A new add-on announced for Microsoft Flight Simulator aims to bring the American railway system to life within the simulator world. Developed by Steven Pearce, the creator behind BT Studio, “FS Trains: USA” will add animated trains traversing over 100,000 miles of tracks across the United States.
FS Trains: USA marks a departure from BT Studio’s usual aircraft-focused projects. It’s set to feature Amtrak passenger trains on all current Amtrak routes, as well as Class 1 freight trains on main line tracks. A variety of locomotive and car types will be included, such as intermodal well cars, box cars, hoppers, and tank cars.
Pearce claims the add-on utilizes low-polygon models and efficient coding to minimize performance impact. “There is no discernable impact on FPS,” he stated in the announcement thread on the MSFS forums. “The train cars are low poly simple boxes, and they are ‘StaticObject’ type in the sim. The code to drive the trains is very simple and fast math written in C.”
The project aims to enhance the simulator’s immersion and realism for pilots flying over the American landscape. While users won’t be able to drive the trains directly, the moving rail traffic should add a new dimension of life to the virtual world.
FS Trains: USA is expected to be released on the Microsoft Flight Simulator Marketplace for Xbox and PC within the next 30 days. Pearce has also expressed interest in expanding the concept to other regions in the future, with Europe mentioned as a likely next step.
BT Studio may not be a very well-known name in the community, but the developer has been responsible for aircraft add-ons like the Kitfox V2, King Air C90, and J3C-65 Cub, which have all been received with mixed feedback. However, this new venture into environmental enhancement rather than aircraft modeling could represent a fresh new direction for the developer.
The release of FS Trains: USA is just around the corner, and the preview images provided by the developer offer a glimpse into the transformative impact this add-on will have on the scenery.
Moving trains have long been a highly sought-after feature in Microsoft Flight Simulator. Apart from a few specific implementations in limited scenery packages, there hasn’t been a broad implementation of animated railroads. Stay tuned for the release announcement, and we’ll be sure to update you as soon as it happens!
