Virtual Model Railways

Updated 30/06/2004

Some Parts of this Site are Closed for Redevelopment

Mallard has come long way since she first ran on the Railroad Tycoon track, and I was Prime Minister of Europe.

Welcome to the Wonderful World of Virtual Model Railways

My name is Harold J. Curnow and this is part of my "Palo Alto" website.

Real Model Railways work because the observer's remembrance or imagination of the prototype is stimulated by objects resembling the originals. A Virtual Model Railway replaces those physical objects by computer generated images and sounds. Here are some of the VMRs I have met:

Railroad Tycoon	BAHN (340, 359, 370, 380)	RailSim
SIAM simulations (various)	Polish MECHANIK	Microsoft Train Simulator
Hornby Virtual Railway
I will give details of some of these down the page.

This site is at present mostly about this next topic, but material about the other VMRs will appear "soon".

BAHN VMR

This has been a major influence, a complete model railway in the computer. See Jan Bochmann's HomePage (English) for details and download the latest version (3.80). This is shareware with a 60 day trial period.
My own BAHN layout Penwith8 is now available in Beta 2 form for testing and details are available on the Penwith8 page. This models the ex-GWR line in 1988 from Hayle and St Ives to Penzance, inspired by the SIAM PZ88 simulation and my own memories.
From comments received I see a major rebuild would be required to meet the two objectives of both railway and geographical precision - the land is too small for the trains. But it works! Watch this space.

MS TrainSim

I have started a project to create a TrainSim model of a GWR locomotive, based on photographs taken at Didcot. Progress is posted on the Trainsim page.

Also see screenshots from the Severn Valley Railway simulation.

SIAM simulations

SIAM is Structured Information Analysis Method Ltd. Contact via SIAM's Website Home Page

SIAM: Hunstanton 52 for Windows
This is my investigation of kinds of control menus in Windows versions of DOS-based simulations. It is also an exercise in JavaScript programming. SIAM have reported that all recent simulations run under Windows XP, so the need for special versions has receded.
The experimental railway simulation and a paper on the

Carlisle 57 simulation are on the Palo Alto SIAM Page.

Real Railways

My Didcot Railway Centre Pictures	My Steam on the ECML page
Railway Pictures may also now be found on my PA Pictures page	Link to the TrainNet Forum

A message from trainsimcentral.co.uk

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