Line news October, 2005

• <31-Oct-05>: The Virtual Train team have contributed a set of Southern Pacific cab forwards to the Train-sim.com library. Included in the set are locos AC-3 4038, AC-4 4100, AC-12 4285 and SP-2 5021 - the download file is vtcfpack.zip (18.9Mb, 29-Oct-05). Both Amicitreni.net and Trenomania.it have Mauro Ciociola's ETR500 trainset No. 45 in AV livery; at the former site it's file FS-Etr500AV.rar (15.9Mb, 30-Oct-05) and the cab is available separately, Doppia_cab_ETR500_PLT_AV_&_OLD_By_Màyo.zip (5.4Mb, 31-Oct-05).

• <28-Oct-05>: Mike Simpson has added a new function under the Activities/Stock tab, List all Rolling-Stock in Selected Route, in Route Riter, RRit6_3_41upd.zip (1.90Mb, 27-Oct-05), to list all rolling stock in a selected route (including loose consists and other consists) by having Route Riter search through all activities installed for that particular route. At Train-sim.com Obrian Jones has his re-uploaded Atlanta to Macon route that fixes a couple of glitches in his earlier version - there are seven files, atlanta0.rar to atlanta6.rar (all dated 26-Oct-05), and Don Shriner has contributed an archive of path files, atlpath.zip (129kb, 26-Oct-05), so you can begin exploring while waiting for some activities. UKTrainsim has a new route, the Highland Mainline, available in sixteen files, Highland_Mainline1.zip to Highland_Mainline16.zip, with install instructions in Highland_mainlinereadmes.zip (3kb, 27-Oct-05). The Graphics15 team have put up some screenshots of Wupper Express 10 - to view them, click Screenshots under the Wupper Express heading on the left-hand navigation pane. ConBuilder has been updated to version 2.3.37.

• <26-Oct-05>: Some good news - Chris Longhurst is doing some work on his former payware Euro Loco Pack trains which are now to become freeware and the first is now available, Eurostar version 2 in both Eurostar and GNER liveries. Currently the Eurostar can be downloaded from TheTrain.de's library, (13.661Mb, 25-Oct-05). Keep an eye on the the Euro Loco Pack no more ? thread on the Train-sim forums for more info. The Train-sim.com library has John Hopkins' new (and updated) Dash 9 modern cab, dash9dc2.zip (1.3Mb, 24-Oct-05), and a cab for low-nose diesels, gencab-1.zip (2.2Mb, 24-Oct-05). Mike Simpson has improved the Make Dead Locos/Make AI Locos functions in Route Riter, RRit6_3_36upd.zip (1.71Mb, 20-Oct-05). Trenomania.it has a set of sounds for loco E656-577 (11.6Mb, 24-Oct-05) with update (723kb, 25-Oct-05).

• <24-Oct-05>: Dick Cowen's update for all Canton RR steam locos, ctnspk01.zip (22Mb, 22-Oct-05), is available from the Train-sim.com library and from a couple of days ago, Rick Grout and Steve Thompson have a photorealistic cab view for steam locos of 1910-35, svr16cab.zip (7Mb, 19-Oct-05). Simtrain has news of version 2.1 of the Rhone-Alpes route by Pierre L. Porcheron - see the Des nouvelles de la rhone alpes v2.1 thread on the forums. Rhone-Alpes version 2.1 can be downloaded from Trainsimline.net, Ligne_Rhone_Alpes_V2.1.exe (282MB).

• <20-Oct-05>: The Train-sim.com library has version 2 of Obrian Jones' Atlanta Macon route (Atlanta to Macon and from Macon to Gordon, Georgia) available in nine files, atlanta0.rar (1kb, 18-Oct-05) which contains instructions to atlanta8.rar (26Mb, 18-Oct-05) (Note that atlanta8.rar is not 260Mb as listed in the library and you need WinRAR to unpack the compresssed files after download). Another new route is HOR-GEO-Elec, horgelec.zip (44Mb, 19-Oct-05), by Rene Rump, set in south-western Germany in the Black Forest region (the download includes non-default German rolling stock).

• <19-Oct-05>: There are two new creative models by Paul Gausden at UKTrainsim: London Brighton & South Coast Railway (LBSCR) A1 Terrier Stepney (in original condition), LBSCR_A1_STEPNEY.zip (2.59Mb, 17-Oct-05) and LBSCR A1 Boxhill, LBSCR_A1_BOXHILL.zip (2.59Mb, 17-Oct-05). You can read all about Stepney No. 55 at the Bluebell Railway site and LBSCR A1 Boxhill at the Southern E-group site. Trenomania.it has a number of electric locos that have been re-liveried by Davide Bianco, and there's Mr. Rokko's ALn668-1400 (version 2) trainset.

• <17-Oct-05>: UKTrainsim has an update to the GWR Penzance to Paddington route to bring it to version 2.4.7, GWR247_Patch.zip (16.5Mb, 16-Oct-05) - see the author's post on the UKTrainsim forums for more info. UKTrainsim is reporting that Autodesk have terminated gMax from October 6. Route Riter has a further update, RRit6_3_32upd.zip (1.72Mb, 16-Oct-05), to fix the "Fix .SD files" option broken by v6.3.28. Train-sim.com has Mike Laxer's trial model of Milwaukee Road 4-8-4 No. 261, milw261.zip (1.8Mb, 16-Oct-05), and you can obtain lots of details about this loco from the official web site (there's a first-hand description of Firing Milwaukee Road 261 and plenty of photos).

• <16-Oct-05>: Train-sim.com has a new Dash-9 cab by John Hopkins using digital readouts and bar graphs, dc-dash9.zip (1.6Mb, 15-Oct-05). John is already aware a minor problem with the left-hand view. Tom Cook has a set of Kenworth trucks, modelled on those found in Australia, kwsar2.zip (6.7Mb, 15-Oct-05), with prominent bull bars or roo bars - see the 7 Kenworth Trucks & Unfinnished Freeware Cabviews thread (from personal experience, a grey kangaroo can quite easily wreck a car). For some nostalgia, Trevor Burt has contributed a set of Bedford J2 and J3 trucks, tbjbdtrk.zip (330kb, 11-Oct-05). Route Riter has an update to V6.3.28 to fix a small bug, RRit6_3_28upd.zip (1.72Mb, 15-Oct-05). François Cardon has modelled the Standart/Z1500 set, Standart.exe (5.8Mb, 15-Oct-05), with cabview, passenger view and sounds.

• <15-Oct-05>: Back after a few days of exam supervison. Route Riter has been updated to version 6.3.27, RRit6_3_27upd.zip (1.72Mb, 14-Oct-05), with a new help file, RRit6_3_27hlp.zip (2.89Mb, 14-Oct-05). One new feature is the ability to make the same change to a large number of ENGine or WAGon files simultaneously using the ENG/WAG File Editor (under the Activities/Stock tab). Graphics15 have a route map showing the new lines to be added in Wupper Express 10: KR-Oppum to Neuss, Bottrop to Essen, Gelsenkirchen to Essen, Oberhausen to Dortmund, and Essen to W-Vohwinkel. If you look at the official VRR line plan for 2005 (link is to a PDF doc), you'll see that the Graphics15 team will have just about modelled the complete system by Wupper 10. At Train-sim.com Hugh Reilly has a wide range of 100 ton hopper wagons in various company liveries, e.g. UP 3-bay hoppers hruphops.zip (1.4Mb, 13-Oct-05) and Canadian National 100 ton hoppers, hrcnhops.zip (3.3Mb, 13-Oct-05).

• <08-Oct-05>: Today's two downloads by Dick Cowen from Train-sim.com are worthy of mention. Dick has modelled 4-6-0 steam loco No. 382, the (in)famous one Casey Jones crashed, ctn460.zip (6.6Mb, 07-Oct-05), and then found some spare parts to put together Canton Railroad 4-4-0, ctn440.zip (6.6Mb, 07-Oct-05).

• <07-Oct-05>: UKTrainsim has news of a new MSTS utility program, MSTS Genie, being developeed by Brockville Simulator Works - see MSTS Genie Announced for more details. Tim Booth has updated his MSTS Track Viewer to version 0.96, tsf_tv_setup.exe (200kb, 06-Oct-05), and there's a set of Textpad syntax definition files for use on MSTS files, TextPadSyntax.zip (135kb, 03-Oct-05). As announced in the Decapod New Version thread on the Train-sim.com forums, Ron Pertuit has remodelled Harold Clitheroe's PRR I-1sa Decapod 2-10-0 steam loco - it's available to download in two parts, decapod1.zip (11.1Mb, 06-Oct-05) and decapod2.zip (8.5Mb, 06-Oct-05), from the Train-sim.com library.

• <05-Oct-05>: Train-sim.com has the latest version of XTracks (version 3.16), the self-installer package being in xtracks.zip (10.2Mb, 04-Oct-05) and route builder's edition being xtracksr.zip (24.7Mb, 04-Oct-05). Check the XTracks v3.16 uploaded Train-sim.com forum thread for more info and the XTracks site for a full list of new sections in V3.16. Lucio Moreira has uploaded his Wisconsin Central F45s (modelled by Ted Curphey), wcf45set.zip (7.7Mb, 03-Oct-05) with a fix for the ditch lights, wcf45fix.zip (895kb, 04-Oct-05). Ted Curphey has his set of four Montana Rail Link F45s, updated to prototypical standard, mrl_f45s.zip (7.8Mb, 03-Oct-05) and Eric Anderson has an activity for the freeware Seligman Sub based on the BNSF Q-WIPX9-23 service, q-wipx9.zip (17kb, 03-Oct-05). There are two important updates at The-Train.de to modify the ENG and WAG files of Stefan Pufler's ICE3 403 and 406 trainsets to give them more prototypical performance - download pages are Update for STP_DB_403 by Stefan Pufler and Update for STP_DB_406 by Stefan Pufler (each file is 0.196Mb, dated 05-Oct-05). Funtrain.net now has the download for the French Paris Sud Oeust route at this page (download consists of seven files totalling 192Mb). Amicitreni.net has a new Italian route, the Orte - Capranica (the setting for the Von Ryan's Express movie) - there are some screenshots at Trainss.com.

• <03-Oct-05>: The Train-sim.com library has Rene Rump's new Crescent-Potash route, potash.zip (24Mb, 01-Oct-05), situated in the canyons of Utah, Colorado. Install instructions are in the File_id.diz file and there's more help in the Potash Route and Installing the Potash Route Train-sim.com forum threads. There's also an activity, Eastbound BNSF UPS Z, seligz.zip (36kb, 01-Oct-05), by Chris Bogley for the freeware Seligman Sub route. Route Riter has been updated to version 6.3.19, RRit6_3_19upd.zip (1.90Mb, 30-Sep-05). The new pack of ten activities for Wupper Express 9 can be downloaded from the Graphics15 homepage as well as from The-Train.de. Amicitreni.net has a new route, Orte-Capranica in its library (the download is 79.2Mb, in nine files). You can try web•TrainSim's MSTS + Virtual Earth map location page - it's a preview as there's no option yet to switch from road to aerial view and he's got lots more places along the Northeast Corridor to add as well as some other routes.

• <01-Oct-05>: Jan Henning Gettkant has contributed another set of ALCO locos to the Train-sim.com library. This set includes C-628s, C-630s and C-424s, and more, that ran for Norfolk & Western, nw_centh.zip (44.9Mb, 30-Sep-05). There's a new Hungarian Railways route, Nova-tó, available from the Hungarian Train-sim Centre download page (360Mb). For some screenshots, see Trainss.com.

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