As we said, we would be exploring various train simulators and write about what we find. We stumbled on OpenBVE. This is an open-source train sim free to download and install. We like open-source software at Sector Trains. The project seems to have started in 2007. The website is up to date which shows the project is alive. There are some great sites with excellent resources including Trains and some good routes. First site to visit is obviously OpenBVE.net. We did read that BVE 5 was for left handers and Japanese. We cannot confirm though if this is true. Below is a snapshot of the cab view. It’s the real thing not just a computer graphic.
Everything installed ok and then the main GUI asked for a route and a train. So we when online with a search for OpenBVE routes and trains. Straight away a list appeared and we downloaded Barrow to Carlisle route with a Class 37. So, on Windows these files go in different folders. One called trains and one call routes. The files downloaded where compressed files which needed extracting 1 level and inserting into the correct folder. If your just trying it out, put them on your desktop and point OpenBVE to them and press start. If you have a Class 37 like us your cockpit will be the same as our picture. At the Mo we are stuck in the station but this post will be continued…………….