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New York MTA opens subway simulator to public
And there goes what remaining free time I have.
Well at least they got a simulator, its the closest to the real thing considering theyve been on and off on the 2nd av subway since 1929 and maybe another 15-20 yrs to go.
Cool idea! How about Amtrak creating an Acela simulator? Could be a popular way for people to pass time in stations between trains.
@ED CLOPTON - I know it’s not a direct answer, but if you want to try an Acela simulator on your PC right now, there’s one available for Train Simulator 2015. You can get it by installing Steam (visit steampowered (dot) com - despite the name, that’s a gaming platform, not a railfan site…), and use that to buy Train Simulator 2015, and the Northeast Corridor Expansion.
Why what a clever idea! And will the ones availing themselves of these instructions be vetted against some terrorist data base? It is like when the 9-11 murderers learned how to manage a heavy jet by attending American flying schools.
Psh. There have been freeware train simulators (meaning you can just download them off the Internet without paying a dime or resorting to piracy) that already re-create in great detail a fair number of real-life transit systems, most notably London Underground and yes, NYC Transit.
If the “TERR-ARIS-TS” needed a simulator to blow up subways, they haven’t needed to risk exposing their nefarious intent for many years now. Google “BVE5”, “Open BVE”, and “HMMsim”. Better yet look 'em up on Youtube. Horror of horrors, that last one is for mobile devices to boot. #EVERYBODYPANICalhfoperhapngri!!!
Microsoft’s Train Simulator had a section of the NE Corridor- from Philly to Baltimore, if memory serves- as part of its program. For being from the early 2000s it was very accurate and detailed.
I second Patrick’s endorsement of BVE/OpenBVE, although I’m not aware of an Acela/NEC consist/route for it. TS201x (they update it once a year) can be pricey, but it’s high quality (usually, their Tri-Rail add-on is a disaster…) and does have an NEC pack that includes the Acela Express available for it.
Of course, I’m not a real railroad engineer, so I’d be curious as to their opinions on either…
Another gem for subway history and engineering buffs: The New York Transit Museum in Brooklyn at the corner of Boerum Place and Schermerhorn Street. The museum is in a full size subway station. There’s tunneling history and subway engineering and operations exhibits in the upper gallery, and two tracks full of historic subway trains on the rails below. Very kid-friendly, including gray-haired kids like me.