Previous Next

Stoke that boiler! It's full steam ahead with the sequel to Hewson's runaway train-simulation success, Southern Belle (Leave out the train jokes - OK? Ed)

And it's another I trip on a seaside excursion. . I This time ' it's t Bournemouth fro Bath on the Evening Star.

Though the game is superficially very similar to its predecessor, this particular run offers a host of new problems, one of which is that much of the line is single-track working! This was a result of the Somerset an Dorset Railway's lack of funds when they built the branch, and while later owners tried to convert as much as possible to double-track, potentially hazardous single stretches remained.

Evening Star places you in the cab of the last train to haul the Pines Express in 1962, watching a vector graphics display of the countryside as you head to the sea. Admittedly it's not quite such interesting scenery as on the Southern Belle run, but it's a much longer journey - two hours if you opt for the full game.

If you haven't played Southern Belle you'd be well advised to watch the demo for a while, keeping an eye on the controls, before steaming out of Bath with only three controls to cope with - the Regulator, Vacuum Brake and Cut Off. Pressing the relevant initial key moves the lever or dial up one notch. Adding Symbol Shift decreases it.

For the experts you also have the Blower, Injector, Fire Doors, Stoking and Dampers...

I if you hate simulations or never wanted to be an engine driver you'll almost certainly hate everything about I this program.

But anyone else will certainly find it delightful. Every bit as good as the original

Another superb steam simulation from Hewson. If you liked Southern Belle this is more of the same.