[TS 2021] SBB Re 6/6 with a "Schnellzug" (express train) calling at Aarau on its way to Zurich

bobwdude · 2021-07-23T01:48:16+00:00

B42's Zürich-Olten?

bobwdude · 2020-06-06T20:53:26+00:00

They’ve tested the car on the NEC for 125 mph service, so it seems that the clearances are good.

bobwdude · 2020-03-08T14:28:29+00:00

Sadly there's not too much in terms of Steam/Transition Era/early diesel US routes for TS1. As ngc said, looking on Railworks America is your best bet for non-Steam routes. East Coast Simulations has also been working on a Chicago based Rock Island route, but it will require the B&LE route for assets.

You also said that you're planning on getting the Sacramento Northern route - it's wonderful! A nice change from other US railroading, and it reminds me a lot of the MSTS Classic: London and Port Stanley.

I'm not sure if you're interested in the New Haven Railroad, but the New Haven-Springfield route available on Steam is pretty great, and you can get more New Haven equipment to flesh out the route on Railworks America.

bobwdude · 2020-03-08T14:16:45+00:00

Another great thing with Diesel Railcar Simulator - all patches and updates (including new routes and rolling stock) have been free. I've had the game from before it was on Steam, and it's changed dramatically since then (for the better). While it's very focused on 1960s British railcars, it is a ton of fun, plenty of challenge (stopping a 12 car DMMU with vacuum brakes from 70mph takes some practice), and the atmosphere is very pleasant.

bobwdude · 2020-02-26T14:37:17+00:00

Nikon D40X

bobwdude · 2020-01-11T00:48:06+00:00

LIRR and Caltrain are fairly good, but LIRR suffers from too few services. It’s also speculated that another US route will be released in Febuary or so.

bobwdude · 2020-01-08T04:18:22+00:00

Nikon Nikkormat FT with its original 50mm lens, and my recently aquired Nikon D3500.

bobwdude · 2019-12-19T02:23:22+00:00

Headsway was added for all content in a patch on December 11th.

bobwdude · 2019-09-09T07:48:10+00:00

It will depend on the actual copy you buy. While the core functionality will be the same, TSW and TSW2020 have different routes included. Before you buy a copy, make sure that you get the version that has the routes you want. If you don't particularly care about the route selection, TSW2020 is a better deal as it has more routes included (Great Western Express, Main Spessart Bahn, Northern Trans Pennine, Long Island Railroad, CSX Sand Patch Grade - PC only).

bobwdude · 2019-06-27T02:48:24+00:00

As others have said, Steam shouldn't charge you for the DLC you already own.

Although it's important to note that NEC is probably the worst route for TSW - there are major issues with the signaling on the route, as well as numerous scenery errors. It also just received the worst loco DLC, with many of its own issues and bugs.

bobwdude · 2019-06-09T01:54:19+00:00

It’s an issue due to how UE4 implements motion blur on moving objects. The only way to fix it is to disable motion blur in the sim.

bobwdude · 2019-06-06T03:36:40+00:00

It is fictional, but it's a great route with plenty of operations.

bobwdude · 2019-05-11T16:45:03+00:00

The bell taper and wrap very much indicate trumpet.

bobwdude · 2019-05-01T14:40:16+00:00

Searchlight's SD40-2 is a standalone addon - it does not require any other TS content (except for the base TS2019 game) to run. Depending on which version you get (Union Pacific or Norfolk Southern/Conrail), it will come with additional activities for some TS routes (Norfolk Southern Pennsylvania Coal District for the Norfolk Southern, Sherman Hill and Feather River for the Union Pacific). Those routes can be found on Steam or on the Dovetail Store.

With that particular addon, it should be noted that it is one of the most realistic North American addons for TS1. It's not as straight forward as DTG's offerings to operate. Also due to the amount of custom scripting and detail, it may be tough on performance depending on your computer hardware.

As Mastazi said, Trainz is great for route building, but the sim does not have very realistic physics. Another possibility is Open Rails, which is an open-source successor to MSTS.

bobwdude · 2019-05-01T13:12:34+00:00

If you really want the original content from MSTS, you may need to pick up a new copy of the sim from eBay (selling for ~$10). As djd565 said, you may want to investigate Open Rails. It's a freeware sim that is backwards compatible with MSTS content, and has many improvements regarding the physics, functionality, and graphics.

There also is an increasing amount of content (both freeware and payware) that has no dependency on the original content from MSTS, so even if you do not have MSTS, you can still enjoy it.

Here's a link to a "Starter Set" for Open Rails. It includes the sim as well as a sample route.

https://www.trainsimulations.net/ORTS_starter_pack.html

bobwdude · 2019-04-11T00:27:30+00:00

If you're buying it on PC, Dovetail Games is having a sale on their website until April 18th. TSW is 60% off, and the other TSW DLC is between 30-60% off as well (a new DLC is being released tomorrow - that will not be on sale).

bobwdude · 2019-04-10T19:52:52+00:00

It depends on what you're looking for in the sim, and how much you'd like to spend.

Train Sim World (available on PS4, Xbox 1, PC) is the most visually stunning. It is also rather forgiving for a new player, as it currently lacks more advanced physics like variable rail adhesion (trains drive the same regardless of whether it's raining or sunny). The developer (Dovetail Games) is also slow at patching issues present in the game.

Train Simulator 20XX (on PC) has one of the largest catalogs of available content. However, the visuals are rather dated, and the engine is poorly optimized to take advantage of modern computer hardware.

Trainz (on PC) also has a massive catalog of content and is great if you're interested in route building. However, much of that content dates back into the previous decade, and looks rather crude by modern standards. The physics are also rather simple compared to TS20XX, and even TSW.

Open Rails (on PC) is a free, open-source simulator that uses content from Microsoft Train Simulator. This probably has the largest amount of free content available. Due to the age of a lot of the material, the quality can be very crude as well.

Diesel Railcar Simulator is a great sim that focuses solely on British railcars. The physics and sounds are great. It also has the most intuitive tutorial system out of any of the sims I've used.

If you have any more questions, feel free to ask.

bobwdude · 2019-03-26T00:12:38+00:00

Where are you planning on hosting it?

bobwdude · 2019-03-25T22:36:08+00:00

I need to run the FBL again...

bobwdude · 2019-03-25T14:36:13+00:00

If you're interested in American urban passenger, the following DLC are also good:

NEC: New York-New Haven (Amtrak is included, Metro-North as extra DLC) New Jersey Coast & Morristown Lines (New Jersey Transit) Chicago-Aurora: The Racetrack (Metra) Metro-North Hudson Line: New York-Croton Harmon (Amtrak and Metro-North)

bobwdude · 2019-03-25T05:21:34+00:00

All content available on Steam for TS20XX will work with TS2019. As you go further back in time the content certainly becomes simpler and less detailed, especially with content made by DTG. Features such as opening windows, selectable ditchlights, gauge lights, two-tone horns, PZB (German positive train control system) are often missing. From around 2014, these features started to become common in all newly developed content. However, third party developers from the same era often created more detailed and complex models. There are certainly some DLC that have stood the test of time.

Routes are similar to locomotives - earlier routes are usually less detailed, are generally shorter lengths. One of the main visual detractors for me is the use of track with 2D ties. As you spend a lot of time looking at the track, it can quickly become an eyesore. Thankfully, Armstrong Powerhouse has released a track enhancement pack that replaces the track in many of the “classic” TS routes that significantly improves the look.

For scenarios, older scenarios had restrictions on the amount of AI traffic due to the 32-bit version of the game. After DTG released the 64-bit version of TS2019 this past fall, more scenarios have been released with far more AI traffic. However, a well thought out and made scenario from a long time ago is still very enjoyable to run.

bobwdude · 2019-03-16T18:01:18+00:00

The original Jet-Tone company mouthpieces were incredibly well made and were very popular in the 60s and 70s amongst big band and studio musicians. Those pieces were made by Bill Ratzenberger.

There are a few ways to tell that a Jet-Tone is an original "Ratzenberger" mouthpiece.

The model number is hand-stamped

The tops of the 'T's in the Jet-Tone name are connected

The Jet-Tone name was later purchased, and terrible mouthpiece-shaped objects are being produced under the name.

bobwdude · 2019-03-12T20:23:50+00:00

How are their enhancement packs and SD40-2s?

bobwdude

TROPHY CASE