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A Flightsimmer learns the rails! My first 30 hours with Train-Sim.
View Part II here.
I have not had such a passion for a simulation since 1979, when I first tried MS FS2. Black and white, shades of gray. To me, it was vivid color. Full of life. Some twenty-plus years later we all know what FS is like. But now, the "other half" of my passion for transportation has been brought back to life. Brought back to life after some 15 years since a great model railroad used to occupy half a large basement. Back in those days trains were just as much a draw as the airplane is to me today. Well, now, I am back to trains. Trouble is, it's at the same time I love planes, and earn a living working for FlightSim.Com and occasionally fly a Cheyenne on the side for a charter company just to keep my head in the real skies. With a wife and family, where will I get the time to cure this new addiction!? There is no autopilot. None. I must be a full-time engineer when assuming this role, and you will be too!
As I type away here my Goldsdorf 380 steamer is chugging away at the gently sloping terrain approaching the mountains of Montana. I am on the Marias Pass route, using the train from the Orient Express on a special, Train-simmers excursion. It's very expensive. Worth every penny. I have only derailed three times today. I have traveled a whopping 15 to 20 miles. It's taken hours. On and off. I stop to work on FlightSim.Com material. Stop for lunch, dinner and time with my family. Yes, I have mastered the steam locomotive, in realistic mode! I am proud. Really proud! I can stop, start and drive her like an expert in my own mind. This is the most fun I have had in a computer sim in 20 years people. 20 years! Better than flightsim? No. But on the excitement scale, more exciting than any flightsim moment since last month when I saw FS2002 at Fanstock. That's another story. Ooops. I have come to a stop. On a hill. Pardon me.
Sander on. Huffing and puffing now, gaining speed up the grade, I am making progress tonight. Watching the sun go down slowly over the Montana farm country, I am accelerating to 9 mph. That's right, 9. That is moderate speed for this old steamer and coaches of luxury. It's fast enough for me, as I have been derailing at over 15. At 15 mph, to go 156 miles...it's going to be days! Days here. I am headed for the high country! What will that be like? I'll find out someday. Tonight? No. Tomorrow? Maybe.
Cattle grazing off my left. Barns and silos scattered about. Road crossings with farmers and other folks waiting to cross. Ding Ding Ding Ding. I love the sound of the crossing signs! This is such an experience I can not describe it enough. I am in a book. A work of art. Crossing the farmlands like the old days. Slowly and methodically. Every step counts. Make one mistake, and you're finished. 11 mph now. She's huffing and puffing good now up the slope. A twisty curve coming up ahead. I had to throttle back a bit. I hope I can keep her on at 10 mph around the turns.
In the last two days I have learned how to run the Acela, drive two diesel engines and then finally, run the steam locomotives! I took the tutorial. In 3 hours, I had it licked. Well, until I read from some real engineers or experts I am doing it sloppy. But until then, I am King of the Rails! :-)
Big straightaway ahead! Power up to 36% - speed building to 15 mph+! At this power setting now of 44%, I will hit 22 mph! Wow! Oooh. Big trees. The mountains are a comin'! Running a steamer is a lot harder than just brakes, regulator power (% shown) and steam chest relief. But because it is, the "automatic" fireman does the rest of the delicate balancing required to let the engineer do his job. Without him we'd not get far. Being the fireman is only for the experienced train-simmers, and that won't happen for a while yet.
Train-Sim is alive with that anticipation feeling you get from flying, that the world is always alive and no two flights can ever be the same. Here, I have already tried over and over to run the same route, thinking every time it will be the same old thing. Well, to some extent yes, but better, a lot of that is no. I have seen different scenery and details each time. Different cars, trucks and livestock. Different houses that I didn't see before. And the sky changes with the time of day. In real time. And as night falls your train will be bathed in a glow of light just like real life itself!
But so the scenery and graphics are great. And the frame rates. What is it like to drive a train? Well the modern engines are not hard. They just take time to get used to and you have to be always aware of track grade, turns, and hazards (cars, animals). The steamer is a whole different animal all together. Boiler pressures, piston pressure. Water. Coal. Always checking this and that. The grades will kill you.
Now today, one day later I am at it again. Headin' for the high ground. I am on a pudding break, after about 2 miles done. I am on a very long journey here and am deciding to write as I go along, taking you for the ride. If you are at all bored with this, then you have probably already quit reading. If not, you are going to experience the same type of magical discovery at every turn, as I am finding. There has never been a stronger sense of travel as I have had now. Even at 41,000 feet, this magic unlocks the countryside, up close and personal along with the ever changing view of life at track level. This is the real Montana I am seeing, and the real experience the early rail pioneers must have had also. All in real time.
Day three now. Late pm and early evening. I have left off where I was last night. The mountains are full in view now, gosh, they might be close enough to reach today! Or maybe not. I add some power going up a good grade now, that's straight for miles. I love adding power. The cars squeal. Clank and pull tight. Huff huff huff huff huff huff squeal squeal squeal. Wheels will slip soon. Grinding and moaning. Slipping! Sander on! Under the roar of the sander you can hear a strong huffing. This is the steepest grade yet. I am consulting my aeronautical sectional chart at the moment, viewing the awesome terrain that lie ahead. This is such an adventure! Gone a mile since started writing. Wow. 89% power gives me only 7 mph up this long hill. Passing another road crossing, this time the tourists are backed up for miles! Wow. Long lines of SUVs, campers and cars. Folks headed for Glacier National Park I bet. It's about 5 pm now. The sun is getting lower in the sky. Checking the sectional, I see the last big town I went through was Browning and that was some 6 miles back, so now I am near the first 5000 foot ridge contour. Not much here however, we're still on a flat plateau for the most part. Woah. The wheels slip. I start sanding. Too late! I am steaming forward, but moving backwards! The sanders are for in front of the train, not behind. I must stop this machine or be left sliding downhill! I apply the brakes. Whew! However after two more attempts, it is clear my train is too heavy and long for a single-engine steam operation up over the mountains. I will need another engine, but here in present day, the Goldsdorf is the only one currently on tour in the US. I will have to signal a relief diesel engine to be called in to take the passengers the rest of the route.
There I am. Between Browning and Essex. At the base of the mountains. Awaiting help. I can do it. Or, maybe you can. Naw, I'll do it! But for now, this exciting first few days has played out like a novel. Every mile is a new adventure waiting to be discovered. I have never experienced such excitement and pure thrill in a simulation, since 1979, when FS2 came out. It's that good. Even after my zeal over FS2002, this beats that only because it's a totally new simulation we've never seen the likes of before, and it's coming to you full steam ahead, not as a clunky low-tech "sticks and lines" simulator, but a powerful masterpiece right from the start line. I'll be back with another report, down the line.
Just beautiful. There she is, ready for our adventure.
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Not more than half a mile up the line I crash. Not off to a good start. I apparently applied too much power and started a jolting reaction amongst the cars. Luckily, the engine was returned after an on the spot repair and a handy lift nearby.
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Crossing a small prarie town road. This takes a long time, as I was moving so slow now, careful not to derail this time! I created quite a traffic jam!
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My wild uncoupling event. Here I am just slowing enough to allow the tender and trainset to clank into me. It worked! I had to try this tree times however, careful to not alow the rolling cars to smash into me. I had to gun the throttle just enough to get up to about 7 mph, and then cut, to keep from going faster. Finally, the massive rolling trainset clacked into place gently! Whew! It was the most memorable, cutting edge moment of my journey! What had happened exactly is that I hit a change in grade that was severe enough to uncouple the tender. It can happen, so be aware of every change in the tracks ahead.
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18 mph! Steamin' ahead under the car bridge. Note how the smoke billows under and around the bridge!
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Late PM sun illuminates a beautiful farm scene. I kid you not, I heard cattle mooing at me as I steamed past!
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Browning, Montana. A great little town and my favorite place to stop so far. Note the forest growth in the background now, as I start to head for the high country.
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More details of Browning.
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The end of the line! This is where she wouldn't go any further. Slipping and sliding backwards were all too much for me to take. Too much train I guess. The only plan would be to back down to Browning again, and arrange another train to take the people up the mountains. That's for next time.
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View Part II here.
For more on train-sims please visit:
Peter James / FlightSim.Com
Train-Sim.Com