Line news November, 2004

• <30-Nov-04>: The Train-sim.com library has three French Railways locos in SNCF livery, A1A A1A 68538, a1a68538.zip (5.8Mb, 28-Nov-04), CC 70001, cc70001.zip (5Mb, 28-Nov-04), and BB 61000, bb61000.zip (11.8Mb, 28-Nov-04), a Pennsylvania Railroad SD45 loco pack, prrsd45s.zip (10.2Mb, 29-Nov-04), and more Whitefish 5 activities by Ewald Kuenze. There's another Wupper 8 activity, the Evening S8 service Hagen to Monchengladbach, on which you can do a route familiarisation run. The S8 service is the longest S-Bahn service on the Wupper 8 route and web•TrainSim seems to need lots of practice (he was nearly 20 minutes later than the real timetable specifies). There are some improvements to be made in the next day or two but this activity is a good one to see how MSTS deals with AI traffic and you can learn how signalling works by observing the signals on the other lines. As with this activity in Wupper 7, the rule banning racing trains on the fast track still applies.

• <29-Nov-04>: A quiet day but web•TrainSim has two more Wupper 8 activities, Evening RB40 service Hagen to Essen and Early morning RB40 service Essen to Hagen, for you to try.

• <28-Nov-04>: Change your desert environment on the Full Bucket Line route to rolling grasslands with Michael Stephan's textures in fbl3terr.zip (5.3Mb, 27-Nov-04) at Train-sim.com. Bruno Astorg has more updates so check his MicroRail site. By tomorrow web•TrainSim should have tested his Evening RB40 Hagen to Essen and RB40 Essen to Hagen activities on Wupper 8 so they should be ready for you to try.

• <27-Nov-04>: Bruno Astorg has been updating several of his trainsets with driving cabs for either an electric or diesel loco as the push power. For all the latest news, see his MicroRail news page. For variety, and a better cab in the ET423 EMU, web•TrainSim has downloaded the BR480 and BR481 cabs from the MSTS-Werkstatt cabs download page. Take a few minutes out of running the Wupper 8 activities to explore around the Bayerwerke industrial area - lots of scenery detail.

• <26-Nov-04>: The Train-sim.com library has version 4.7 of Bob Boudoin's physics updates for EMD SD locos, v4_7sd.zip (103kb, 25-Nov-04), and two activities on the Whitefish 5 route, wf5kgsp.zip (440kb, 25-Nov-04) and spkgwf5.zip (266kb, 25-Nov-04). web•TrainSim's Morning S1 service Dusseldorf to Dortmund and Afternoon RE13 service Hagen to Monchengladbach have been updated and tested so see how you go.

• <25-Nov-04>: Bob Boudoin's version 4.7 physics upgrades for EMD locos should be in the Train-sim.com library within a day or two (Bob's V4.7 physics updates for GE locos has been available since September, v4_7ge6.zip (85kb, 21-Sep-04). Two of web•TrainSim's Wupper 8 activities are available for route familiarisation, Morning S1 service Dusseldorf to Dortmund and Afternoon RE13 service Hagen to Monchengladbach.

• <24-Nov-04>: Amicitreni.Net has some new locos, FS E464-004 fs_e464_004.rar (9.1Mb, 23-Nov-04), FS E656-001 FS_E656_001.rar (14.2Mb, 23-Nov-04) and FS E666-000 FS_E666_000.zip.zip (2.9Mb, 23-Nov-04), along with the FS Intercity carriage set, FS_IC_pack.zip (30.9Mb, 23-Nov-04). At Trenomania.it there are two new cabs, Cabina per E656 1st serie (4.54Mb, 23-Nov-04) and Cabina gold per E646, (4.49Mb, 23-Nov-04. Route Riter version 6 beta has been updated to solve a couple of problems found and it's now at version 6.1.52, RRit6_1_52upd.zip (2.66Mb, 23-Nov-04). Bruno Astorg has updated three of his carriage sets so you can choose the reverse driving cab according to whether the push loco is diesel or electric, and the latter has cabs for 1500V or 25kV.

• <23-Nov-04>: A quieter day so that means web•TrainSim has time to regain some reputation as he attempts to keep to the timetable on his route familiarisation run of the S1 Dusseldorf to Dortmund stop-all-stations service with a sluggish BR 143 (compared to the ET423 or BR 146). As well, he's rostered to test runs on a couple of earlier activities to make sure the Train Control Centre Manager has abided by his wishes.

• <22-Nov-04>: There are some new and updated French Railways trainsets including the X2100 and TER2NNG at MSTS Sig & Cab and the X73500 ATER by Stepholo. web•TrainSim is having words with the Wupper 8 Train Control Centre Manager to give a better run for the Evening RE6 Dortmund to Dusseldorf service but in the meantime you can do a route familiarisation run.

• <21-Nov-04>: Paul Watson has been busy repainting locos into various liveries, including the Full Bucket Lines Leasing SD40-2, fblx2020.zip (5.9Mb, 20-Nov-04), and Full Bucket Line Red Line SD40-2, fblrls.zip (1.5Mb, 20-Nov-04). Also at Train-sim.com is Ron Picardi's Grab Bag Of Scenery Objects, srv_req1.zip (1.3Mb, 20-Nov-04), which route builders can add to their resources. Bruno Astorg has completed another R.I.O. trainset, this one liveried as Regionale Centre, rio80_centre.exe (16.5Mb, 20-Nov-04). Join web•TrainSim for a route familiarisation run on Wupper 8 as he tries to keep to time with the RE4 Wupper Express Monchengladbach to Dortmund service.

• <20-Nov-04>: The Train-sim.com library now has the latest version of XTracks, version 3.12, in its various flavours: the self-installer for us normal trainsimmers, xtracks.zip (6.7Mb, 19-Nov-04), the version for those who want to manually install, xtracksf.zip (6.5Mb, 19-Nov-04), and the route builders version, xtracksr.zip (21Mb, 19-Nov-04). For more info, see the XTracks v3.12 thread on the Train-sim.com forums. Robert Fontaine, the Genesis Man, has contributed GO Transit Genesis P42DC diesel-electric locos numbered 1000 to 1005; number 1000 is download go_1000.zip (1.2Mb, 19-Nov-04). Jonathan Lewis of Narrow Gauge Virtual Works has version 2 of his Rio Grande Southern route which now includes an extra 100 miles and the climb over Lizard Head pass at 10,250 feet, among other features of this unique line. The first of seven files is rgs1.zip (23Mb, 19-Nov-04) and there's an accompanying rolling stock pack, rgspack.zip (20.8Mb, 19-Nov-04). Join web•TrainSim in a route familiarisation run on Wupper 8 with the early morning ICE service 747 Koln to Dortmund.

• <18-Nov-04>: There is a range of freight boxcars liveried in various brand names at Train-sim.com and you'll also find three sets of two-tone horn sounds by Dave Oston, Two Tone Horn For British HST 125, hst2tone.zip (119kb, 16-Nov-04), 158 Sound With Two Tone Horn, 158ttone.zip (1.7Mb, 17-Nov-04), and Generic British Two Tone Horn Sounds, twotone.zip (113kb, 17-Nov-04). web•TrainSim's Afternoon S6 service Essen to Koln on Wupper 8 has had more traffic added, has been tested and is ready for download.

• <17-Nov-04>: web•TrainSim has a bit of catching up to do. At Train-sim.com Pierre Forsberg has a beta version of his tram route, Solberga Lokaltrafik, solberga.zip (122Mb, 16-Nov-04), New Roads has been updated to version 3.2 and for most, the auto-installer download will be appropriate, newroads.zip (3.8Mb, 15-Nov-04), but there's also the shadows self-installer version, as well as route builder versions for the UK and Canada/U.S. Also for route builders, there's a new Standardized \global\tsection.dat file, tsection.zip (184kb, 15-Nov-04), and usually an updated version of XTracks is not far away. As well there are numerous freight box cars to choose from (it's interesting to see which companies are represented). Mr. Rokko has a new trainset, Treno IC con E656 e 11 carrozze, (30Mb in three files, 16-Nov-04) at Trenomania.it and Pascal Grando has version 2 of his superb, highly-detailed La 231E Chapelon de la Compagnie du Nord and La 231E Chapelon en livrée SNCF steam compound locos, available from his RailAtelier download page. Join web•TrainSim in a route familiarisation run on ICE Service 819 Dortmund to Koln. A couple of earlier activities still need some testing after some changes so they'll be uploaded soon. The next activity will entail an early rise - ICE service 747, Koln to Dortmund departing at 0510.

• <15-Nov-04>: A quieter day but still plenty of variety of freight boxcars at Train-sim.com. As well, Mike Simpson has a further update to Route Riter version 6 beta so check the Route Riter page. As well, if you have some questions, see the New Route Riter thread at Train-sim.com. web•TrainSim had better get back to a route familiarisation of his ICE night service, Dortmund to Koln activity.

• <14-Nov-04>: The Class 66 caught web•TrainSim's eye at Train-sim.com, , and there are more Australian Class 48s, 48pn.zip (2.4Mb, 13-Nov-04) and 48fc.zip (2.9Mb, 13-Nov-04). For those trying version 6 of Route Riter, it's now been updated to version 6.1.38 with patch RRit6_1_38exe.zip (2.65Mb, 12-Nov-04) available from the Route Riter page. Now it's off to make some more paths for the next web•TrainSim Wupper 8 activity and re-test the ICE Koln to Dortmund one.

• <13-Nov-04>: A bit of catching up to do... things should be back to normal (whatever that may be) now that exam supervision is nearly finished. TheTrain has a new BR 101 cab, Fuehrerstand BR-101, by The CabMaker (Markus Schaufler), (2.6Mb, 12-Nov-04); the zip contains the self-installer so watch out for the destination folder (web•TrainSim hasn't installed it yet and will direct it to a temp folder to see where all the files want to go to). Amicitreni.Net has a new diesel loco, FS D146 2028, by Antonio Mancinelli, FS_D146_2028.rar (15Mb, 11-Nov-04), and UKTrainsim has some new BR Class 47s. At Train-sim.com Ted Curphey has his RTTX 89 foot Intermodal Flatcars, rttx_f1.zip (1.1Mb, 12-Nov-04), there's Jonatan Gronoset's Tidens and Atlantic 2-6-0 Mogul #287 steam loco, tamog287.zip (1.8Mb, 12-Nov-04), a set of New South Wales Class 48s in Pacific National livery, au_48pn.zip (2.4Mb, 12-Nov-04), and an interesting sound enhancement for UK Class 37s, cl37horn.zip (136kb, 10-Nov-04). web•TrainSim is now off to the drawing board to solve a traffic problem in his updated ICE Koln to Dortmund activity.

• <10-Nov-04>: Mike Simpson's latest version, V6.1.33, of Route Riter, rrit6133.zip (11.1Mb, 09-Nov-04), is now in the Train-sim.com library, as well as a replacement SigLight.ace, siglight.zip (101kb, 09-Nov-04), which includes patches for the PO&N 9 and Wupper 8 routes.

• <09-Nov-04>: Tim Booth has developed a small but very handy utility to produce track diagrams, what the Activity Editor could have been (link to thread on UKTrainsim forums). Page 2 of the thread has some instructions for use and a link to the zip download (22kb). At Train-sim.com, Ted Curphey has released his BN/BNSF MOW trucks, bn_mowt1.zip (350kb, 08-Nov-04), and at Amicitreni.Net, Mauro Ciociola has the Gold version of his Cabina E646 V3, CabE646_v3_Gold.zip (4.5Mb, 07-Nov-04).

• <08-Nov-04>: Tony Calorel has contributed a wide range of freight boxcars, hoppers and tankers in various company liveries to Train-sim.com. UKTrainsim has several Claughton class steam locos, such as LMS Claughton 5934, LMS Claughton 5934.zip (3.4Mb, 06-Nov-04), and Route Riter version 6.1.33, RRit6133.zip (11.1Mb, 07-Nov-04). web•TrainSim has a route familiarisation version of his Later afternoon ICE service Koln to Dortmund activity for you to brush up on your ICE driving skills. He thought he had done a good job with adding more traffic to the S6 Essen to Koln activity until he was about two minutes from Koln and... it crashed - back to the drawing board.

• <07-Nov-04>: The Train-sim.com library continues to offer a wide variety of freight boxcars and wagons, one of the latest being Jonathan Lewis's narrow gauge 1910 Denver And Rio Grande Box Cars, drgboxng.zip (1.2Mb, 06-Nov-04). web•TrainSim is about to try Hibu's carriage sounds (1.3Mb, 10-Apr-04) from TheTrain on some Wupper 8 rolling stock; as well, Wespe has recently released some new freight rolling stock sounds, also at TheTrain.

• <06-Nov-04>: The 5th disappeared somewhere so we're catching up... At Train-sim.com there are three All Purpose Well Car sets by Ted Curphey to mention: ap_well2.zip (915kb, 04-Nov-04), ap_well3.zip (1Mb, 04-Nov-04) and ap_well4.zip (1Mb, 05-Nov-04), each containing twelve different wagons, both loaded and unloaded. Also, MBTA Update 3, mbta_up3.zip (98Mb, 04-Nov-04), fixes the problem of a missing folder. Pierre Gauriat (Ajouts a Train Simulator) has released his Métropolitain - rame Sprague-Thomson set of carriages (4.7Mb). At Amicitreni.Net there's a set of UIC-X Minden carriages, UICX_Minden_Pack.rar (8.8Mb, 04-Nov-04), and at Trenomania.it you'll find a new cab by Mauro Ciociola, Cabina per pilota MDVC Diesel (3.76Mb).

• <04-Nov-04>: Edouard Staniczek has completed another of his projects, a set of French Railways carriages, Voitures Nord B11 & B4D, Express_Nord_B11_B4D.exe (2.6Mb), and the set is available from his download page. Ted Ted Curphey has re-uploaded his TTX All Purpose Well Car Set #1, ap_well2.zip (915kb, 03-Nov-04), to fix a problem with a couple of missing files. UKTrainsim has some new locos, including steam locos LMS 6249 City of Sheffield and BR 46231 Duchess of Atholl, and diesels, 37403 Glendarrock and 60059 Swinden Dalesman. web•TrainSim's Afternoon S6 service Essen to Koln activity can be downloaded for the purposes of driver route familiarisation (in other words, web•TrainSim needs to add more traffic, for one thing, for more interest).

• <03-Nov-04>: There are more freight rolling stock in many different company liveries at Train-sim.com, including works by Gary Costa and Paul Watson. Missed yesterday was Ted Curphey's TTX All Purpose Well Car Set #1 to make up your intermodal trains, ap_well2.zip (885kb, 01-Nov-04), and two new additions are Patrick Finch's UP Grain Train activity on the Clinton Sub, upgrain.zip (183kb, 02-Nov-04), and an update to the MBTA route, mbta_upd.zip (1Mb, 02-Nov-04). There should be a driver familiarisation version (i.e., trial version) of web•TrainSim's next Wupper 8 activity, Afternoon S6 service Essen to Koln, available for download in a day or two.

• <02-Nov-04>: The Train-sim.com library has more than enough new freight wagons from Tony Calorel, Larry Goss, and Bill Cline to keep us all busy for some time. As well, there's the classic UK Class 421 (4-Cig) EMU in South West Trains livery by Ian Morgan, swtcig10.zip (620kb, 01-Nov-04), another quality work from Port City Car Company (PCCC), a Pullman Sleeper San Jacinto, sanjac.zip (7.3Mb, 01-Nov-04), two NZR DX locos by Nigel Booth of TSNZ, T.R. Blue U26c, nzr_dxv5.zip (3.3Mb, 01-Nov-04), and Bumble Bee U26c, nzr_dxv6.zip (2.6Mb, 01-Nov-04). At TheTrain.de there's Tappi's DB E 101 MET 1.0 and DB MET Wagen 1.0 and at Amicitreni.Net you'll find Antonio Mancinelli's pack of three units of FS ALn668 serie 3300 trainsets, FS_ALn668_3300_packAM.zip (15.9Mb, 31-Oct-04). For some unknown reason, web•TrainSim's www1.webdottrainsim.com DNS went missing but it's now been fixed so you can get to pages such as Acitivities for Wupper 8 again.

• <01-Nov-04>: A quiet day. web•TrainSim did find something useful, though, for Wupper 8, namely a map for the Koln region (this link is to the PDF document), part of the Rhein-Sieg area. Tomorrow (Tuesday, Australian time) is Melbourne Cup day, the day it's said when all of Australia stops for the race at about 3.30 pm AEST (except for some trains!).

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• 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.