I was looking for an easy to use railroad simulator when I came across Model Railway Easily. I have owned several versions of Trainz which I like for their realism but building your own route is a pretty-intensive commitment for the same reason. In my younger years I also built several model railroads and have always like the “look and feel” of them. MRE does a good job of capturing that look.
First off, I would not call this a game per se. It’s more of a design tool that allows you to create a layout, populate it with buildings and props, put together a train, and set it in motion. The trains run automatically without attention. At switches trains will take the opposite side to the one used by the previous train. Trains bounce off stub ends and continue in the reverse direction. Two trains that meet on the same track will bounce off each other and travel in reverse as well. I have one layout with three trains and they constantly move around without issues.
It is possible to do switching yourself and drop rail cars at various industries. It is a bit cumbersome as you cannot change the position of switches yourself. You have to observe which side the train takes and if you want the other, you have to stop the train, pull it back past the points of the switch, and then set it in motion again. Speed depends upon how hard you drag the train to get it started. A slow drag will make for a slow train. The way to stop a train is to click on it while it is moving and it will pause. Trains automatically make a brief pause at passenger depots and at stub ends. When a train is stopped, you can click on a railcar and then on an icon with vertical lines and drag them apart to decouple them. Which side decouples depends upon which way you drag. Coupling will occur as an engine moves into a railcar and as railcars move into other cars. You can double-head, triple-head, or add as many engines as you’d like if you slowly drag them together (otherwise, if you just set one in motion, they will bounce apart as they do while auto-running).
I’ve now built several models of varying sizes using MRE. Overall I’m pleased with the results. It’s relatively fast and easy to build a route, populating it with track, building, trees, people, and props using a drag and drop interface. Track snaps together and by clicking on the end you can extend the track, move the track end, add a switch, or add a bumper at the stub end. There are no “straight” sections. The track will curve based on how you position the end. It does briefly snap into a straight line as it passes the midpoint but it’s easy to miss. Ending curves at an angle so the next section of track goes straight is trial-and-error as there is no angle indicator and no standard angles. If you don’t mind wavy sections this isn’t an issue but if you want more precision like in yards or around industries it’s a bit of a struggle.
Overall the interface is very intuitive but I did learn some things as I went along. If you click on a track section, a number of icons pop up and you can move it but all attached track will move with it, up to the entire rail layout. If you click the end of unattached track you can extend it, move it to a new endpoint, add a switch or add a bumper. If you want to join tracks coming from opposite directions, you need to drag one end near the other track’s end yellow arrow and let it snap together. If you just drop the end on the other end, they may appear attached but might not be (hint: if you see two narrow yellow arrows, they are not attached and trains will bounce off the intersection). I could not find a way to move an already installed section of track without moving all the track, so you end up having to delete sections to be able to get to the end arrows.
If a track is being built on an elevated part of the terrain, an automatic bridge will be added under portions that extend into space. So bridging rives and cliff edges is easy to do.
Placement of engines and rail cars is straightforward. Drag them onto a track and place them a short distance from other cars. If part of them overlap another car or engine they will be outlined in red and disappear when you drop. If outlined in green you are good to go. Afterwards, assemble the train by dragging the engine until all cars couple.
Buildings, vehicles, props, people, and trees are easy to position. They auto position on the terrains which is good and will not go below ground level (track can). In general that’s good but it’d be nice if the vertical adjuster would allow you to override that constraint.
I did find an easy way to add many trees at once. Add individual trees in an area. Use the lasso tool to select them and then click on the duplicate icon. Rotate and move the tree group to a new spot. Repeat. You can quickly build a forest this way.
Here’s my list of future Improvements ranked in order of what appeals to me:
1. “Snap to” for track laying so it’s easier to get straight sections and have curves end at angles such as 22.5, 30, 45, and 90 degrees. Right now it’s hit or miss if you want aligned tracks and curves.
2. Add the ability to drag an already attached section of track to a new location or angle without moving all the track.
3. Ability to throw switches and see the direction for which they are set. Right now switches auto-set: when a train passes over, the next trains goes the other direction. This is very helpful for auto-running trains but it would be really great to be able to change a switch manually by clicking on it. Right now you have to see which way the train goes, stop it, pull it back past the points, and then set it on the way again. Feasible to operate this way but very cumbersome.
4. Ability for track to rise to another level. If it’s capable of that now, I was unable to find it.
5. Aligning road sections is cumbersome as they are props and there is no snap-to or auto-snap. I’d prefer roads be built just like the track sections as that works very well but if they remain as props, some way to snap them together in place.
6. There are lots of options for tank cars but no open or closed hopper cars. A bit odd since the available industries would use many hoppers.
7. Less steep, less toy-like terrains with more space for track and buildings along the edges. Many of the available terrains have super steep hills/mountains that don’t appeal to me. These elevated areas also use up a lot of terrain so you end up with trains mostly hidden in tunnels. And since track can’t rise to a new level, all you can do is have another loop higher up in the mountains. I’m not suggesting eliminating what’s there but adding some terrains with gentler hills and valleys or adding the ability for the user to raise/lower parts of the terrain.
8. Greater variety of buildings and props are always welcome but realize we’ll never be satisfied. More people could definitely be used.
Overall, I’m very pleased with this product and having fun using it. Here’s a list of images that show layout I’ve made:
[url=https://postimg.cc/WDL4CnsR] 1x1 Layout [/url]
[url=https://postimg.cc/dL3Dy35f] 3x4 Layout View 1[/url]
[url=https://postimg.cc/v46B0jFL] 3x4 Layout View 2 [/url]
