BVE V2.5 Available

BVE version 2.5 is available to download from the Offical BVE website. The most significant update to the program has to be the ability to define more than 65,000 Free Objects in a route! Along with this major increase in Free Objects, the number of other objects that can be included in a route (Wall, Dike, Ground) has also been increased to 256!

Download BVE v2.5 from the Official BVE website: mackoy.cool.ne.jp

I also recommend downloading the latest version of Track Viewer, also updated, from the same site!

Scotrailsim News

I'm sorry for the lengthy delay in reinstating this site, in the past month I've been busy with lots of different things. There are no major changes, but some of the downloads have been reorganised into more manageable chunks, and I made room for Loop! :)

Other things to note...

There's an update on the 'WIP' page with some information about a new project. And there have been some revisions made to the 'About' section. On that topic, I'd quite like to know if anyone actually finds the 'About' section useful. I considered adding some more items to it, but if nobody really bothers with it, or everyone just thinks it's rubbish, then there's not much point really, is there? Anyway, let me know. If you have any suggestions, feel free to put them to me!

You may have noticed that the long awaited 156 was uploaded to BVE Trains whilst this site was out of action, and I guess it's safe to assume from the complete lack of feedback that there were no problems with the train. If you missed it, go here for the download: www.bvetrains.co.uk

Scotrailsim News

Just time for a quick update at the start of the month.

I never really had time to do anything with anything last month, so there's not a lot of progress to report, I'm afraid. To those of you waiting for the WIP's, could I please ask you to bear with me. Thanks!

BVE UK Train Collection Site Back Online

In fact, it has been since the 18th of January... The site can be found at it's usual URL: www.bvetrains.co.uk

100,000 Hits

I noticed that my counter has just passed the 100,000 visitor mark. Thank you all for visiting the site over the past two years. I really do appreciate your support! All the best!

More news

Have a look over at the excellent BVE section of the Crotrainz & Trainsim UK forum for more news and announcements: http://www.crotrainz.com/cgi-bin/forum/board.pl

BVE UK Train Collection Site Down

Due to technical difficulties, the server hosting the BVE UK Train Collection is currently out of service. A temporary site has been set up to take care of downloads until the problems are resolved. The temporary site can be found here: http://www.bvetrains.fsnet.co.uk

Sandymill to Balfearn Routes Available

Well folks! I'm quickly whittling down my WIP section! I'm pleased to say that I've finally completed upgrading the Sandymill to Balfearn routes to BVETSS. As well as the updated track sounds, the track has been resized to look a bit more realistic, but that's about it! The routes can be downloaded from the Sandymill to Balfearn Collection page - link found in my 'Routes' section.

New Version of BVE

Available from the official BVE website. This is currently version 2.4.10 (updated twice in the last couple of days, apparently). Gone is the BVE jingle at startup (which I quite liked!), but there's new startup and menu screens, albiet the selections and information displayed is still the same. There are no major changes in the development side of things, but the interface has changed a bit, plus it's now more tolerant with respect to errors - now when an error occurs, BVE displays the information about troublesome files in a window after loading a route, so the user can determine which files have errors in them, which makes it easier to inform the developer(s) of a problem. The files can be downloaded from the 'Official BVE Website' here: http://mackoy.cool.ne.jp

New Class 101 DMU Available

Built by Metro Cammell in the 50's, the Class 101 Diesel Mechanical units served Scotland well for many years, and are now serving out their final years in Manchester. David White has done a superb job of recreating this fine unit, and it can be downloaded from David's 'BVE In Glasgow' website: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/zerosignal/bve/

More news

Have a look over at the excellent BVE section of the Crotrainz & Trainsim UK forum for more news since the start of the new year: http://www.crotrainz.com/cgi-bin/forum/board.pl

Class 158 DMU Available to Download

The 158 has been updated with the excellent motor sounds from John Owen's Scotrail 158 passenger view (BR Sounds), some superb tweaks by Steve Green (Train Sim Central) and a couple of minor alterations to the panel by yours truly. Details and downloads can be found at 'The BVE UK Train Collection' website: http://www.bvetrains.co.uk

Update to 47306 "The Sapper" Available

Wulf has updated the superb "Sapper" with more improvements, including fixes for the gauges. A relatively small update can be downloaded from Wulf's Saxon Locomotive Works: http://www.zodiac-infosystems.co.uk/rail/bve

New Video Available

John Owen has released his third video, and this time it's a Class 221 Voyager passing through Drem here in Scotland, on the East Coast Mainline. As ever, you can download the video from the 'Movies' section at John's BR Sounds website.

Scotrailsim News

Well, it's been over a year since I announced the Dalbrae route for BVE, and slightly less time since I announced Queen Street. I am afraid to say that I am unable to finish these two routes anytime in the forseeable future, and so I have removed them from the WIP section of this site. To anyone who was genuinely looking forward to seeing these complete, please accept my sincerest apologies.

There is some good news however, because I have kept the Sandymill to Balfearn files on the WIP section since I hope to bring these up to BVETSS standard one day, plus, due to the fact that most of the work on Sandymill Electric has been done, hopefully, I should be able to release this soon. Although, as ever, I am unable to say when that will be.

I can promise though, that the 'Loop' route will definitley be available from here soon enough. And who knows what else the future may hold with regards to the other routes.

BVE In Scotland Updated

Mark Milmine (Elvonfoot-Lockerby) has relaunched his 'BVE In Scotland' website! You can visit Mark's smart new look site at this new URL: http://www.freewebs.com/bve_in_scotland/

Looking for somewhere to announce your BVE creations, or seek assistance?

The most popular forum for BVE discussion, the excellent Crotrainz & Trainsim UK Forum, seems to be suffering technical difficulties (according to news on Trainsim UK) and has been down for a few days now. So, it might be an idea to remind people about the Yahoo! BVE group set up by Kris Van De Putte. The group can be found here: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BVE/ Note membership is required and it's free! And here's hoping Barney over at Crotrainz is able to reinstate the forum soon as well!

Edinburgh to Carnoustie Available to Download

Don Clarke has extended the excellent Edinburgh to Dundee route by another ten miles! The route now takes you way up past Dundee to Carnoustie, and the challenge is to drive a Class 150 on an all-stops commuter service that should test your skills for over an hour and half! Don has also enhanced parts of the scenery for the route, and all the files can be downloaded from the 'BVE' section of his own 'SRPS C&W Dept' website: http://www.gotopcs.net/index.shtml

New Video Available

The Class 150 for Don's route, can downloaded from John Owen's BR Sounds website, and while you are there, check out John's 'Movie' section because he has added another video to his downloads. This video was filmed from a 6-car class 158, on it's way past Haymarket depot, bound for Glasgow Queen Street. The train was diverted onto the Dalmeny Up Line (the line to Dundee from Edinburgh) and this gave John the opportunity to film the depot up-close on his way past. On show at Haymarket is a nice collection of Scotrail liveried units, including 158s and 170s, and a quite a lot of the detail about the depot itself can be seen. You can download 'Haymarket' from the Movie section of John's BR Sounds website.

Gauge Viewer Information Added

I've added a small section about the 'mysterious gauge editor' that can be downloaded from the official BVE website (http://mackoy.cool.ne.jp/). This is actually a very useful program for creating gauges for trains, and I hope the information I have uploaded helps people get to grips with it and find use for it. The information can be found on the 'BVE Tools 5 - Gauge Editor' page in my About section.

'Sandymill Loop'

This is a superb route created by Jean-Louis Coste from France. Based on the Sandymill route, it begins at the train depot, South of Sandymill, passes through the station, and takes you on a journey through that mysterious tunnel on the right hand side of the station, over 40 Km of spectacular terrain that creates a great sense of driving over the Scottish Highlands, and it all ends with a run into the North entrance of Balfearn station. The route is currently being beta tested, and should be available from this site soon!

Just to whet your appetites, I'll be uploading a two-mile section of the line, where you drive from the depot to the first station after Sandymill: "Docks". The route is titled: "2 Mile Challenge: Boat Train" and serves as both an introduction and demo, as well as providing an interesting challenge. :o)

Class 170 Passenger View Available

John Owen has released another excellent passenger view for BVE. Now you can travel in the standard saloon of a Scotrail Class 170 'Turbostar', and as well as the usual excellent sounds recorded by John, this view has a nice feature in the form of a sneak view through the cab door at the way ahead. This superb train can be downloaded from John's BR Sounds website. And while you are there, check out John's brand new 'Movies' section containing movies recorded by the man himself. There are five in total, but sadly due to certain constraints, only the first one is available, however, this just happens to be an excellent 15 second AVI movie clip of a GNER 225 heading through Drem station, here in Scotland! Well worth the 5 MB download!

Class 66/5 Locomotive Available

Shaun Myers and Anthony Bowden have released their Freightliner Class 66 locomotive for BVE, now available to download from the BVE UK Train Collection. This train features superb, speaker-testing, engine sounds (make sure the neighbours are out ;o), and excellent performance characteristics, enabling you to experience the challenge of controlling a train weighing nearly 3000 tons! This train also features another excellent full-height, hand drawn, panel created by Anthony, which is complete with animated controllers and simulated ammeter! For more information, plus the download, head over to the BVE UK Train Collection website: www.bvetrains.co.uk

47306 "The Sapper" Available to Download

47306 is a Railfreight locomotive restricted to 75 mph, and is the latest addition to Wulf's superb 'Character Series'. As well as recreating the sounds and performance of this loco accurately, Wulf has given it a suitable consist in the form of 10, 70 ton coal hoppers, that's 700 tons, which should give you a lot of fun trying to control! :o) You can download this superb locomotive from Wulf's Saxon Locomotive Works: http://www.zodiac-infosystems.co.uk/rail/bve

Elvonfoot - Lokerby Route Available

Elvonfoot - Lokerby is a 13 KM fictional Scottish route created by Mark Milmine and is available to download from Mark's BVE In Scotland website: http://bveinscotland.freewebspace.com Currently, there is not a lot of scenery, but the framework that Mark has created should provide a template for an excellent route that will definitely be one to look out for! In the meantime, there's plenty of variety in the varied diagrams that Mark has created for the route!

Finally (phew!)...

It seems like the Crotrainz and Trainsim UK Forum has been offline now for a little while now, so that's all the news I have for you from the past few days folks!

I hope you all have a merry Christmas and a happy new year!

All the best,
Robert.

Updated Desert Route

Steve Green and Robert Raymond have updated the superb 'Desert Route' with smooth curves, realistic signalling, enhanced scenery, passing trains, and new sounds. The route now also features night operating, and now there are five scenarios to drive in total. There's also a clever program called 'Randomiser', written by Robert Raymond, that allows a user to set up their own signalling patterns for any of the route files. And that's not all! There's also an update to the GP38 locomotive, plus there's a brand new Southern Pacific, Class GS4 steam locomotive. For full details and downloads, head over to Steve's, Train Sim Central: www.trainsimcentral.co.uk

New Class 104 DMU Available

Carl Turner and Paul White have released a British 'first generation' diesel multiple unit for BVE - Class 104 DMU. Among it's excellent features, the train has a superb photo-realistic panel, complete with animation! The train itself has a mechanical transmission as opposed the hydraulic type featured in modern 'second generation' DMUs, so to really enjoy this unit, I recommend reading the driving instructions found in the BVE section on Carl's 'Class 104 DMU' website: http://www.freewebs.com/class_104

The train is available to download from the 'BVE UK Train Collection' website: www.bvetrains.co.uk

Scotrailsim News

Scotrailsim has a new address folks: www.scotrailsim.co.uk Could I please ask you to update your links and bookmarks with the new address. In addition to the change of address, the site has two brand new sections...

• The Gallery section: features images from BVE routes available from this site captured using the Track Viewer.
• The About section contains details for people new to BVE, with information about programs available to assist in development.

Hopefully beginners and experienced users alike will find something useful in there. Let me know if you'd like anything added, removed or ammended! Hope you like the new look! :o)

More News

I apolgise for the lack of updates recently. Hopefully, I should be able to provide my usual, albeit limited, news coverage of the BVE scene. So, here's me catching up with some of the goings on over the past month or so...

The UK BVE Train Collection

The BVE UK Train Collection can now be found on it's own website, complete with a new address. The new site has a brand new look and is altogether much easier and quicker to navigate, with more details about each train on it's own page.

The collection itself has expanded considerably thanks to Steve Green (www.trainsimcentral.co.uk), who has moved his excellent collection of mainline trains over to the site. The move comes complete with superb updates to no less than four trains: Classes 310, 377, 421, & 170; all provided by various contributors. There's also news of some exciting works in progress, including a Class 66 loco, updates to the 156 & 158, and there's news of a brand new Class 323 passenger view!

See the News section of the BVE UK Train Collection for full details of this and more: http://www.bvetrains.co.uk/

More News...

David White updated his superb Class 318 EMU. Enhancements to the model include: completely original sounds, modified train performance, and a brand new cab! This excellent train can be downloaded along with David's Class 311 and 314 electric multiple units, from his 'BVE In Glasgow' website: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/zerosignal/bve/ Check for details of a brand new Class 334 'Juniper' in development as well! :o)

Passenger View for BVE

John Owen (BR Sounds) created another fantastic passenger view for BVE after his popular GNER HST TGS! This time, John puts you in the passenger saloon of a Scotrail Class 158 'Express' unit. The unit features some superb sounds, recorded by John himself. The new Scotrail 158 Passenger View is available to download from John's 'BR Sounds' website: http://www.rwysnd.btinternet.co.uk John is also working on Passenger Views for more great trains...

Bve 'Character' Series

Devised by Wulf (Saxon Locomotive Works), the 'character' series aims to bring certain locomotives within each class to life by incorporating the unique characteristics of specific locomotives into existing BVE models, including sounds, performance and pictures. So far, Wulf has created superb updates for the following classes: 37, 55, and 87, and has now released a 'characterised' version of the popular diesel-hydraulic Class 52 locomotive. Wulf's characterised trains are available from his own site, Saxon Locomotive Works: http://www.zodiac-infosystems.co.uk/rail/bve/

Also available from Wulf's site, is an excellent guide to editing the train data file, compiled by Shaun Myers.

NEW Trackside Sign Recognition Guide

Alan Lee created a new section on his Jubilee Line website that sets out to help explain the signals and trackside signs encountered on Britain's railways - many of them recreated in BVE! This excellent guide can be found in the 'Trackside Sign Recognition' section at Alan's Jubilee Line website: http://www.jubileeline.org.uk

More news from past months can be found here: Archived News

Every effort has been made to ensure that the information here is accurate and correct. Use the information you find here at your own risk! Scottish Rail Sim Files and its affiliates are not responsible for any damage or loss due to use (or misuse) of information found here. This site is not affiliated with, or endorsed by, Strathclyde Passenger Transport, First Scotrail, or any Train Operating Company.

© Robert Glass 2001-2003 unless stated otherwise. Contributors retain ownership and copyright of their own material. No part of this site may be reproduced without permission from the copyright holder(s). Permission may be sought by contacting the web site owner (details available on the contact page). Note direct-linking (hot-linking, leeching, etc.) to files is strictly prohibited.

Back to Top