Review by Casey
 

Review—Gaetan Bellanger-valleypass.com, Mont-Joli, Quebec http://www.valleypass.com/

Mal Epstein and I were passing a few emails back and forth recently, when he tangentially mentioned Gaetan Bellanger and how much he thought of Gaetan’s work.  I’d never heard of the man before, and I expressed an interest, since Mal doesn’t throw recommendations around lightly.  So he led me to Gaetan’s Valley Pass Web site and the ‘how’s and ‘where’s of joining the Valley-Pass Club.

Mal essentially said: Money will get you into the downloads section. He asks for "donations" and $10 (US) [via PayPal] will work wonders . . . . his stuff is really worth it. In fact, I just sent him another $10 to keep relations on an even keel so to speak. Lots of wonderful Alcos with wonderful cabs and the greatest sounds in the world. CP, SP, D&H, LV, CNW are among the road names and he has some beautiful passenger stuff too.

So off I went, plunking down ten bucks for my membership, and then I started looking at what Gaetan had to offer.  Wow!  I was *very* pleasantly surprised at the quality of this man’s work and the dedication to detail that he’s obviously put into it!!  And I can certainly echo Mal’s comment about his work being well worth the ten dollars spent getting it!

So-far, I’ve only cherry-picked a few of my favourite Alcos and MLW’s from Valley Pass – I can only imagine what else is yet to come!  And while they’re all magnificent, so far, one item is *absolutely exceptional*, in my view:  his Delaware & Hudson Alco RS3!!  I’ve always wanted an RS3!!  This one’s exterior has that nice, comfortable “well-used” (“grotty”) look, but the cab view has to be seen to be believed!  Truly wonderful work!  He has other versions as well (“Cotton Belt” for example), but I prefer the grotty, lighter colours of the D&H version. (Note: the RS3 requires its own sound and cab-view downloads.)

I also had trouble believing my eyes when I first saw the Alco C628.  I expected to get a single locomotive, but typically, I got a complete power lash-up comprising three forward-facing units, trailed by a “reversed” unit – each individually numbered!  As you probably know, you can’t just go into Con Builder and turn a power unit around – the trucks will angle the wrong way on turns.  It has to be done “properly” (however that is), and Gaetan has provided the proper setups. This applies to all of them that I’ve seen, so far – the MLW 630 lash-up, being yet another sweet example.

The cab views for these locomotives are complete artistry;  it’s nice to drive around in a locomotive which doesn’t have one of the “Same-Old” cabs which populate many installations.  And I was pleasantly surprised when I was exploring the cab of the RS3 (in Camera “1”, of course).  When I then hit the left arrow, I was treated to a “Conductor’s view” up the left-hand side of the unit!

 Then, there are the sounds!  Wonderfully authentic Alco and MLW sounds which are louder with your head out the window – quieter inside the cab.  It seems this is typical Bellanger-type attention to detail, no matter which item I download!!

And despite my joy so far, I haven’t yet had a good look at his rolling stock, or his passenger-related items.  It appears that I’ll be a while yet, absorbing all of the goodies in this Train-Sim cornucopia!

While technically, I suppose this is all payware, it’s only so in a minor sense.  Believe me when I tell you that the small fee that’s paid for membership to Valley Pass is probably the best pocket-change money you could ever spend on your MSTS habit.  Like Mal, I’ll probably be sending along another ten bucks, since this man’s work is too beautiful to be passed-off cheaply!

Gaetan Bellanger, Mont-Joli, Quebec. Check-out his work at http://www.valleypass.com/