On my 1Ghz Pentium 3 using only on-board Intel graphics, the best option is 60% graphics – any more and the motion becomes jerky. There are many facilities provided by the program – too numerous to describe here – but the most useful is the ability to offset speed against graphics detail and quantity. The other four routes – a scenic narrow gauge rail car operation in Japan, freight only over the Marias pass in northern USA, the steam powered Orient Express in Austria and steam on the famous Settle and Carlisle route in England are well chosen and provide plenty of interest. Frankly, I think that the high speed electrified routes in Japan and USA were ill-chosen and better examples could have been used. Microsoft Train Simulator allows the possibility to drive trains over six real routes in four countries (steam in Austria and England, diesel and electric in Japan and USA). Now, thanks to Microsoft, it is possible to take charge of the “Flying Scotsman” without the 25 years of apprenticeship that would otherwise have been required, and if the number of fan clubs on the web is anything to go by, a huge number of people have grasped the opportunity. Judging by the popularity of preserved railways and the huge number of railway books and magazines on the bookshelves of the local bookstore (second only to computers), the fascination remains undiminished. Of course, every boy’s ambition was to be in charge of one of these leviathans. Even when steam engines were the norm there was a distinct thrill in seeing two huge locomotives dashing along at the head of a rake of 12 coaches, or watching a begrimed engine trying valiantly to cope with 40 trucks of coal. A common occupation was train spotting having the singular advantage of being free. In the days before computers, televisions and mobile phones (and when the equivalent of a new penny was good pocket money) it behoved the younger generation to provide their own entertainment.
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March 2023
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