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| Where did it all start? 19/01/2015 at 10:37 #68072 | |
Andrew G
552 posts |
I thought I might start a new thread rather than add to the query on Derby Release dates which has mentioned some early Signalling/Rail Control simulations. It was back in the days of the ZX Spectrum when I came across Dee Kay Systems and I think my first simulation was Penzance. http://www.worldofspectrum.org/infoseek.cgi?regexp=^RTC+Penzance$&pub=^Dee-Kay+Systems$&loadpics=1 There was also a Birmingham New Street simulation, compare that to what we have now: http://www.worldofspectrum.org/infoseek.cgi?regexp=^RTC+Birmingham$&pub=^Dee-Kay+Systems$&loadpics=1 I think track displays started with Kings Cross: http://www.worldofspectrum.org/infoseek.cgi?regexp=^RTC+Kings+Cross$&pub=^Dee-Kay+Systems$&loadpics=1 It all looks very primitive now but back in the mid 80's we all thought this was great. Things have come a long way in the following 30 years! I think SIAM took up the mantle from Dee Kay systems when it disappeared from the scene and I think my first simulation from them was a West Highland line traffic control simulation foir the Atari. A long stretch of single line railway to control is something we are missing from SimSig - maybe I need to add something to the Wish List. Log in to reply The following users said thank you: robert, tjfrancis, IanS |
| Where did it all start? 19/01/2015 at 11:32 #68075 | |
robert
18 posts |
I remember them well, many happy hours spent on all these, thanks for the reminder.
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| Where did it all start? 19/01/2015 at 13:20 #68079 | |
58050
2659 posts |
Way back in 1985 I had the first traffic control simulation for the ZX Spectrum along with some driver simulations & they were produced by Deekay Systems. All seems such a long time ago. KX - Doncaster, St. Pancras - Leicester & Euston - Crewe via the Trent valley. I also had Bristol TM - birmingham New Street. But I enjoyed penzance as you entered the loco number to move the trains about the station area to Ponsandane CS or Long Rock depot. Like others I spent hours on it. I also had several Ashley Greenup sims such as Carlisle & Birmingham Internationl - Coventry. Does anyone remember 'Track Attack' which covered large areas of railway such as the entire West midlands area or the Midland mainline, but the trains were very small as was the graphics.
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| Where did it all start? 19/01/2015 at 14:00 #68081 | |
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delticfan
476 posts |
Brought back some memories here. I remember having the DeeKay sims on Spectrum for Penzance and New Street, also their Fleet Control Deltics programme. Probably others too, but time has faded the details. As has been said, very basic compared to the wonders of Simsig. Mal. Log in to reply |
| Where did it all start? 19/01/2015 at 14:22 #68082 | |
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58050
2659 posts |
I think my favourite Deekay Systems sim was from the Rail Traffic Control series & that being Crewe. I could sit there all day playing it & used to have competitions with a mate of mine who was another rail enthusiast & we'd write the numbers down of all the trains that we saw during each game & then compare. I think at one point I started making a list of all the loco numbers I saw to see if I could get a complete clearance of all the locos in the sim(how sad is that?). But at that time they were amazing. Doncaster was another good one. They used to be advertised in Rail Enthusiast magazine. There was another sim & can't remember who that was by, but it featured simple graphics of trains running along the bottom of your screen as if they were on invisible railway lines with the loco number on the side. the locos were in different colours & you had a selection of stations you could visit around the country like Eastleigh, Crewe, Derby, Inverness etc etc & the idea was you spent a certain amount of time train spotting. The screen shot of the station you selected also had a varying number of locos stabled in one part of the screen to denote a depot & the number of locos stabled varied from location to location & what types of locos they were. Does anyone remember that one?
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| Where did it all start? 19/01/2015 at 14:40 #68083 | |
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tjfrancis
359 posts |
hi all i had a look at this but how do i get the to work on windows i wll like to have a go at this
I am dyslexic so please consider this when reading my posts Log in to reply |
| Where did it all start? 19/01/2015 at 15:18 #68084 | |
Peter Bennet
5402 posts |
I had one, which I think was Deekay for my Amstrad PCW whereby you allocated Class 50s to trains on the GW and it went in 3 hour jumps with failures and fuling and exams needed to be catered for. I recall that I found you could access the code (basic) and rewite it, so I did and made one for the North East of Scotland with a mixture of Classes. Infact I'm sure I still have the disks and instructions if not the computer. Peter I identify as half man half biscuit - crumbs! Last edited: 19/01/2015 at 15:18 by Peter Bennet Log in to reply |
| Where did it all start? 19/01/2015 at 16:09 #68085 | |
GeoffM
6376 posts 
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My first was Crewe but I don't recall who it was by or even whether it was on our ZX Spectrum or Amiga - I'm inclined to think the latter. I always thought I could do better as I knew it wasn't too realistic... :whistle: SimSig Boss Log in to reply |
| Where did it all start? 19/01/2015 at 16:09 #68086 | |
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Andrew G
552 posts |
If anybody is interested in trying these then you need to get a ZX Spectrum emulator. They are easy enough to find. While I'm not going to recommend one myself I have managed to get both RTC Penzance & RTC Birmingham working without too much hassle. If you want to see the full list of Dee Kay systems files available then use one of the links above and press the publisher hyper link. Log in to reply The following user said thank you: tjfrancis |
| Where did it all start? 19/01/2015 at 19:28 #68089 | |
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kreader
38 posts |
A friend lent me Penzance for my Spectrum. Tried it and got very excited and had trouble getting to sleep that night. At the time it was pretty revolutionary as far as I was concerned.
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| Where did it all start? 19/01/2015 at 21:04 #68104 | |
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Peter Bennet
5402 posts |
I seem to recall coming across that Spectrum site before and managing to run one of the links through the emulator link. However, it won't work for me now because of some problem with Java and security issues. Peter I identify as half man half biscuit - crumbs! Log in to reply |
| Where did it all start? 19/01/2015 at 22:59 #68119 | |
bfcmik
100 posts |
Peter - those were Ashley Greenup's Train Manager sims. I had a Cardiff Canton game and a 'Freight manager' which allocated engines to different power station loadings with class 56s and class 60s based at several depots.
Last edited: 19/01/2015 at 23:00 by bfcmik Log in to reply |
| Where did it all start? 20/01/2015 at 01:01 #68132 | |
ozrail
197 posts |
I had a Commodore 64 and was running the Ashley Greenup's simulations. I had Coventry, Stafford, Leicester and East Coast Main Line and I thought they were just great. Probably started using them in the early 1990s. Only problem was that they would take 10 minutes to load each time I started a sim.
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| Where did it all start? 20/01/2015 at 06:12 #68139 | |
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uboat
219 posts |
i started with Paul Robins Coventry on the Amiga a 5 hour demo with Trent Valley diversions.a little readme. ftp://ftp.sunet.se/pub/aminet/game/misc/psb.readme Log in to reply |
| Where did it all start? 20/01/2015 at 06:50 #68141 | |
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Peter Bennet
5402 posts |
Does anyone remember "Rail Operator" which was a signalling simulation that also had a driver's eye view of the track ahead. I've just dug mine out from the Z: drive back-up storage. Actually, I've just found a whole load of stuff I'd forgotten about there including driving simulators and the like. Will need to have a play around and remind myself what's what. Peter I identify as half man half biscuit - crumbs! Log in to reply |
| Where did it all start? 20/01/2015 at 09:44 #68153 | |
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GoochyB
222 posts |
Ah yes, I had a number of the DeeKay signalling sims, a depot manager and a few driving sims too. Later signalling sims used higher resolution graphics - I think they were initially produced by Andrew George, who then went on to release more in his own name. Rugby and Edinburgh spring to mind as some of these. Andrew George subsequently produced some for PC also as Signalling Centre Software, which appears to have just closed down.
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| Where did it all start? 20/01/2015 at 20:54 #68195 | |
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valenta43002
43 posts |
I had quite a few track attack sims, plus sigcent Birmingham rugby and kings cross, I might try and fire my old pc and open birmingham, and get the timetable off and use it to produce SimSig new street timetable from it.
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| Where did it all start? 20/01/2015 at 22:50 #68200 | |
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uboat
219 posts |
i didn't know Sigcent did Rugby but PCRAIL does.
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| Where did it all start? 20/01/2015 at 22:56 #68201 | |
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Stephen Fulcher
2078 posts |
PC Rail mechanical sims are quite good, but their power box stuff is a bit naff.
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| Where did it all start? 21/01/2015 at 10:50 #68214 | |
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delticfan
476 posts |
A purely personal opinion, I had loads of PCRail sims including New Street. I found New St very 'clunky' to set routes on and I finally dumped the lot in favour of the much more realistic feel of Simsig. Also had Sigcent New Street, but also found that really fiddly in terms of route setting and attaching/detaching. I'd love to be able to run the DeeKay Fleet Manager sims again but I'm not confident enough to load 'emulators' and other software to get into them. If anyone would be wiling to talk me through the process, please feel free to PM me with any suggestions. Many thanks. Mal. Log in to reply |
| Where did it all start? 21/01/2015 at 11:46 #68215 | |
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Mooson
9 posts |
The old DeeKay simulations are still available from SIAM and work perfectly well on most PCs.If they run too fast then this can be corrected via D-Fend Reloaded which even I, a non-wizz-kid managed to use.
Log in to reply The following user said thank you: delticfan |
| Where did it all start? 21/01/2015 at 12:21 #68217 | |
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bfcmik
100 posts |
I have quite a few SIAM simulations as I enjoy the steam era layouts and workings but you really do have to use D-Fend Reloaded for the older non windowed sims and then spend quite a while editing the graphics settings to get them to fit on modern widescreen monitors. I admit to also finding SimSig awkward having just changed from a 4:3 17" to a 9:5 22" monitor. I may have to try using both. Log in to reply The following user said thank you: delticfan |
| Where did it all start? 21/01/2015 at 14:30 #68225 | |
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delticfan
476 posts |
Thanks Mooson and bfcmik. Successfully downloaded D-Fend Reloaded. Just trying to figure how to download the DOS games to make sure they land in the D-Fend Reloaded file.
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| Where did it all start? 21/01/2015 at 19:39 #68241 | |
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Mooson
9 posts |
I think (but not sure) that I just copied them from where I had them on the computer into the D-Fend menu. There is (at least on my version of D-Fend) a Help screen with a list on the left from which you can select 'Adding Games' which may hep. With reference to the size, if opens in small size and you want it in full screen I just press ‘alt’ & ‘enter’ together to toggle to full screen. Log in to reply The following user said thank you: delticfan |
| Where did it all start? 23/01/2015 at 12:56 #68311 | |
outofsection
149 posts |
If anyone has trouble with D-Fend refusing to run certain DOS programs, try DOSBox. It's run everything I've thrown at it so far! Available here Info here Perfect for running old DOS games. I've had all the old favourite PC games such as Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, Blood, Duke Nukem 3D and a lot more programs running just fine on it in Windows XP! So if you can't get D-Fend to work, try it. The reason such software won't run (well) is mainly down to the HAL (hardware abstraction Layer) which is part of the kernel of "corporate" versions of Windows such as NT/2000/XP and above, and will not allow old DOS programs free access to the PC's hardware like Windows 95/98 did which had no or very little control over how programs accessed the hardware via the software drivers. From what I can gather the HAL sets rigid rules on how programs can access the hardware via I/O ports etc. and any software that doesn't follow the HAL protocol will not (properly) run as the HAL won't allow it to use the hardware drivers willy-nilly as these drivers can be a notorious source of unexplained system crashes, so the theory is that if you carefully control how the device drivers are accessed, the OS is inherently more stable. Well that's how I was told the HAL worked! Info here D-Fend and DOSBox apparently work by acting as an interpreter and "interpreting" the old DOS program hardware requests and passing them onto the HAL in a HAL-friendly protocol. Again, that's what I've been told. Last edited: 23/01/2015 at 13:06 by outofsection Log in to reply The following user said thank you: delticfan |