On the Road With Trainz

By Alfred Barten

The Trainz on the Road program has made it possible for me to get out and meet many train simmers and would-be train simmers. It has also given me a glimpse of the future by seeing today�s kids in action. They line up waiting to try their hand at one of the two (sometimes three) terminals we have running TRS2006. When I send in my application for tables at a train show, I truthfully advise the show director that we draw a crowd and need to be positioned accordingly. �Don�t put us on a narrow aisle unless you want to hear complaints from the other vendors,� I tell them.




Changes are Taking Place

Despite the enthusiasm and receptivity from our audience, which also includes middle-age modelers, parents, and old-timers like myself, the model railroad media has been slow to accept train simulation as a bona-fide part of the hobby, preferring to take a wait-and-see attitude. I think some as-yet unknown publisher with vision and proper backing is going to steal the show from the old guard unless the old guard becomes more involved.

I�ve also had a chance to speak to show directors. They tell me they are losing the kids. Attendance at shows has been declining in recent years, though I know of several shows that have had banner attendance this year. Is the decline a trend? Are we poised for a reversal like the success of the railroads here in America? Is train simulation the answer?




I don�t have a crystal ball, but I think there are some obvious changes going on. When I first got into model railroading in the late �40s-early �50s, it was mostly about kit building. The generations before mine were mostly about scratch building because there were few kits to be had. Today we have an unprecedented amount and variety of products available, and the quality has never been better. Scratch building and kit building still exist, but the dominant form of modeling is assembling ready-to-run equipment into layouts.

Despite the abundance of commercial riches, today�s kids are attuned more to electronics and electronic games. Those who love trains and can slow themselves down enough to enjoy the particular esthetics and dynamics peculiar to railroading � as opposed to rocket ships, air combat, and NASCAR � have a lot more options available to them than any traditional model railroader has ever had or probably ever will have.

Is Train Simulation the Salvation of the Model Railroad Hobby?

I�m not sure, but train simulation does open doors to many who don�t have much space for a traditional layout, or the finances to build one. It also offers modeling potential for virtually every kind of railroad activity there is.

Train simulation enables simulation of railways above ground, below ground, two-rail, monorail, high-speed, narrow gauge, rapid transit, light rail, 19th century to present and anything else you can think of. It even offers simulation of signaling, dispatching, corporate planning and manipulation, and construction of entire routes according to prototype distances and configurations.

Generally speaking, people want to simulate � and building a physical model is also a simulation in its own right - what they see around them or are familiar with. For the many people living in large urban areas, the trains they see and ride are rapid transit trains � variously called metros, subways and undergrounds. Model railroading has been slow to pick up on this form of modeling. It requires lots of space to model a rapid transit system and some imaginative construction to truly model under ground. What little commercial rolling stock is available is expensive. Moreover, such railways tend to have lots of rolling stock, so modeling a rapid transit line with several 8-car trains can cost in the thousands of dollars. Given a home computer, the subway is suddenly attainable for the modest cost of the simulator. In fact, there are even free simulators with modest system requirements available, so the door is now open to many who would otherwise have considered it closed.

Who Are We?

I�ve wondered a lot in recent years about who we train simmers really are. Are we model railroaders who like computers? Are we gamers who don�t like violence? Are we flight simmers who also like trains? I think the answer is we�re all of the above and none of the above. We�re train simmers, that�s who.




How to Reach Us

I�m convinced that whatever publisher finally grabs the golden ring and successfully reaches the train simmers will do so by some method different from our current hobby press. I�m not predicting the downfall of paper publishing as we know it, but I am suggesting that electronic media offer far more options, and by their very nature are more in keeping with train simulation. I fully expect to see communication and news dissemination in the hobby be dominated by electronic delivery and format � forums, newsletters, instant messaging, animation and video.

Already Auran has implemented iChat in their TRS2006, and many games support multi-player opportunities. The train simmer�s version of the model railroad club is going to be virtual, spanning the globe. Pooling one�s efforts comes in the form of complementary talents, such as 3D modeling by one person, texturing by another, scripting by a third and so forth. Instead of bringing 2�x4� modules to a club meet or train show, virtual club members can � in the case of Trainz � send a train from one computer to another. And let�s not forget the worldwide community that shares its creations online. Every simulator that permits third-party add-ons � and that�s most simulators � has a large community that has created trains, routes, scenery objects and the like and readily shares these with the rest of the community. Now that�s a model railroad club!

What Else Do I Predict?

I look for miniaturization. Transport Deluxe has already been announced as in the works for cell phones and Open TTD is available for Win Mobil (PDA) devices. Surely Trainz would be great if available on Sony�s PSP or other handheld game devices. I fully expect PSP, or some descendent of PSP, to someday provide handheld communication capabilities. Your future VR Newsmag could very well be available on your PSP and be configured to enable communication with the editors and other readers.

I don�t make a practice of predicting the future � I have enough to do keeping up with the present � but I�m fully confident in saying �You ain�t seen nothing yet.�

Cheers, everyone!

Al

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