Straight From the Box

This article, by special arrangement with Auran, is featured in the 15 October 2006 issue of Trainz News.


Fowler 4F locomotive and tender, packaged with TRS2006.

The Trainz Download Station (DLS) is the ultimate smorgasbord when it comes to providing all the Trainz add-ons you could possibly consume and digest. With over 70,000 items freely available to registered Trainz users, it’s easy to overlook the good things that come packaged with TRS2006. As a participant in one of the groups that developed content for TRS2006, I can attest that many long hours were put in by members of the various groups. I might add that many of the participants are also regular contributors to the DLS. The group efforts had the advantage of bringing together people with complementary talents, such as object building, texturing, scripting, working with audio, and so forth. As you might expect, all content included in TRS2006 had the benefit of being tested by Auran for errors and bugs.

Since I suspect many of the routes and accompanying scenarios included in the box are often overlooked, I decided to start featuring some of them. First up is Hawes Junction.

First Look

What struck me most about Hawes Junction was how much it made me feel as though I were in Great Britain – rolling hills, stone walls and bridges, masonry buildings, sheep and rainy weather. I’ve only been to the UK a few times, but on my most recent trip in 2002 I was able to drive around much of England, Wales and Scotland. I repeat: Hawes Junction makes me feel as though I were there.


Hawes Junction is marked by beautiful scenery.

The route consists of a 12-mile section of the Settle-Carlisle main line in northern England from Wharton to Dent and the 6-mile Garsdale-Hawes branch from that line. Included are two gorgeous locomotives - a black Fowler 4F steamer with tender and a Class 37 diesel – and coaches with animated doors and passenger load/unload capability and freight wagons. Both locomotives have crew members. Those in the Class 37 are animated and change cabs according to which direction the locomotive is running. The Class 37 also has windshield wipers that work in stormy weather. The trackwork is outstanding, with perfect curves and pointwork. Similarly, the scenery is a joy to drive through.


Fowler 4F is beautifully rendered.


Trackwork is outstanding, and the scenarios have plenty of AI train action.

When you launch TRS2006 and select Driver, then Hawes Junction, you see a nice selection of 11 scenarios. The developers have thoughtfully provided passive and active versions of 5 of the scenarios. The 11th scenario is passive. By driving a passive version first you get to see exactly what is expected from you when driving the active scenario on your own. This is a nice touch. The one passive scenario not paired with an active version is configured to let you drive a number of trains wile exploring the route.

The map shown here was created using TrainzMap, available from VistaMare Software. Each square is a Trainz baseboard, equivalent to just under ½ a mile on a side.

Rolling Stock

Lcomotives. The Class 37 included in the route has an implementation of AWS added. This Advanced Warning System is used to tell the driver the state of the signal he is passing. If the signal is green he will get a bell to tell him the road is clear. If the signal is not green then he will be given a visual alert (which remains as a reminder) by means of the "sunflower" turning to yellow and a buzzer sounding. In real life the system would apply the emergency brakes if this alert is not acknowledged within a few seconds. Whilst the default configuration of the AWS is to simply change the sunflower and sound the warning, it can also be configured to apply the brakes if not attended to. This can be changed by altering the AWS rule setting. You’ll then have to be pretty sharp with the Alt-Space or pressing the button in the cab when you pass that yellow signal or you’ll find yourself coming to a standstill. The sunflower will appear on the HUD if you are outside the cab.

The necessary triggers for the AWS system are included as scenery objects, and further instructions on using the AWS and how to implement it on your own route or loco are available in the rail-sim.co.uk section of the UKTrainz forum (http://forum.uktrainz.co.uk/)

Whilst the 4F crew figures are not animated they do change sides dependent upon the selection of right or left hand drive.

Updates for the 4F are also available from the rail-sim.co.uk website and include working inside motion and improved steam effects as well as a fully scripted custom cab.

Wagons. A number of wagons are included with the route, and as well as being "industry enabled" they feature doors that can be opened and closed in Surveyor and Driver. The wagons are also equipped with random skin selection. This means that each time you place a wagon it will select a skin so your train doesn’t have a line of identical stock (you can select the skins manually). If you have installed SP1, there are also animated couplers, handbrakes and hoses.


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Article and screen shots ©2006 Alfred Barten. All rights reserved.

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