Where Trainz really shines!

[JonMyrlennBailey]

A friend of mine who is into R/C helicopters said Trainz was "just mere images on a computer screen".

I was thinking into getting back into a more traditional hobby but then it just dawned on me....

Trainz is much, much, much less expensive a hobby than let's say radio-controlled airplanes, boats and vehicles and particularly scale-model R/C trucks and earth-movers.

It is astronomically less expensive and space-consuming than traditional electric model train layouts, HO or otherwise.

Trainz is not susceptible to getting stepped on, tripped over or physically soiled as from playing with it in the dirt.

It requires no painting, glue, carpentry, machining, drilling, welding, sanding, sawing, soldering, filing or cutting and only as much
physical space that is needed for your computer at home.

Trainz, of course, requires electricity, but unless you play it on laptop, it usually does not require batteries.

 

[JCitron]

A friend of mine who is into R/C helicopters said Trainz was "just mere images on a computer screen".

I was thinking into getting back into a more traditional hobby but then it just dawned on me....

Trainz is much, much, much less expensive a hobby than let's say radio-controlled airplanes, boats and vehicles and particularly scale-model R/C trucks and earth-movers.

It is astronomically less expensive and space-consuming than traditional electric model train layouts, HO or otherwise.

Trainz is not susceptible to getting stepped on, tripped over or physically soiled as from playing with it in the dirt.

It requires no painting, glue, carpentry, machining, drilling, welding, sanding, sawing, soldering, filing or cutting and only as much
physical space that is needed for your computer at home.

Trainz, of course, requires electricity, but unless you play it on laptop, it usually does not require batteries.

I've been saying this all along!

Back in mid-2003 I had a medium-sized N-scale model railroad setup on a nice table. It was working perfectly until we got some cats. Well my sister visited and gave dad two cute kittens for Father's Day. Oh so sweet and fluffy they were....

I would come home from work and find a church on the living floor, or an expensive locomotive in the kitchen. This went on for a few days and at that time my then 3 year-old nephew was staying at our house during the day. The first one to take the blame was Shawn for touching the train stuff. My sister got spoken to about it and the next day my caboose ended up in the living room. The only difference this time is he wasn't around. The next day, being a Saturday, I ended catching the culprit. My cat Lulu was stealing the train stuff and leaving the various things all over the place! She and her sister are still doing this today, except my trains stuff is now in Trainz! Her sister Lily, also 14 years-old will sit in my lap and watch Trainz. Occasionally she'll get up and look for shadows as they disappear into the monitor bezel, or tap the screen at cars as they drive by. When I first got TRS2004, she would come running when I started up the program so she could watch the aliens bowing to the Auran logo. This was their introduction video which disappeared when TRS2006 came out. I wonder if she'd come running today if the video played!

The other thing too is as you said no mess and especially no waste of materials. When building my medium-sized N-scale layout, I sweated every plywood cut. I dreaded making a mistake and having to spend money on more materials. In N-scale switches and other bits are quite expensive too so ruining something means spending a lot more than you want to, and being extra careful is top priority. This brings up another point. Have you seen the price of these models and things? I nearly fainted a couple of years ago when I visited the Big E Train Show. I couldn't get over the prices of some of the items at the show, and these were discounted too!

And one more thing. The clincher for me was dropping an ancient Atlas Alco RS-3 on to the floor. I got this one at a 1984 NMRA show and it still worked fine. I paid all of $25 bucks for it brand new back then. The things is I had developed a tremor and stiffness in my hands along with some coordination issue, and while adjusting something I knocked the loco smack dab off the layout. I could see everything in slow motion as it hit the floor and smashed to bits! Unfortunately for me this was the signs of things to come and with Trainz I've been able to continue my love of modeling without worrying about destroying anything.

John

 

[JonMyrlennBailey]

Thanks, John for sharing your experiences. I am even shocked at the prices of some of these Revell plastic static model kits these days. Over $200 for some of them like a Kenworth W900 semi truck tractor I was looking at online lately. All molded plastic parts in a box. Then you use all your sweat and patience to trim all the pieces with your Xacto knife, cut them off the runners, sand, prime and paint everything hopefully without any runs, drips, fingerprint marks, errors or dust, and carefully fit and cement all the pieces together while requiring a brain surgeon's manual dexterity...and then those fragile water-slide decals for the real nightmare of the model build!

 

[weevil]

Ironically, it was years and years as a Trainz user that finally convinced me to get into large scale railways. I now have the beginnings of a 5" gauge line in the garden, three battery electric locos and a live steamer plus rolling stock. I haven't once had to do a database repair and the framerate is amazing!!

Most importantly though the physics is 100% perfect - guaranteed, and I alone decide exactly what features to include when, where and how. Total cost? Probably about the same as a bleeding-edge gaming rig every two or three years.

Stuart

Edit: Having said that, Trainz does still have a place in my hobby time and also has it's advantages over the "real" stuff.

P.S. John, I'd like to see the cat who can walk off with one of my locos!

 

[ray_whiley]

John, I can only echo your views - although I never had problems with cats.

Ray

 

[wilts747]

When I was at school money was tight but from 9-10 years old unlike today most had little jobs before and after school. weekends etc. I spend my money mainly an a Triang 00 gauge model railway which by the time I went to work occupied three sides of my bedroom. My father would spend hours painting Airfix buildings and people for the layout and as a builder there was always a ready supple of scrap wood and wire mesh to make the scenery with layers of newspaper and wallpaper paste. At some point after I started work it got sold.

I've always been interested in carpentry and about ten years ago a guy asked me to build him a folding case for an N gauge model railway which took some thinking about but was fun to do. Seeing my enjoyment the family suggested I should again build my own layout but space, cost etc. sort of put me off. In 2006 my daughter treated me to a copy of Trainz as a birthday present which likely sat on the shelf for ages but finally got installed and you could say the rest is history.

Now retired I still like my carpentry, enjoy my garden and the many other things retired people do, but evenings, when its to cold to get outside etc. its Trainz and my preference is Surveyor. I've yet to start a model railway in T-ANE but it will happen, perhaps in yet another 18 months which is the time my current creation has been going. Look back through the Forum at some point most versions of Trainz has been knock, dissected, complained about but seldom praised yet most of us still remain committed and I for one hope it remains that way. Peter

 

[JCitron]

Stuart,

Those models are so beautiful! I would love to setup something like that, but my climate is a bit more like that in the UK with a bit more snow and ice. I'd spend most of the nice weather performing track maintenance like they do for the real ones.

I'm sure my cats would try to carry one of those around, though at 14 now they've settled for clean socks fresh from my laundry basket.

John

 

[BobbyT]

This is an interesting thread, and here is my two cents. I have been building model airplanes and trains for over sixty five years. My RC airplanes were in many cases kit built, but I ended up designing and scratch building many more. Train models were always narrow gauge, starting with Sn3 and eventually all On2. I never had a layout, but enjoyed the building of individual items. I approached retirement and thought that now that I had more time, my model building would increase. Rather I found that the cost and effort started to undermine that enjoyment. Especially the cost - for example to build a scratch built On2 model passenger car is way over$100. The cost of supplies and especially trucks continue to rise. I do own one On2 brass locomotive for which I paid $300 many years ago.
About ten years ago I found TRAINZ, and soon realized that I could recreate the entire SandyRiver and Rangeley Lakes railroad. My TRAINZ version of the SR&RL covers over 400 base boards, and is a good representation of that line. I have also created many of the other Maine Two Foot lines, in great detail. The most enjoyable aspect of building these routes was the research, and making the route as close to prototype as possible. I actually enjoy riding these lines, more than switching cars.
Then I discovered that to be truly realistic, I needed to create the buildings that were found on these lines, as nothing was available from the DSL. This led to learning GMAX and more recently BLNDER. With the ability to create, I found that this has become more interesting than simply creating routes. More recently my interest has moved to creating rolling stock, especially steam locomotives, and not just static, but with complete animation of the drivers, pistons, rods, and valve gear. Many times this was very frustrating as there is a very steep learning curve (at least for me) in creating more complex virtual models.
About a month ago I attended an open house at a local model railroad club. It was exceptional in its scope, sixe, and operation. I was talking to one of the members and mentioned my TRAINZ activities. The reaction was rather negative, but my response was of all the highly detailed locomotives that he owned, how many had he personally built. None was the response. I on the other hand have modeled the SR&RL Number 23 steam locomotive in exact scale, down to the rivets and nuts and bolts. This virtual #23 will never run on a TRAINZ routeas I made no attempt to keep the Polly counts within reason. But the modeling experience was almost as satisfying as if I had built it in brass, but without the expense.
This memo in no way should be taken as a negative on the many talented modelers who continue to build real models. It takes skill and even artistic talent to create detailed representations of the real thing.
The bottom line is that my lifelong modeling has now moved into the virtual world of BLENER, GIMP, and TRAINZ, and the enjoyment is as fulfilling for me as it was with "real" models.