As a child I used to play SIAM railway simulations a lot. The traffic control simulations are still for sale (and worth giving a go) but they also made Driver simulations, which ultimately got overtaken by more advanced products by other companies, and were discontinued. Recently the author was kind enough to make the entire library of Driver simulations available for free. The following routes were made, and are available to download: Aberdeen - Inverness Bristol - Plymouth Bristol - Weymouth Crewe - Holyhead Cardiff - Rhymney Euston - Crewe Avonmouth - Aberthaw Port Talbot - Llanwern Westbury - Acton Milford Haven - Margam Perth - Inverness King's Cross - Doncaster Bristol - Birmingham St Pancras - Derby Portsmouth - Bristol Paddington - Exeter St David's Penzance - Plymouth Kidderminster - Bridgnorth Paddington - Oxford Waterloo - Exeter St David's Bishop's Lydeard - Minehead York - Edinburgh These are not 'Driver's eye view' simulations. The screenshot below shows what is displayed - a route map, gradient profile, approaching signals or speed restrictions, and various other information you need to be able to drive the train. Many of the routes include more than one era - with speed restrictions and signalling reflecting the era of the schedule you choose. Although the graphics mean that the game can in no way be compared to something like TSW, it does have some features which TSW lacks. For example, there are TSRs and signal checks which are different every time you drive a given schedule, so every run is different and presents a unique challenge to keep time. Also the condition of the locomotive is simulated - not every loco of the same class is identical in its performance. Furthermore, the game features proper schedules - not only do they reflect real-life schedules, but you are provided with times at passing points (not just stations) and you are also told where the recovery time is, which enables you to plan your run and make appropriate use of power. Each route comes with multiple types of motive power, and you can select any loco on any schedule - so if you want to put a Warship on a Western schedule from Paddington to Exeter and try to keep time, you can. All of these features reflect real life operations, and add a lot of interest to driving, even though the graphics are clearly from another era. If you fancy giving it a go, you can access these simulations by joining the discussion group (the link for which is on the main website, here) and going to the files section (you need to wait for your membership of the group to be authorised, but this was done within a few minutes for me). It should be noted that these are DOS simulations, and on a modern PC need to be run through DOS box, D-Fend or similar.
I remember playing these years ago, alongside the similar but more text based Simudrive. I must check out his site see if any of the Traffic Control simulations are on offer, as even the old DOS ones still sell for a eye watering price for the Gold and Platinum versions.
The offers at the moment seem to be focused on the historical peculiarity which was the Midland & Great Northern Joint Railway through East Anglia. I’m tempted by South Lynn but haven’t taken the plunge yet. I agree on the prices - they feel excessive - but on the other hand the simulations are extremely well made and brilliantly balanced to be very challenging without being impossible. The more recent simulations (by which I mean, made in the last 30 years or so!) include difficulty levels and timetables for different days of the week, which gives them almost endless replayability. I recently bought Crewe 1971. It felt like madness paying £30 for a game with no fancy graphics and which can only be run on DOS-box. But in terms of number of hours of play and level of enjoyment, it’s been a bargain. My last job before reluctantly going to bed last night was dealing with two northbound expresses on adjacent platforms, both requiring their electric traction replaced with a pair of 50s in the space of a scarily-short station dwell time, without the numerous locomotive movements that entails getting in the way of each other, while all the time the rest of the busy station’s operations went on around it. I came out of it feeling a bit like I imagine an air traffic controller must after a particularly busy shift in the tower at JFK, falling asleep with images of red and green track layouts in front of my eyes. Most of my games, despite far superior graphics, don’t hold my attention or interest for anything like as long.
