I was wondering if the Train Dispatcher/Track Builder simulation games are still being updated and used. I was going through some old disks and found these games I havent used since 2001. Is there anybody out there that still have and use this simulation? If so, have you bought any new track layouts? Using and viewing the ATCS Monitor dispatcher board got me looking for these disks.
Thanks
Paul
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Check out the yahoo group dispatch central, many people post territories that they have done themselves.
An "expensive model collector"
i dont know about the games themselfs...but on a personal note i did try my hand at playing one of them about the same time frame you mentioned above.. i got so frustrated playing it after 20 mins that i took the disk out and tossed it out the second floor window that was right beside the PC as well as saying a few "choice" words as i let it fly... i didnt bother to go get it and left it there untill i was cutting grass.. then i shreded it with the mower.. a fitting end to something in my mind that was supost to be fun..lol... althow it did give me a very small apprition to what a dispatcher has to go through in a shift.. this was supost to be something fun to play and it had me rattled in that short of a time.. can only imagion what doing the real thing for a living would do to me..lol...
csx engineer
csxengineer98 wrote: i dont know about the games themselfs...but on a personal note i did try my hand at playing one of them about the same time frame you mentioned above.. i got so frustrated playing it after 20 mins that i took the disk out and tossed it out the second floor window that was right beside the PC as well as saying a few "choice" words as i let it fly... i didnt bother to go get it and left it there untill i was cutting grass.. then i shreded it with the mower.. a fitting end to something in my mind that was supost to be fun..lol... althow it did give me a very small apprition to what a dispatcher has to go through in a shift.. this was supost to be something fun to play and it had me rattled in that short of a time.. can only imagion what doing the real thing for a living would do to me..lol...csx engineer
Too bad. I wouldn't have had a problem "disposing" your game for you. I spend way to much time with just the free TD2. $45 or whatever it is for TD3 is redonk.
J. Edgar wrote:i just re-upped TD2 free version on my new system as well as some extra territories.....i like it....gives a flip side to all the times ive sat at a red wondering ...."blankity blank blank DPSR why aint he answerin!!!!"
Do they have a website for TD2 or is it still signalcc? Ive noticed that nothing has changed on that site for quite-some-time
About seven years (just corrected that from tears) ago I bought my first computer and soon after Train Dispatcher and it's track design accessory. Then I spent several months of evenings and weekends recreating Reading's operations in and around the "D" dispatch offiice at Outer Station in Reading PA.
It covered Birdsboro to Beltline Jct on the Main, Topton to Sinking Spring on the East Penn/Lebanon Valley crossline, the S&L, R&C, W&N, Reading Belltline, and Berks branches. I even put the Blandon Cut-Off in as an option though it hadn't been built yet! All of this based on a very durable 1947 employees timetable I will never part with. RDG had 40-odd passenger trains at Outer on a weekday, including Philly-Williamsport, New York-Harrisburg, Philly-Pottsville or Reading commuters, and doodlebugs on the branches. CSD's (Central States Despatch) fast freights coursed through the crossline. Even had the Temple Hill pushers doing their thing.
Designing the trackwork from reference and memory sources, placing trackside features and signalling, labeling them in various fonts, sizes, colors was a lot of fun. More tedious was knocking in the trains with their arrival points, times, speeds, station/yard dwells. A flock of through and local and a lot of loaded and empty coal extras came next. Last thing I added was the unpredictable mishaps and maintenance work and the rare appearance of a Pennsy freight at Birdsboro's diamond interlocking. Anyone remember the "chance" cards in Avalon Hill's "Dispatcher" game?
Fine tuning as I went through this, I started to operate the thing. And it ran beautifully! With 6 hours to spare in real time I could manage a 24 hour simulation pretty calmly. There was a lot of track available around town. With 2 hours of time and in a slotcar state of mind, it was like sticking your head into a beehive. the road lost fluidity in a few minutes. But *** the whole Train Dispatcher thing was fun from start to finish.
Then my E-Machine crashed, the disc fell out of my binder somewhere along my daily commute and I doubt I'll have the impetus to recreate that sweet runner.
The coolest thing about designing that stretch of diagramatic railroad was how it came from personal memory and how both can converge sometimes when I am just converging with (like now) sleep.
Pleasant dreams ahead!
RIXFLIZZZZZZZZZZZZ
rixflix aka Captain Video. Blessed be Jean Shepherd and all His works!!! Hooray for 1939, the all time movie year!!! I took that ride on the Reading but my Baby caught the Katy and left me a mule to ride.
csxengineer98 wrote:.. althow it did give me a very small apprition to what a dispatcher has to go through in a shift.. this was supost to be something fun to play and it had me rattled in that short of a time.. can only imagion what doing the real thing for a living would do to me..lol...
.. althow it did give me a very small apprition to what a dispatcher has to go through in a shift.. this was supost to be something fun to play and it had me rattled in that short of a time.. can only imagion what doing the real thing for a living would do to me..lol...
Its even worse with 707s, 704s, short timers, signal tests, stalled coal trains, AND Lord help us if we delay a UPS.
csxdispatcher
Signal CC is now Softrail. I agree that they don't keep up wtih upgrading the territories. Softrail is a small company that makes its money elsewhere and updates the TD programs when they have the time. If you use TD2 I would suggest going with TD3... One of the biggest differences between TD2 and TD3 is the ability to stack signals. TD2 territories work with TD3 but TD3 territories will not work on TD2.
I'm going to have to take a look around for the Yahoo group as I'm always looking for new territories. Also, if anybody uses TD3 here and wants a difficult territory, please let me know.
CC
listen2this wrote: csxengineer98 wrote: .. althow it did give me a very small apprition to what a dispatcher has to go through in a shift.. this was supost to be something fun to play and it had me rattled in that short of a time.. can only imagion what doing the real thing for a living would do to me..lol... Its even worse with 707s, 704s, short timers, signal tests, stalled coal trains, AND Lord help us if we delay a UPS. csxdispatcher
csxengineer98 wrote: .. althow it did give me a very small apprition to what a dispatcher has to go through in a shift.. this was supost to be something fun to play and it had me rattled in that short of a time.. can only imagion what doing the real thing for a living would do to me..lol...
And there's been lots of times that I've been tempted to pick up one of my monitors and throw it into a wall. Or best yet when you make plans for meets and then the one switch you need to make it happen fails to throw for you. That's when you watch dispatchers vent their stress. I'd say most of us (train dispatchers) in general vent our stress at work and are able to go home barely remembering what we did that day.
Of all the jobs I have worked train dispatching is by far the most fullfilling job. There are going to be bad days of course, but there's nothing better than working a busy 1st trick and looking up at the clock to realize your day is almost over after it felt like you just sat down.
The best is when I'd have switch failure or some unforseen event that ended up delaying a prority train. We'd have this manager come down and second guess our moves for not predicting that switch to fail, etc. I think almost every night this particular manager was able to get in a shouting match with somebody over something; always provided some entertainment for the rest of us.
i will take them send them to me if you want to know where i live email back
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