A few weeks ago, my son attempted to purchase an old copy of this game for me on eBay, but lost in the final minutes. This set me to thinking that Train Dispatcher would be a fun game to play with today's modern computers. I did a search, and discovered that someone had made such a game, Train Dispatcher 3.5 from www.softrail.com.

Train Dispatcher 3.5 is unlike nearly every game I have played. There are no fancy graphics, no last minute moves with a controller. You are presented with a screen showing track symbols, switches, and signals. You select the location that you wish to play from the several that are built into the game or you may purchase additional track sets. After deciding where to play, you select the day of the week to begin the simulation. Press start and the game begins.

The timer begins and suddenly the symbol of a train engine and caboose appear on one of the tracks. A voice tells you that "Train - 2MROEU-28 is stopped waiting for a signal." You find the train and begin changing the signals from red to green to route the train to its proper location. When you click a signal it changes from red to green and the associated track turns to green also and the train begins to move.

That's it for the moment. The train moves off the screen - a successful train dispatch. Things are slow so you increase the speed of the simulation. Suddenly, you have six trains waiting for go signals, but now you discover that the trains want to go in different directions, and at different speeds. Even worse, some of the trains are passenger trains that don't want to wait for that slow freight to clear. NOW you begin the dance of the train dispatcher. It is like an air traffic controller, but with objects that can only move down two rails.

You begin by moving the first train forward, but switch it to a siding. This allows you to begin moving train two, but WAIT, you forgot to change the switch back and a voice tells you that you can't do that. Minutes later that same voice starts listing the trains that aren't moving. I could describe more of the situations that you will face, but, hopefully, this gives you an idea of what the game is like.

The above covers the basics of the game, but there is much, much more detail involved. There are special actions required, called permits, which a used when track needs repairing or a problem requires that a certain block of track be taken out of service. There are wayside detectors that let you know if a train has developed a "hot box" or other problem and has to stop or be rerouted. There are also random switch and signal failures…not something you want to discover when you have two trains aimed straight at one another. Another random event involves train problems such as late trains, locomotive problems, weather delays and other events that can make you finely tuned schedule turn into a shambles.

There is an 85-page manual included with much detail about how actual dispatchers handle similar problems. You don't need the manual to begin playing, but you will need to read it after you begin to get into the details of a day.

The controls are very simple. You click on a train, signal, or switch to operate it. And there are only two decisions for each one, open or closed, red or green, or forwards or back. This game is not for the lightning fast reflexes, this is a game of contemplation followed by the horrible discovery that you forgot one little detail and 9 trains are backed up, waiting for a signal to clear, that can't clear because the train is too long for the siding. I enjoyed this game, partly because I enjoy simulations and partly because this game comes close to letting us relive what is becoming less and less common.

It is a little pricey at $45.00 but it does come in shareware so that you can try it out before spending the money. It is, however, a game that you will play over and over, since no two days are exactly the same.

I would suggest giving it a try, especially if your reflexes have slowed down a bit.

Happy railroading!