Have any of you retired engineers run trains with, Microsoft train simulator?

Question

They say it's as real as it gets. The locomotives look real. The cab controls seem real, and the sounds are pretty close to the real thing. There are many add on's like from sites like: Mapleleaftracks, and train-sims dot com. What do you real engineers think of this type of game?

Answer 1

Never have tried it Ziggie. I get enough of the real thing at work. My wife would have me commited if i came home and played that lol.I have heard it's realistic as far as the controls go.As for the sim comparing to the real deal as far as real train handling i have no idea.

Answer 2

I've never run one of them either.  But, I have heard they are very much like the prototype.

But I'd be willing to bet it is probably harder to handle the simulator than a real train.  Meters and gages are fine, but there is a very important "seat of the pants" component in the real world.  After experience, you can feel when the train is beginning to squat or run, for example, and that keeps you ahead of the train.  All of your senses come into play as tools in real train handling and those they haven't found a way to replicate digitally...   yet.

But, I'd like to try one anyway.

Answer 3

I don't know about the microsoft train simulator, but i do know about the Overland Park simulator that BNSF uses to train their engineers.  

The sounds sound real to me, but they seem to have mixed different types of locomotives.  You are always on jointed rail, and sounds like you are always going around a curve because of the grind (not the flange squeal, but the popping, grinding noise of going slowly around a tight corner)

For the most part the sim gives you the feel of a train.  However, it is NOTHING like a real train.  You have to learn how to run a train in the sim, then you have to learn how to run a train on metal rails.  Trains respond much differently, as in how you han manipulate the controls to do what you want and with what hoghead said about the 'seat of the pants' factor.

If you get it and you can run light engines i would do that because they can boogie in run 8, even up hill.... they're like 200 ton race cars. (seen + 60 on Accelerometer before... think about it 200 tons +60 mph in the next minute... lots of power)

Answer 4

Yeah, that's a good point. I too have heard that the games are very realistic, and accurate to detail. But it's not the same as actually sitting on the right side of the cab, where you can feel what's going on with the train. Sometimes right before getting under way, I'll tell the crew, "Okay boys, lay down and hang on to something. Here we go." It's not really that much of a palpated experience, but the reactions of the train clue you on what is going on and what needs to be done. Think of it this way. Imagine yourself digging a post hole in the ground where there are rocks. The shovel gives you the clues about where the rocks are, how big, and the effort that will be required to get 'em out. That couldn't come from a simulation or software. This is not to say that being an Engineer is as dirty, mundane, and aggrivating, as with digging holes. Well, maybe it is.