OOPS

[Chock 17,769]

Guess they don't call it Derail Valley for nothing.🤣

Edited May 30, 2020 by Chock

[helberger 72]

Anybody hurt????

[Chock 17,769]

2 minutes ago, helberger said:

Anybody hurt????

Just the windows, but on the plus side, the cab is more light and airy now all the glass is smashed out:

Edited May 30, 2020 by Chock

[P_7878 6,592]

Seems like quite a nice SIM, Alan...! Sure, you're enjoying it....!

Read a few reviews of Derail Valley....one says, "...The gameplay is relaxing but you have to always take care of the locomotive, which if you "let it go" it will derail...". Looks like that's what happened to you...🙂...

BTW, those "crashing train" fireworks,...hmm,...they look not so "relaxing" to my eyes, and, in fact, resemble scenes, that James Bond, would be sneaking out of, in the climax of his films...but, for sure, quite amazing graphics, there,....(anyway, this will be on the to-do list, one-day, in future, but, maybe after the DCS, though)...

[Chock 17,769]

It's definitely worth a look for the price if you like trains, and if you don't like trains, what is wrong with you? 🤣

The thing which impresses, is the actual mechanics of the rolling stock and locomotive physics and equipment simulation when it all gets moving. i.e. you actually have to go down the line connecting all the couplings and air hoses and switching the valves to ensure the braking system works, and you have to throw all the points yourself, although you can do this remotely via radio link. The sound is good too, with things squealing and rattling on curves and when going over points or coupling and de-coupling things. The rolling stock simulates weight and inertia well too. 

Another thing which makes it engaging, is that unlike most train simulators, where you load up a scenario and then finish it and the world goes away when you finish the job, in this sim you stay in the world, going from job to job, so it's actually more like an RPG, in that you are persistently in the world. Thus if you leave a wagon somewhere and go back later on, it is still where you left it, in the condition you left it.

[P_7878 6,592]

Hey Alan:

Big lover of trains, here, and as you've said, if you don't like trains, "what's wrong with you??"...🙂...

In fact, today, I was out, for a bit, (after several weeks), and was stuck at a railway-crossing, with a long and "slow" CP Rail (Canadian Pacific Railway) making its way past the stopped traffic...while people were clearly getting impatient and irritated by its (sluggish) progress, I was (with pleasure) counting out the cars, and thinking of (flying) a CP Air 727...🙂...These days, all railway crossings, around here, have been, pretty much, replaced by overpass bridges, no waiting is involved, so, the (very) few that are still left behind, always provide occasional chances to encounter (transiting) freight-trains...

Anyway, yes, the realistic "physics" and "mechanics" of this SIM, is what I was reading about, earlier today, in the (quite) +ve reviews...

[BTW, since, you seem to know about these "couplings", "hoses", and "valves" etc. (about which I've zero idea), I've a movie recommendation, for you, in case you've not seen it, [Unstoppable (2010)], you may like it...(and decide for yourself, how much is fact and how much is fiction)....But, I recall, now, Denzel Washington had done a good job...]

Anyway, these Train SIMS, are good and fun stuff, for sure..!!

[Chock 17,769]

1 hour ago, P_7878 said:

BTW, since, you seem to know about these "couplings", "hoses", and "valves" etc. (about which I've zero idea), I've a movie recommendation, for you, in case you've not seen it, [Unstoppable (2010)], you may like it...(and decide for yourself, how much is fact and how much is fiction)....But, I recall, now, Denzel Washington had done a good job...]

Yeah, saw Unstoppable (at the movies actually, when it came out), that was back when Chris Pine was in his pre-Kirk days (the first Star Trek movie had been shot and was in the can, but was yet to be released at that point), so Pine was the comparatively unknown guy in the film since I guess everyone had seen both Denzel Washington in tons of stuff and pretty much everyone knew Ethan Suplee from when he played Randy in My Name is Earl.

Unstoppable is a bit over the top in places and it does suffer slightly from Tony Scott's shaky-cam and epileptic fit-inducing flashes which he was keen on (that kind of suited it when he used that in Man on Fire, again with Denzel Washington), even so, Unstoppable was entertaining enough for me to also buy the DVD of it since there aren't many decent train action movies. And for a story which is literally on rails, it does keep you entertained.

Fun fact about that movie: Denzel Washington had some years earlier worked with Tony Scott on Man on Fire, and he had enjoyed working with Scott, so he was keen to do so again, thus when they approached him to be in Unstoppable, he dropped his fee to 11 million dollars in order to not price himself out of the budget for Unstoppable. 'Dropped' lol. Be nice to be able to take that kind of pay cut huh? Somewhat ironic too, since pay cuts and non-union employees are the back story in Unstoppable. Another fun fact about Unstoppable: Those shots of Washington running along the train roof are real, not CGI. He was on a safety suspension wire, but even so, that genuinely is him doing that stuff.

On the subject of decent train movies, probably 1985's Runaway Train is my favourite, which isn't too surprising considering it was written by Akira Kurosawa, although he never ended up making it himself, instead going on to perhaps most famously direct Seven Samurai, leaving Andrei Konchalovsky to end up making Runaway Train instead many years later, and doing a good job of it too, since it was nominated for many film awards that year and actually managed to win a few of them, including a Golden Globe for John Voight and an MPSE for best sound editing.

With GP40s, F7s and GP7s in it, Runaway Train is a fun watch for rail fans, but more than this, it has a really nice poetic isolation feel in many of the long distance snow-bound shots of the locomotives, which I suspect would have been how Kurosawa would have shot it, those shots serving as a metaphor for the uncontrolled and isolated journey the two main characters are on. Not the kind of film-making craft most action movies spend time on these days unfortunately.

John Voight has a great time hamming it up like crazy in the movie too as bad guy Manny, which is fun; he even got nominated for an Oscar in that role, didn't win, but as noted he did get the Golden Globe. Co-star Eric Roberts was also nominated by the Academy for best supporting actor as the slightly simple but good-natured Buck, but no luck for him even though I think he was robbed when you consider that the winner that year was Don Ameche, in Cocoon. So even people who aren't especially interested in trains, but who like a bit of decent acting, can enjoy it.

Anyway, if you've never seen Runaway Train, give it a look. It's a bit of an oddity, but it's better action movie than most, especially since it's all pre-CGI real stunts with real locomotives.

Edited May 31, 2020 by Chock

[P_7878 6,592]

Will check this one out, Alan, thanks,...I see John Voight's name in it, and do recall several good films of his, from the past (e.g. The Odessa File surely comes to mind),...maybe, if I see this one again, the characters will come back to me...(the plot does sound quite riveting...)

Probably, will also get that Unstoppable...to boot...now that you've jogged my memory of it....that was the last Train movie, I recall seeing in last 10-15 years....🙂...and, yes, CGI was, surely, less a factor, in the action films of those days...

[HighBypass 2,339]

12 hours ago, P_7878 said:

.(the plot does sound quite riveting...)

You all know some model railway enthusiasts love to count the rivets 😄. I used to be a member of a model railway society (times and life change), so I do appreciate the attention to detail some people require, but on the other hand it's nice to just go and "run some trains" 😎 A bit like going for a VFR saunter in an uncomplicated plane 😉