After my experience with the SFM, I decided to develop a new paid route with a series of newly developed additional content and the possibility of even greater coverage than the original SFM in the future.
After extensive work, I’m happy to announce that the new route, called North-West Italian Railway, is in the final testing phase, with its first section between Torino and Novara close to publication by Just Trains, as reported in the official announcement here. The Torino-Novara route includes the entire Torino railway system, including the Orbassano yard, and its branches to other destinations, as shown in the map.
The revision compared to the SFM was complete. All generic assets derived from the SFM (buildings, bridges, walls, roads, vehicles, dummy rolling stock, etc.) have been revised to improve both 3D and texturing, and other previously unavailable assets have been added, such as gas stations, supermarkets, advertising signs, bus stops, and much more.
Completely new, however, are the italian signal pack (both 3D and scripting) and the OHLE, now complete with specific brackets for junctions, line sectioning, and special pylons. All assets will be included in a new provider/product set provided with the line.
The Torino-Novara line has been equipped with the SCMT system developed by Worcester-George and therefore, if installed, can also be fully used by the E464, a machine created by the same developer. The aforementioned plugin is not required, although it is essential for those who prefer to drive with SCMT activated as in real life.
The package includes some default scenarios that will not require additional external material.
As an important add-on, the Minuetto is provided in three different liveries, which in the default scenarios is currently the only rolling stock the player can operate.
This EMU, developed from scratch, is an expert-level machine. In addition to all the main procedures outlined in the driver’s manual (enabling, parking, stationary, brake testing), it also includes a series of “failures”, which can be activated without the driver’s knowledge by the scenario creator through specific signals inserted at random points in the route. The Minuetto’s external destination board is dynamic, and the text displayed can be set either from the cockpit keyboard or automatically by the scenario creator through a specific signal.
The Minuetto also integrates the SCMT plugin created and published by WorcesterGeorge. If this plugin is not available, or if the player does not wish to use it, the vehicle is equipped with a backup SCMT dashboard that only performs the RSC function (at least its basic functions).
In addition to this rolling stock, the package will include other vehicles or trains that can be used as AI traffic (and therefore not controlled by the player). Specifically, the ETR 421/521/621, the E402A, the E464, and the MDVC-MDVE carriages, available in the most common liveries, as well as the Italian-English manuals for the route, the Minuetto, and the most important information on signal operation.
I sincerely thank TrainSimItalia (https://trainsimitalia.altervista.org/) and the team of testers (Roberto, Andrea Luigi, Luigi, Valerio, and Alex) who offered to thoroughly test the route and provided a wealth of suggestions, corrections, and ideas for improvement, and Valerio Allegrini for his support in developing the Minuetto, testing it, and optimizing it to make it as close as possible to the real thing.
I also thank the entire Just Trains team (and especially Alex) for their support, trust, and continued encouragement to bring this important project (almost) to completion and Christophe Durvaux that has created the default scenario’s.