nickelplatestudios

[nickelplatestudios]

Oriana and her wheels; A Chrysler Valiant Charger.

[nickelplatestudios]

Not at all sure how many people from Twitter will see this, but for those that do, howdy y'all. I wanted to provide some sort of explanation for my sudden departure from Twitter, and what I'll be doing going forward.

I guess to start out, I should emphasize that nothing catastrophic has happened that led to my departure from Twitter. I am okay, and I think I'll be happier now that I'm off that god forsaken website, and as I further reduce my social media presence to something more manageable.

I decided it was time to rip off the bandage and close the door on Twitter for good. I publicly announced a year or two ago that I intended to leave, but I wound up staying partly due to outstanding art requests, and having second thoughts about leaving the audience I built up, and the artists I supported.

The main reason for my departure however was that Twitter was, and I'm sure many more could agree, an extreme net-negative for my mental health. I do have some personal issues that I face in my day-to-day life outside of the internet, and I am currently seeing a therapist. Twitter only exacerbated my pre-existing problems. What I originally saw as a great way to reach out to folks and help my art reach a wider audience, gradually turned into a mental health nightmare; Petty drama, stupid people, seeing non-stop horrors of war, propaganda outlets spewing disinformation that clearly isn't true...and in the process, I found myself doom-scrolling, becoming more cynical, depressed, paranoid, and with a growing hatred for the world. I believe overstimulation from Twitter, and social media use across the board really, made it extremely difficult to concentrate on my art, and other hobbies that I genuinely enjoy. I had weighed deleting Twitter again and again, but it was quickly placed in the back of my mind, as I continued doom-scrolling in hopes that I'd find some good news. Good news that was often not found, and even if it was, would quickly be replaced with more horrors.

My decision to finally make good on deleting Twitter was motivated by two factors, both of which are intertwined. Last week, I decided to spend my vacation time with my significant other. At it's conclusion, I can say with confidence that it was the best week of my life thus far. The two of us spending time together, largely uninterrupted by social media or non-stop bad news. Together we experienced the good things that life has to offer, and by the end of my stay, I didn't even want to log on to social media. I am more hopeful for the future now than I was the week before last, and I don't need anymore negativity dampening that. The other factor at play was my significant other decided it was time to delete her personal twitter. After a week of experiencing what it was like to truly live, I felt compelled, more so at this time than at any point before, to delete my account. I decided it was finally time to get off Twitter, make good on downsizing my social media presence, and free my mind. I opened up my settings, and as of mid-morning or noon yesterday, the NKP Studios twitter account is now history.

There is still a long road ahead in terms of a my psychological wellness journey, and there is much work to be done. But I feel like this is a step in the right direction. I already feel as if my mood has improved, and combined with last week's experiences, and with the help of my weekly therapy appointments, I'm more hopeful for the future now than I previously have been. Sure, there will be days I trip, fall down, and falter. But hope is a stubborn thing, and I'd much rather it continue to carry me and pick me up from the lowest lows, than to continue sinking further past the bottom.

As for the future, I'll be sticking to basics. I'll still be on Discord as I use it mainly for communication with friends, and YouTube will be staying since it is my primary venue for uploading my video projects. As for this account, here on Tumblr, I'm debating it's future. I hardly ever use this account, but that was because Twitter was the primary venue for my art. Twitter is now gone, and while I'm undecided at this time, Tumblr does seem like a more relaxed place to upload my art whenever I can get around to it. In the meantime, I'll be focusing on what matters, and the hobbies I enjoy: My art, my model trains, video production, and the one I love.

Thank you all so much for your support, patience, and understanding.

Best regards, NKP Studios.

[nickelplatestudios]

Pre-MARC commuter service in Maryland. Jessup, MD November 28, 1975

[nickelplatestudios]

Some edited variations of the previous post.

[nickelplatestudios]

So about a week or so ago, I discovered through a friend that two New Haven 4-6-0 steam locomotives made it down to Australia during WWII through a lend-lease program. They were reclassified as "CA" locomotives, and spent their working lives on the Trans Australian Railway. So I thought: "What if a New Haven I-4-F pacific made it down there too?"

The result was Alice! The fictitious Commonwealth Railways CM class, numbered CM80, based upon the real life New Haven #1355. Named in honor of the City of Alice Springs, I'd imagine she probably would've soloed or been paired up with a C class on various goods trains and passenger trains such as the Trans-Australian.

I'd like to thank Rose Ironclad for conceiving the I-4-F's name, as well as class designation, and actually writing up a full fledged story for how such a locomotive could've been. She truly gave life to something I initially just thought was a funny idea about a large American steam engine making dashes across the Nullarbor Plain.

[nickelplatestudios]

Spent a good chunk of last night making these. I've decided after a few years of mulling over it, that I'm finally embarking on a SAL/ACL/SCL coach pack for TANE. There's an inherent lack of passenger equipment from these roads available for the game, and they'll look great being paired up with some of my E8 reskins.

[nickelplatestudios]

AU Time:

Chicago, Burlington & Quincy 4-8-4 #5632 races along the mainline on a fan trip, sometime in the mid-1970s. Some eager railfans try to keep up with the train in their 1970 Nomad/Chevelle station wagon.

[nickelplatestudios]

Nickel Plate Road #777 departs westbound at Bellevue, Ohio. The sky is alight with stars and far off worlds.

[nickelplatestudios]

Oh yeah, I also do a lot of stuff with Trainz: A New Era. It's not art in the traditional sense of things, but I do have many projects revolving around this game, and thought someone here might like to see them.

[nickelplatestudios]

Here's some examples of my works for those who might be wondering what it is I do.