Peter Wild, 33 Serrin Way, Horsham, West Sussex, RH12 5YW.
E-mail:  Crepello@supanet.com  (new address).

Subject: Train driving simulators, Diesel-Electric, Diesel-hydraulic, HST. British Rail Western Region.

Page updated: June 2005


NEWS
Congratulations on finding the right web page! Unfortunately there are some old versions on the Net which I haven't yet managed to remove.
Recent changes:-
All programs are now free to download from this site. But if you decide to keep them I would appreciate a cheque for £5 for each route made payable to me at the above address. This simply covers the costs of keeping them publc.
Updates:-
June 2005. Corrected chances of signals failing and problems on the line ahead, plus some map improvements.


The concept
The system's core is a DOS program, the biggest I've ever written at  8000 lines of coding. It's evoloved over 20 years, often as a self-training tool and it's been a fun way to learn new programming languages and study for exams. It's also an absorbing hobby. The graphics stem from my previous work as a cartographer. They are a bit limited by today's standards but do push the 'teletext' method a bit further than the kind on your telly. Where it is still 'state of art' is the accuracy. It calculates speed to 7 decimal places each sec so captures very subtle drifts  It also simulates the traffic nearby so it's quite busy in the background.  

There are three programs detailed in the links below., each covering BR Western Region main lines. They are set in the late 1980's or early 90's when HSTs and diesel-hauled co-existed, but are also good for reliving the diesel-hydraulic era or more recent times.

 Paddington - Bristol (including Didcot-Oxford)
 Paddington - Taunton (via Newbury).
 Taunton - Plymouth (including Newton Abbot-Paignton).


Features of all programs:-
Coverage for both directions of travel.
Multi-track signalling (Main & Relief Lines, different platforms, diversions)
Accurate loco performance for practically any train formation.
Finely adjustable settings (weather effects, passenger load, heating, etc.).
85+ schedules. Each generally with near-infinite daily variation possible.   

Locos and rolling stock
All of the following are installed. The schedules tend to be for HST's, Class 47's & Class 50's but you can switch to any in the list.   

Diesel-hydraulic:-
Classes 22, 35 (Hymek), 42, 2x42 & 43 (Warships), 52 (Western).

Diesel-electric:-
Classes 17 (Clayton), 25, 33, 37(/0,/4), 45/1, 46, 47/4, 50, 53 ('Falcon'), 55 (Deltic). Also a theoretical 'Super Deltic' (proposed in the 1960's).
NEW: Class 67


Diesel Multiple Units:-
253 (7 & 8 trailer HST), 117, 153, 156, 158, 165 and Blue Pullman.

Electric:-
Class 91

Rolling Stock:-
113 carriage/van types. You can choose the booked set, or a standard one or build any formation yourself.

Additional uses
Game rules (things like stopping at reds) are implied rather than enforced. This lets you use it as a pure simulator rather than a game. To give an idea, by making a series of runs behind (say) a Deltic you can create a professional timing sheet, and in effect rewrite history. The system is used for some quite specialized things, like editing hand-timed logs of the real thing.