VM Railroading

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Virtual model railroading is growing more and more popular around the world. There is no comparison to the advantages of a computer generated MRR over a real world one - size, customization, and cost is a win-win situation for railroad fans.

The models on this site (for the time being) are for use with Microsoft Train Simulator program.

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CSX W&A Subdivision - Cartersville to Tunnel Hill.

Current Full Route Version is Beta 1.9.6.8307. Use the navigation bar to the left to access the route, information, and update patches, as well as information about installing and using it.

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Update Patch 4 released - September 26, 2007

Patch version 4 (1.9.6.9247) is now available for download.

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"CSX CW-944 #9051" I've recently worked up a repaint of the Maple Leaf Track's Dash-9 upgrade, and it is now available for download to your route!. INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS: (1). Download the zip file from the navigation bar at left. (2). Once downloaded, check the file for viruses. (3). Unzip the file to your :/Program Files/Microsoft Games/Train Simulator/Trains/Trainset folder. (4). Use the Activity/Consist editor to add the locomotive to your trains.

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"Southeastern Livestock Feed Distribution Plant"

Version Beta 8

The Gold Kist Livestock Feed Mill have been updated. A few texture issues have been resolved and covered loading shed has been added to the secondary elevator.

The TSM .dst and texture files have been added for those of you who may want to reconfigure the mill to suit your own layout.

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Microsoft Train Simulator and Windows Vista

As has been expected for a while now, a lot of programs are having compatibility problems with Windows Vista. Train Simulator is no exception.

I have encountered the following problems with the sim while using Vista:

Artifacting - while running the sim, white triangles flash on the screen corresponding to the vertice points of the terrain along the line.

Stalling - Every few seconds the screen freezes for a brief moment.

Slow Rendering in the Route Editor - On certain sections of the route, movement is jerky and frame rates are very slow. Placing object correctly becomes very difficult as the cursor tends to overshoot where the object is being placed.

Bad Backups - I've tried several times to back up the route and then switch over to Windows XP and use the route, but for some reason, MSTS reverts to an earlier version of the route than what I was using in Vista. This is probablly due to Vista's program protection features that do not allow changes in the program files folder.

Vista uses a lot more resources than Xp, and seems to be hogging more of the resources from the game that Xp was not using. If this is the case, then here is another reason not to upgrade to Vista. I'm using a GeForce graphics card with 400mhz proc and 512 MB of RAM, and my system has a 3.02GHZ proc and 1GB of RAM. There should be no slowdown in graphics because of the operating system unless something in the OS kernel is causing it.

It's highly unlikely that any updates or patches are going to be released for MSTS to make it more compatible with Vista. They group at Microsoft is working on MSTS-2 and it is doubtful that they are going to take the time to work on patches and fixes for a program version that is over six years old. The best that we can do for now is to dual boot the computer system and use Windows XP when running MSTS.

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Calhoun Holdout Delayed

The MSTSv1 route that I am building will be delayed until mid-late February. I'm going back and debugging the first twelve miles of track now. I'm also trying to develop a couple of activities for the route.

Below are a few screen shots from the route.

Downtown Calhoun

Dash 9's at Gold Kist

8021 switching the north end of town

Train near Dow Chemical

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Good News From Microsoft

Microsoft has announced that it is in the early development stages of a sequel to Train Simulator. The as yet unnamed program is expected to be released next year.

This is the second time that Microsoft has attempted to build Train Simulator 2. Original plans were scrapped back in 2004. Now, however, the development team has begun research, and is planning to begin building the game on the Flight Simulator X game engine.

Overall, the train-sim community welcomes v2 version of Train Simulator, but there will also be a down side. Since 2001, MSTS has become wildly popular, with rail-fan communities and even outside companies throwing in to build rolling stock, locomotives, and routes for the game. Being that it is going to be built on an entirely new game engine, there will probablly be no backwards compatibility in MSTS2 for any material from MSTS1.

Visit the Microsoft Website at Microsoft Train Simulator 2

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"CSX SD40-2 #8021" Version 1.0(Repaint) This virtual model for MSTS is a repaint of the standard BNSF unit that comes with the simulator. The actual prototype locomotive can be seen in the "CSX" section of this website. This locomotive comes with a clean and dirty version. Dirty and weathered is the default. If you want to run the clean version, simply copy the ace files from the "clean" folder in the the CSXSD402 main folder.

NOTE: Before you download any files from this page, you should read the disclaimer at the bottom of this page.

INSTALLATION: {1). Download the .ZIP file and unpackage it in your C:/Program Files/Microsoft Games/Train Simulator/Trains/Trainset directory. (2). Copy the "SOUND" folder from the SD402 that is included with the game to the CSXSD402 folder. (3). Go into the MSTS Activity Editor (under MSTS editors and tools) and make up a new consist with this locomotive in it.

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