Popular Mechanics recently published in their December 2007 issue the ideas and technology behind High Speed Rail Transport in the US. In theory, it is a grand plan that i would love to see happen.

But the reality of it is another matter. Such a plan takes time, money and political support, the benefits of which cannot be seen for a long time. In this fast-food, get-it-done-quick culture, no one yet, has the vision and drive to see such a thing through.

The competing companies are also to blame. Take the case of the Texas High-Speed Rail concept. In 1991, Texas TGV Consortium was given a plan to connect Dallas, Houston, Austin and San Antonio via high-speed trains. They were to raise the money privately for the project. At the same time, Dallas-based airline company Southwest Airlines began lobbying against such an idea. Needless to say, nothing happened.

The future is not all that bleak. California High-Speed seems to be picking steam. Newspapers and bloggers are joining the discussion about proposed routes. They are talking about and tracking the issues related to this project.



However, citizens who want high-speed rail are in the minority.
Unless there is a massive change in our attitude towards rail transport the Popular Mechanics article will be just pure fantasy and a nice read.

Scottish Metal contains dreamlike landscape photos of Scotland's railway by David White. I used the pictures to study and get an idea of how mountains and lakes look in nature. This helps me in detailing layouts for Trainz.

My Trainz version of one of his photos

The Trainz Download Station(DLS) provides a central place for us to download trainz content created by many talented users. But sometimes, navigating and searching through the 19000 items is painful so i tend to seek out sites that let me download directly. It’s easy to bookmark and go back later if you need to.

Here are some of my freeware favorites:
If your interest is in European Railways, you can get the best content from Trainz-Kleinkram. They have a huge selection of DB passenger and frieght wagons among many others.

For US fans, RRMods offers highly detailed diesel locos.
Their almost real looking boxcars will bring your yards to life.
U.S. Locomotive Works also has great number of diesels worth drooling over. Between these two sites, you will be well stocked with great looking US content.

Spanish Rail(RENFE) fans can get excellent content from IberTrainz. Click on the "Categorías" and when you like what you see, click on the blue square IBTZ icon to download. I did see a few items that you might have to get from DLS but most have a direct link to the cdp or a rar file.

I am still looking for a British content site. Will update if i find some.

Some freeware and payware locos in Trainz 2006 and Trainz Classics are really excellent when it comes to locomotive sounds. The engine sounds and the horns played though the sub-woofer can really rattle your desk.

I wanted to capture some of the horns and sounds of my favorite locos in trainz. Enjoy...

The New England Model Train EXPO is scheduled for December 1st and 2nd in Marlborough, MA.
I am looking forward to seeing fellow Trainzer's there as VirtualRailroder folks will be showcasing Trainz.

Last weekend, i attended the Greenberg Train Show in Wilmington,MA. The layouts that interested me were the NMRA Hub Division - 32'x40' HO scale layout, Northeast N-TRAK - 24'x33' N scale layout.

I liked the NMRA layout. It was very detailed and you could the see hard work gone into each corner of the layout. While some visitors were asking questions about weathering and prototypical operations, others esp. little ones, were awed by the length of the trains some of the operators were running.

Click on the picture for the gallery::

Took the Black 5 steam locomotive for a run in the demo version of Kuju Rail Simulator.

I really liked the detailed graphics and the nice touches like passengers walking and birds flying. I also noticed the gentle wafting of clumps of grass in the breeze. I am a Auran's Trainz fan but, its nice to see some competition in this category. The more the merrier for us rail addicts.

Since i like European railways, i would have to purchase this version but trying to get it in US is expensive with the S&H. Kuju, however has announced the US version, which is available for pre order at Amazon.

I plan to bring my experiences and passion for trains through this site.

My scale of choice is HO. I like German steamers, British and US diesels.

Currently, I am virtual railroading using Trainz. Trainz is a dream come true for all those model railroaders who having been waiting for lotsa money, space and their spouse's permission to create their dream layout.