Ian Warren wrote:Marty , you mentioned Nije , that,s Nigel Booth , he works at the loco shop just off Waltham road and made a lotta choo choos for this sim , question , has he done any scenery .
I'm very lucky to have one of the best preserved heritage railways in England, the
Severn Valley Railway only a few miles from me and bought an old copy of Microsoft Train Simulator last year specifically so I could use the official SVR add-on for it. Out of curiosity, I looked around to see whether there were any New Zealand related resources around for MSTS and got quite a surprise....

Northrail - The Wanganui Section by Neville Brook:

Raurimu Spiral: Taumarunui to Ohakune by Trevor Burt:

Rimutaka Incline by Trevor Burt:

Lower Hutt Valley by Trevor Burt:

Southrail: Gateway to Central Otago - Dunedin by Neville Brook:

Southrail: Gateway to Central Otago - Taieri Gorge Railway by Neville Brook:

If you consider MSTS is over ten years old now and used essentially FS2002-era technology, I think those routes are remarkable achievements and stand up extremely well. They're authentic with the real landmarks all present and correct and the sound and atmosphere when driving the train is spot on for NZ. I noticed quite a few names in the trainsim scene familiar to us, including Nije who modelled the Taieri Gorge engine in my screenshot above.
All of the above is freeware and available from
Train Simulation New Zealand, although as some of the links there are broken I had to go to the general trainsim sites to find everything.
Ade