Wow! The Model Train Simulator starter edition works great!

I've just downloaded and installed the updated 9.34 beta of SCARM and the MTS starter edition.  I've been fiddling with SCARM for about a year now to plan my layout, and this version opened up my saved plan without a hitch.  It took about 5 minutes to figure out what I was doing in the MTS starter edition before I was switching cars around my yard - selecting routes, uncoupling, coupling, and rearranging cars in my train.

Running the MTS starter edition let me drop a small train (German loco, a passenger car, and a freight car) on the track and run it.  I could select different routings on each turnout, uncouple and couple cars, perform runarounds, and find out where I had problems on my trackplan.  I found a couple of misaligned tracks and a couple of orphan pieces that had managed to hide themselves on chunks of the overall plan.

The starter edition of MTS limits you to one loco and ten cars (one type of locomotive, passenger car and freight car are available in this first library), and the controller lets you choose forward or reverse directions, then a slide controller for speed and a STOP button.  But it works!  I've been using it for about an hour, mostly in 2D mode, since I'm not that adept at manipulating where the viewpoint is in 3D mode, but even in 3D mode, this is pretty smooth.

This fills the hole between trying to create a layout in Dovetail Games' Train Simulator, or the much older Microsoft Train Simulator, or the various versions of Trainz, and the different CAD programs that have been available for layout planning.  I have found SCARM easy to use to try out different track configurations, and the ability to run even a single train over the layout adds a tremendous amount to the package.

I'm looking forward to using this version to tune my track plan as I build each portion of my home layout.  I'm hoping that the next version of MTS adds a North American locomotive and a small variety of different length freight cars (a 40 foot boxcar, 50 foot boxcar, and 85 foot automobile transporter would be my candidates).  If a future version allowed us to place and control two trains on the layout at the same time, I think this become a killer application for modellers.

Thanks so much for your hard work on this, Mixy!

Janet

A great new addition

Mixy

Thank you for your hard work. Just downloaded the new version and the train simulator extension and had a bit of fun running a train around my own planned layout.

Editing Rolling Stock?

Understand the limit on 1 loco and 2 types of cars (pax and box) available and total of ten cars on the basic (free package) ... but, to actually test the track plan, one needs to be able to adjust the length of these cars (to match intended equipment) ... is that possible?

Thank you

Thank you all for the feedback

I am now checking what is the situation with the US railroads trademarks and licensing and then will decide how to provide some North American rolling stock for the sumulator.

Editing of the length of the rolling stock is not possible, but I will try to include more locos and cars in the future editions of the MTS

Mixy

Amazing!

I added this to my SCARM today and used the free trains to give things a basic test, after re-working almost all my turnouts (Yeah I'm a noob) I can't imagine designing without this feature.

I personally wouldn't care what the trains or cars look like as long as I could set the lengths to test different configurations. I would love to be able to have more cars and trains on the layout at one time, is this something available in a paid version or is this a feature that you are working on?

Being able to test sidings against a variety of other stock would be awesome.  Thanks for working on this - it takes SCARM to a whole new level of usefulness!

Is there a paid version?

I am wondering is there a paid version with more options like more cars and engines?

Very nice!

Had just started using SCARM and this is a superb feature!

Some different length wagons would be very nice. At least passenger and freight wagons could be different lengths.

Concerning US railroad trademarks I would say stay away from anything related to UP including all fallen flags now part of UP. BNSF is a little better and ATSF well known paint scheme is never wrong. Or a demonstrator GP7/9 could be at home on any layout, it's an easy engine also for the 3D model.

Thanks again

Thank you again for your replies - I am really happy for that positive feedback

About paid version - this is planned to appear in the next months, I hope. It will have the ability to deal with much more locos and cars on the layout and now I am preparing more rolling stock for it to be ready when launching. However, I need the current edition of the sim to be extensively tested in order to clear any potential bugs and the paid version to work smooth and stable without any major problems.

Changing of the length of the cars by the user may lead to problems with the proper scaling, but I will provide more types and various length of rolling stock for the next editions of MTS.

I started my attempts to contact the major US railroads and now I am waiting for replies. Here is one example of true colored SD40-2 that may appear in the sim, if I get permission for that from BNSF:

And here is it in action, pulling several 50' boxcars:

I hope that I will be able to get licenses, if not from all, may be at least from 2-3 railroads. I plan to charge only for extended and powerful Train controller, while the rolling stock libraries for the paid version will be free. If I can't get permissions, I will make the virtual models with my own fictional color schemes for the US rolling stock.

If some of you know official (or unofficial) contacts in any of the US railroads, please, send me a PM or write to SCARM e-mail . Thanks!

Mixy

Equipment Length

From an operational testing of a track plan perspective, I would be more interested in equipment length than how it "looked".  This is the most important "going-in" number for track plan design (after room dimensions and scale).  It is critical for designing staging yard lengths, passing siding lengths and industrial siding lengths and has some bearing on minimum radius.

While the pretty detailed graphics stuff would be fun for virtual railroading, it would not be necessary for layout design.  Just providing some "generic" box, tank, flat, refer, gon, pax, baggage, etc. cars would be enough for testing a layout design ... and it seems that providing a simple way to "stretch" the length of the bodies to any specified number would not be too difficult?

Cutting track?

Is there a way to cut track to length?  Flex track often needs to be cut; so does sectional track.  Also, sometimes, flex track (or hand laid track) needs to be installed at exceedingly tight radii for streetcars.  It looks like a good program

I will second the motion for

I will second the motion for less detail on the freight cars other than length. I thought your simulator was very impressive. That would not be (in my opinion) helpful in the design phase as much as different colored and sized boxes for the cars. It would be nice if the cars could have numbers on the tops. A 2D view that would allow the boxes to couple and be switched would be great for the planning aspect. Then one could actually simulate a train arriving in the yard, the cars being switched into new trains, and them going about their business. If one were to do this over the course of 4 sessions the 4 cycle waybill could be duplicated.

Your depiction of the nicer detailed models will likely appeal to the video gamers and the folks that like the simulator on it's own merits as an end to itself. For those of us likely to use it solely for track planning the greater realism would not be a requirement.

Stretching of the virtual

Stretching of the virtual rolling stock seems easy, but actually it is not so simple. There are number of coefitients to be recalculated and verified in order the simulation to run smooth and nice, i.e. when the train climbing a hill and Gravity setting is turned on. However, I will consider this idea and will see what can be done.

Making of detailed virtual rolling stock is not my primary goal, but it is important for a future paid version, because most users will search for nice looking locos and cars if they pay for commercial software.

When you work in the main program, you can use the Measuring tape to check lengths of the tracks, distances between them, etc. Also, when 2 or more tracks are selected, the total length is displayed in the status bar. Note that the turnouts length may look displayed incorrectly - this is described here: Correct Understanding of Track Lenghts Shown by SCARM.

Working with flex-tracks in the main program is described here: How to work with flex-tracks? To cut a flex, click with right mouse button while shaping. It is also possible to cut the regular tracks. This is described here: How to make snips from regular tracks? However, some track systems with build-in roadbed (i.e. Kato N Unitrack or Lionel O Fastrack) may be not so easy to be cut in the reality, like in SCARM.

The rolling stock in the simulator may have labels on top of the boxes when in 2D. This can be toggled in the Settings - look for checkbox, named "Show rolling stock labels in 2D". Renaming is not possible for now, but I may introduce such feature in some of the next versions of the sim. Actually, there are plenty of options for control of the layout behavior and train controller in simulation mode. To see and change them, start MTS and select "Tools"> "Settings" from the main menu.

Rearranging of the trains (like manual placement on the tracks in the reality) is possible only in 2D mode when the Power is off. It is described here: How to rearrange and relocate vehicles?

Coupling and uncoupling is also possible while the simulation runs in both 2D and 3D modes. The coupling is performed just like with real models, while uncoupling requires touching of the couplers with the mouse - see how here: How to couple and uncouple the vehicles?

Currently, some of the options and features of the sim may not work very well, as this is the very first version, but I am constantly working to improve it and to make it better with each next version of SCARM.

Mixy

Very cool . Nice addition to

Very cool . Nice addition to what i already considered a pretty fantastic resource. 

I 100% agree

Like John said, I think the detail models are interesting and fun to look at what I would really love to have is a simple interface where you can stretch your cars and that would pretty much make possible to make up any rolling stock you might need. If you wanted to get really fancy it might be nice to be able to spot the trucks actual location on the car, I don't know maybe truck locations are standard, but if not it could impact radius planning.

It would also be great if you had a selection of engines to configure.  I don't know if steam will be on the list, but being able to pick the basic wheel configuration would be amazing ( this page has a good overview). again setting the length and eventually articulation on some of the big boy would be so cool.

Another thing I found myself wishing for was a way to quickly color code the cars so I could play around easily with the routing of them to their industry.  I'd like to be able to pop a bunch of cars on a yard track like they were dumped there from the interchange, have them all color coded for the 6 or 7 industries on my layout then sort them out with my switcher to build the proper consist.  In real life I guess this would be done with the car numbers, but I don't think that would be as practical in SCARM.  I'm just trying to learn about operations and your simulation would be a great way to practice this on different layouts.  I could envision some of the big ops guys modeling their layouts and having it available for people to practice before their first op session. 

Well that got long - sorry for the wall o' text, I am really excited about your extension!  Keep up the good work, grab a coffee and get programming!  

Scott

SCARM Model Trains Blog Update for September

Thanks to all for your feedback  I am writing down some notes in my To-Do list and will try to make some changes in order to reflect most wishes, however, can't promise anything specific and time frame.

Here are the  SCARM model trains blog posts for September.

See also the recently published gallery in the blog from one of the largest modular layout meetings in Europe:

35 Years Anniversary FREMO Meeting in Riesa, Germany

Overall meeting hall view:

The track plan, situated on more than 6000 m2 (64500 square feet):

That is designed probably in AutoCAD or other similar general purpose CAD software, not in SCARM. However, I am considering adding of features for creating of modular layouts also in SCARM for some of the next versions of the program

Mixy

Model Trains Simulator with narrow gauge tracks

For those, who want to use the simulator with narrow gauge track layouts: the current library with virtual rolling stock in the bundle is representing standard gauge prototypes and cannot be directly scaled to the narrow gauge model tracks. If you try that, you may get the "Gauge mismatch" stop message and nothing will happen.

However, with a little trick, the tracks in the SCARM layout can be re-scaled without changing of the dimensions and geometry, so the virtual trains to be able to be placed and moved on a narrow gauge route. See how below:

Playing with Narrow Gauge Track Layouts in Model Trains Simulator

Re-scaling of the track route in the layout as shown in the blog post helps to test the track plan with the current Demo Start Set rolling stock library in MTS.

Mixy

SCARM Model Trains Blog Update for October

Here are the  SCARM model railroad blog posts for October.

For those of you, who plan in O scale, check the post and solution about the Potential Problems With Lionel O FasTrack O31 switches (SOLVED).

Mixy

SCARM Model Trains Blog Update for November

These are the  SCARM train layout blog posts for November.

Note the QuickTip about Fixing SCARM with Missing Window on Startup in case that you observed such issue:

Mixy

Extension install trouble

If someone is having an issue installing the extensions make sure when you click get extensions that it is opening in Internet Explorer. I had Chrome set as my default browser and get an error. Setting Explorer to default fixed the issue.

SCARM is great !

Regarding the previous comment, I use Google Chrome as my default browser and had no issues with installing SCARM extensions. It may be that some other program running in Chrome was interfering, like an ad-blocker or such.

SCARM is great not just for track planning, but also for creating fun graphics !

Chrome isn't the problem.

I agree, Chrome isn't the source of the problem.  I don't use IE, and haven't had any problems downloading SCARM or the extension on a couple of computers (two Win 7 and one 8.1).

Janet

SCARM Model Trains Blog Update for December

Here is the only  SCARM modeling blog post for December. It is about two nice virtual structures in N scale that you can download and use in your SCARM track plans.

And the most recent post from the last week in the blog is showing one nice short video about the FREMO idea and the organization of modular layout meetings:

FREMO Organization And Modular Meetings Introductory Video

Hope you will like it

Mixy