Line news December, 2002

• <31-Dec-02>: For a bit of fun, try Luc's introductory train ride on the LGV Med route (simply extract the intro activity into your Routes\LGVMed\Activities folder, start MSTS, choose Introductory Ride, and select LGV Med route). After this experience, please have sympathy for those of us who create activities and attempt to reproduce realistic traffic. MSTS would not pass a train-driving test based on this sort of driving behaviour. We can only hope that MSTS version 2 has a far better AI train driver. In the Train-sim.com library: a fix for the Kanone 5E, kano5er1.zip (1.4Mb, 29-Dec-02), a series of Illinois Central Gulf liveried SD20 locos, one example being sd20mega.zip (7.6Mb, 29-Dec-02), and the Conrail Indianapolis Line route crindyX.zip (where x=1 to 5 and file sizes vary from 30Mb to 5Mb, 29-Dec-02).

• <30-Dec-02>: If you're looking for something different to add to your rolling stock, take a look at the following at the Train-sim.com library: Frosty the Snowman (with 4400hp), frosty.zip (840kb, 28-Dec-02), German Kanone 5E railgun, kanone5e.zip (1.4Mb, 28-Dec-02). In conventional rolling stock, Gavin McLaughlan has two more VR vans, a red CE ce_red.zip (1.3Mb, 28-Dec-02) and a CE19 guards van ce19.zip (1.2Mb, 28-Dec-02). After extricating himself from the R4 bar car (he was there taking photos - see below and here), web•TrainSim took an 18-car Deluxe TGV set from Valence to Marseille. Performance was acceptable but he was about 4 minutes late at Marseille - not too bad for just a second run along the new section of LGV Med 2. And with 2003 (twenty-oh-three) just a couple of days away, web•TrainSim has realised he's had MSTS for one year! Looking back is an embarassment - trying to slow a freight going down Marias Pass at 75 mph, not having a clue about dynamic braking, not realising for a couple of months the wealth of free add-ons available on the 'Net, never thinking that WordPad would come to be one of his favourite Windows apps, learning that Glacier National Park is so-named because there is a glacer there, looking up a map to locate cities such as Marseille, Nimes, Shelby, Settle... What a journey!

• <29-Dec-02>: Luc has updated the signalling information, maps, and links for LGV Med V2.0 - compulsory reading if you're new to the operation of TGV trains on French high-speed lines. Spotted at the Train-sim.com library: Conrail Quality locos, for example Conrail #6051, cr6051.zip (2Mb, 27-Dec-02) and a guide to modern German railways, msts_db1.zip (1.1Mb, 26-Dec-02). James Brook has released his S-class in V/Line livery, Au_s_modern.exe (2.69Mb, 28-Dec-02). And web•TrainSim has sorted out the TGV Duplex passenger views in his powered R1 and R1D passenger cars - you can download the ENGine files and consists to save time and energy (join him in the bar car, R4 or R4D). Did you get Microsoft Train Simulator for a Christmas present and you're wondering how to get started? There are a few hints and tips in the Ops Docs on the right under Getting started.

• <28-Dec-02>: The day started with the aim of doing a run from Valence to Marseille with an 18-car Duplex formation that we worked on yesterday. While musing over brekkie (no, not muesling), the thought came that the cars in a Duplex trainset are articlulated, i.e., cars R2, R4 and R5 share common bogies, whereas cars R1 and R8 have a full bogie set at one end and an articulated one at the other end. So we'd better have a look. Start up MSTS and choose the Valence-Marseille standard activity on LGV Med 2. What? Send a message? What's going on here?

Whenever MSTS is this unhappy, one has to think back to what change or changes were last made. Well, the only changes to LGV Med were the 9-car and 18-car consists made yesterday. Start ConBuilder and test them. No problems. What else might be causing MSTS to hyper-ventilate? Brackets! In the comment line of each 9-car and 18-car consist file, web•TrainSim had put something like TGV Duplex 18-car (2x9-car, R1 powered). The brackets were removed and MSTS re-started.

No further problems, until web•TrainSim thought he'd better do something about having two R1 cars in a 9-car consist. This situation just wasn't right since, when looking externally, bogies wouldn't be correctly placed. So remove the un-powered R1 car. No, MSTS didn't like that, so put it back in and all is ok.

However, removing the un-powered R1 from the front did work for an 18-car consist, but, somehow or other, the passenger view changed to the view from the bar (in the second un-powered R1 car at the back of the trainset)! Ahh, MSTS.

web•TrainSim is now off to take his 18-car Duplex from Valence to Marseille, as originally planned. When there's a spare moment, he'll be thinking about putting the passenger view into his R1 and R1 Deluxe powered cars (i.e., into their ENGine files).

The download archive of these ENGine files and consists has been updated!

• <27-Dec-02>: While SNCF ponder the complexities of converting TGV Duplex trainsets to 18-car formation to gain passenger capacity, web•TrainSim has done it - here's how you can do it, too. You might improve what you hear with this simple change to the \Global\soundcfg.dat file (after making the mandatory backup copy of the original file). NALW have put together a Christmas gift for everybody, their UP steam pack upsteam.zip (44Mb, 25-Dec-02) at the Train-sim.com library. The pack is made up of three 4-8-4 FEF 3s, three 4-6-6-4 Challengers, two 4-8-8-4 Big Boys and fifteen passenger cars. Kevin Arceneux has re-packaged a number of box cars into convenient sets: csxbox1.zip (9Mb, 25-Dec-02), csxbox2.zip (9Mb, 25-Dec-02), upp1.zip (7.3Mb, 25-Dec-02) and upp2.zip (7.4Mb, 25-Dec-02).Finally, Astorg Bruno has made available his SNCF Z6121 electric suburban trainset, z6180_pk.zip (1.9Mb, 25-Dec-02).

• <26-Dec-02>: web•TrainSim gave the LGV Med V2 route to himself as a present for the festive season, as you can see from the graphic above. Installation was completely trouble-free. There's only been time, though, thus far to do a run from Valence to Nimes. As yet he hasn't tried the Duplex sounds patch to provide a richer audio experience, not only to the Duplex, but to all MSTS rolling stock.

• <25-Dec-02>: A Merry Christmas and best wishes for the festive season to all! James Brook has made a correction to his B-class and S-class locos to fix a small design error with the placement of the anti-climb bars; download the new versions from his site. A couple of small patches are available from Edouard Staniczek's site to solve a problem some were having with changing the passenger view Duplex patch 1 (170kb) and a fix for the sound volume in passenger view, new WAG files and a modified Soundcfg.dat file to enable 40 sounds to be heard simultaneously, Duplex patch 2 (950kb). You can read more about improving MSTS' sounds at the UK Trainsim forum. Apart from the LGV Med V2 route being available from the Train-sim.com library lgvmed20.zip (23-Dec-02, 28Mb), another two routes are the Swansea to Carmarthen route by John Arran swan1_1.zip (31.7Mb, 22-Dec-02) and version 2 of the Narrow Gauge Fantasy Route ng2.zip (13.1Mb, 23-Dec-02). For Norfolk Southern fans, there is a 4-pack of NS 40CW-9s with a new cabview nsdash9s.zip (6Mb, 23-Dec-02).

• <24-Dec-02>: There's plenty of steam at the Train-sim.com library for 22-Dec-02, including B&O's 0-6-6-0 Mallet, the first Mallet built in North America in 1904 and used as a helper on coal trains 0660v1.zip (1.6Mb, 22-Dec-02). Another steam loco is the 3 feet gauge Baldwin Mogul 2-6-0 built in 1875 nc260av1.zip (2.5Mb, 22-Dec-02). You probably know that web•TrainSim is a bit fussy about having a piece of rolling stock's folder name corresponding to the name of the ENGine or WAGon file - here's what he did when installing the Freight Australia G513 and VQLX container wagons. While he was at it, he tuned up the G513 and aliased the sounds to NALW's EMD SD40 and used NALW's F45 cab as the best alternative for the time being.

• <23-Dec-02>: There's more Australian rolling stock by Russell Beer, in Freight Australia livery, now available in the Train-sim.com library: loco G513 gclass.zip (585kb, 21-Dec-02), VQLX container wagons favqlx.zip (1.0Mb, 21-Dec-02), VLCX louvred van favlcx.zip (775kb, 21-Dec-02), VEKX wagons with electrified containers favekx.zip (1.9Mb, 21-Dec-02), VEDW wagons with electrified containers favedw.zip (951kb, 21-Dec-02) and VECX wagons with electrified containers favecx.zip (952kb, 21-Dec-02). For those involved in designing cabs, a series of Canadian loco cab photos may be of interest lococabs.zip (1.5Mb, 21-Dec-02). Here are a couple of pages of photos taken inside GE cabs and EMD cabs. Lucweb's LGV Med Route, Version 2, is almost ready and should be available in a day or two. Aside from new gantries, viaducts and other scenery, LGV Med 2.0 has 120 km of new LGV route from Avignon to Valence TGV station.

• <22-Dec-02>: Some who post to the Train-sim.com message boards like to include small, animated trains in their signature. Here's a tutorial on how to do it trgiftut.zip (1.5Mb, 20-Dec-02) from the Train-sim.com library. Also in the library, web•TrainSim noticed the Narrow Gauge Fantasy Route ngroute.zip (10.3Mb, 20-Dec-02) (more narrow gauge rolling stock is beginning to appear in the library), and the Environment Control utility by Jeff Bush, envctl10.zip (16.9Mb, 20-Dec-02), to set and build up environments (e.g., the weather and water) using standard modules. Microsoft have released the end-user runtime for DirectX 9.0 dxwebsetup.exe (165,583KB, 19-Dec-02) - web•TrainSim will be waiting for it on one of the monthly computer magazine front cover CDs!

• <21-Dec-02>: For those who are about to download Edouard Staniczek's TGV Duplex TGVDuplex.exe (26.4Mb, 15-Dec-02) from his own site, here are some observations so you know what to expect before being able to browse the readme. By the way, Lucweb's version 2 of his LGV Med route will have activities based around the TGV Duplex since SNCF will be rostering the Duplex more on this route. In regard to the Marias Pass route version 3.1, part one of the route download now contains some early fixes and is dated 19-Dec-02 mp311.zip (12.2Mb, 19-Dec-02). Other fixes are in mp31fix1.zip, mentioned here a couple of days ago.

• <20-Dec-02>: Route builders are being looked after with a number of buses, cars and trucks now available from the Train-sim.com library (files are dated 18-Dec-02). As well, there is a range of Italian steam locomotives for download. In the Trains-Sim.com message forum there's some news of work being done on a Sydney CityRail route.

• <19-Dec-02>: There's a small download from the Train-sim.com library to fix a couple of small problems with Marias Pass V3.1 mp31fix1.zip (53kb, 17-Dec-02).

• <18-Dec-02>: Raildriver have announced that their Train Cab Control is now available for MSTS (it can also be used to control model trains). For a review, see Rich Garber's site and a post to the Train-sim.com message board.

• <17-Dec-02>: TrainArtisan have announced some festival season goodies for members, available now, and for non-members, available soon. This week it's an Atlantic Coast Line's "Champion" E7 trainset, with A and B units, a 3D custom E7 cabview, authentic custom E7 sounds, a highly detailed 6 car passenger set, and a custom passenger view with animated people. There has been some confusion about the installation of Marias Pass Route V3.1 in regard to the ...\global\tsection.dat file required by this route. The easiest solution if you have the problem is to install the latest global\tsection.dat file (available as tsection.zip (44kb, 04-Dec-02) from the Train-sim.com library). If you've installed XTracks V3.4 xtracks.zip (1.5Mb, 08-Dec-02) then you're ok since this version of XTracks contains, by default, the latest build of ...\global\tesection.dat. You can read Bob's post on the Train-sim.com message board. Edouard Staniczek and team's TGV Duplex is also availabe for download from Train-sim.com duplex.zip (27.7Mb, 15-Dec-02) as well as his own site.

• <16-Dec-02>: Just when things were looking quiet and web•TrainSim thought he wouldn't exceed his monthly download limit, along comes Marias Pass Route version 3.1. Marias Pass V3 (MP3) was an extremely popular free route because its developers, Bob Siederer and Paul Doty, put a lot of work into improving the default Marias Pass route, especially repairing the grades to more realistic values. Now Version 3.1 has further enhancements built on their early work. The route is available for download from the Train-sim.com library in seven, convenient downloadable chunks, each 12-13Mb in size mp311.zip to mp317.zip. Edouard Staniczek and his team have completed their free TGV Duplex trainset - you can download it from Edward's site (26.4MB).

• <15-Dec-02>: The most useful MSTS tool, ConBuilder, has now been upgraded to V1.5.4. It's available from MS Trainstop (272kb download size). Also seen at MS Trainstop was an an announcement that the Train Cab Control would be available on 15-Jan-2003. At the Train-sim.com library: ATSF Raton Pass II route raton2.zip (19.8Mb, 13-Dec-02) by Bob Wirth; the Dogskill County RR route (in 3 download parts) dog11e_1.zip (27Mb, 13-Dec-02) by Wolfgang Fobbe (parts 2 and 3 should be available tomorrow). While browsing through SimRail, web•TrainSim saw mention of their Train Cleaner utility traincleaner-v1.0.3.zip (1.51 Mb). From a translation (with the help of Babelfish), Train Cleaner locates invalid consist files which cause errors when MSTS launches. Any readers who have tried this utility can pass on their impressions (contact details below).

• <14-Dec-02>: James Brooks has finished his S-class loco, S300, in VR livery Au_s_loco.exe (1.68Mb, 13-Dec-02). It's available from his site, Victorian Rail for MSTS. To drive this loco, you'll need Christine Sweetnam's S-cab, the one without the NR cup, which installs into the Common.Cab sub-folder, from Australian Add-ons to MSTS.

• <13-Dec-02>: A regular web•TrainSim visitor passed on this site, Trenomania, at www.trenomania.it for Italian rolling stock. A couple of high-speed units are the ETR500Y Romolo HST and the Elettrotreno ETR450 Pendolino. There are now a few of web•TrainSim's activities for the Modern England and LGV Med routes to download for those game enough. The Modern England activities use Australian rolling stock and the Virgin Pendolino, the latter being available from UK Trainsim. For those of you in Australia, the download day at UK Trainsim begins at 0700 Australian Eastern Summer Time, so be up early to get the Pendolino VirginCl39011.exe (2.06Mb, 14-Oct-02). You can read each activity's readme for a full description of what's involved before downloading.

• <12-Dec-02>: News of some downloads from the Train-sim.com library: SNCF Z6101 & Z6120 suburban electric trainset z6116_pk.zip (1.7, 11-Dec-02) with its own virtual cab, a modified cab for the SPENO rail grinder train grandcab.zip (868kb, 11-Dec-02) and the Denver & Rio Grande Western Cumbres Pass route V1.2 ctsrr.zip (22Mb, 11-Dec-02). The U.K. Railway Performance Society has some spreadsheets that may be of interest (they're for MS Excel but load ok into StarOffice 5.2): a master log for recording trip times (masterlog.xls) and a record of fastest SNCF/TGV times (ftsncftgv.xls - scroll down to Section 3 for an observer's times for a train on the LGV Méditerranée).

• <11-Dec-02>: For those with monitors that are only capable of 800x600 resolution or who don't want to get involved with the Activity Editor, the ActivityChanger is a handy tool to add variety to activities. It's a simple job to change time of day, season or weather. Original files are backed up so you can always go back to the original. ActivityChanger is now at V1.5 and you can download it from msts.juliane-und-torben.de. René Wiggers has completd all the scenery on his Zaandam-Enkhuizen route and it's getting good reports. At MSTS Netherlands, the download is organised into handy downloadable chunks for all users. As well, recommended Netherlands rolling stock is listed.

• <10-Dec-02>: web•TrainSim is still trying to catch up. Hopefully the phone line remains stable enough to get this posted before the day is gone. The following from the Train-sim.com library is on web•TrainSim's download list: the SPENO rail grinder train (with some special effects) g_v10.zip (440kb, 09-Dec-02) and others that look interesting include: several U25B locos in the famous Penn Central livery, such as pc_u2513.zip (1.7Mb, 09-Dec-02), and an electrification kit for the Pobla route poblelec.zip (1.0Mb, 09-Dec-02).

• <09-Dec-02>: web•TrainSim thinks that the Activity Editor needs a scripting engine to provide more flexibility for activity designers to create their own rules. After all, activity creation is about timetabling and scheduling, so, to cope with a whole range of situations that activity designers come across, web•TrainSim sees the only solution as being a scripting engine built into a future Activity Editor. There have been a few updates to Creating paths in the activity editor and Creating an activity - King's Cross to Manchester, as web•TrainSim continues to clarify his ideas about building traffic-intensive passenger train activities. In the Train-sim.com library: XTracks V3.4 for route developers (lots of extras) xtracksr.zip (8Mb, 08-Dec-02), the standard edition of XTracks V3.4 for the rest of us (includes tsection.dat build 11) xtracks.zip (1.5Mb, 08-Dec-02), Route Riter V3.8 (special features for route builders and can help the rest of us by checking routes for missing files and auto-replacing them) rriter38.zip (5.2Mb, 08-Dec-02) and a screensaver of MSTS images of companies of the past rrscr1.zip (2.4Mb, 08-Dec-02).

• <08-Dec-02>: For those interested in speeding up MSTS when it loads, read about how it's done. Note that web•TrainSim himself hasn't tried this method but it's been tested by its author and fellow Trainsimmers over the past couple of months. Then there's some reading to see how web•TrainSim is getting better at doing the preparation work meeded for an activity. It can be done in a table with paper and pen but web•TrainSim can't read his own writing so he's going to use a HTML table - here are the services used in a couple of activities he's working on. There was just enough time earlier this morning before the phone line, again, decided it didn't want to be a phone line anymore, to see some of the downloads in the Train-sim.com library: an update of the Dutch route for some missing files in the original download misfilzd.zip (672kb, 07-Dec-02), a Procor tanker pack procor11.zip (2.2Mb, 07-Dec-02), a pack of 40 tankers 48-40pk2.zip (3.7Mb, 07-Dec-02) and a collection of European bulk wagons in different liveries tremies1.zip (1.2Mb, 07-Dec-02).

• <07-Dec-02>: This morning web•TrainSim was able to stay online longer than five minutes so caught up on what's happening. In the Train-sim.com library: Alaska Railroad trainsets, as well as individual passenger coaches: 1970's akset_3.zip (21Mb, 06-Dec-02), Coastal Classic akset_2.zip (20Mb, 06-Dec-02) and Denali Star akset_1.zip (22Mb, 06-Dec-02); Dutch route Enkhuizen to Zaandam zdekzv2.zip (59Mb, 06-Dec-02) which requires some extra Dutch trains, all of which are listed in the readme and available from www.trainsimmatch.com: NS sprinter v2.0, NS Koploper v2.2, NS planv 0.5beta and NS The DDAR. See this post in the Train-sim.com message area for some helpful info about this route. There's also a new Dutch tram route Stoomtram Katijk-Leiden ST_Kat_Lei.exe by Leendert Vooijs available for download at www.trainsimmatch.com. Take a look at the author's site for further info. Finally, you can read the latest news on the NSW and Sydney bushfires from the NSW Bushfire Centre at their site.

• <06-Dec-02>: These are the downloads that web•TrainSim noticed in the Train-sim.com library this morning: Ben Shields' Y112 steam loco in West Coast Railway livery au_y_v3.zip (10.5Mb, 05-Dec-02) with cab and sounds. Alco RS2/RS3 loco fans can upgrade their ENGine files for more prototypical performance with Bob Boudoin's V4.2 physics parameters alrsv42.zip (12kb, 04-Dec-02). The standardised ...\global\tsection.dat file, tsection.zip (44kb, 04-Dec-02), is now at build 00011 and is compatible with XTracks V3.4.

• <05-Dec-02>: Gaetan Belanger is the designer of the repainted Indian Pacific carriages mentioned yesterday. His work is meticulous and, even though it's a big download, his VIA carriage set is worthwhile - it's a 9-piece set with twelve different passenger views. Here's a link to Gaetan's site. A reminder that James Brook's latest B-class locos, B72 painted in the last version

• <04-Dec-02>: Here is some Australian rolling stock you can download from Australian Add-ons to MSTS: Indian Pacific coaches AU_anr_IP_Setup.exe (6.5Mb, 20-Nov-02); Freight Australia flats with containers AU_faVQFX_Setup.exe (3.3Mb, 24-Nov-02). Some of the downloads from the Train-sim.com library include: more PCC trolleys, MCT Route 99 - Orbital Link NGT8D tram (in 4- and 8-car consists) mctngt82.zip (2.3Mb, 02-Dec-02), an update to Martyn Griffin's REF file cleaner refcln31.zip (377kb, 02-Dec-02) (this tool also checks for missing sound, cars & forest files in a route), and Canadian Pacific SD40-2s by Alex Hall cp_sd402.zip (02-Dec-02, 11.9Mb). James Brook's B-class locos, B72 and B83, are in the download Au_b_modern.exe (2.76Mb, 01-Dec-02) from the MSTS section of his site.

• <03-Dec-02>: Worth visiting is the home site of the Priest River Railroad. Although a fictional route (explained at the site), it has plenty of features with an emphasis on mining. It's available from the author on a free CD. Another route is the Pobla route - it's author has posted a list of suitable rolling stock on the Train-sim message forum. 3DTrains has released repaints of its F-units for the Delaware & Lackawanna, Reading and Erie railroads (they're all free downloads and of a high-standard). James Brook has announced the availability of B72 (the last B-class loco in the VR livery) and B83 (in the V/Line livery) locos at his site.At the Train-sim.com library, Henk Kristel has provided a tutorial on getting the best out of IrfanView for MSTS tutirfan.zip (9.4Mb, 01-Dec-02) (web•TrainSim uses this free utility to resize all screenshots here but there's lots more he could be doing so he'll be getting the tutorial as soon as possible). Another tool you might find useful is Journey Overview where you can record a trip jrnview.zip (6kb, 01-Dec-02).

• <02-Dec-02>: The Berkshire/Kanawha 2-8-4 has been updated berkup11.zip (2.9Mb, 30-Nov-02). If you haven't got V1.0, then download the full V1.1 edition berk_v11.zip (23.6Mb, 30-Nov-02). For Full Bucket Line fans, there are ten loaded/unloaded freight wagons in FBL livery fblcars1.zip (2.6Mb, 30-Nov-02). All these were noted in the Train-sim.com library. web•TrainSim is still having fun (so to speak) with the Activity Editor. For some light reading, but hopefully a few constructive ideas, browse through Creating some paths or Creating an activity: King's Cross to Manchester.

• <01-Dec-02>: You can see that James Brooke has done an extremely good job with creating the Victorian Rail B-class locos, B60 and B74. The B-class locos have a long history - in fact, this year is B61's fiftieth birthday on the VR. At the Train-sim.com library, web•TrainSim has noticed a cab for the EMD SD60M and F59PH 3window.zip (5.7Mb, 29-Nov-02) - it's on his list of downloads-to-be-done.

About | Contact

web•Train Sim was, until recently, part of my web•Wiz Online site at http://webdotwiz.tripod.com. Due to a reduction in free web space by Tripod, these pages have had to be posted at their own site, http://webDotTrainSim.tripod.com. Not such a bad thing because there's now 20Mb for Train Sim!

• Email me at info@webDotTrainsim.com if you have questions or comments. I'll try to answer as best I can. Certainly post me if any step-by-step instructions on various how-to pages need clarification.