openBVE which was being developed as a replacement for mackoy’s BVE Trainsim was released (version 1.0) this weekend.
Though the BVE graphics looked dated, (when compared to Trainz or Rail Simulator) I always liked BVE because of the wholesome experience you get when driving a train in this simulator. openBVE betters the BVE experience and features, by providing the option of external camera tracking views. It has animated objects include the headlights, pantograph and doors. Since its Open Source, openBVE is available for Windows, Linux and Mac OS X. In the windows environment it takes advantage of OpenGL.
If you are a BVE fan or want to try out a great simulation, head over to the downloads page. The downloads requires external components so please read the installation guide. I had missed the copying the DLL’s part.
NOTE: The downloads page and the installation guide links seem to be down for now.
The routes and trains are not included in the install but you could download the routes and beta version of the trains from Railsim Routes UK.
Class 323 from railsimroutes that is still being developed but you could see the new animated car features.
This following clip shows an openBVE route under development. Though some features may not be included in the final version, the potential is there.
Building a route in Trainz is as easy or hard as you want it to be. Unlike model railroading where you are held back by space and money, in the virtual world as in Trainz, there are no such restrictions so one tends to go all out. But, soon boredom creeps in and you never get to finish it.
Virtually, you are also restricted by your PC specifications, I have done this many times. I load up on all sort of objects like trees, grasses and structures and when I run trains, the abysmal frame rate makes it unusable. You do have to find a balance and try to hold yourself from overloading the route.
My inspirational trainz route builder is darkdan. I have downloaded all of his routes and they all are a visual treat! Though some of his bigger routes push my old PC to the limits. Here are some screen shots of his creations: (Warning: Links lead to lotsa pictures) B-Project2, NG-Eurpoe1, BG-Europe2, B-Winter, NG-Europe3.
So with the above inspiration and the new version of Trainz, i decided to build and for once, finish a route.
I wanted to keep my route within 3 baseboards. I call this the Boredom-Factor! More than 3 baseboards would mean more structures to place, more ground to texture. I will get bored! I wanted a terminal passenger station/industry siding switching layout. I tried a few layout design but nothing caught my interest until i saw lancashire_fusilier’s Melbourne Layout Rev A. It had everything i wanted, so started to create this using 2 baseboards.
I did finish it this weekend and clicking on the picture below will take you to more screens from the layout. I don’t yet have a good name for the route and i need to add interactive industries. I did learn from some mistakes and found out some good ways to detail without losing frame rate. I will share these with you over the coming weeks.
I guess there were some Rail fans over at Williams-Sonoma. You could bake your model railroad, weather them using globs of icing and then eat them! Sadly, they don’t have them anymore but you could find some over at eBay.
Swedish Kiwi’s 3 minutes of drivers eye view from Kattarp to Ödåkra in Sweden. There are many shaky/low resolution drivers eye video online but this one is of a much better quality. Watch it below or head over to the Vimeo site. Heading down the straight track is very hypnotic!
Image credit: everystockphotoA new rail network is being proposed in the US state of Michigan that would run from Detroit to the Lansing using a potpourri of modern technologies like solar, hydrogen and magnetic. Currently, they are creating a task force to study the possibility of building the elevated line. Stations are planned to be built at every freeway interchange along Interstate-96 for the Detroit-Lansing line.
Looking at the video in the link, the whole thing seems to be too far fetched. Rail-travel in the US seems to be treated with indifference by the policy makers. Most of them yell “waste”. The general population are happy with driving and flying. Proposing a high-tech rail network such as this will appeal to the railroad fans and the green movement folks. But, until the public’s perception on rail travel changes drastically, i don’t see this thing going outside the presentation room. Hoping i am wrong. What do you think?
I still cannot get enough of the Miniatur Wunderland layout.
DailyMail’s article gives more details and pictures of the world’s largest model layout.
It comprises of 700 trains with more than 10,000 carriages and wagons. The longest train stands at a staggering 46ft. The scenery includes 900 signals, 2,800 buildings, 4,000 cars and an impressive 160,000 individually designed figures. Nearly four tonnes of steel was used to construct the scenery along with 110st of artificial grass. And the 250,000 lights are rigged up to a system which mimics night and day by automatically turning them on and off. It has taken 500,000 hours and more than £8m to put together.
Railroad Puzzle is yet another railroad puzzle game for the iPhone/iTouch similar to the Gold Rush. Here, you arrange or slide the track tiles to create a path from one shed to the other.
Sounds simple but there are some challenges. The left-most and right-most track tiles are fixed so you have to connect to them correctly. Each level has a some random tiles that contain an object icon. You have to let your train “collect” them before you go to the exit. If you fail, you get to do that level again.
There also are tunnels that act as portals. If you can arrange them perfectly, you could skip rows and columns of tiles by getting into one tunnel and coming out of the other. Signal tiles will stop your train for 10 seconds. I tried the free practice level and it does get tough as your limited supply of coal also diminishes the longer you drive around.
Sound and graphics are average but the challenge part of the game will hold your interest.
Available(iTunes link) for $0.99 or you can try the Practice Mode for free in their lite version (iTunes link). Check out the developers site for more screens and demo video.
Trainz 2009 has a neat little tool in Surveyor to replace assets easily. I had downloaded a wonderful narrow gauge layout called NG Europe 2 that was created by my favorite route creator “darkdan”. However, since i did not have good NG rolling stock, i wanted to change it to broad gauge. I was able to do this very easily with the new Replace Assets tool.
Some recipes, menus and behind-the-scenes of the various Dining cars from the Great Northern to the Empire builder. Those days, i could have a great breakfast for 90 cents! Great Northern’s behind the scenes also provides a interesting look at their service.
Thought this post is about dining car recipes, this site also has old magazine ads and brochures.
