Heidi Express- First impressions

Hey, all. I just recieved my copy of the Heidi Express, and am probably now among the rare few that own it and live in the United States. Because of that, I waited nearly two weeks.Well, overall, I am pleased with it, if only pleased. Pros:
Custom cabs
A few custom sounds
New enges and rolling stock
New route
New signals
Many new scenery itemsCons:
Horns don't loop
Some .sms files aren't even directed towards their own sounds!!!
The actual route includes only minimal buildings
Cars have that transperency issueJudging by this, I don't know if I should bother with Glacier Express. Tell me what YOU think!-Matt, future Cirque Du Soleil singer-Crime: It's my anti drug -Creating Pac-Man comics for the humorless people out there

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RE: Heidi Express- First impressions, DTA, Apr-02-03, 05:06 PM, (1) RE: Heidi Express- First impressions, OTTODAD, Apr-02-03, 05:57 PM, (2) RE: Heidi Express- First impressions, pacmancreator, Apr-02-03, 07:35 PM, (3) RE: Heidi Express- First impressions, OTTODAD, Apr-03-03, 08:35 AM, (4) RE: Heidi Express- First impressions, jonathanmlewis, Apr-03-03, 12:43 PM, (5) RE: Heidi Express- First impressions, OTTODAD, Apr-03-03, 01:04 PM, (8) RE: Heidi Express- First impressions, jonathanmlewis, Apr-03-03, 01:33 PM, (9) RE: Heidi Express- First impressions, Swissie, Apr-03-03, 03:46 PM, (10) RE: Heidi Express- First impressions, OTTODAD, Apr-03-03, 04:02 PM, (11) RE: Heidi Express- First impressions, Swissie, Apr-03-03, 04:21 PM, (13) RE: Heidi Express- First impressions, henry3, Apr-03-03, 01:03 PM, (7) RE: Heidi Express- First impressions, Swissie, Apr-03-03, 04:15 PM, (12) RE: Heidi Express- First impressions, OTTODAD, Apr-03-03, 04:26 PM, (15) RE: Heidi Express- First impressions, Swissie, Apr-03-03, 04:52 PM, (16) RE: Heidi Express- First impressions, OTTODAD, Apr-03-03, 05:01 PM, (17) RE: Heidi Express- First impressions, henry3, Apr-04-03, 01:14 PM, (20) RE: Heidi Express- First impressions, OTTODAD, Apr-03-03, 04:21 PM, (14) RE: Heidi Express- First impressions, henry3, Apr-04-03, 01:10 PM, (19) RE: Heidi Express- First impressions, OTTODAD, Apr-04-03, 04:32 PM, (21) RE: Heidi Express- First impressions, SVTS, Apr-03-03, 12:50 PM, (6) RE: Heidi Express- First impressions, pacmancreator, Apr-03-03, 05:31 PM, (18) RE: Heidi Express- First impressions, MJ_MC, Apr-23-03, 07:15 PM, (22) RE: Heidi Express- First impressions, pacmancreator, Apr-23-03, 10:00 PM, (23)

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Ottodad loved it! LOL (sorry Otto).Basically, it is one of the early ripoffs, that were produced for the sim. Along with Scenic railways, high speed trains and the bucket line.There are Free routes that could have charged 3 times as much, and would be value for money.David

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Thanks David for stopping my Blood Pressure rising again ! O t t o

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Now that I have had it for a couple days, I have convluded thus: The actual route is crap, if you don't mind me saying that. However, once I got over the transparency issue, redirected the whistles to the OE 380 Steam Whistle, adjusted the brakes, changed the sounds on the passenger cars, added wires and gantrys to the Hisatsu route to make it somewhat resemble a swiss mountain route (whew!) I have fallen in love with the rolling stock. But the route sucks.
-Matt, future Cirque Du Soleil singer-Crime: It's my anti drug -Creating Pac-Man comics for the humorless people out there

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Spot on, Matt !But there is another Swiss Mountain Route in the File Library called the ABULA ? Can't remember who by.Judging by some of the Screenshots I have seen, it's the closest to the real thing I know well, having
Meter-Gauge Railway travelled Switzerland twice in the past 3 years, the HEIDI on the second trip.A agree, the Rolling Stock isn't too bad, but has no "Observations" cars like the real Heidi Express !O t t o

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I thought it was only the Bernina Express which had Observations cars. I always get a normal train not any off the Expreess when I trevel on the RhB. I have gone over the whole RhB abount 2 or 3 times.I only Meter Gauge named train worth traveling on is the MOB's Crstal Panoramic Express which I am making the route.
http://groups.msn.com/MSTSNarrowGauge

Jonathan Lewis
jonathanmlewis@msn.com

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Jonathan,one of the two trains is the HEIDI, the other the BERNINA, can't remember which. They were departing from Tirano one after the other. I think the HEIDI went first. Having had a 8-days First Class Rover ticket then to get the benefit of these Observation cars,I chose the BERNINA on this part of the Journey. Used the HEIDI on another occasion.The official description is "Bernina Express or Heidiland Bernina Express", sharing the route over the Bernina Pass and apparently using the same rolling stock then. "Swissie" being the Expert will no doubt chip in if I got it wrong ? O t t o

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The Heidiland Bernina Express goes via Davos and goes from Landquart I think not Chur.
http://groups.msn.com/MSTSNarrowGauge

Jonathan Lewis
jonathanmlewis@msn.com

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Hi Otto,>"Swissie" being the Expert will no doubt chip in if I got it wrong ?<Here I am, thanks for calling me expert (being far from that)- Truth lies in the middle, both Bernina Express and Heidi Express make use of the panoramic coaches:RhB has a total of 10 (ten) panoramic coaches that are licensed for the Bernina route - due to the narrow turns South of Alp Grüm (the one with a 26 meter radius on the viaduct, if you know the route) only dedicated cars with shortened bodies are allowed onto Bernina.These are
- 3 First class cars (roadnumbers A1291 - A1293)
- 6 Coach class cars (roadnumbers B2502 - B2507)
- 1 Coach class cars with service compartment for the conductor (B2501).The Bernina Express from Chur to Tirano (train 500) and vv (train 501) is usually consisting of 6 panoramic coaches, namely two First class, the coach class with service compartment in the middle of the train, and three regular coach class cars.If available, Heidi from Landquart via Davos to Tirano uses whatever is available of the remaining four panoramic coaches, plus regular coaches where tour group passengers, a.k.a. "busloads", get their seats. As the a/c units on the car have a reputation of being rather finicky, 1-2 of the panoramics tend to be in the shops...Lukas a.k.a Swissie

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So what did I tell you, if that is not real Rhätische Bahn knowlege then I don't know what is. Looking forward to my next Swiss Railway Holiday in early June 2004 !Missed you in the Forum lately, Lukas ! Take Care, O t t o

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Hi Otto> Missed you in the Forum lately, Lukas ! <Merci! Can't hang around all the time. There is work,... and there is work. Watch the file library in one of the next few days for some results of the second kind of work (PS My girl is from Poschiavo South of Bernina, and has family living in the valley as well as in St. Moritz. I know that piece of track, I think.)Cheers, and servus Wien,Lukas a.k.a Swissie

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>But there is another Swiss Mountain Route in the File
>Library called the ABULA ? Can't remember who by. Assuming that I'm not missing a "smiley" here, the ABULA route was done by (is being done by?) Michael Vone of the Route Builder's Guide fame.I've never had the chance to get to Switzerland, (I hope to address that some day) but ABULA seems pretty authentic to me. The only problem is that I don't get to spend enough time running on it. Henry

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Hi Henry,> (...) but ABULA seems pretty authentic to me. (...)It is pretty authentic, it is - except for the standard gauge tracks, real albula is 1000mm (1 meter) NG.See and compare:
Virtual Landwasser viaduct

Prototypical Landwasser viaductLukas a.k.a Swissie

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SNAP, Lukas !Beat me to it. But doing this search with Google I spotted the ABULA site and having seen your shots it's now a must ! Cheerio for a minute while I go and buy it ! O t t o

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Hi Otto (for a final remark tonight, young folks like me should be heading for bed now)> But doing this search with Google I spotted the ABULA site (...)<Hum?!?>...while I go and buy it !<Buy what? The screen shot is of Michael Vone's Albula2, free for download here at train-sim com. The payware Albula isn't out yet, and nobody knows how good it will be (hopefully the skills have grown with payware makers also, not only with our freeby authors)Lukas a.k.a Swissie

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Thanks for stopping me just in time, Lukas !Off to bed then !Night, Night,O T T O

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That settles it! I knew Michael had done an awesome job on this route, but I really didn't have the basis to make a full comparison before now.The only thing missing from that top picture is *me* looking out the window of one of the coaches.Thanks, Lukas!Henry

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No it wasn't a hidden "Smiley", Henry. I thought it was Mike but was too lazy to do a "Search". My memory is not what it used to be at 74 ! As for Swiss Railways, being one of the best in Europe like their watches, definitively a MUST for Railway Enthusiasts. The Alps are another attraction !Get yourself a First Class Rover ticket for as many days as you want to travel and the Swiss Railway World is your Oyster ! Not just Railways, it covers all sorts of other means of transport and is comparatively cheap too ! Here is something to wet your appetite, O T T O.http://mercurio.iet.unipi.it/pix/ch/narrow_gauge/RhB/electric/emu/ABe4_4-II/pix.html
http://www.johndarm.clara.net/Europhots/Switzerland2.html
http://www.rhb.ch/unternehmen/streckennetz.e.php

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Hi Otto!>No it wasn't a hidden "Smiley", Henry. I thought it was Mike
>but was too lazy to do a "Search". My memory is not what it
>used to be at 74 ! My memory is not what it used to be at 47, so I still have a ways to go. My wife and I have been trying to get to Switzerland for some time now, but other things keep getting in the way. Nevertheless, we WILL make the trip at some point.Thanks for the information on the Rover ticket, that's just the kind of thing that we'd need.And thank you for the links to those gorgeous pictures. I'll be adding them to my "favorites" as soon as I get home. And hopefully I'll be able to take some of my own pictures of those scenes in the near future.Take care,Henry

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Definitively a Railways Holiday you will never forget as long as you live, Henry, weather permitting. The best time for one would be late May or early June while the days are longest and before the Main Tourist season gets under way and everything is booked up in advance. That's when I plan to do my next trip ! Might bump into you over there ?Get in touch with your nearest Swiss Embassy or Consulate. In fact I think that SWISS RAILWAYS have an office over there as well, your Country's Citizen being their best customers, followed by Japan's ! Take Care, O t t o.

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As a route goes, I enjoyed it, but then again, i know nothing about the actual route itself, and as for the rolling stock, once again, guilty of not knowing, as my SP SD 40's looked right at home there!I didn't buy it for the realsim of the actual route, becasue I have no clue what it looks like, so I walked away happy with my purchase.Chris Bogley
chrisb@tailsnrails.com
Ft. Huachuca AZ

www.tailsnrails.com
www.msnusers.com/Tehachapi

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>As a route goes, I enjoyed it, but then again, i know
>nothing about the actual route itself, and as for the
>rolling stock, once again, guilty of not knowing, as my SP
>SD 40's looked right at home there!
>
>I didn't buy it for the realsim of the actual route, becasue
>I have no clue what it looks like, so I walked away happy
>with my purchase. Neither did I. I too have never been on any Swiss railways, but I figured that it would match up with the Albula 2 route by Michael Vone. Unfortunately, it didn't. But I think that once I made those above mentioned changes to the rolling stock, I think that they more than make up for the lousy route.Also Ottodad, yes, I do have the Albula2 route by Michael Vone. I consider it one of the crowning achievments for MSTS. And I think that if he charged $.50 for every download, he'd be a rich man.Thanks for all of your info!
-Matt, future Cirque Du Soleil singer-Crime: It's my anti drug -Creating Pac-Man comics for the humorless people out there

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I thought it was a good, if not outstanding add-on. Very enjoyable, scenic route, if not totally realistic to the real life route.I would bother with the Glacier Express, there's something about that mountain scenery! Simtrain.ch aren't the worst developers out there, I'm quite pleased with their work on Heidi and look forward to getting the Glacier Express product from them.Kind Regards,
Jay

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LAST EDITED ON Apr-23-03 AT 10:01 PM (EDT)

As long as they don't include the words "...minimal scenery is in place, leaving only the buildings with immediate proximity to the railway station. The rest of the village or town is "assumed" !
The thing about the Albula 2 route is that it features full scenery, where the Heidi Express has only "minimal".But yes, I do like the Glacier Express route Zermatt-Chur-St.Moritz, and yes, I do know that the add-on only features St. Moritz-Chur. I believe if I don't buy it for the route, it'll be for all of the new rolling stock! And with any luck, that transperency problem won't be present...If only they included the Bernina Express route, and the Chur-Arosa line, THAT would be cool!-Matt, future Cirque Du Soleil singer-Crime: It's my anti drug -Creating Pac-Man comics for the humorless people out there

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