Hi all, My first encounter with train sims was in the very early 2000s, following the release of Microsoft Train Simulator (MSTS) and stumbling upon the freeware Boso View Express (BVE). In the years following, I was involved in running a couple of websites, as well as becoming a regular on the UKTrainSim site/forums, and helping demonstrate BVE and MSTS at the London Transport Museum Acton Depot open weekends and UKTS Live road shows respectively. The late 2000s saw me begin my career on the real railway, which I must admit saw my interest in then spending my free time 'playing trains' dwindle somewhat. Just over a decade on though, lockdown saw me check out the community again to see what it's all about these days. A lot has of course changed in that time, yet there are still some little bits about the TS20xx game-play that I feel is familiar from MSTS. I'm now a driver in real life, and it was particularly interesting to compare the sections of the Portsmouth Direct I drive over between reality and sim. As a self-confessed Francophile, it's also been nice being able to 'visit' France given the travel restrictions this year. In particular, some of the freeware content out there is surprisingly immersive in terms to representing the atmosphere and 'feel'. Anyway, a bit of a ramble there! Just thought I'd check-in and say "Hello".
I hear that! I'm a UK Class 1 lorry driver and came off the road in 2009, I then spent the next 8 yrs working from home and that's when I got into truck sim in a big way it helped scratch the itch of no longer being on the road, however in 2017 I went back to driving full time and tbh can no longer face playing truck sims, thankfully though I'm not smart enough to become a irl train driver so I'll always have this hobby to while away my free time.
