Where else could I do this

[gremlin1812]

Hi All, Just thought a while ago. where else could I drive a train/loco of my choice on a route of my choice while sitting in a comfy hi back seat and snacking on peanuts and savouries and quaffing some of my favourite red . I cant think of anywhere.
As frustrating as MSTS can be at times once it is sorted and you are playing it is just heaven. One of our preserved railways "The Zig Zag Railway" will next year offer a package where you can fire and drive a real train for a day for around $1000au as much as It would be nice I can think of a lot better things to spend $1000 on and I can still drive a train and not even get my hands dirty.
Regards
Barrie

[Lad491]

Indeed, its great isnt it. If you have ever wanted to be a train driver then sim's like this are meant for you.

[jbilton]

Hi
It certainly killed my interest in model railways.
Even with the advancements in DCC sound , lights, smoke etc.
Having said that the world seems to be coming full circle, with interest floundering in virtual railways, whilst modelling goes from strength to strength.
Cost doesn't seem to come into hobbies for many.
Cheers
Jon

[scampispeedway]

Hi gremlin1812, I have always been interested in railways ever since I got my first loco a Graham Farrish 00 with the motor in the tender and a shaft drive to the loco.
I retained my connection by regularly getting the Railway Modeller every month since 1964 and still get the upto date issues, at work people asked me what I would do when I retired at 60 at the end of 2006.
I replied that I would try and build a layout and would help to pass the time, all things changed when I went to the Hartlepool Model Railway Show in 2006 and saw for the first time MSTS.
This totally changed my plans and worked out that this was a much better option as I was alone and had no family to leave anything too, so just before I stopped working I bought my first computer and started to get addicted to the Simulation.
It is certainly ideal for people like me who don't have much of a social life but this has changed with all the help and advice I've had over the last three years, this I appreciate very much and would like to thank everyone for their help even though I may not have said so at the end of my posts and for that I apologize.

Bob

[casperdog]

Bought MSTS not long after it came out in the UK but my real interest always lies in Model Railways.
I dont get the thrill anymore as a soldering iron burns my finger when wiring, or a bit of dirty track causing emergency stops, etc,etc,
Unfortunately it all had to go when i left the Uk, 2 dogs and a wife was more than enough for Turkisk immigration to cope with
So i'm stuck with MSTS. The nightmare continues.
Clive

[thenudehamster]

I always promised myself a model railway when I had a place with enough room and I had enough time. When I moved to New England, my then wife had a house with a HUGE basement, so I started building an enormous N-Gauge layout - then we split up and I moved into a caravan; the trains went into boxes...
Katie's house had no basement, but only a month or two after moving in, the boyfriend of an online friend of ours, the long-haired wizard (if you have almost any US routes in MSTS, he probably made the industrial buildings) introduced me to MSTS, and I've been hooked ever since - so much so that I built a PC just to play it; I'd been a confirmed Mac man until then.
However, if I had the chance to learn to drive a REAL steamer I'd be in like a shot - and there's still something satisfying about actually making something move, rather than just making images move, so the model railway is still an ambition, even if a lot smaller than it might have been.

For all that, there's nowhere else I could drive a 19th century steam train, 20th and 21st century British, American, Australian and European trains of all kinds as well as futuristic and fantastic trains all in one afternoon.