Review by Casey
 

Review--NEDF-109-F01-Series by Robert Reedy (Robert Reedy, Missouri, USA)

Every once in a while, something comes along to pleasantly remind me of what it is that I essentially love about MSTS. For me, much pleasure is derived from journeying along the tracks from town to town on a nicely detailed route, picking-up and setting-out wagons here and there, while managing the kinds of day-to-day problems that tend to arise in the Real Railroad World. For me, this is bliss!

Robert Reedy's six-part F01 Series for his Dual Fiction route provides just that kind of realistic enjoyment! I suppose he has a bit of an advantage, since it is his route, after all, and that serves to work well in favour of NERR’s engineers. He obviously knows all of the nooks and crannies on the route, and he certainly knows how to spin an interesting yarn via the Activity Editor.

This series starts you off in the vicinity of North Fork where you pick-up your consist and head for the Schloggerville area.  There, you must perform a series of interesting set-outs and pick-ups that will keep the synapses crackling. This kind of work continues throughout the series, often with an intricate switching puzzle awaiting you, all the way over and down to Nuggett.

But for me, what makes Robert's Series so especially significant is the wonderful quality of the story that he produces! From the beginning of the first part, right up to the last second of the sixth part, interesting things are going on. In addition to the regular minor hiccups, there are bigger problems that arise, and you’re right there in the thick of it. But it's like reading a very good book: you want to savour what you’re experiencing, and as you get near the end, you're almost reluctant to finish it.

And speaking of the end, part six is a marvelous climax to this great series, featuring what I think of as "The Mother of All Setouts"! In this "final part of the final part", you rumble into Nuggett's rather extensive industrial area where the entire train has to be disbursed to myriad sidings and spurs. To make this segment really interesting, Robert has left it up to you, the engineer, to find all of the setout sidings and spurs – no dispatcher-controlled reversing points to “pave the way”. This makes for great fun that stirs the mental juices and leaves you with that warm feeling of great satisfaction when you’re finally done!