Nothing specific, more of an idea for something a little different that might even appeal to a wider user base. How about a representation of a complex model railway or a rideable miniature railway in TSW2? There are two approaches to this, either “as is” or scaled up to prototype size. The virtual model railway is a popular concept in Trainz where a whole variety of oversize room fittings and walls etc are available to surround the layout or, in the case of a garden railway, huge houses and garden furniture. In the case of miniature railways these could either be genuine 5 or 7 1/4 gauge where you straddle the train to drive it, or upscaled to full size. An example is the Strawberry Line at Bath that I upscaled for Railworks or the Coate Water Railway that I made for Trainz. I’ve also created several model style layouts for Trainz. Concept doesn’t really work in classic DTG TS so well due to not liking overlapping paths doing multiple circuits. Therefore TSW2 timetable mode would be ideal for this type of operation though it should be noted some of the bigger model and miniature railways can take a while to traverse the circuit. One of the grandest is Train Mountain in Oregon which is almost a complete network in 1/8 scale.
I did try the Trainz version and was underwhelmed - like with a lot of Trainz stuff. It was an interesting idea though. For me the logic breakdown is with a train set you are generally in control of more than one train at a time and TSW does not support that. I am surprised given the interest in model railways (and the cost) that someone hasn’t come up with a good online version. The ability to use, build or improve routes together with the rolling stock needing to be visually good, but not much else would be an interesting compliment to the existing train simulators.
Well if it was a miniature rather than a model railway you could still have authentic physics, indeed continuing on from my suggestion not inconceivable to push this out to 15" gauge railways which puts the Ravenglass & Eskdale and RH&DR on the table, particularly if we get steam traction implemented at some point.
Miniature railways could be interesting, though nearly all are of limited length, which for me would lessen the replayability.
How about a miniature railway, perhaps free, to test out the concept of Steam on TSW. Not much development on the scenery side or the stock but just as a proof of concept?
