This panel seemed the best place to post. If I was wrong, please feel free to move it.
In the Screenshot panel there was a brief discussion concerning an operations simulator for railroads. I found it to be of great help in planning routes as well as sessions on those routes. The software allows you to lay down your route in little chunks of rail. All sorts of connections are included for turnouts, buffers, connectors, and the like. There are also four types of signals that can be used (2, 3, 4 aspect, plus ground dwarfs). Stations are defined for use in timetables you create to run your railroad. This is where session use comes in handy as you can time the travel between stations down to the nearest minute, altering the timetable accordingly, until you have a smoothly functioning route. The timetable takes a bit of getting used to as the terminology is cryptic. But, it can be overcome with a little patience. Once you have the route and the timetable set up, you load your railway, click the Run button, and watch trains form, move about your tracks, and terminate with you guiding their way by clicking the relevant signal and then clicking on the next signal in line to create a path. You can change turnouts by clicking on them as well, directing trains wherever you want them to go if need be to divert from the timetable. Fascinating, to be sure.
The software is available (for both Windows and LINUX [under WINE]) here. I've found I can work on my LINUX machine easily, testing while I build it. Once done, I can either run it on LINUX or transfer it to my gaming machine (which has a larger screen among other attributes) and run it there.
Here's a screenshot of my Hisatsu Line:
For those who like to have their sessions running like a well-maintained railroad should be, this is great software.
Bill
In the Screenshot panel there was a brief discussion concerning an operations simulator for railroads. I found it to be of great help in planning routes as well as sessions on those routes. The software allows you to lay down your route in little chunks of rail. All sorts of connections are included for turnouts, buffers, connectors, and the like. There are also four types of signals that can be used (2, 3, 4 aspect, plus ground dwarfs). Stations are defined for use in timetables you create to run your railroad. This is where session use comes in handy as you can time the travel between stations down to the nearest minute, altering the timetable accordingly, until you have a smoothly functioning route. The timetable takes a bit of getting used to as the terminology is cryptic. But, it can be overcome with a little patience. Once you have the route and the timetable set up, you load your railway, click the Run button, and watch trains form, move about your tracks, and terminate with you guiding their way by clicking the relevant signal and then clicking on the next signal in line to create a path. You can change turnouts by clicking on them as well, directing trains wherever you want them to go if need be to divert from the timetable. Fascinating, to be sure.
The software is available (for both Windows and LINUX [under WINE]) here. I've found I can work on my LINUX machine easily, testing while I build it. Once done, I can either run it on LINUX or transfer it to my gaming machine (which has a larger screen among other attributes) and run it there.
Here's a screenshot of my Hisatsu Line:
For those who like to have their sessions running like a well-maintained railroad should be, this is great software.
Bill
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