Site Outage

Yep, the site was down for most of Tuesday, but it's back.

Sometime overnight Monday, the site's databases experienced an anomaly which forced a rebuild from backups. Fortunately, we had good backups from Monday around 8pm, and the file uploads weren't affected at all aside from missing in the catalog.

Right now, things appear stable. There may have been a few posts or private messages lost, but a few were able to be recovered and restored. All of the files uploaded yesterday...

I had to do a double-take when I looked at the date today... Yes, September is just around the corner. With that, my youngest started what's hopefully his last semester at the University of North Texas this week, and my granddaughter went back last week to start her last year in elementary school. Time flies way too fast in that regard. Heading back to school also means one of my favorite times of year -- NFL football is back. While the pre-season is not supposed to be an indicator of anythin...

Checking Trainsim has been part of my daily routine for the better part of the last 20 years.

It's like checking the news -- I turn on the PC or open a browser on my phone, and it's there.

And I'm glad it is -- there are folks here I've known to varying degrees dating back 20 years, and this hobby is one of the few distractions I get from everyday life, and for that I'm grateful.

Some of you may not realize how close this site came to being like UKTrainsim...

Happy Independence Day!

It's hard to believe we're already halfway thru the year, but that's where we are.

I do apologize for writing this a bit late -- hopefully by now, everyone who celebrates the day has had a chance grab a burger or brat at a cookout, and is getting ready to sit back and watch for some fireworks either tonight or in the coming days.

Listening from my home office, the celebrating started in our neighborhood last night and hasn't stopped....

The folks at TrainSimulations.Net have another great rolling stock set for us....

Mechanical refrigerator cars are an essential piece of railroading, bringing fresh fruit and produce from the growing fields in California and Florida, as well as meat from the Great Plains and fish from the coasts to consumers nationwide.

This set offers the standard Pacific Car and Foundry 57' car that was in widespread use from the 1960's to the 1990's. A few still remain in service today...

I'm happy to announce all four packs produced for the 3DTrainStuff.com West Colton route by DieselsWest are now available for purchase in our storefront.

These packs are essential for anyone who owns the West Colton route, and I have to say, look pretty darn good on the Shasta as well.

Also available from DieselsWest is their Burlington Northern U30C setalso available. If you're a fan of late Second Generation GE power, you'll want to check this set out.

Pre-ditchlight...

Run8 Studios has just released their newest equipment pack -- four more MP15's in new liveries:

• BN patched to BNSF
• SP patched to UP
• GMTX
• CSX

These grizzled veterans help round out the previous liveries in Packs 1 and 2 (BN, BNSF Heritage I, BNSF Swoosh, NS, SP, Amtrak, Union Pacific, CSX YN3 and Run8 RR).

Each locomotive has a 3D cab, animated windows, doors, windshield wipers, and many other cool features that only Run8 offers.

If you like switching, check...

Where has the year gone? Here we are almost in the month of June, my granddaughter is out of school again, and my wife's tomato patch looks to be off to a good start. Still waiting for the cicadas to hatch up in our neck of the woods, but I can't say I'm too concerned if they don't manage to show up. They're ugly and the dogs will probably be a bit freaked out...

This week got off to a very interesting start... a perennial favorite here at Trainsim.Com has an update: the Full Bucket...

It's Memorial Day in the United States.

As most Americans will be enjoying the day off from work today, I wanted to write and acknowledge that our very ability to enjoy a holiday came at a very high price, which was paid for by those who gave their lives in conflict.

Previously known as Decoration Day, this is not a day of celebration. It's not intended to be a day for parties, boating or barbecues.

It is a day of commemoration, specifically set...

If you're a fan of EMD F-Units, chances are one of the 3DTrains options posted to the Store this week will fit right in with your MSTS/ORTS collection. The ORTS Santa Fe F7 pack is designed for OpenRails, including a true 3D cab. The model detail is outstanding, and looks incredible pulling the El Capitan cars from NAVS in the library. A few folks have already told me the cab works great on other E and F units, so it may be worth the purchase just for that added feature and realism. There are also 13 v4...