Line news December, 2006

• <31-Dec-2006>: Some snippets before 2006 finishes:

• The RE6 Dusseldorf to Dortmund (Westfalen Express) activity has been tidied up and is ready for you try. Just take your time at Dusseldorf when things get underway because of the heavy strain on graphics. webDotTrainSim's old machine manages with tender care so more modern machines shouldn't have problems (but, if it's one thing we've learnt over the years: you never know with MSTS).
• webDotTrainSim has two other Wupper Express 10.1 activities (RE6 Dortmund to Dusseldorf and IC (RE1) Dortmund to Koln) for testing now that he's got around to tidying up a few little things.
• One job webDotTrainSim has done is change the masses of the Graphics15 carriages after finding some figures online (You'd think he would have found these ages ago. Ed.). He's using 47 tonne for single deckers and 60 tonne for the double decker carriages. Changing the Mass and DerailRailForce lines also led to a few other fixes in the WAG files - he'll do a writeup in the next few days.
• Mike Simpson's Route Riter has been updated to version 6.4.51, RRit6_4_51upd.zip (2.46Mb, 25-Dec-2006).
• webDotTrainSim spotted the following addition to the Train-sim.com library:
• EMD 567 Prime Mover Sound Set by Jon Clark, 567sound.zip (600kb, 29-Dec-2006)
• Trenomania has the Napoli-Roma-Firenze route (307Mb in 16 files, 19-Dec-2006).
• Joe Smith's set of MSTS utility programs, Joe's Utilities, can be downloaded from the Hawk & Badger/SouthEastern Railroad site.
• Alan Chalmer and others have a separate thread running on the UKTrainsim.com forums to get feedback and provide help on rolling stock problems with MSTS BIN.
• webDotTrainSim has installed Rick's Semi-Transparent Driver Aids, guimod11.zip (280kb, 12-Dec-2006) from Train-sim.com, as you can see below. Before installing, take Rick's advice and backup your original GUI files (instructions are in the download file).

• <24-Dec-2006>: Seasons greetings and best wishes for 2007 to one and all. Here are some downloads at Train-sim.com library that caught webDotTrainSim's eye:

• ConBuilder Lite has been upgraded to version 2.0.1, cblite.zip (3.5Mb, 23-Dec-2006).
• Dick Cowen has a number of updated re-skinning kits, including: Reskinning Kit #1 - Alco RS1, br-kit01.zip (12.7Mb, 18-Dec-2006), Reskinning Kit #7: EMD E8 - E9, br-kit07.zip (15.6Mb, 21-Dec-2006), and Reskinning Kit #10: EMD FP7 - FP9, br-kit10.zip (15.2Mb, 21-Dec-2006).
• Dwight Mitchell has some updated cab sets: Generic EMD F&E Series Standard Cab, festancb.zip (10.5Mb, 22-Dec-2006), Generic FE Cab, ferebcab.zip (5.5Mb, 22-Dec-2006), and Generic SD70ace Cab, 70acecab.zip (3.9Mb, 22-Dec-2006).
• For the mathematically inclined, Charles Higgins works through the problem of calculating times for trains to pass, passingt.zip, (14kb, 17-Dec-2006). His conclusions could prove useful for those who want to know when to photograph the real thing.
• Mike Simpson's Route Riter has been updated to version 6.4.49, RRit6_4_49upd.zip (2.46Mb, 10-Dec-2006).

The bushfires, about 90 miles to the east of webDotTrainSim's residence, are still burning - and will do so until a good rain comes along but the short-term forecast is not positive. The last few days have been smoke-free due to the southerlies blowing but it will return when the winds swing around to the south-east, then to the east and nor'east. There are some photos from a week or two ago of the smoke around here at the Around the Waranga Basin site and photos from people who are actually in towns in the fire region on the ABC page. One of the towns under threat is Walhalla in Gippsland, Victoria, which is well-known for its tourist vintage railway - there was some damage to the line the other day.

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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.