Train simulation is all about recreating the railroad experience. For me, a railfan, the railroad experience is something esthetic.
It's feeling the nearly imperceptible change from standing still to moving, as a heavy electric locomotive shoulders the load of my commuter train at Grand Central Terminal.
It's feeling the smooth, quiet, quickness of a Third Avenue Railway System lightweight trolley as it accelerates from a dead stop to rejoin the city traffic.
It's hearing the screech of steel flange against steel rail as a New York City subway train lurches around a sharp curve.
It's the jounce and sway of a Third Avenue Elevated train on the 80-year old superstructure.
It's standing in awe alongside a 4-8-4 Niagara at the station platform in Harmon, NY, as this marvel of steam technology struggles to gain a foothold on shiny rails, 78-inch drivers slipping with each piston stroke in an effort to start a heavy sleeper train on its overnight journey to Chicago.
It's speeding along the 4-lane Northeast Corridor, watching neighborhoods zip by at 130 mph.
It's snaking through Canadian forests, crossing the Great Plains, climbing the Rocky Mountains, and hugging the Fraser Canyon walls high above the river.
It's darting through tunnels, riding viaducts across valleys and clattering across trestles spanning rivers and highways.
It's gliding through lowlands, crossing pastures, waving at farmers, listening to the crossing gate’s bell as we slip by.
It's falling asleep to the rhythm of the rails.
It's the rumbling in the night of distant diesels.
All these things are within the domain of today's train simulations. These simulations let you drive trains, dispatch trains, shunt cars, set up system-wide operations, and build railroad empires. Soon we will have true multi-player capabilities and real railroads will have desktop PC training systems. We're just at the beginning; faster, brainier computers will enable dramatic future developments.
The railroad experiences of my youth, as described above, left indelible impressions on me. Train simulations are reawakening these memories and providing some new experiences I never had, such as operating narrow gauge equipment. I hope visitors will feel free to add their own comments as to what train simulation means to them.
It's feeling the nearly imperceptible change from standing still to moving, as a heavy electric locomotive shoulders the load of my commuter train at Grand Central Terminal.
It's feeling the smooth, quiet, quickness of a Third Avenue Railway System lightweight trolley as it accelerates from a dead stop to rejoin the city traffic.
It's hearing the screech of steel flange against steel rail as a New York City subway train lurches around a sharp curve.
It's the jounce and sway of a Third Avenue Elevated train on the 80-year old superstructure.
It's standing in awe alongside a 4-8-4 Niagara at the station platform in Harmon, NY, as this marvel of steam technology struggles to gain a foothold on shiny rails, 78-inch drivers slipping with each piston stroke in an effort to start a heavy sleeper train on its overnight journey to Chicago.
It's speeding along the 4-lane Northeast Corridor, watching neighborhoods zip by at 130 mph.
It's snaking through Canadian forests, crossing the Great Plains, climbing the Rocky Mountains, and hugging the Fraser Canyon walls high above the river.
It's darting through tunnels, riding viaducts across valleys and clattering across trestles spanning rivers and highways.
It's gliding through lowlands, crossing pastures, waving at farmers, listening to the crossing gate’s bell as we slip by.
It's falling asleep to the rhythm of the rails.
It's the rumbling in the night of distant diesels.
All these things are within the domain of today's train simulations. These simulations let you drive trains, dispatch trains, shunt cars, set up system-wide operations, and build railroad empires. Soon we will have true multi-player capabilities and real railroads will have desktop PC training systems. We're just at the beginning; faster, brainier computers will enable dramatic future developments.
The railroad experiences of my youth, as described above, left indelible impressions on me. Train simulations are reawakening these memories and providing some new experiences I never had, such as operating narrow gauge equipment. I hope visitors will feel free to add their own comments as to what train simulation means to them.
-- Al
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