Roundhouse Ramblings
 

Send your news, articles and other material to the Editors. All contributions used with gratitude!!

Latest Updates:
Non-NERR News - 20 Sept.
Reviews - 8 Sept.
Rick's Rantz - 17 Sept.
Claude's Corner - 14 Sept.

Wednesday, 22 September

  • This is probably the final update of this month's Roundhouse Ramblings, as one of your Editors is on a trip to Darwin, in the far north of Australia, to attend a conference. We'll publish a photo or two next month. Darwin is the northern terminus of The Ghan, the new 5-star passenger train that runs between there and Adelaide, on the southern coast of Australia.

  • Our second interview for this month is with kip - the creator of the Priest River Railroad and the Hoodoo Pass 2.5 route called "Cascadia" and NERR's Hoodoo Pass v1.0 route and NERR's Wisconsin Central v1.0 route and NERR's Chippewa Valley v1.0 route. Thanks for sharing with us, kip.
1. How did you get interested in trains? Was there any connection with your real world occupation? How did your family feel about your interest in trains?
My interest in trains started at a very young age. I was extremely fortunate to have grandparents who lived within 200 yards of a "crossroads" of several Railroads ... all fallen flags now except one. I was "entertained" by the Great Northern, Northern Pacific, Spokane Portland and Seattle (SP&S), and Union Pacific. The Union Pacific tracks were 100 yards from my grandparents' front door. Trains went by on all tracks all day. Let's say I was never bored. So, being a young boy and being around that many trains, my "love" of trains was a done deal so to speak. As for my family ... they think I am absolutely "nuts" concerning trains. I am the only train lover in the family; however, I am slowly converting a nephew. His mother will be pleased, I'm sure.

2. What involvement did you have with trains before you discovered MSTS?
At the age of 18 I worked part-time for the Burlington Northern RR in Elliston Montana. My job was to clear ice from the tunnel doors at Bossburg tunnel during the winter. On certain lucky days I was able to "dead-head" down the mountain to my house in Elliston. The first locomotive I got a cab ride in was a SD40, then a lot of GP9's. I also modeled trains for a while at a younger age and have just started back up.

3. How did you discover MSTS?
I was looking for a game to play at a Staples store and discovered MSTS. Bought it ... and now I'm here.

4. How long after that did you become interested in MSTS route building? How did that happen? What was your first route like?
I've always been a "creator". The Route Editor (RE) was actually something I delved into more than the sim itself. I was able to figure a lot of the tricks, but after I bought Michael Vone's Route Building Guide, things became clearer, and off I went. My first route was a small version of Hoodoo which took me 2 months to make. During this time I made mental notes and a few written ones for the "real" route.

5. What was your inspiration for your Priest River Railroad and the Hoodoo Pass route?
I treated Hoodoo Pass and the PRRR like a story in a book. I took real places and names and built upon that. Everything else came along "naturally". Though the PRRR and Hoodoo are fictional, it could be real, hence the PRRR slogan "It's so fictional, it's almost real". Hoodoo Pass does indeed exist; Priest River also exists. Even the Diamond PRRR logo is real, but it's real history is lost. The story of the PRRR and Mt. Cascade gives Hoodoo a soul. All routes should have a soul in my opinion. We who create all fall back on the old saying by Willy Wonka: "...we are the music makers and the dreamers of dreams...".

The text in the table below is reproduced with permission from kip's PRR web site. To read the "story" behind the Hoodoo pass route and the surrounding area, click here.

The art of "inventing" your own Railroad in V-Scale


The PRRR was created in late 2001 on a whim. For some reason I got it into my mind to create a wholly identifiable Railroad Livery, let alone a company with a history. I used a "town" that actually exists in Northern Idaho named Priest River. I also made a route named Hoodoo Pass. Hoodoo Pass does exist, but not in any railroad capacity. It is indeed in Idaho, as is Priest River. The PRRR's Logo and Livery Symbol of a diamond with a P in the middle is 50% true. The diamond was taken from what I found many years ago of a scrapped logging car in Spokane Washington. The diamond is real, but what it meant as in a name is still a mystery. I have researched everything I could of the area in it's logging heyday, but nothing was found. In real life the Northern Pacific Railroad ran through Priest River, as did certain Great Northern trains. In 1970 Burlington Northern went through Priest River. Now, that particular sub has been "abandoned", and is today used by Stinson Lumber Company and Rail Link.

So...I took all the elements of information I could get and played with it for awhile until I came up with a "plan". It was a evolutionary beginnings. The color scheme and logo were pretty much done ,except I changed the colors in certain ways to help simplify matters and cause less confusion for myself and others. After about a year I was able to set a standard for livery and color styles.

After all the scrambling of getting it "right", the Priest River Railroad (PRRR) was born. I uploaded a few files to Train-Sim with the new livery. Many thought it was real, and I had to say they were fictional right away. Now my new "baby" needed a home to call its own. So...after a while I was dabbling in the Route Editor and got Michael Vone's Route Building Guide. I learned quickly enough to try to make a "starter" route. Which I did. This non-published route was the first step in creating Hoodoo Pass. I began to sketch out a route plan and everything I wanted to have in the route. Many aspects were needed to formulate a route and its workings. Length, Industries, passenger service, elevation data, the works. At the very beginning the route was originally 80 miles long. Then 120, 160, 190 and finally 200 miles! Then I made a sub line that was 32 miles long. Now...I needed a premise of the route. What kind of theme should this route represent? I grew up around a lot of logging, but it was mining that took my interest. So, I "invented" mining operations. I didn't just make 1 mine; I made 3. The funny thing was is that the mines and their operations made me invent yet another railroad. It's like a railroad within a railroad. The Mt. Cascade Mining Company was born. I then proceeded to invent a livery for that too. I decided to make it simpler and a little more "colorful". So it was a "blue" thing that I created, and it seemed to fit well in the scheme of things. After 9 months of building Hoodoo Pass, I released the route in the form of a beta. I distributed 300 copies worldwide (no-foolin'). Right after that I updated the route to 2.0, then 2.5. That was when I uploaded the route to Train-Sim, where nearly 2000 users have downloaded it as so far.

To this day I still get questions about the PRRR. Is it real? Where is it really? Well...it's not real. It's fictional. It's like writing a book of a story that really didn't happen, but sounds real. This shouldn't be confused with fantasy. There is a vast difference between fiction and fantasy. To me, fantasy is not real and cannot be real...ever. Whereas fictional isn't real per se, but could be and be possible at the same time. There are perhaps about a dozen fictional RR's out in the MSTS world. There are twice that many, if not more, fictional routes. Meanwhile, many prototypical routes of real-life RR's are still being made. Fictional (and fantasy) routes will always be around, because they are testaments to people's creativity and artistry. The same goes for those that make real-life routes. To make a facsimile of anything real is difficult to do, but not impossible. Cajon Pass, Tehachapi, Kicking Horse Pass and many other attest to that fact.

To make your own RR and livery...take your time. Look at all the real RR's out there. See what is "feasible". Don't be in a rush. Make it as real as possible. Be prepared for your creation to evolve; what may look good now may have to be changed later. If you can fool someone into thinking it is real...you've succeeded.

5(a) Where did you learn to build an MSTS route? And how did you learn to model buildings and other route objects?
Michael Vone's book was a tremendous help, as were many other people who contributed to MSTS in some way, shape or form. Modeling isn't new to me. I have been dabbling in 3D-modeling for years with various programs. Modeling train stock and objects took a little time because of their unique purposes. I am by no means a "great" modeler ... just a "hobby" modeler. MSTS also taught me other forms of creation such as painting or skinning and file editing.  

6. How did you discover the NERR?
By accident! Truly! There was a VR (now long defunct) that I tried to join. The owner basically dumped the responsibility on me without knowing what the heck I was doing. So, I said "screw this" and left. On that very day I went to a website that had a NERR link to it. I went there. I found that the VR was actually being run ... right. After watching in the wings, I pretty much gathered that NERR was a "keeper".

7. What persuaded you to do an NERR version of your route?
NERR deserved one out of loyalty ... which still exists now. Plus, I felt Hoodoo found a home. Not an easy thing in the cyberworld.

8. Where do you see yourself being with MSTS in 3-5 years' time?
I haven't a clue. However, I do keep abreast of things in the MSTS world and keep up to date.

9. Do you have intentions to do another route? How might it be different from the Hoodoo Pass route?
Not sure. I think I will wait for the next version of "MSTS" from the other software companies in the future. I feel I have made my mark. I am "resting" the RE for now, but I do go into it to hone my skills so I don't get rusty. As for another type route other than Hoodoo ... that indeed is a mystery.

10. What else do you do in your spare time? How do you relax?
I go to car shows, hockey games, train shows and occasionally ride the Talgo (Cascades) to Vancouver BC once in awhile. Lately I have been working on my N Scale layout. Having a blast!

Tuesday, 21 September

  • One of our members (Casey, #180) has sent us a quick refresher lesson on how to use Route-Riter to decrease the number of consists that can clutter up your Consists folder. Many people report that they have strange problems with MSTS when the number of consists in the folder gets past about 900 (and many others report that they have strange problems with MSTS at any time!!).

    • Run Route-Riter.  

    • Click on the second tab "Activities/Stock" .

    • Click on the "Check all Activities" button.

    • When it has finished churning, there will be a long-ish pause. Then it will come up with another page. One of the options at the bottom is "Unused services and consists". Click on that. Eventually, four listings are presented.

    • Highlight whatever you want to get rid of, using the usual Ctrl/click or Shift/click methods. For example, to select *all* consists, click on the top one, move the "elevator" slider to the bottom of the shaft, press Shift, and click on the bottom one.

    • Right-click on the listing to get a two-item menu for "Delete" or "Move". Choose "Move", as you might want to use them again at some time. (Suggest not choosing "Delete", as they go straight to the ether).

    • After a second or two, the listing will turn green, indicating that the move has been accomplished.  

Stop Press! Stop Press!

New Stealth Loco

One of our engineers (GaryH, #100) has discovered a way to prevent the paint on his locos from fading. Take a look at the photograph below to see the results of his years of research and development work.

"This discovery will also save the NERR thousands of dollars each year in the costs of cleaning locos," stated the elated inventor. "But it might require some education of the general public before they will accept their trains being headed by something like this. And birds will have to adjust their flight paths sometimes!"

A representative of the NERR organisation, Mr A. Nonny Mouse, said that he was not sure whether the NERR will convert all its locomotives to use this new loco technology. However, he is certain that other forms of railroad equipment will not be suitable for conversion until further development occurs. "It might be rather difficult for people to find the doors of the passenger cars and for railroad workers to load freight," he said.

Research will continue.
  • This is the meaning of the colours of your ID# entry on the Crew Callboard:
ID# Cell Colour Meaning
ID# Active - has submitted an NERR time slip in the past 30 days.
ID# Warning - has not submitted an NERR time slip for about 30 days.
ID# Inactive - has not submitted an NERR time slip for about 90 days - will soon not be able to access the downloads section in NETS.
ID# On Leave - this status will last for up to about 90 days, and then you will become Inactive.
ID# Special - for other VR owners, contractors, guest developers, ...
ID# Retired ID number.

Monday, 20 September

  • More changes to the Crew Callboard:
    • Inactive engineers, that is you have not submitted an NERR time slip for more than 3 months, are now on a separate screen on the Callboard. Your entry will remain there until you submit an NERR time slip, with a few exceptions as described in the following points.
    • For now, if you are on leave, retired, special, on a yellow warning, or inactive, you will be made Active again when you enter a trip report. Entering a trip report automatically changes your status to Y for "Yes, you are active".
    • By the end of this month, if you are on the Inactive list, you will not be able to download any files from the  download area in NETS. You will have to become Active again before permission to download will be given.

    • Inactive engineers who have not replied to our emails and who have not submitted any NERR time slips since graduating from the WCN will be deleted from the Crew Callboard by the end of this month. You will have to re-apply for membership of the NERR and satisfactorily complete the WCN program again, before you can be reinstated to the Crew Callboard.

  • So you have the Tehachapi Pass II route (the payware one from 3dtrainstuff.com)? And you like steam and diesel - of the vintage variety? Mal (airartist, #229) suggests that you take a look at the new package produced by 3dtrainstuff - Vintage Trains Over Tehachapi Pass. It contains Southern Pacific's AC-12 and AC-10 Cab Forward (Mallet) locomotives, the Santa Fe EMD FT diesel locomotives, 2 cabooses, 10 pieces of freight rolling stock, and 16 activities, plus documentation. It is not available by download. There has been a busy thread over at Train-Sim about this package - it's too expensive, it's great, can we just get the cab forward locos, ... . We are not promoting commercial products; we are bringing you this item as a news message. These are the first cab forward locos to be made available in any way for MSTS (as far as we know) - they are an unusual piece of U.S. railroad history.

Sunday, 19 September

  • In some forums (not ours), there is ongoing speculation about the future of MSTS now that MSTS 2 has been cancelled by Microsoft. In terms of new routes and material for MSTS, there is far more action in Europe than there is in any other part of the world. UKTrainSim (with its off-shoot EUTrainSim) is a very large site - similar to Train-Sim in the U.S.A. There are a large number of French and German sites, as well as sites in Italian, Czech, Danish and in several other European languages. Admittedly, since most of them are not in English, it sometimes takes a while to work out the various sections and content available, but the Europeans are certainly not sitting back waiting for MSTS to die through lack of interest. The reverse is true - they will wear it out through over-use! Yes, I know that is not really possible with computer software, but it reads better that way! And I know that their signals are different, and that they drive on the other side of the road (route), but there is plenty of material available if you want a different MSTS experience in your spare time - after you have brought in your share of revenue for the NERR, that is!

  • Do you know how the ranks on the NERR forums are worked out? Check out the table below. There is one more rank - for over 500 posts, but I will leave that one unlisted for now - just for fun! Let's see who is the first to get there. You will also notice in the forums that members of the Administration group do not have ranks; they have titles. These ranks and posting requirements are set by the administrator of the forums.

Rank No. of Posts in the Forums
Apprentice 1
Baggage Man 15
Porter 30
Hostler * 50
Switchman 75
Brakeman 100
Conductor 150
Engineer 200
Station Master 300
Yard Master 350
Superintendent 400

* Hostler = the person who takes charge of a locomotive when it is left by the engineer after a trip.

Friday, 17 September

  • We've updated Rick's column with his 2nd article - don't forget to keep checking the dates in the box to the right.

Wednesday, 15 September

  • We are going to try to update the columns by Claude and Rick on a monthly basis - can't give you too much of a good thing! Rick's September article will be added in the next few days, as will another interview with one of our members (this time a route developer).

  • This is one of the best screenshots that we have seen for some time. It was posted in the NERR forums by John McEwen (mcewen, ID#117) recently. It shows Goat Canyon Trestle on the San Diego & Arizona Route. The trestle bridge was built in 1932 and is 633 feet long and 185 feet high, according to the Readme file. This route has beautiful desert scenery.

  • Now that everyone knows about the NERR FAQ page on the web site (don't you!), there is no need for the Handy Hints page attached to this News page. We can put those sorts of helpful, handy hints on this page.

  • Handy Hint - Running Views:

    • "I go to view 3 (end of the train), hit ctrl-shift 9 center is directly behind the train (or not) and go up as high as I can. Leaving it there knowing that there is a tunnel ahead. If the tunnel is under a high mountain, and you leave it in view3 (after you do what described above) once the end of the train goes into the tunnel the view reverts to the cab and stays there (you have no control of the views until the end of the train is out of the tunnel). What this will do is raise the view3 height considerable depending the mountain or hill height you went under.

      Oh yes...while at that view (after the tunnel), you can use the mouse to pan around...but don't touch those arrow key, or it will revert back to the original height. You can still go back to the other views and the view 3 will still be there at a high altitude...until you end the sim or hit an arrow.

    • When in the trackside spotters View... Use the CTRL key and left or right arrow to change the point of focus from the lead locomotive to any car in the consist. Comes in very handy when reversing at a bumper when focused on the last car when in reverse.

    • I've started running with one of my views, usually the F3, about midway along the train (if it's a long one) and I use the ctrl-shift-9 mode. After doing that I use ctrl-up arrow to get as high above the train as possible. Gives me a great view of the train and surrounding terrain, especially in mountains, where things can sometimes seem too restricted with the normal views. In that mode, you can hold down the right mouse button and turn in any direction."

Tuesday, 14 September

  • The 2nd episode of Claude's Corner is now online.  Click here to read it. And the links in the box to the right are now live as well.
  • Have you read the reviews of some of the NERR work orders and a few other things (a book, a set of locos, ...) that have been published on our Work Order Sheets web page called "Penned in the Crummy"? There are currently 14 reviews on that page. You will find the reviews both helpful and enjoyable. In fact, why don't you write one and send it in? You must have a favourite work order - tell everyone about it and how good it is. Here's one of the reviews there already (please note that the SW Division paid no money to bribe the Editor to use this one - although donations will be gratefully received!). Now go and run the work order!

Review—NERP 090-01, 02 & 03 by HiLine (Jerry Matthews)

 

If you’re an engineer who really enjoys hauling long, heavy trains over the sort of rugged rural real estate that has a pronounced vertical component, then you’ll really like what Jerry Matthews has done with this trio of coal-dragging activities for Raton Pass. These acts will test your skills while they make an interesting story that’ll be sure to keep your attention throughout the series.

 

Here, you’re the operator of a twice-weekly, routine coal delivery from Wyoming to San Diego. In this case, however, lengthy repairs to the main have pooched the “routine”, and operations are rather hectic as everybody – including yourself – tries to clear the backlog. You start-off in the first act heading for Trinidad, Colorado hauling 40 loaded Bethgons behind a pair of stately AC6000CWs and a trusty old SD40-2. You must make a pick-up in Trinidad and then take the whole caboodle over the pass to Raton.

 

Watch your step with this pick-up; get it wrong and you could find yourself in a bit of trouble. And then, climbing the Pass with this particular lash-up is no easy feat. It requires a deft hand on the power lever as you strive to keep the amps in the green without stalling the train. Not quite a sight-seeing tour, that’s for certain!

 

Having arrived in Raton, you begin the second act with some housekeeping before picking-up your train again, along with a healthy handful of empty hoppers, as you work out onto the main and get underway. It’s a 25-mile jaunt down the line to French, where you take the branch line out to the York Canyon Mine – 35 miles and almost all of it uphill! Jerry explains that the reason for hauling the entire loaded coal train up to the mine is that there was a short window of time to move everything without a major impact on thru traffic. So conditions preclude parking the loaded train and just taking the empty hoppers. “All the more fun,” says you, the stalwart, steely-eyed NERR engineer.

 

The third act opens at the mine, where things appear to be just hunky-dory and smugly routine. But then comes the truly interesting part (Warning: “interesting” here is a euphemism for “difficult”!) Once you’ve coupled your original train to the long string of additional coal cars, you then find yourself in charge of a truly long, heavy train, whose immediate destination is the end of the branch line – all of it downhill! If you’ve ever wanted an “interesting” training run that’s nicely tailored to giving you lots of hands-on experience in downhill braking, then this, Me Son, is the activity for you!

 

Once back on the mainline, it’s a pleasant trip along to Las Vegas, with lots of practice on the power lever and dynamic brakes. But note I said “to” Las Vegas. As you begin to relax at the end of your epic journey, a word of caution is in order here, and that word is “slow”! Eleven miles past Onava, the switch leading to the Las Vegas siding appears to show “50” on the Track Monitor, like all the ones preceding it. Better look again! If you go smoking past that switch with the “Las Vegas” sign while you’re doing 50 then you’re in a heap of trouble! Read that number as “30”; but while you’re at it, try 20! You’ll see!

 

NERP 090-1,-2,-3 is a marvelously fun series that you’ll want to run again fairly soon after you’ve completed it. What’s even better, Jerry promises that the journey will continue on the Glorietta Pass route. The first leg of that section (from Las Vegas to Lamy) has been submitted to the feasibility team, and it will soon be followed by a side trip to Santa Fe while waiting for opposing traffic to clear. I can barely wait, Jerry. Many thanks!
 

-Casey

 

Jerry Matthews is a retired Electrical Engineer, living in Orlando Florida with his Missus. They have three children and 12 grandchildren, who live in suburban Washington D.C.

Monday, 13 September

  • Have you noticed that we are testing a  new NERR corporate logo? It was put together by Bob and Rick and will probably replace the "angry eagle" (my words, not an official statement!) that we've had for the past year or so. It's on the top of the Crew Callboard and at the top of the NERR forums.

  • You will also notice that the Crew Callboard has changed in appearance. Bob has added colours to your ID# to show your current status in terms of MSTS activity. We will be adding a key to the colours shortly, so don't panic if you are shown as red or yellow (but you might submit a couple of time slips to get back to having green status - "Green is Good!"). We will be contacting the engineers with red and yellow status to ask if they want to remain as active members of the NERR. Inactive members will soon be moved off the callboard to a linked page.

Sunday, 12 September

  • ConTEXT Editor  is a useful Unicode-aware freeware editor that is excellent for editing and debugging MSTS files such as ENG, WAG, SD, CVF and SMS files. It uses colour and highlighting to show different elements of the file. A variety of custom highlight templates are available, including one for MSTS. The current version number is 0.97.05. There is a good tutorial on its use at Steam4me, the large Australian MSTS web site. You can download the program and the MSTS template using links on that web page. It has a very good "match the brackets" feature - just put the cursor immediately to the left of the first of the pair of brackets that you want to check; the second one in the pair, if it exists (and that is one of the most common causes of errors in equipment files), will be highlighted.

  • We have added the MSTS Shape File Manager utility to the Other Downloads page on this web site (log in through NETS). It is a small utility that allows you to make small adjustments to s files - but be careful what you change and how you change it. We might add a new section to the Other Downloads page for utilities for route developers and equipment modelers - having a range of useful programs, or at least links to them, all in the one place, might encourage other people to become involved in this aspect of the MSTS world.

Saturday, 11 September

  • Route-Riter - There has been a lot of activity with new beta versions of version 6 of this essential utility. It is now up to 6.0.9, with at least 4 patches to fix errors that appear to have crept into the program. We will not host version 6 on this web site until it is taken out of the beta stage. If you want to try it out, you can get it from Mike's web site. This program is starting to be referred to as the Swiss Army Knife of the MSTS world, because it now has the capacity to do so many different things!

Friday, 10 September

  • Defying millions of years of evolution, one of our Kiwi members (MickyT, #102) has just flown home from a holiday in Bali. He says that he would rather have gone to Rarotonga, but that he did enjoy Bali. What a choice - Bali or Rarotonga!? Tough decision - but I believe that he did not have much say in it.

  • And I believe that Brian (elementb, #7) and Claude Thibault (#23) might have had a long lunch together recently. But we haven't heard any reports from the event yet? Come on guys, 'fess up!

  • Our first interview for this month is with Dandy1 (Dan Dierker, #10). The interview was compiled by Raymond (BeanCounter, #33).

I’m sitting here this evening with Mr. Dan Dierker, aka Dandy1 in the NERR world. Dan has been a member of NERR almost from the beginning, and is the Director of the Central Division, Director of WCN, and the co-founder of Bison Rail along with the Bison Rail Director, Hans Groenenberg (Dutchie), among many other NERR duties. He also has the distinction of having officially run more hours than anyone else. 

Q.  Even though this isn’t a job interview, tell us a little about yourself and your family. 
A. I am 40 years old and have lived on a farm all my life. I have just been recently married to Teresa, on July 17th of this year. I have custody of two boys, 8 and 6 (Dustin and Dalton). She has a 14 year old daughter (Elizabeth) and 21 year old son (Trent). 

Q.  Any other juicy personal stuff you want to tell the world about?
 A.  My two boys are definitely all Boys. At school last year, a police officer discussed with my boys about calling 911. They put it to good use right away when I was outside talking with my neighbor. They called 911 that day when they couldn't reach the chocolate chip cookies. Really can't blame them a bit, for I would get a little grumpy when there is no cookies either, let alone when you can see them and not able to reach them. 

Q  Your farm is in Illinois. Where is it? How big? 
 A.  My farm is in central Illinois near the town of Lincoln, and I raise corn and soybeans. My family owns 500 acres and I custom farm another 2200 acres. 

Q.  What goes to the market from your place? Does it go by rail or truck?
 A.  This harvest I will combine harvest just over 250,000 bushels of grain in about 45 days. We have grain bins and dry the grain ourselves; then it is shipped directly, by truck, to ADM in Decatur, Illinois. Since farming is seasonal, I do a lot of other jobs as well. I may be an electrician one day, welder, drive construction equipment, etc, and a horse show announcer the next. I truly love my life for the variety of things that I get to do. 

Q  How did you get started with MSTS and NERR? Did you have any other train related hobbies before such as a model railroad?
A.  I have been a modeler all my life and have won several modeling contests over the years. I was doing electrical wiring when I was 10 years old, and with the love of trains, modeling, and (LOL) taking in voltage over the years, was a perfect fit. I have not modeled any trains or scenes for a while, and MSTS came along, and just sure an accident stumbling across NERR at the same time, and have not looked back since. I cannot imagine not running trains at NERR; it's just part of my day. 

Q.  What are your other interests besides virtual railroading.
 A.  My choices after trains are toy tractor collecting (over 650 pieces) and gardening. I am a Master Gardner and spend a lot of time raising flowers and vegetables. My specialty is roses, and I have bred together several types of roses to produce a new variety - you just never know what you will end up with. I have been involved in basketball and softball as well. My nephews are playing, and now my two boys are as well. Players make the worst fans. I do not wear glasses, but I take them to the game with me. You will see me standing up waving them at the referees asking if they need a pair, because that was a bad call against me boyz. 

Q.  What’s the last book you read? Last movie you saw? Favourite food?
 A.  Last book I read was "The Notebook". Last movie I went out to see at the theater was "Garfield". I like all sorts of food but, turkey, potatoes and sweetcorn - it just does not get any better than that.

Q.  Why don’t we see your picture in the forums?
 A.  Why would you want to see an ugly picture? 

Q.  If you didn’t have the farm, what would you really like to do? (Besides running a train, of course.)
 A.  I’ve been a fireman, truck driver, and just about done everything a handyman could do. I guess it would be to drive a crane. I got to drive a bulldozer, road grader, earthmover one week out on a jobsite filling in for a friend, but a crane has the power but takes a light touch swinging things around. It was truly a blast, and I wanted to go around picking everything up. I think the ultimate type of crane work, would be on a high rise building. 

Q.  How much does Bob pay the Central Division Director? Is it enough?
 A.   This question should really be reversed. I should be paying Bob for all this enjoyment. I really don’t think Bob Artim has fully comprehended all the enjoyment he has created for everyone here. You start looking at the hours people have logged in time slips, that’s a lot of fun for a lot of people, let alone the countless hours that people put into routes, trains, and making the W/O getting to that point. It truly is amazing what he has accomplished here, and how everyone at NERR works together. 

Q. What led to Bison Rail?
 A.   Bison Rail was formed from a friendship that I have with Dutchie. He coined the title, "Bison Rail", and the ideas took off from there. It’s far from being done yet, and hopefully within a month you will see what Bison Rail has coming up soon. We will be extending Bison Rail further but will always be attached to NERR, for there is no place like home, and NERR is my other home.

Q.  What irritates you the most?
 A.  Being old enough that I can’t call 911 for Chocolate Chip Cookies. I really have no complaints, for life is too short to worry about it. 

Q.  What can you tell us about the rumors going around about the sheep in that “special” pen in the barn?
 A.  Sheep, well what can I say, there’s a few people around NERR that keep sending me Velcro Gloves. What is interesting is when I met Teresa, she had a stuffed sheep in her living room right next to the TV, and I figured that had to be a sign that she was the one. 

Q. Where do you see yourself and/or NERR in a year? In three?
 A.  NERR in a year will be just as strong as ever. MSTS is a long ways from being dead. There is so much more to do with operations, trains being more realistic, etc. NERR had a call out to a lot of other VRs to help each other out. As you can see, they are dropping like flies due to the incorrect people in key places and the inability to listen. What I see happening in the future is more spin-offs from NERR using the NERR structure - OVS for example. Bob and Jim are working on two payware VRs that will once again have the structure and support of NERR people. If any new VR wants to be successful, they will have to learn from NERR. Bob, Jim, Brian, John, MR are very seasoned, as well as numerous others at NERR, on what works and what does not. Will there be more spin-offs from NERR into smaller VRs? Time will tell, but what I will always keep in the back of my mind is what Brian told me when I first started getting really into NERR. Bob and Jim will never steer you wrong when you ask for help on direction. My experience since I've been here at NERR is that Brian was 100% correct, and if you want a successful NERR take the same advice that I have. 

Q. What skills do you have that we haven’t seen yet?
 A. I really don’t have any MSTS skills now, let alone bring any new ones. If it wasn't for Brian (elementb), I would have never written my first W/O. Was not for Dutchie, WCN would not run as smooth as it does. Not for Bob Artim, Bison would be buffalo burgers. Painting, lol - I’d still be wondering what an ace is, if it was not for Jim. Countless others to solve problems or to get -er-done. I have been working on websites, but there again, I'd be nowhere if it was not for all the friends who have helped guide the way. The only real skill I could bring is to give everyone some great advice. Be very patient, have some fun, ask for help, and when working on a project, finish it. 

Q.  If you could be any kind of railroad engine, what would you be and why?
A.  Thomas the Tank Engine. Always saves the day, and the day ends in a smile. I had the pleasure to ride Thomas the Tank Engine with my boys at the Union Museum in Illinois. I have never seen so many kids in one spot, not making a sound with their mouths wide open when Thomas came out of the Train Barn. Truly was a magical day for all those kids to see Thomas and take a ride on the passenger cars with Thomas in the lead. 

Q.  Anything else for your division workers and fans out there in railroad land?
A.  Bison Rail will continue to tie as much of the real world into MSTS RRing. Jay has done an outstanding job of masterfully tying together the history of Bison Rail train engines. Archer and JohnL have been working hard at revising the MOW department to work on the rails of Bison Rail. I am sure you will see some documentation on the MOW Manual in the near future, along with MOW work orders. The Bison Rail engineers will be called upon to keep the rails in great condition. Dutchie and I have been working on an Industry list. I think everyone will like what we have done, but it does take a lot of time to include the features it will have. It will be worth the effort and will be a nice add-on for other Divisions and Developers, to use as a reference for shipments. Some of the routes are getting close to being completed with this industry spreadsheet, and we will have a Bison Rail website for easy access. A lot more projects are on the drawing board, but harvest is coming soon, and will have to wait till my five month winter vacation starts. 

Thank you, Dan, for taking time away from your very busy schedule to chat with us. We look forward to more from Bison Rail and more from your work with NERR.

Thursday, 9 September

  • Don't Forget! We have a growing number of maps available for the NERR network routes. So far, our cartographers have produced:
    • Whitefish 3
    • Lehigh Version 2
    • ADFRR
    • Seattle
    • Hamilton Norfolk
    • CGW
    • East River
    • Full Bucket
    • Central Wisconsin
    • South Rail
    • East River
    • NERR Hoodoo Pass
    • Newark & Jersey City