Bundles of Bundles

A number of routes old and new have been bundled recently, which means you can get all of the required items in a single zip if you're a First Class or FastPass member. To view the list of current routes and other files that are bundled, Click here With the new track pieces for older routes available, you might want to rediscover a few of the older gems including the various Milwaukee Road "Lines West" such as the RMD East, RMD West, Idaho and Coast divisions. Or maybe the Pacific Electric o...

I'd say we are off to a very good start to the year... The last few years, I've been out of meaningful NFL football to watch by the first week of January, and able to spend more time doing other things. This year, my Packers shocked the world and knocked out the #2 Dallas Cowboys, making it to the Divisional Round officially as the youngest average age team in NFL history and the first #7 seed to advance to the Divisional Round... Unfortunately, this past weekend they lost a close game to the...

During the last year...

An average of 10,000 pages were visited daily...
624 people made 11,610 posts to our forums...
264 people sent 2,089 private messages...
153 people uploaded 1,334 screenshots and other attachments...
110 people uploaded 442 files to the library...
Over 18,000 unique users downloaded 735,664 files from the library...

Since August, 11,040 users performed 906,271 searches of the file library...

Numbers like...

Where has the time gone? We're just a week out from Christmas, and a fortnight from the New Year... The month started out with some bad news regarding one of our early members and long-time moderator on the site... Our friend Dave Edwards passed away on December 7th. He'd been battling health issues for the last few years, and while things were looking better over the past couple months, he took a sudden turn for the worse. There's a thread in the "We Remember" forum for those looking for more de...

'Twas the Night before Christmas, and all through the yard, Not a whistle was blowing, not a steam plume stirred. The engines, all silent, in slumber did sleep, While visions of passengers danced in their dreams. The rails, silver gleamed in the pale moon's light, As signals stood frozen, no red to ignite. No coal clattered down, no pistons did churn, Only soft winter snowflakes softly did turn. On the roundhouse roof, perched high with a grin, A lone Santa conductor, his work nearly din. He che...

Run 8 Studios announces a new route for v3 -- the Norfolk Southern South Fork Secondary.

Set in Pennsylvania, this 30 mile route depicts a line from South Fork which services three coal mines -- Huskin Run, Rose Bud and Shade Creek.

The line climbs steeply out of South Fork on a nearly 2.4% ruling grade up to the summit. Most trains will either run in a 3X3 or 3X2 configuration, in a push-pull manner.

Along its course up to each of these mines, there is a...

Happy Thanksgiving! I know we've got a lot to be thankful for in our household, and I hope everyone gets a chance to spend some time with those they care about and celebrate the good things in their lives.

To celebrate fall a little late, I've been having some fun in the Upper Peninsula on MLT's Michigan Iron Ore route, which I've been meaning to pick up for a while.

It's my idea of a perfect route -- not too large, and one where you can spend as little or as long as you...

Running the Microsoft / Open Rails Train Simulator is a little different from other simulators, in that there are a lot of options available for add-ons (over 30,000 in our library alone), as well as companion applications that are used to create routes, activities and even new models. Adding to the complexity, some of these applications date back to 2001, when MSTS was first introduced. The Windows operating system has changed quite a bit since then, and as a result, the way older app install...

This week, I got to combine two of my hobbies.... Off-roading and railroads.

I've written before about some of our ATV rides in Tennessee, and we recently acquired a four seat Honda Pioneer 700 UTV to add to our off-road "toy collection".

For those who have no idea ATV/UTV means... a "traditional" ATV (all-terrain vehicle) is a three or four-wheeler with handle bar steering and a motorcycle style saddle seat. A UTV (utility-trail vehicle) has a steering...

If you currently use an ad blocker and are not a paying member on the site, you may have started to see a additional message asking you to disable your ad blocker or pay for a subscription.

I've made no secret that this site costs money to operate, and while many of our visitors have been willing to help support it through First Class Memberships or a FastPass, many more do not.

Some of you may not see a direct value in paying for a full year membership or a one-month...