I was looking to pick up a train sim on Ebay. I have no expereince with these. What are the pros and cons of each. I would like to eventually like to run coal trains in the Appalachians. Thanks, Dave
I don’t know anything about the simulators, but was surprised to read recently that Microsoft stopped developing and supporting theirs a while ago. You’re on your own with theirs I guess. There seems to still be a lot of people using it, developing their own routes and rolling stock, so who knows. When it first came out there were many posts on groups saying how hard it was to get the program going on many computers, even with all of the goodies. Hopefully someone else can give you the specifics.
Bob Boudreau
I have the Trainz simulator, I have played with it on and off for about a year. I like it, there is alot to do running trains and building your own layout. But beware on buying a progam that has already been registered. When you buy a new program you can register with the trainz web site to get all the new downloads and there are a ton of them. But to do so you have to enter some information off the box, and if someone else has already registerd it you are out of luck. They WON’T transfer ownership. If you just want to play with it and not get any downloads or updates then buy it used, but don’t pay much for it. I think it is worth the money to buy it new and get the full access to the web site. You can’t believe what is out there for this Program.
For some reason my registration didnt go right and i didnt get membership-or so i think
Otherwise, Trainz Simulator is great, (but horribly addictive)
I have no experience with the Microsoft simulators, but seeing the capabilities of their other simulators, im not so sure how good the train one would be.
I own a version of the Tranz simulator. I like it alot! I would take firechief811’s advice and by one new. The downloads are what makes the game fun. On mine, I have downloaded a number of CSX, NS, Amtrak, Conrail, BNSF locomotives and rolling stock that were not on the original game. In fact, I rarley use the original locomotives that came with Trainz.
Steve.
I have microsofts trainsim it was fun for about 10 minutes. It only comes with BNSF who I really do not care for. I went to trainsim.com and picked up a ton fo Union Pacific steam and sort of got it to work. I tried picking up some routes that are more familiar for UP but I cannot get them to work. I think if your into the train sim you probably have a big background in program writing and pc tech stuff. I havent messed with it in a long time. I am just a draftsman but if I can draw it I can build it for my layout.
Go to train-sim.com and pose your question. They support both and have forums for both. The people in the Microsoft forum will help in many ways.
For myself, I would go with Microsoft’s Train Simulator. You can download lots and lots for it. The site is: http://www.train-sim.com You go into the file library, and you can find tons of great things.
I own TRS2004
Go with TRS2004 though the new one come out “soon”
If you go with MSTS you will get what you paid for. Not much
Trainz includes a lot more stuff but you will need a fairly powerfull computer to run it with.
the minimum spec listed on the box are THE bare minimums. So having something well beyond the bare min will help? Something like this will run it fairly well.
Specs:
AMD Athlon XP 2900 Barton Core 400FSB
ABIT KV7-V
ATI Radeon 9550 256mb
Ultra 1gb RAM DDR 400
Trainz and MS TrainSim have their pluses and minuses, and I would use them accordingly.
No matter what they both will have a learning curve to create a really good sim.
MSTS is a bit harder to work with if you want to do custom stuff such as routes, but they also have the “Sandpatch” add-on which models the Chessie System in Maryland circa 1985, so it’s kinda close to the place you want to run trains in?
I own both Trainz 2004 and MSTS
MSTS PROS:
reailistic train driving and dynamics. (it drives like a real train)
provided routes are much more extensive than trainz
lots of good scenarios included and thousands more to download
CONS:
Its an older program so it has inferior graphics to Trainz 2004
only a few pieces of rolling stock included and downloads are hard to use
very confusing route creator/editor. I got the game when it first came out and i still cant make a route.
No tech support to speak of
Trainz 2004 PROS:
Great graphics
Over 50 engines and lots of rolling stock included plus tens of thousands of downloads
Built in download installer, Just download and run
Easy click-and-drag style route creator with lots of features.
Many track pieces to use including turntables and roundhouses
Easy DCC style train control option if that is what you want
You can setup OP sessions
Interactive waybill systems (you arent just moving trains pointlessly)
Cons:
Takes a pretty good computer to run it
Not as realistic train dynamics as MSTS
Only 8 or 9 scenarios included, they arent very well done, and you cant get new ones.
Small routes compared to MSTS
Doesnt represent actual routes, although you can make them if you want to.
Camera views not as interesting as MSTS
It depends what you want. I prefer Trainz 2004 and if you want to build layouts and run several trains in an “operating session” on your layout then Trainz is for you. If you want to get a very realistic sense of driving a train but be limited to just doing that, you want MSTS. Both are fun, but once you do everything on MSTS you cant create new opportunities for running like you can on Trainz 2004.
TRS 2004 is the best
Actually you can download new scenarios. If you have the computer to run them you can get/make some big layouts. The cameras are fine in TRS 2004 you can even railfan. And the realistic feeling in TRS 2004 ain’t bad either. Of coarse you can make your own… The ability to build routes is nice and it’s very easy. The ability to deliver goods is a plus as well. The building of layouts includes mountains rail structures, water. There again the requirements are high. So up to you.
There are a lot of add-on available for this program, with new routes, new trains, new activities. And furthermore, I find these routes more appealing than the original BNSF’s Maria Pass with its rollercoaster style profile, because they have smoother curves and grade changes.
Among these add-on we find, only for the north american trains lovers, not speaking of their european counterparts:
-Kicking Horse Pass, Canadian Pacific in Alberta,
-B & O Cumberland Subdivision
-Cajon Pass (with also steam available / Santa Fe 3951)
-Tehachapi Pass (with also steam available / AC12 Cab Forward)
-Delaware & Hudson
-Michigan Iron Ore
-coming soon: Donner Pass
etc, etc…
A lot of fun for me!
Dominique
I picked up a copy of MSTS at a flea market for $5.00(NEW) just to give it a try, it’s OK but I would’nt pay more than $5.00 for it.
Find a flea market and look for a cheap copy and give it a try, if it stinks your only out a few bucks.
I have’nt found a copy of TRS anywear for less than $40.00 which probably says alot about how much better this game is, Goto TRS’s web site to check out the graphics and the games spec’s.
bill
I just installed the Tranz on my computer. I can’t get the PMS ( or what ever it’s called) to work. when I click it on on the start up I get some kind of err message any ideas on what I need to do? I can’t get to and help areas with them.
I have Trainz 2006, then when I installed a patch which was supposed to keep it from crashing, it deleted all the rules in it, which I never really used… except for the drivers!!![}:)][soapbox]
There is a new MS Train-sim in the works havent seen anything new about it since Jan of this year
We have MS Train Sim and it gets used daily in my house. My 2 boys, 10 and 7 have become very adept at downloading and installing new rolling-stock and have added a couple of route. The Canadian National has some excellent free add ons on their web site. There are several other sites offering free downloads as well. With the amount of play this sim gets in our house, it has more than justified its cost. I have never seen the other, so can not offer any kind of comparison.
I got Microsoft Train Simulator (MSTS) when it came out, and I picked up Trainz 2006 for a bargain price of 19.99 last year. Both are incredible pieces of software, but they excel in different areas.
In my opinion, MSTS is the ideal software for the railfan or engineer. The graphics and physics of the locomotives and cars in MSTS exceed that of Trainz 2006. Trains are run much more realistically in MSTS then in Trainz 2006, and the scenarios are much more orderly and easier to understand, but still challenging to accomplish. I personally enjoy the Activity Editor, which allows you to put together your own activities, which can include pickups and set-outs, passenger stops, opposing traffic, and personalized consists / rolling stock. Also the technical support for MSTS is much more organized and the amount of other users is so large, that hundreds of new add-ons are uploaded daily. If you happen to get MSTS, I would strongly recommend you sign up for a membership at http://www.train-sim.com/ because they have thousands of add-ons imaginable. Memmbership is free and is really worthwhile. If you plan on re-skinning (repainting) locomotives that you download or the default locos from the software, I would sugest you download TGA tools for free. It extracts the ACE. files which are used as the skins in MSTS, and converts them into BMP. files so you can edit them with tools like MSPaint, then converts them back into ACE. files.
Trainz is a much better program for the modeler because the Surveyor in the program is much easier to work with and much more flexible. It is a simple drag and drop type of program, where as the Route Editor in MSTS is much more difficult to use due to its crude programming. However, their scenarios IMHO are not the greatest and can be frustrating. Each route was developed by a different group of people, and there was