Hello, New guy

[PatrickL]

Just wanted to say hello and take a minute to tell you who I am so if anyone has a question my back ground. First time user of Railworks and TrainSim. I just bought and started play RW3 and getting used to the controls and the way the trains operate in the game. I am former railroad engineer. Worked for the I&M Raillink on the former Soo Line out of KC to Davenport and have been as far east as Clinton. Worked for a while for the Stillwater Central (WATCO) in OKC. Driven just about everything except for passenger train.
Currently in the aviation industry and was before I worked for the railroad, long story. Always had a thing for Sims and trains. BTW, if the guys doing the Soo Line route needs any track profiles, KC to Chicago and a bit north and timetables. Let me know.
Looking into mods for RW3, engines, routes and what not myself to expand the game play.
BTW, what is the deal with Cajon Pass (Barstow to San Bern). It's a BNSF route and it has UP engines. Was that due to some copyright stuff that RW couldn't put in BNSF engines?

Thx,
Pat L
Tulsa, OK

[arizonachris]

Hello, Patrick, Nice to have another real life engineer on board. I think it's always great to have a "real life" point of view about trains and driving them. Lots of discusuions here about the physics of RW itself.

Umm, I have BNSF engines on Cajon. But that could be due to an add on or DLC that I purchased. (I know it's not a re-skin, because I can't seem to get them to work) As for mods, add on's, DLC, there is a ton of it, some payware, a lot is freeware. Start in the library here. Then payware from Steam. Free routes from Toripony: http://www.coarw.com/ Lonewolfdon: http://www.rryard.com/ Scenarios from Heavy Chevy: http://www.smittyslocomotiveshed.com/ But that's only the tip of the iceberg. Should keep you busy for quite a while!

[LoneWolfDon]

Welcome to the wonderful world of RailWorks.
Hope you'll have much enjoyment with it. And you'll tend to find most people you interact with in the community are generally a friendly, intelligent and helpful bunch.

Myself, I don't much think or worry about if some routes & scenarios can be "non-prototypical". Sometimes we're a bit limited and use what is available. It is after-all a sim/game that we can play on our computers in the comfort of our own homes, so of course in that sense it will always be somewhat lacking and pale in comparison to the "real-thing".

I'm also into the Development side of things (which I find is a great way I can utilize my creative and artist side), and the routes & scenarios I make myself are all fictional-based anyways (and I'll be the first to admit that my knowledge of "real-life" trains, rules, routes, trains, practices, terminologies, etc... are still rather limited), but as long as they are functional, interesting and fun for the people that try them, then I can be pleased with that. Anyways, I enjoy the Development side of things for RailWorks too.

Driving the trains and exploring the routes in RailWorks is a nice way to relax and can also sometimes be challenging.
Overall I much enjoy Railworks along with the great people I get to interact with in the Community as well.

Best wishes,
--Don.

[PatrickL]

Hello, Patrick, Nice to have another real life engineer on board. I think it's always great to have a "real life" point of view about trains and driving them. Lots of discusuions here about the physics of RW itself.

Umm, I have BNSF engines on Cajon. But that could be due to an add on or DLC that I purchased. (I know it's not a re-skin, because I can't seem to get them to work) As for mods, add on's, DLC, there is a ton of it, some payware, a lot is freeware. Start in the library here. Then payware from Steam. Free routes from Toripony: http://www.coarw.com/ Lonewolfdon: http://www.rryard.com/ Scenarios from Heavy Chevy: http://www.smittyslocomotiveshed.com/ But that's only the tip of the iceberg. Should keep you busy for quite a while!

LOL, I saw that physics thread. Not sure where I should start. I'll add as much insight as I can.

Thx for the help!

[Kali]

Hey, welcome aboard! I think the best term anyone came up with what I did before I was rather forcibly retired was "systems guy", so I'm always interested in experts explaining how things work. Hope you enjoy the ride :)

[micaelcorleone]

Welcome to RWA.
Very cool that a (former) train engineer joins us. I'm looking forward to the expertise you can contribute to our discussions.

Looking into mods for RW3, engines, routes and what not myself to expand the game play.
BTW, what is the deal with Cajon Pass (Barstow to San Bern). It's a BNSF route and it has UP engines. Was that due to some copyright stuff that RW couldn't put in BNSF engines?

As for addons, a lot of good sources already have been mentioned, but don't forget to look into the RailworksAmerica File Library. A lot of good and free stuff from very talented modelers, repainters, scenario designers... are available there.
Of course, I also must hint to the site I'm contributiong to: Trains and Drivers

BNSF and Cajon Pass:
In reality there is also UP traffic on parts of the line, but you're right, it always appears to be a UP route in Railworks/TS2012.
I think the reason is that when the first railsimulator with the name "RailSimulator" (it's the first one from the series that ultimately resulted in the most recent TS2012) came out, the developer only had the UP license.
So they made UP locos. Later, a BNSF pack came out and since then, many more BNSF addons were released.