. The ECI logo was a scan of the decal that I use on my railroad. Using a simple 256 color setup like mine, without a photo, keeps the physical bit size low and I can use either GIF or JPG formats without distortion of colors. I also use Paint Shop Pro, but a very old version, as a conversion and resizing/resampling tool since my original is done as a PCX format. Do you need a web site? No, not at all. The idea behind the e-Pass is to exchange (or give) passes for your railroad. Yes, a web site would do, but the basic idea is for the model railroad. That's all that is needed. The fact that I put up samples of those that I have been sent on my web site is not something that you have to do. Don't let the lack of a web site keep you from enjoying this portion of the hobby. Lastly, if you use MS paint, convert the results to something other than those horriblly big count graphics files. The modern MS Paint gives you a 16 million color output and very large file sizes. Convert that to JPG. Now, if you send me an e-Pass, I will respond with one of mine. That's what I mean by exchange. If you request one of mine, I'll send you one. Later, if you make a pass of your own, I would appreciate if you send me one, but I honor all requests. http://cid.railfan.net/eci_new.html
I have used a background from PowerPoint, imported a strip of a picture from my layout and a herald from my hometown Staffanstorp. I´m using iPhoto to fill in the text, then store it as a JPG image. So far I have issued 86 E-passes, and the passes I have received you will find here as a clickable list to see received E-passes, and to be transferred to their sites. ---------- Helge SR&WF NARA member #5
Here's a pic of my new E-pass Like the old one plain and simple. If you would like one of mine drop me an e-mail with your name the way you want it on the pass. If you have a pass I would like one in return. If you have a website include the URL and your pass will be a link from my site to yours.
Robert- As I am now playing with artwork, I would like to do much as you did with the RR logos. Am wondering if you, or anyone else, can suggest a site (free- I hope?) where I could download? My two RR's are Milw and NP. For the Milw, I would like the older version that used the curved "Chicago" and " Pacific" lettering. Or better yet, the "To Puget Sound- Electrified" script. For NP, would love to find the "Yellowstone Park" Monad. Thanks- BoxcabE50
Glad to join in... Here's the PailPass from my site. I did it with PhotoShop The link below will direct you to it.
Just going back over this thread and noticed that John has a new e-Pass. John, this one is simpler, but I think that I like the old one a little better. Maybe it's because I'm a little older and the design reminds me of the 50's. Good job.
Ok, so, in going back over the thread, I see that a lot of you have a new e-Pass. I ASSume that this means that your software or techniques have improved? A question for all, "Why pictures?" Because you can? [ 26 June 2002, 12:20: Message edited by: rhensley_anderson ]
Hi Roger, My e-passes have evolved with my site. "John's Swiss Railway Site" became "Swiss Trains.net" and following a house move I had to dismantle my "Sustenbahn" n-scale layout so any reference to it on an e-pass had to disappear also When I start on my new layout I will no doubt introduce a new e-pass possibly similar to the one that you preferred. I must admit liking that one myself I think you already have the answer to your question "Why pictures ?" I personally tend to get carried away with graphics software when simplicity is often the best way John
