Western Pacific's "Feather River".

[bhk]

I received the DVD in the mail this morning (Friday) and three hours later took the following screen-shots as I made my way along the route from Portola late in the day and into the setting sun...............












This is the most superb package I have seen for Train Simulator.
Set in the mid-1960's, it not only includes period loco's and rolling stock - including the "California Zephyr" - but also 3DTrains proprietary "scale-rail" and sky textures, as well as foliage, objects, structures and vehicles.

It's the closest MSTS has ever come to "Murchison".

Brilliant.

Bruce

[kbr]

Beautiful looking scenery and train, Bruce. Where can I go to find out about that addon?

That's got to be among the best I've seen MSTS look!

I decided to go ahead and order the Raildriver controls a few days ago, so it'll be a few weeks before I can consider getting any payware addons (flight or train), but that one looks like it deserves some serious consideration.

[bhk]

kbr said:

.....that one looks like it deserves some serious consideration.

It certainly does, Kevin.
I can't fault it.

Here's the relevant page at the 3DTrains site:-
3dtrains.com/products/routes/wp_feather_river.shtml

Regards,
Bruce

[Dan]

WOW

That does look very very good, Bruce!! Scenery, Engines, and complete sets of all kinds of versions of train sets . . .

And here, I had my mind made up for Rail Simulator! Seems Microsoft Train Simulator is not that expensive - if I'm looking at the right version on Amazon.com. Also seems one needs additional updates & add-ons for this to work - but it looks very nice - lots of details - those bridges/trestles are the best I've seen yet. How are the interior cabs in MSTS? Is there 3d cabs? It mentions sounds how are they with this add-on?

Dan

_{…it’s great being a kid again – without the glue!} ;D

[bhk]

dans said:

And here, I had my mind made up for Rail Simulator! Seems Microsoft Train Simulator is not that expensive - if I'm looking at the right version on Amazon.com. Also seems one needs additional updates & add-ons for this to work - but it looks very nice - lots of details - those bridges/trestles are the best I've seen yet. How are the interior cabs in MSTS? Is there 3d cabs? It mentions sounds how are they with this add-on?....

[/i][/sub] ;D[/quote]
Dan,
The original is not dead yet....not by a long shot.
The third-party "patch", "MTS Bin", has given this a whole new lease of life, from being able to change from cab to cab (in the same consist), to correcting front coupling problems, to enabling night[/i] panels. Have a look at these..........

Here's the tail of the CZ at night........


The cab of the F-7 in the daytime.......


And the same cab at night, with the loco's headlight on........


Here's a series of night cabs:
First, the high-nose GP7.........



The U30, first the engineer's side.......


.....and looking to the left towards the observer's side........



Now the GP-35...the engineer's side.....



........and the left view is actually ahead, from the observer's viewpoint..........


The night-cabs also come into effect when passing through tunnels, even in the daytime.

The sounds.....just fabulous!
You should hear the Leslie wind-horn on the F-7 that hauls the default California Zephyr. Music!
Engine sounds and all ambient noises are excellent.

There are no 3D, or "virtual" cabs in Train Simulator but IMHO, they aren't necessary when everything else in this particular add-on is so beautifully done.

Bruce

[sgtmajor]

Really nice Bruce.... I guess I'm going to be forced to dig out my old MSTS stuff. (smile) I've always been fond of the F7 locos.... growing up in Kansas my home town was right on the Santa Fe Trail. Many Santa Fe trains ran through there then. Now it's pretty much a closed line with the exception of a few frieght every now and again.

Cheers,

[bhk]

sgtmajor said:

Really nice Bruce.... I guess I'm going to be forced to dig out my old MSTS stuff. ....

Dig it out, load it up, grab MTS Bin and add it and then get Feather River.

I guarantee you'll love it.

Bruce

[kbr]

Wow, those cabs look good too.

I was wondering, does it include any printed documentations on the route?

[Dan]

Holy Moley

The best I've seen . . . Incredibly realistic and that lighting is beautifully ambient of what I would imagine and you say the sounds are "fabulous". I believe that just about puts the decision in reach . . .

I perused the site again and am quite impressed with the different add-ons - about the same prices as flight sim add-ons - when you consider all that you get. I'm not sure how it all fits together - seems some add-ons are specific to a particular route, while others are for the entire sim. In any case, the detail this company puts out is exceptional!!

Are there any good 'steam' locomotives out there - on the same quality level as this company?

Lots to learn, but looks very exciting. ;D

Thanks for posting these shots, Bruce!!

Dan

_{…it’s great being a kid again – without the glue!} ;D

[bhk]

kbr said:

Wow, those cabs look good too.

I was wondering, does it include any printed documentations on the route?

Yes, Kevin......html format as part of the supplied DOC's enabling you to print it out if needed.

Also a chap by the name of Craig Kawahara has created a PDF of track diagrams covering every yard, switch, siding, signal etc.
It is downloadable from train-sim.com

Bruce

[kbr]

Thanks for the info, Bruce. I like being able to print out some charts when I'm starting a new route.

[bhk]

dans said:

Holy Moley
... I'm not sure how it all fits together - seems some add-ons are specific to a particular route, while others are for the entire sim....

Dan, things like locos and rolling stock can be used on any route, as they are not "route-specific".
They reside in a path outside the "Routes" path in Train Simulator.

dans said:

[Are there any good 'steam' locomotives out there - on the same quality level as this company?

There are some excellent steam locos, of all shapes, sizes, types, and eras, available as freeware items from train-sim.com.
That is where most of the loco's and rolling stock is sourced.
You need to register to be able to download....same as flight-sim.com (it's run by the same people), but just wander over and browse through the "Steam locomotives" library.

By the same token, there are some equally excellent examples available as part of third-party add-ons, but there is less to choose from.

One such example is 3DTrainStuff's (not to be confused with 3DTrains ) recreation of Southern Pacific's "Donnor Pass" route as it was in the 40's/50's.
Part of that package is the famous "Cab-forward" steamer, as well as another type, and also the Alco PA diesel and EMD F7.
If you want to browse what they offer, the address is www.3dtrainstuff.com

They create some excellent packages, including Tehachapi and Cajon Pass (and Donner) as well as some British packs.

Regards,
Bruce

[Dan]

Thanks for the info, Bruce!

I've been reviewing Train-Sim.Com and a couple of other sites off and on since you posted and am very impressed with all that's available. Incredible really. Very similar to Flight Sim - even the 'All Nodes Busy' brought back memories of the early days of Flight Sim.

Found lots of well crafted steam locomotives, including a couple of old Denver and Rio Grandes and the one I was primarily looking for in all the Sims - the Union Pacific 'Big Boy' as noted below. Growing up in Denver, I'm very familiar with that locomotive - biggest ever built (some may argue the point), but it was one huge piece of iron. I've seen the restored museum piece many times in Cheyenne and it's everything it was! I've also driven along the tracks that it used to pull it's long long loads up a steep grade and over to Laramie Wyoming and beyond - that I will enjoy replicating.











The quality seems to be very high and the variety of freeware available is more then I could've imagined - lots of good stuff including How-To's. And even more exciting - there are over 200 'Sound' files. I downloaded a set for the Big Boy and played a couple of the wav files and it was excellent - in fact I sat here listening to the whistle wav for 10 minutes or so . . . ;D

So, I think that just about does it - I'm now going to try and find a Microsoft Train-Sim somewhere. I had thought it would be fairly easy, but only found one site that still had a new Version 1.0 - ($12.95) - hopefully that's the latest version - not much information on Microsoft's site anymore. Think I'll check a couple of stores later today and if I can't find it - I'll order online.

Also, I assuming that the only upgrade is the one you mentioned which is available from Train-Sim. Then once installed, get the "Feather River" add-on and start building from there. If there are any other items that I should be aware of please let me know.

Thanks for your help so far - much appreciated!!

Dan

_{…it’s great being a kid again – without the glue!} ;D

[bhk]

dans said:

Thanks for the info, Bruce!.....

So, I think that just about does it - I'm now going to try and find a Microsoft Train-Sim somewhere.

Try here, Dan.
cgi.ebay.com.au/MICROSOFT-TRAIN-SIMULATOR-PC-GAME-NEW-SEALED-Fast-Ship_W0QQitemZ260199900240QQihZ016QQcategoryZ62053QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

(I found over 100 on ebay).

You've certainly been to the toy-shop with regard to the steam locos....you'll be downloading like mad, I expect.

....new Version 1.0 - ($12.95) - hopefully that's the latest version - ....

That's the original, Dan
Then MS issued a 1.2 update. If you can't find it on the MS site, I've got it here. It's a freebie, so you'll find it on many train simulator sites.

Once you upgrade to 1.2, then, and only then, add "MTS Bin" before adding any further third-party items.

Once you are at that point, you are okay to add all the other wonderful stuff!

If you obtain payware route packages (they all contain additional items, not just the route) then the installation is, very straight-forward.
But as you've been used to doing the unzipping rigmarole for flight-sim add-ons, you'll be okay when it comes to installing freeware stuff that you download.

Thanks for your help so far - much appreciated!!

Only too glad to be able to help.

Bruce

[kbr]

Though I also use Trainz a lot, I also keep MSTS installed on my computer. It's still a great sim and it seems that no matter how often I think I've seen the farthest it can go, someone always pushes the bar as Bruce's pictures show.