• TrainSim.Com Celebrates 22 Years Online

    by
    Nels_Anderson
    Published on 03-28-2023 08:11 AM  Number of Views: 1252  
    9 Comments

    TrainSim.Com Celebrates 22 Years Online

    Today marks the 22nd anniversary of the opening of TrainSim.Com, and with the site undergoing some changes it seemed worth looking back and commemorating the event.

    Way back in 2001 I had already been running FlightSim.Com for five years and when Microsoft announced that there would soon be a Microsoft Train Simulator to go along with Microsoft Flight Simulator I just felt like I had to open a new site to support it. Some of the other flightsim sites just opened new sections in their forums but I felt that Train Simulator deserved a complete site of its own.

    I've been interested in trains since I was a kid, I suspect like many of the rest of you. I had Lionel trains and a big HO layout back in those days. I had already tried some of the early rail simulators but when Microsoft announced theirs, that was an exciting time.

    So here we are 22 years later. I'm now "retired" and fortunately for us all Eric Olesen has taken the reins of running TrainSim.Com. The hobby has evolved and sadly Microsoft never followed up with a second version but plenty of others have produced worthy train simulators to keep us interested.

    Out of necessity, I ran FlightSim.Com and TrainSim.Com as a business, my full-time job. Quite frankly, FlightSim.Com subsidized TrainSim.Com all those years, as the relative number of people into train simulators is apparently much lower.

    With the new arrangement, TrainSim.Com is now completely on its own and is more of a club than a business. As such, it's up to you, the members, to support it if you want your "clubhouse" to continue to be available.

    I'm hoping for many more good years of train simming and TrainSim.Com activity.

    --Nels Anderson

    9 Comments
    1. mikeaday's Avatar
      mikeaday - 03-29-2023, 11:13 PM
      I have been immersed in this hobby since 2007, and have yet to tire of it. The invention of Open Rails breathed new life into MSTS just when it was beginning to falter. I am 79 years old and don't have the expertise to design anything, but I can get the trains and routes to do what I want them to do. I consider that a major achievement. I am willing to invest my money into a membership every year, if that is what it takes to keep this website up. I hope others will do the same. Having managed a website for a while, I know how expensive it can get. Long live Trainsim.com.
    1. landnrailroader's Avatar
      landnrailroader - 03-30-2023, 08:55 AM
      Your efforts are much appreciated by this retired railroader who is also a rail fan, did the HO thing, and now does a docent gig once a year on the Cumbres & Toltec. I got my first copy of TrainSim from the local outlet of CompUSA in 2001. I tried TRAINZ and RailSimulator later and while those are great products, the physics of running the train did not seem right. I think my first contribution was probably iin 2002 or 2003 and like Mikeaday I plan to continue investing time and $$ in it. At 84, I'll probably retire from being a docent this year or next. Long live our hobby and Trainsim.com.
    1. monon15's Avatar
      monon15 - 03-31-2023, 09:01 PM
      Kudos to all that you did for the hobby and a big thank you to not only this site but all the contributors who have provided endless amounts of content and routes for a 20+ year old piece of software. Here is to another 20 years!!!
    1. betfuse's Avatar
      betfuse - 04-01-2023, 09:22 AM
      I joined this site in 2003, since there I have always been enjoying this hobby, I also discovered the paid sites and the great community that exists around the train simulation.
      congratulations and for many more years.
      all the best.
      Diego Benitez
      Buenos Aires
      Argentina
    1. jbtower's Avatar
      jbtower - 04-01-2023, 01:23 PM
      It sure doesn't seem like we've been here 22 years. I sure am grateful you took an idea and shared it with the world Nels_Anderson which enabled this hobby to grow leaps and bounds to what we have today. Here's to another 22 years!!!!
    1. jdgremsjr's Avatar
      jdgremsjr - 04-03-2023, 10:34 AM
      As you get older time sure does fly by. Coming from a family of railroaders in the Pacific Northwest, I loved to watch the trains roll in and out of the Vancouver Washington Station and the mainline that ran less than a mile from my home as a child. It sure doesn't seem like it has been 16 years since I discovered this site. I will continue to support this page with my subscription and I'm willing to donate a membership to a worthy member. Eric, I hope you can keep it going and the server fees don't drain all of your resources. Good luck to you and let's try to keep this community alive.
    1. rfranzosa's Avatar
      rfranzosa - 04-03-2023, 05:00 PM
      Wow


      Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
    1. Poirotvs's Avatar
      Poirotvs - 04-05-2023, 05:55 AM
      Keep going TrainSim !
    1. Literalman's Avatar
      Literalman - 04-21-2023, 08:28 AM
      Thank you, Nels. My kids gave me Train Simulator for Christmas in 2001, and it was the best Christmas present I ever got. I would have tired of it soon except for the incredible volume and quality of add-ons and help available at TrainSim.com. It's still my main hobby.