Trains are fun to ride and watch. But if you wanna' play, get a train sim. More

8 June 2007.

Virtual NYC subway article (by me) in RMC.

The July 2007 issue of Railroad Model Craftsman magazine has my 5-page article "A virtual NYC subway line" describing Fred Barbieri's beautiful work for the Microsoft Train Simulator.

Cheers, everyone!

27 July 2003.

Site News

6 June 2003.

Site News

5 April 2003.

Boso View Express News

9 March 2003.

Train Sim Gallery

5 March 2003.

Train Sim News

11 February 2003.

Rail WORKS

7 February 2003.

MS Train Simulator

3 February 2003.

MS Train Simulator

25 January 2003.

Trainsim Gallery

I've been focusing on screenshot graphics this week. I've added a few shots to my Trainsim Gallery section and improved the format by adding notes related to each shot. I intend to add a page of graphics tips at some point, but meanwhile, take a look at Sue Chastain's Myths and Facts about JPG. This is valuable information. While you're there, take a look at the rest of her site. It's very informative.

18 January 2003.

New Page: Trainsim Gallery

I'm having fun with screenshots. I created a new page called Trainsim Gallery to share them. I intend to provide technical detail for those who are interested. Enjoy!

15 January 2003.

MS Train Simulator: A trio of Blackpool trams

    Blackpool balloon tram in Eclipse livery by Steve Nicklin.

Steve Nicklin has released three beautiful Blackpool trams. Two are double-decker balloon style; one in standard livery and the other, shown here, in Eclipse livery. The third is a single decker. All are intended to run with a wire height of 6.1 meters. You can get these beauties at Train-Sim.com. In case you're not sure of how to set the wire height, you can do so by opening the route in the Route Editor, selecting Properties from the Route menu, and entering the value down near the bottom of the table.

11 January 2003.

MS Train Simulator: A trio of narrow gauge steamers

    Mason Bogie by Ron Davis.

Ron Davis has released three beautiful, true 3-foot narrow gauge steam locos, complete with engineer and, where appropriate, fireman. You can get these beauties at Train-Sim.com. In order to run these locos properly, you will need a route that uses three-foot gauge track. I used the Narrow Gauge Route by Jonathan Lewis, also at Train-Sim.com. In order to use this route you will need XTracks by Okrasa Ghia, available at - you guessed it - Train-Sim.com.

Don't give up, thinking this is all too complicated. It's not. Just follow the simple steps included with each package, paying particular attention to Okrasa's recommendation of making a backup copy of your MSTS Global folder. This copy lets you undo the XTracks installation should you ever want to.

The picture above is of a much traveled Mason Bogie - one of my favorite narrow gauge locos. The first picture below is of Oregon Lumber #105 Climax Class B, and the second picture below is an 0-4-0T Porter based on Bachmann's On30 model. Porters came in all sizes and configurations, so who's to say the rendition isn't essentially prototypical. All are shown on Jonathan Lewis's Narrow Gauge Route, which simulates Colorado mining operations in the 1890s.

    Climax B by Ron Davis.

    Porter by Ron Davis.

1 January 2003.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Boso View Express news

Luigi Cartello has come up with a 10-section curve calculator for curves from 50 meters to 200 meters in radius. The calculator is in Italian and English. You can get it at Luigi's site or from the BVE > Tools section of my Downloads page.

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John Womersely has updated his article How to download, alter and run Japanese routes. This article provides complete and valuable information about overcoming the Japanese-English language barrier. You can get John's article from the BVE > Guides section of my Downloads page. While you're at it, don't overlook John's other article, Get BVE, at the same location. Get BVE provides complete and clear instruction on how to download and install BVE.

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MS Train Simulator news

I've added two new pages, MSTS Works and MSTS Links. Look for more MSTS info in the future.

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Boston Type 7 LRV by George L Kenson.

Trolley fans have never had it so good. In case you are unfamiliar with the file library at Train-Sim.com, and especially if you like Toronto and Boston models, you will be happy to find excellent versions of a Boston Type 5 lightweight, a Type 7 Kinki-Sharyu LRV, and several versions of Boston PCCs. You will also find 4 Toronto PCCs.

Some of the other models include a classic Brill semi-convertible, an interurban, snow sweepers, box motors, steeple cab locos, and Brooklyn and Philadelphia PCCs.

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UP Big Boy by NALW.

If you don't believe in Santa, you will still have to believe in the folks at North Atlantic Locomotive Works. For Christmas they posted their UP Steam Magapack consisting of three UP 4-8-4 FEF-3s (road numbers 838, 840, 844), three UP 4-6-6-4 Challengers (road numbers 3977, 3979, 3985), and two UP 4-8-8-4 Big Boys (road numbers 4005 and 4012), with 8 sample consists. Also included are a full smoothside passenger car set with 4 coaches, 2 diners, 4 sleepers, 2 domes, 2 baggagec and 1 business car. Visit them at their website (http://nalw.macfall.com/) and download the megapack from the file library at Train-Sim.com. Be aware that this is a big download at 43 MB.

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Woodbridge Train Simulation Craftsman Magazine news

The special Holiday issue has just been released. Articles include a first look at the new Trainz Ultimate Collection package, building a complete Trainz layout, building and placing objects in BVE, non-structured activities in MSTS, a continuation of the Erie Railroad's Rochester Division MSTS route project, an introduction to Railroad Tycoon, slide shows, and more.

Why do I keep mentioning this magazine? Mainly because I have hoped for some time now that someone would produce such a magazine. Brian Eckard has taken the initiative and I want to support his effort. Each issue is an improvement over the previous, as the magazine and readership continue to grow. Another reason is that I am involved as a contributor, editor, and member of the editorial board. I hope you will download your free issue from the Train Simulation Modeler site and send us your comments and thoughts, even your criticisms. In any case, you may want to regularly check the Virtual Railway section of the Woodbridge site for free versions of selected articles from the various magazine CDs.

Why do we need a magazine when we already have forums, free add-ons, and tutorials galore? As an avid reader of magazines, this is a question I don’t ask. But others do ask the question, so I’ll attempt an answer.

A magazine lies somewhere between a book and a forum. A book is usually definitive, researched, and stable in content. A forum is spontaneous, usually not researched, and immediate in terms of current relevance. A magazine is researched like a book, but its articles are narrower in scope. Unlike a book, a magazine is ongoing, shifting its coverage to meet contemporary needs. Thus a magazine stands on its own and is neither a substitute nor replacement for a forum or a book.

In some ways a web site can provide what a magazine does. A website, like a forum, is ephemeral in the sense that the owner can pull the plug at any time, making the content and archives suddenly unavailable. A magazine, whether delivered as hardcopy or on CD, is yours indefinitely.

The dynamics of a magazine are ones of codependence. A magazine depends on its content to attract readers. The more readers a magazine has the more advertising it can attract to defray the costs of publication and distribution. But content is as much a function of what contributors (who, especially in the case of a hobby magazine, are themselves readers) submit as it is what editors choose to publish. Thus, readers can have a direct impact on the nature and ultimate success of a magazine.

Why does it cost money to buy a magazine when forums, add-ons, and tutorials are free? Let's recognize the web is not as free as it may appear. The other night I spent 3+ hours downloading a train package. The previous night I spent 2+ hours downloading the same package only to have the connection break before it was completed. In all, I paid for 7 hours of air time to get that package. Since I pay for a minimal service connection and then pay hourly for overruns, that train package cost me about $7. The authors received nothing, but if they had had to host their work, instead of placing it at Train-Sim.com, my guess is they would have much larger monthly ISP bills. I certainly would have. I can handle 20 MB on my site before I have to move up to the next level. The train package I downloaded was more than twice my 20 MB. A magazine has hidden costs, including production and other expenses. These expenses need to be accounted for.

There's also a distinction that needs to be made between what one does as a hobby and what one does a business. For me, a hobby is something I like to do. It's there when I want to do it, and it makes no demands on me that I can't refuse to honor. A business venture is another matter entirely. I may like performing the work, but a business makes demands - schedule, finances, etc. - that I must accept if I want the business to succeed. A magazine, by its very nature of regular publication of content provided by the staff if others don't contribute, is a demanding activity. Of course it has its enjoyable side, otherwise no one would bother to publish magazines. Still, in my mind it is ultimately a business, even if only a small one.

Another consideration in the distinction between hobby and business is magnitude of time required and/or financial cost. Running a magazine, even with help, is no small task. I think the effort involved is such that compensation is justified.

Is there a market for a train sim magazine? Time will tell. Flight simmers had a 20-year head start and now support at least two slick hardcopy magazines that I know of. Train sims are more demanding of hardware than flight sims, thus the time lag. Today hardware capabilities suitable for credible train simulation are within the reach of most. I expect train simming to rapidly gain in popularity. This gain will foster more commercial ventures as continually greater hardware capabilities encourage greater detail and realism in our simulations. Eventually teams of people will create spectacularly detailed models and routes. They will, of course, expect to be paid because of the effort required. When this happens we will have advertisers aplenty to help support ventures such as Woodbridge’s Train Simulation Craftsman Magazine. Meanwhile, you can help us produce the kind of magazine you want by sending us your comments and, if you have the desire, by sending us an article to publish.

Train simulation reaches Model Railroader

The February 2003 issue of Model Railroader, which arrived in my mailbox two days ago, has five full pages devoted to train sims. The spread includes an introduction by MR Editor Terry Thompson and articles on MSTS and Trainz by Frank Musick and Steve Lee, respectively.

Credit MR, who commissioned the MSTS and Trainz articles, with staying abreast of trends in railroad modeling. Too bad the coverage didn't include BVE and some of the other simulations that are currently popular, such as Bahn, Rail3D, and Yard Duty. Also, it would have been helpful if MR had included some resources, such as website addresses for popular forums and freeware add-ons. Still, one can only be pleased that MR has taken notice and devoted so much space to train simulation.

Cheers to all, and to all a Happy New Year!

22 December 2002.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Simulation by Microsoft, locomotive by Julian D. Abram, route by Richard Garber, card by Alfred Barten. All rights reserved.

30 November 2002.

Milwaukee bi-polar electric loco for MSTS

We can thank Mad Mike from Germany (http://mikemad.de/msts.htm) for this superb MSTS rendition of Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul’s famous bi-polar electric locomotives.

Bi-polar refers to the unusual design of the locomotive's electric motors. The bi-polar design is completely gearless. The armature of each of the locomotive’s electric motors is wrapped around a drive-wheel axle. The motor’s frame-mounted pole pieces flank the axle on the left and right, allowing the axle to move vertically to accommodate track irregularities. Normally, d.c. motors have four sets of pole pieces. In practice, the simplicity of bi-polar locomotives enabled them to operate for many years with relatively little maintenance. The concept, however, was perhaps a bit limiting, particularly as designers pushed for higher running speeds. The bi-polar design placed a lot of the dead weight close to the rails, a detriment to good tracking.

A diminutive bi-polar lcomotive was first used in 1890 on the City and South London tube railway with questionable success. The concept was resurrected in 1904 for the New York Central’s high-speed mainline locomotive servicing New York’s Grand Central Terminal electrification project (see my article Old Maude). The concept was continued with the Central’s T-motors, which were bigger and more powerful than Old Maude and her siblings, and concluded with Milwaukee’s bi-polars - the largest and most poowerful of the genre. Old Maude and Milwaukee’s bi-polars were popularized by early toy train manufacturers.

Mad Mike’s model comes in two downloads: the engine and the cab. Initially, only the engine was available. Instructions included with the engine download tell you to copy the Acela CABVIEW files into the bi-polar’s trainset folder. The bi-polar cab download is more recent and replaces the Acela files completely. The new cab file download includes a new ENG file for the locomotive. Be sure to replace the old ENG file included with the engine download with the new ENG file included with the cab download.

The first screen shot shows the bi-polar on Mark Todd's test route available in the file library at http://www.train-sim.com for free download. I set the overhead height to 7.2 meters to match the bi-polar’s pantograph. In case you are unfamiliar with how to do this, scroll down to my previous news item regarding Tim Muir's classic Brill trolley. The second screen shot shows the new cab view.

30 September 2002.

A classic vintage trolley for MSTS

Tim Muir has released a beautiful model of the classic Brill semi-convertible in MS Train Simulator format. In many ways this is the archetypal trolley for many, especially those unfamiliar with streetcar history. The well-proportioned lines, clerestory roof, arched windows, and smooth wood panel siding are the essence of the vintage streetcar, not only in America but elsewhere as well. The J. G. Brill Company of Philadelphia offered these cars in a multitude of variations - single truck/double truck, various body lengths in one-window increments, various vestibule lengths and door configurations, and combination passenger/baggage cars as well as straight passenger cars. City and suburban lines across the US ran cars of these designs as well as similar cars by other manufacturers. By selecting an 11-window version, Tim has aimed his model at a lot of different lines for the largest audience. Re-skinners should have fun producing new liveries for this model.

The model runs beautifully, with custom sounds and cab view by Chuck Zeiler and lighting by Paul Deverter.

People using ConBuilder to make the required consist file have commented that ConBuilder objects to the Brill car, claiming the eng( line is missing. The reality is that the line is not missing, but it is indented. This shouldn't be a problem, but evidently it is for ConBuilder. The solution is simple. Using NotePad or other text editor (not Word), open the PRL&PBrill1051.eng file. Scroll down till you find the line engine( . Go up to the end of the previous line and press Return to add a blank line. Then remove the indent by placing the cursor in front of engine( and pressing the Backspace key. Save the file and you are done.

If this works, go get some of Tim's other trolleys, including GE steeplecabs, McGuire-Cummings snow sweepers, and an interurban box motor. They're all at http://www.train-sim.com/.

By the way, if you are new to trolley operation in MSTS, you will probably find that the trolley wire and the wheels on the ends of the trolley poles don't always match in height. Since you can't get into the model to change the length/height of the pole, the only option is to change the wire height. Do this as follows:

1. Select Start > Programs > Microsoft Games > Train Simulator > Train Simulator Editors & Tools. The Train Simulator window displays.
2. Select Route Editor. The Select a route dialog displays.
3. Select a route and click OK button. The Train Simulator Route Editor window displays.
4. Select Route > Properties. The Route properties dialog displays.
5. In Electrification panel, select Overhead wire option and enter Wire height (in meters) in appropriate field. (The Brill semi-convertible uses a height of 6.4 meters, which is 20 feet.)
6. Click OK button.

14 September 2002.

Colorado steam in MSTS

D&RGW K-36. Fozzy the Bear (a.k.a. Julian. D. Abram) has come up with two showcase models. Both are Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad class K-36 2-8-2 Mikados built by Baldwin. The two are numbered 478 and 483. You can run them in tandem if you like.

If I were to award model-of-the-month recognition - which I don't - these would be co-winners. Not only do they have great detail, but they have great animation of drivers, side rods, and valve gear as well as terrific steam and whistle sounds. You can find these locos at http://www.train-sim.com. Look for them in the File Library and search for "narrow gauge". The search will also turn up the Cumbres Pass route on the D&RGW (pictured above), courtesy of Andy Miller, and appropriate rolling stock by various authors. The locos, rolling stock, and route are all 3-foot narrow gauge resized to standard gauge for MSTS. You will find the route challenging, with steep grades and restricting speed limits.

Thanks, guys. This is great stuff!

Isle of Mull. Two more shots taken one morning from the Isle of Mull looking east at the mainland.

7 September 2002.

At last, a train sim mag:

Free demo. Pop on over to http://www.trainsimmodeler.com and download your free demo of Woodbridge's Train Simulation Craftsman Magazine. This is the work of Brian Eckard, owner of Woodbridge Softworks. The first issue is off to a great start, being attractive, informative, and professional in every way. Subscribers will receive the magazine quarterly via CD-ROM containing the executable magazine file. If you feel so inclined, send Brian your comments.

Isle of Mull. This shot above was taken one morning from the Isle of Mull looking east at the mainland. What a spectacular sight!

Scottish road jam. We loved the heilan' coos - even when they blocked traffic. This shot was taken outside of Plockton on the way to Kyle of Localsh.

4 September 2002.

WORKS IN PROGRESS goes international:

Scotland. My wife and I recently had the great pleasure of visiting Scotland for almost a month (2 weeks for work and 2 weeks for fun). Everything people say about Scotland's beauty and the people's friendliness is true in our experience. Our sincerest thanks go to the many good people we met for helping make our stay so enjoyable.

The photo above shows the famous Glenfinnan Viaduct. The shot was taken through an open window of the Jacobite steam train running from Mallaig to Fort William. The locomotive runs backwards for this leg of the route and forwards for the Fort William to Mallaig leg.

The photo below was taken through the closed (but clean) window of a class 158 DMU running from Kyle of Localsh to Inverness. Both routes are highly scenic (as is all of Scotland) and well worth their respective journeys.

The class 156 Super Sprinters and class 158 Scuds may be old hat in the UK, but we enjoyed riding them immensely.

Italy. It was about a year ago that Luigi Cartello and I began corresponding and collaborating. In addition to creating objects and working trolley cars for my Bare Bones and SF&C BVE routes, Luigi honored me by translating some of my guides into Italian for his BVE Italia fans web site. If you feel more comfortable with Italian than with English, be sure to visit Luigi's site. Luigi also has material, in Italian, that can't be found elsewhere.

Poland. Last month the ever watchful Luigi spotted my Bare Bones routes on a Polish site, Pliki i linki, translated into Polish. They are available as a downloadable zip file. Cieszyc sie!

Legal reminder. It is my intention to share my works with others by way of this web site. However, all work on this site is copyrighted by me or by the person(s) whose work(s) I am hosting. I retain full rights to all my work. Visitors to my site may use my works for their personal, private, individual, and non-commercial enjoyment and/or edification. No other permission is granted except as may be indicated on a particular work or as expressly granted by me.

20 July 2002. Auran Trainz:

Released late in 2001, Trainz is the most feature-laden train sim to date. Among its features are a choice of control (you can simulate the prototype in-cab experience with proper physics or you can simulate model railroad DCC control), full 3D viewing including gallery viewing of your rolling stock collection, multiple train operation, easy tracklaying and scenery building, variable weather, compressed time effects, and user-determined activities.

There is an active forum for registered Trainz users at the Auran site. Free add-on rolling stock and new layouts are fast becoming available from Trainz enthusiasts. The best source for finding these add-ons is the forum. The Trainz web site is at http://www.auran.com/trainz/default.htm.

Auran set out to make Trainz the best ever train simulator. They are well on their way as Microsoft Train Simulator - the chief competitor in the full featured simulator arena - has not released a major upgrade since its initial release more than a year ago and does not at this point have all the features Trainz has. Of course, declaring any one train sim better than another is bound to bring on heated debate. I certainly want to become more familir with Trainz, so for the moment let's just leave it that Trainz is a worthy competitor well worth any train sim fan's attention.

I'm going to have to update my Train simulator overview soon. Stay tuned!

6 July 2002. Boso View Express:

John Womersely has updated his article How to download, alter and run Japanese routes. This article provides complete and valuable information about overcoming the Japanese-English language barrier. You can get John's article from the Guides section of my Downloads page. While you're at it, don't overlook John's other article, Get BVE, at the same location. Get BVE provides complete and clear instruction on how to download and install BVE.

29 May 2002. Boso View Express:

As promised, I've updated the BVE Train Finder, largely with Martin Finken's and Peter Schötz's beautiful German trains (including a vintage tram and a helicopter). You can get the current Train Finder here.

8 May 2002. Boso View Express:

The BVE Train Finder has been updated, thanks to the efforts of Steve Green. The UK train section is now up to date. I also added a few US trolley cars. I plan to make another update soon to include the recent German (and other) trains that have appeared. Meanwhile, you can get the current Train Finder here.

28 April 2002. Train simulation public notice:

Many of us in the train sim community want to alert people to the dangers of trespassing on and vandalising our railways. Trespassing, whether the "innocent" act of a train fan looking for photo opportunities or the not-so innocent act of someone intent on vandalising property or playing pranks, is a cause for serious concern on the part of railways worldwide.

Modern trains are fast and quiet. They approach rapidly and often unnoticed. Trains are big and heavy, they cannot stop in the short distances to which automobile drivers are accustomed. A heavy freight or a speeding passenger train can take a mile or more to stop. Such a train has virtually no chance of stopping to avoid hitting a person standing on the tracks or a vehicle crossing against the warning. Play it smart - don't be a statistic. Obey the law.

Electrified trains pose their own threat. Energized third rails carry 600 volts DC or more - enough to kill. Most overhead wires carry 25,000 to 50,000 volts AC (older trolley systems carry 600 volts DC). Don't go anywhere near energized rails or wires.

Vandalism is also a serious problem. Pranks can cause accidents. Accidents can cause death. Want to have fun? Get a train sim.

I've joined others in the train sim community by displaying a banner (see the top of this page) and by adding a link to a page on Steve Green's site that provides more information. Let's continue to enjoy trains - the right way.

3 April 2002. Train simulation:

I've given my PC Train simulator overview a much needed update. The major addition is a section on the free Rail3D railway simulator by Mark Goodspeed. See Train simulator overview.

In case anyone had difficulty downloading my TARS convertibles for Rail3D announced last week, I've fixed the link.

27 March 2002. Rail3D:

Third Avenue Railway System (TARS) straight-side convertibles are available for Rail3D railway sim on my Downloads page. The protototype cars for these models ran for many years in New York City. I created four versions: with and without sides removed and with and without trolley pole. These run best in bitmap mode. I'm working on the Direct3D versions.

8 March 2002. Boso View Express:

Great news for the BVE community. Mr. Mackoy's latest release of BVE, version 2.03, now enables train designers to include the cab window as an image superimposed over the action window. Thanks to Luigi Cartello, a patch for the Shelburne Falls & Colrain open car number 15 cab (control panel) is available in the Trains/Routes section of my Downloads page. This patch requires the new BVE release available at Mr. Mackoy's site. Don't be surprised if control panel patches for many of your favorite trains become available very soon. Thank you, Mr. Mackoy!

23 Febuary 2002. Boso View Express:

There are now two articles by John Womersely in the Guides section of my Downloads page. The first is his article Get BVE, which provides complete and clear instruction on how to download and install BVE. The second is his newest article How to download, alter and run Japanese routes, which provides complete and valuable information about overcoming the language barrier. If you haven't tried the Japanese routes, you have been missing some great train sim experiences. John provides tips on where to find some of the best of these great routes.

I've reorganized the Downloads page so it will be easier to find things. What started out as a small page with a few items has grown considerably and now needs the new organization.

Mr. Mackoy released BVE version 2.01.0015 on 15 February 2002. He has also added some new information for developers explaining the train.dat file contents.

20 Febuary 2002. Boso View Express:
SF&C (a.k.a. Barebones Next Generation) route update.

Step back in time to c1910 in rural New England. The updated Shelburne Falls & Colrain trolley route is available on the downloads page. This is the companion to the open car #15 released last week. The route is still in the prerelease stage, but is driveable.

13 Febuary 2002. Boso View Express:
New SF&C open car - a BVE first! Plus other BVE news and some good news for Mechanik fans.

Shelburne Falls & Colrain 12-bench open car number 15 is available in BVE format on the downloads page. This is the work of Luigi Cartello, who is fast becoming a master carbuilder. The picture shows the car without a tachometer, since that would have been the norm a hundred years ago. However, Luigi has thought to include an optional tachometer for those who like to see how fast they are going. All you have to do is uncomment some lines of code in the Panel.cfg. Complete instructions are in the Readme.txt file.

The screen shot is from the Barebones Next Generation (future Shelburne Falls & Colrain) route. An earlier version is on the downloads page. We expect to have an update to this route in a few days. It's still very much a work in progress, but it is driveable.

The car on the siding is the line's single-truck snow plow, another gem (along with the grainery and freight cars) by Luigi. Rural lines like the SF&C, and neighboring Conway Electric, used their plows year 'round as freight motors to haul the company's 4-wheel freight cars.

23 January 2002. Boso View Express:
Barebones Next generation update, SF&C trolley tachometer, BVE v.2.01.0009 release, Big E train show.

Prerelease v2 of the future Shelburne Falls & Colrain route now has a forest, updated freight car objects, and smooth curves all the way, including one with 100m radius. We also have an add-on tachometer for SF&C #10 and CESR #1 for those who like to know how fast they are going. The tachometer was contributed by Rainer Lund. All items are available on the downloads page.

16 January 2002. BVE WORKS:
Curve Builder, SF&C trolley update, Japanese links, Big E train show.

Great new curve builder. This is a grand day for those who like their rails to curve smoothly - and who doesn't? Jean-Luis Coste has come up with a 5-section curve calculator that writes the B3D code for any radius track section you care to enter. You can also input rail width, track gauge, track width, and ballast width. The screen capture shows Jean-Louis's curves on the left, standard curves on the right.

Jean-Luis's system is intended to work with Ruede Hulsmann's 5-section smooth switches introduced last October 31. Although you can produce left and right curves for any radius, the practical radius range is 150m to 1200m. Below 150m, the sections begin to show (e.g., you need 9 sections for a 100m curve - 7 almost works). Above 1200m, there is no need because the curve is so gradual.

The curve builder, available on my download page, includes the calculator (which is in the form of an Excel spreadsheet), a demo route, a mirror utility for making mirror images of track objects (and other objects as well? - I haven't tested it, but why not?), instructions, and an explanation of how the offsets are calculated.

I tried creating a curve section and found on my first try I had the finished code in a few short minutes. This is nothing short of sensational. Thank you Jean-Louise. You have done us all a great favor.

9 January 2002. Rail WORKS: Conway Electric Street Railway.

Photos added. At last I've found a photo of the mysterious #20, which appears, as was often surmised, to be #4 with its vestibules closed in (see 24 November 2001) news item. I've added this and a rare photo of the end one of Conway's 4-wheel boxcars to the CESR Rolling Stock page. On the CESR Route page I've added photo of freight being transferred between Conway's 4-wheel freight cars and a string of standard (c1910) box cars. (Photo here is from the Alice Eldridge collection.)

Also, I've updated the BVE Train Finder, which you can get from my Downloads page.

1 January 2002. Boso View Express train simulator.

Barebones, the Next Generation has begun. With the help of Luigi Cartello, I've started building a real route - the Shelburne Falls & Colrain rural trolley line in the Western Massachusetts hills, c1910. (There's a brief history of this line in my Rail WORKS section.) In the days and weeks ahead I will describe the process. For starters, however, you can download Luigi's SF&C number 10 combine car, built in 1896 and recently restored by the Shelburne Falls Trolley Museum. You can also download the basic route, which follows a country road. The code is well documented in Barebones fashion. I plan to use Ruede Hulsmann's smooth switches and curves. So far, the smooth curves are in place for about a third of the route. (See my Downloads page for the car and the route.) Since the neighboring Conway Electric Street Railway had a combine (number 1) with essentially the same characteristics as the SF&C car, I've included a conversion package that turns the SF&C car into CESR number 1.

When driving the SF&C number 10, you will notice that there is only a series-parallel K-type controller (with moving handle) and a hand brake. The real car takes a lot of muscle to slow down and stop. Why should the simulation be any different? Perhaps it's a good thing that we can't simulate the muscle part, but the brake will take a bit of getting used to. Later, when I put the grades in place, slowing down will be even more difficult. Fortunately, the top speed of this car is only 35mph (55kph). You will also notice that there is no clock or speedometer. We've gone all out for realism here!

For those unfamiliar with early American trolley operations - and who isn't? - the conductor is in charge of the car and signals instructions to the driver (motorman). When you hear a single ding, it is the conductor signalling the motorman to stop (usually because someone wants to get off). While stopped, the conductor rings twice (ding-ding) to signal the motorman to proceed. Just before the motorman starts, he rings the foot gong (clang-clang) twice. Luigi has done a great job of reproducing these sounds and incorporating them into the car and route. (There is a third signal - ding-ding-ding - which the conductor gives when he wants the motorman to back up. We have no way of incorporating this into the simulation.

Also, I've updated the BVE Train Finder, which you can get from my Downloads page.

And finally, I've updated the BVE Links page to include Anthony Bowden's great BVE site. I hadn't intended to omit it. It was just an unfortunate oversight on my part.

Happy New Year!

24 December 2001.

Yes, Virginia, he's alive and well!

19 December 2001. Boso View Express train simulator.

Need Santa? I've got two of them for you in the form of downloadable objects. Instructions are included. See my Downloads page.

Happy Holidays to one and all!

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