Howdy!

[Hawk]

New Members!

Why not take a minute or two and introduce yourself to the gang.
Got questions? Ask away!
Comments? Speak up!
We're a rather friendly bunch.

[phred]

Thanks , Hawk.

I guess since I sort of asked for this, I'd better use it.
I was a member of the forum from the summer of 2005 until the fall of 2006. Life dealt me a reality check or 2 and I was inactive in the train world since then.
Anyway, I'm back and I appreciate you still being here, Hawk. Between you and the rest of the gang here, I can get nearly any question answered or problem solved.

I grew up around trains in central Illinois. Had several relatives who worked for the Rock Island, Peoria and Pekin Union, and Santa Fe Railroads. I've have had several RR model layouts. I ended up in the computer train world with RT 1, skipped RT2, currently have and love RRT3. Son-in-law gave me SMRR for xmas. I loaded it , installed all patches, tried it, removed it from computer, and trashed it.
Hawk tried to get me interested in MSTS last year (thanks for finding it at your Wal-mart ,Hawk). Maybe now I'll even be able to seriously give it a try.

Phred

[thegrindre]

OK, I'll try it, too.
Been playin' with trains since before I was a teen.
In my teens, I discovered and started HO gauge as my choice of platforms.
In my early adult years, I discovered logging and was completely consumed by it. The late 1800's were most interesting and that's my area of expertise. I scratched built and kit bashed everything from buildings to engines.
Then I tripped over one of life's mishaps, had to sell everything I owned, started working in the casino business, and am now a single, one bedroom apartment dweller with a very big computer.
My virtual railroading started with RRT1, RRT2, and thanks to Hawk, RRT3, and , MSTS. Unfortunately, MSTS and my old PC didn't get along very well.
I am now into Trainz waiting for another good train sim to come along as MSTS was.

And that's my story and I'm stickin' to it...

[WPandP]

I've been into trains since I was 18 months old - my dad made the mistake of getting me a Lionel set then! Now, I am active in an N-Trak club with a module, and I have grandiose plans for the N-scale empire that will one day materialize in my basement. But, I spend so much time on my computer these days, too! I've tried MSTS, Trainz, RRT2 and RRT3, as well as Chris Sawyer's TTD, but my favorite right now is RRT3; just the right level of abstraction and playability, and as I am working on mods I am finding ways to really "model" within its game engine.

Much more can be learned about me, if you visit my web page:
http://wpandp.com/

Be sure to "buy a ticket" to ride one of the WP&P's premiere varnish trains, by signing my guestbook!

EDIT: This is a thread for Newbies, and I'm not exactly new, but I did just join back in September, so I guess I'm not as old as some of you farts...

[Ace of Spades]

I guess technically I'm a newbie....

I've been into trains on & off since I was a kid. My grandfather & g-grandfather were both section foremen for the Reading Co.. I currently have a large collection of their tools in my basement (many still stamped RDG Co.). My g-g-g-grandfather was a car inspector when the Reading Co. was known as the P&R. He met his end on the job, as well (survived the ACW; Crushed between some cars several years later).

My love of RR sims began with the original RRT (way back in my college days). Played RRT2 a little on the PS2, but wasn't impressed with it. Found RRT3 recently & have been playing the crap out of that as well as Trainz 2004. Never had the room or $$ for any model RR layouts, but I have a few train sets & some miscellaneous pieces of rolling stock around my house.

I found this place a month ago or so & it's usually my first stop when I surf the 'net.

[CeeBee]

I'm new, I'm old, I've been around.
My love for trains and all things railroad began at 5 with a trip across the praries from Calgary to Winnipeg on the Canadian in the 50's .... Actually the beginning part from Lacombe to Calgary on the dayliner is what really did it. The engineer let me go into the drivers compartment for awhile and I've loved trains ever since.
Was big time into RRT2, had a website and all and then moved on to Trainz when it first opened shop. Beta tester there for 5 years and finally burned out and bought RRT3. Shelved it after a few days and went back to Trainz till SMR arrived and thats kept me busy for the last year or more. Am trying RRT3 once again but I'm afraid that other than the beautiful maps I don't enjoy it much at all and will keep looking for that perfect railroad strategy game that only seems to exist in my imagination
It's nice to see some old friends here from days gone by. Hawk, Gwizz and JSS are the ones I've noticed so far but I'm thinking there might be a few more lurking somewhere in the corner so maybe I'll stay around a spell and hope the grail of railroad games it in production somewhere on this fine planet of ours.

[Hawk]

CeeBee - Ya' ought to hang around for a while and join in the modding stuff.
Have you been to the Extras page?

[CeeBee]

I have and I've downloaded all the engines and a few maps. Great looking stuff. The map editor is tempting but unless I develop more of a liking for the game I'm not sure I'll have the desire.

[Hawk]

Well, not trying to run you off from here but there is a little bit of RRT2 activity going on over at The Terminal, if you're interested.

[phred]

Kind of glad I caused this thread. It's nice to get re-aquainted with old friends. I hope more newbies , some returning oldsters, and even the real old farts like Hawk will post a little here.
B.T.W. , Hawk. I only had 7 icons on my desktop until yesterday. Your site is now #8, shortcut and all
phred

[KevinL]

My name is Kevin and I'm approaching my 33rd trip around the sun. I've enjoyed trains since I was a kid. My father bought me a Lionel O27 scale train set when I was around 7, and we set up a simple layout on a sheet of plywood in the garage. When he saw how hooked I got, we went searching at local hobby stores and garage sales for more track, trains, and scenery. But we found out the train set we got was an old set with the flat spade type connectors and everything new then was for the knuckle connectors. We were unable to find any more cars so we stayed with what we had, a boxcar, a tanker, a dumping logcar, and a caboose. After we moved in '85 the train layout was packed away and wasnt brought out again at the new place, as dad was parking his new Cadillac in the garage. But I would bring it out at Christmas and set it up under the tree. The layout and everything is still in boxes in his garage. A couple years ago, I ran across RRT2 in the store, and not knowing about anything else, I bought it and started playing it. A few months later (early 2007) I ran across RRT3 in the store and bought it. I played a few scenerios but it didnt grab my interest that well. I was still playing other games I had bought. Back in October I found RRT3 again in my pile of game CD's and loaded it up and started playing it again. Then I started internet searching, found the FAQ on gamefaqs.com and then found this site. I grabbed a few maps and was playing them in November and then I came back to this site and registered for the forums. I bought SMRR about this time, too.
My other hobbies include NASCAR, NHRA, and I'm one of the board members and founders of the local Camaro and Firebird club. I work for Manley Performance Products, in the west coast warehouse. Horsepower is in my blood.
I got married in Nov 2006 and have no kids.

[Zoogz]

Hey, this sounds like fun...

I wouldn't be surprised if this is the strangest setup on here, but I'm not really here due to love of trains. I did have a train set when I was younger, but I was more content to push the train myself rather than to set up the transformer.

I have been a gamer for as long as I remember though, starting with old Apple II games. I set up original SimCity on my school's Mac computers in the early 90s, and enjoyed that game quite a bit. I found a copy of Railroad Tycoon 2 on the discount rack in 2003, and realized that it looked pretty interesting. I played through it and enjoyed it. Moving on to Railroad Tycoon 3 wasn't a difficult decision, though it took me a bit to really get used to the game.

I am far more interested in the economic/business aspects of RRT3, though the trains are pretty cool too. I've worked in import/export for three years now (though back to looking for new employment), and I can at least relate to the economic realities of transportation.

It also helps to have four-year-old and two-year-old sons at home who absolutely LOVE trains, and want Daddy to put in "train game" whenever he can get a chance. :)

---S. "Zoogz" Jamison

[MrScott2007]

Ok, my turn...

I'm 43 and living in northeast Pennsylvania. I was born and raised in Harrisburg and moved to the Wilkes-Barre area about a year and a half ago to start a new life in a new area. It just so happends to be a great area for a railfan to move to. It took about a year to settle in and find a job...Good jobs are hard to find in this area! Now I'm getting back into hobbies.
I always had an intrest in trains, but it didn't take off until I entered the PC era. A-Train was the first game I can remember spending hours with. In 99 I got a copy of RRT2. From there, the gaming took off in many different directions. Tropico, Trainz, Sim City, Nascar2003 to name a few. Lately, I've been playing with RRT3 and SMRailroads.
I'm really waiting for the next big RR game or sim to come out...Keeping my eye on MSTS2.

[Gwizz]

Well I thought I'd add to this list. I'm still learning so I guess I can be called a newbee.

I became interested in trains when I lived a block from the SP RR main line in California. I'd ride my bike to watch the diesel trains go by. Then I started riding to town and spending time at the SP round house where three 0-6-0 steamers were kept. The crews there told me many RR stories. At 12 we moved to the other side of town. My uncle came home from the navy and gave me an HO F-7. He said his job was very boring as a radio operator on President Truman's yacht and trains were not his thing. That started me in HO. I built a shed and a layout in it. I got involved in midget racing for a couple of years and married the trophy girl. No longer able to afford racing I started collecting brass locomotives. We made a lot of visits to RR museums all over the US. After seeing the 2 foot trains in the Northeast and some grand scale trains. I started collecting materials for my own grand scale RR. We then moved to a job near Seattle. I built some grand scale equipment and layed some track. Then I went to Eastern Washington to work on an Indian reservation. I built a movable shed and started another HO layout. Then I found RRT2 at a Costco store. The layout gathered dust as I became more involved with RRT2, TSC, Trainz and RRT3. Now back home, Grandscale and the layout is again in my life, both 2nd to RRT2 and 3.

[AZ Rail Rat]

To those who know this story, sorry for the repeat. Hope I added enough new material to make it interesting.
(The "Man of Few Words")

For me, it all started over in Germany back in '78 or '79. Not sure how, but I obtained blueprints of the the Bitburg railyard. I thought it would be cool to make a model layout of it.

Being a newlywed and in the Air Force, space limitations drove scale down to N. With what spare change I could gather, I purchased a handful of straight track, couple of switches and cars. Still did not have enough money for a loco or power supply, or a place the wife would let me set it up. As you learn later, perhaps she should have been a bit more open to and understanding of "train-love". My meager collection of layout parts all got placed in a three-foot box, which I STILL carry around 30 years later!

One NASTY divorce and many years later, things remained in that box (and in my dreams) until '91. I was not yet "hooked" on railroads to the point we all are now, but the monster was sleeping within.

When Daddy passed on 19 November, 1991, one month short of his 90th birthday, I shipped his ashes (UPS, or was it FedX?) up to my sister who lived in Downers Grove, Illinois. I spent that year's Christmas break from work going up there for his memorial service.

The day I arrived, my sister and brother-in-law had an old AT computer with this weird game on it called Railroad Tycoon. YEP, the original. I sat down about 3:00pm and did not leave the computer (and only from exhaustion) about 3:30pm THE NEXT DAY .

To give the rest of the family computer time, I spent the week walking the four or so blocks up Washington Street to the train station and commuting into Chicago. I visited several museums on their free days and walked around the city a bit. Right up there pegging my fun meter with all the sights was the train ride back and forth. The "hook" was setting deeper.

I bootlegged RRT, which at that time would fit on a 1.1MB diskette using pack and unpack. Remember those pre-WinZip routines? Since I had no home computer yet, I would unpack it at work, play during lunch and after work, then pack it away for the next day.

After a while the fun wore off and it was shelved. Then, a train-related event happened at the end of June, 1996 that solidified my love for railroads (sick as some may think it is). My oldest daughter, who I had not seen for six years, and who was prevented to have almost any communications, called me at work telling me her mother had been killed by a train! An example of the estrangement, she called the day AFTER the funeral. Guess the rest of the family did not want me there. It worked out better that way - - - I would have enjoyed it more than I deserved.

The story was, the ex-wife had gotten a job driving a contracted "taxi" for the then ATSF railroad, carrying crews to stations along the Clovis Sub. I thought this was strange because she was SUCH a BAD driver, whoever gave her that job should have been piss-tested!

On the Sunday night of, 30 June 1996, she was called to deliver a crew in a 15-passenger van to Vaughn, New Mexico. If you have the MSTS Clovis Sub, you will notice the train station, mainlines north of it, and two sidings set back a bit north of them.

At first I could not figure why the hell she was in the yard in the first place! The highway and station were SOUTH of all tracks. Did she not drop them off at the station? Best I can figure, she had to deliver the crew through the yard to locos parked on one of those sidings. In addition to her bad driving skills, it was obvious she had not been trained in yard operations and safety. This helped a bit in the settlement which netted each kid about $16K each.
Too bad her new husband of ONLY six months (who the kids hated) got that much COMBINED and perhaps more. Stupid inheritance laws!

Lucky for them, she delivered the crew and was stopped in the yard for a slow-moving westbounder on the north main. When it passed, she proceeded over the overcross and got splattered by the 60mph eastbound freight coming on the other track. That train was lead by ATSF-4019, a GP60 which later got repainted to BNSF-8719. MANY pictures of it, both before and after the incident can be found on the Internet. This is my favorite.

Being out in the middle of nowhere-New Mexico (the MSTS Clovis Sub is more generous for buildings than Vaughan really has), she had to be taken to Santa Rosa, about an hour away. She expired in route.

This all happened six months after I remarried. My new wife, her 11 year old and I now inherited three TEENAGERS (18-16-14) and all the "fun" that entails. These three literally came from a different culture than they had left eight years before. Needless to say, the TRAIN ended one and greatly changed six lives in an instant.

Anyway, in late 2000 I took a computer building class because Boeing paid for it and the computer each of us built was ours to keep. It was a cheap system, but hey, it WAS a system. Celeron 600 with . . . never mind, too old to remember.

One of the first (and few) games I bought was Railroad Tycoon II and was briefly back in the train game. Not having a computer before then, I missed RRT Deluxe. The old machine got me through RRTII, and MORE important got me hooked on the old Gathering forum and the still-hanging-in-there RairoadTycoon.Info.

I had as much fun observing Mack-the-Knife and Booneville quibble as I did playing the game! More important, it established the base of you wonderful people out there. We are still together here mostly (or for some exclusively) because of The Dawg.

By 2005, my three left home (one Navy, one Air Force, one married). However, computer time on the old machine was limited because of the step-daughter. Even MORE important, RRTIII was out and lack of computing power on the old machine really showed. It was time to put that computer class to use and build MACzeane. She FINALLY had the power to do justice to the game.

Not sure when I got MSTS, but could not pass it up for $9.95 at Wal*Mart. This opened up more of the train world at 3DTrains and Train-Sim. I spend more cumulative time on our forums than either RRTing or MSTSing combined!

The real and cyber train world is all but infinite. Even a dozen lifetimes could only scratch the surface. Thanks to our community, we are scratching deeper than we ever could alone thanks to Hawk and ALL THE REST of you.

[Hawk]

Did I say the Rat was a man of few words.

[AZ Rail Rat]

That'll teach ya!

[Grandma Ruth]

It certainly makes you aware of your blessings when you learn about other people's lives! Sounds like the older ones amongst us have been through it in one way or another - my own story includes divorce, bereavement and cancer - but I hope the younger ones take note we're still here, still fighting and still playing computer games!

Like Zoogz, I'm not really that much of a train enthusiast, though I do have fond childhood memories of the train set in my friend's attic and I love railway travel. I commute every day and still get a buzz from the atmosphere in a railway station. I have taken longer journeys from time to time - going from San Francisco to Chicago on Amtrak was one of my favourite trips.

I came across RT2 for PlayStation when I was shopping for games for my eldest grandson. At that time we were playing all sorts on the PS, Theme Hospital, Pandemonia, Bandicoot, etc. When we both got home computers and as he got older, he moved on to Tomb Raider, racing games and shoot-em-ups, I went for Age of Empires, Civilisation, etc. I got RT2 for the computer and it was, of course, much better than on the PS.

When I was diagnosed with cancer and had to have a year off work, I was determined not to fall into daytime TV and got myself 2 new games - RT3 and a chess programme. I've played the chess game about half-a-dozen times, if that, and in the last five years have never really looked at anything else but RT3, though I occasionally go back to RT2.

As I was having some difficulty with one of the campaign games, my grandson suggested I look for some cheats - I couldn't believe there would be such things for a game like this, but of course you can get "free" money and so on. I looked on the Internet and there was Hawk's site, which I am pleased to say never has gone in for cheats, but which captivated me straight away. By now I was back at work and spent practically every lunchtime here!

When I finally got my home computer sorted out with broadband there was no hope for me - easy access to this forum, easily able to download games from Hawk's website, what more could a body ask for?

So welcome to the newbies, this is the best site around and I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

I recommend "Letters to the Editor" for scenario-building advice. There's a tremendous amount of expertise here and I now find creating games more fun than playing them. If you haven't tried it yet, have a go!

And do check out the "Conference Table" for general and political chat - we cover a wide range of opinions but usually manage to be polite and friendly. I am a socialist and a member of the British Labour Party (not always the same thing!) and we have people (mentioning no names) somewhere to the right of Genghis Khan but we learn from each other.

Then there's "The Caboose" for recipes if you ever manage to get off the computer long enough to cook ... and then ... and also ... (well, you get the picture!)

Edit: BTW, the flags - not political, it's just that I'm married to an American so a bit of a dual loyalty in our house!

[Hawk]

I am a socialist and a member of the British Labour Party (not always the same thing!) and we have people (mentioning no names) somewhere to the right of Genghis Khan but we learn from each other.

...and actually get along quite well.
There's another forum I used to go to quite frequently, but rarely anymore, where discussions get pretty nasty, resorting to name calling and the like. Just makes me really appreciate the camaraderie here that much more.

BTW! A short story of my love of trains can be found here.

[Grandma Ruth]

Hawk -are you admitting to being the one to the right of Genghis Khan?????