Move over Microsoft Train Simulator - Boso View Express has features you forgot, dozens of international routes, and it's FREE
Boso View Express, or BVE for short is an excellent freeware locomotive cab simulator from Japan. It's designed to allow add-on routes - dozens of commercial quality routes and locomotives are available for free on the internet. Although most routes available for BVE are from Europe or Japan, there are a few north American routes.
BVE features the latest in graphics and sound but doesn't require the latest in PC hardware, we have a 400mhz PC running Windows XP and most BVE routes run great.
In operation BVE puts you in the cab, your view is the same as a real engineer. Controls are very simple and most routes feature urban and suburban light rail and subway operation. On the route you have to stop at each station within a few meters of the stop mark. (There's an orange horizontal line on the right side of the cab window, when it's about 1/3 down the side of the window you're on the stop mark). When you do stop you'll can hear the doors open, and if you're operating a streetcar or subway the car will slowly rock back and forth while passengers load and unload. Once the door closes typically you'll hear a horn or tone then you're off to the next station - but watch those jackrabbit starts! There's a meter at the bottom of the screen that tells you how happy your passengers are. Quick starts and excessive breaking produces unhappy passengers...not stopping at a station makes them really mad!
BVE is geared more towards passenger rail, and none of the routes I have found include freight switching; with passenger rail being a large part of Asian and European railroading I'm not surprised. While freight operations like those found in Microsoft's Train Simulator are interesting I enjoy BVE's passenger operations a lot more.
The London Underground
"Green Park, Change here for Picadilly and Circle Line"
Davisville stop on Toronto's Yonge-University-Spadina line. This route features both subway and above ground running.
I think the best routes available for BVE are the mass-transit routes based on sections of the London Underground (subway), and the various German light-rail systems. They're short routes with many stations; the London underground stations are colorful and the German streets are very realistic (I keep looking for the Marklin shops). Many of these routes run both above and below ground. Sure they're not American, but they're not that different from many North American light-rail operations.
There are also "regular" BVE passenger routes - the British Watford Junction to Milton Keynes Central route is similar to our NE Corridor, and includes 32 miles of highly detailed scenery rivaling Microsoft Train Simulator. The Birmingham X-City South route is also oustanding, and includes a high-detail version for faster PCs
Typically sound effect details are excellent. Besides open and closing door sounds, going around corners too fast can produce flange squealing noises typical of tight radius mass transit and trolley systems. Passing over switches and crossovers produces a realistic sound. BVE also includes motion effects not found in Microsoft's product.
In the upper right hand corner of the screen you'll see a triangle - click on it with your mouse and a timetable will appear. If you don't want to start at the beginning of the run selecting one of the stations with your mouse advances you to that station.
Add-on routes. All of the routes were created by rail simulation hobbyists - none are commercial products. Some of these creative folks have re-created an entire route with photo realistic scenery and locomotive cabs; other routes may be shorter and more basic. When downloading routes some will come packaged in a commercial type installer that will install all the files in the proper locations for you. Other routes come compressed in a "ZIP" format. Once you "unzip" (decompress) the file you should have four folders - OBJECTS, SOUNDS, ROUTE, and TRAIN. The information in these folders needs to be copied into BVEs folders. Typically you'll find those folders on your system located in C:\PROGRAM FILES\BVE
BVE and the many routes do a great job of simulating urban and suburban passenger rail operations, and although BVE doesn't have the exterior train views featured in other software products it does have many unique features.
Did I mention it was free?
BVE sites on the internet
Official BVE Home Page - Partially in English, Train Sim Central (below) has English instructions for installation
Train Sim Central - Click on BVE HELP for instructions on downloading and installing the English language version of BVE Train Sim Central also has lots of BVE routes including two North American routes.
BVE Routes Database International BVE Route Site - all the best BVE routes reviewed.
Rail Sim Routes UK Highly detailed British routes featuring high-speed electrified passenger operation - routes have commercial type installers for easy installation. Excellent
Suburban stop on the fictional Neustadt Tram Line. This line runs though downtown streets, along it's own private right-of-way and terminates at a suburban rail station. Although the line is fictional it captures the feel of a German light-rail line.
Note the timetable you can access.
Fuzzy screen shot..
The Birmingham Cross City route is better detailed and more fun than Microsoft's version of the N.E. Corridor. Station announcements at Birmingham New Street (end of the line) are outstanding
