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In Flying Scotsman, we have the complete opposite of the slick arcade games of the Micro Powers and Acornsofts. Dee-Kay have come up with a highly enjoyable simulation of a train journey between London Kings Cross and Newcastle, non-stop. More enjoyable than the real thing in some cases!

The simulation is not as you might think, graphical, but rather a series of pieces of information about the journey, seen from the driver's point of view. As such it is of limited appeal but enthusiasts will lap it up and I recommend that you try and take a look at a copy to see whether this is your cup of tea.

At Kings Cross, roster notices are posted to inform the driver of any particular problems on the route. You get a report on your train (I chose the 125) which will go something like this: "Motive Power dept. report your train in ex-works condition." You are now placed on board with two minutes to go before departure.

There are over 8,000 lines of Basic supplying the information on your Mode 7 screen all the way along the route. The clock ticks away, your speed is registered along with your controller status (1-5), brakes and other status details, for instance: "engine idling".

You don't have to take the high speed (when they are moving!) trains. You could choose to drive a Deltic or a Class 47. The documentation reveals enthusiasts at play. There's lots of good, sensible information about the program itself and revealing information about the journey, including a schedule and a gradient profile.

As well as controlling the train and trying to keep up with the clock, you get to sound your horn - very realistic. Places you know (if you have done the journey) appear in the mind's eye and the program gives them names - Gasworks tunnel and Copenhagen tunnel. There's Arlesley, Maxley, Little Barford (though I don't think they mention the power station which you can't miss), Essendine, Little Bytham and Corby Glenn. Later we come across Botany Bay and Piper's Wood, very romantic.

Throughout the journey we are kept up to date with how far out from the last stop we are - so many miles from Kings Cross, so many from Stevenage and so on. The main skill in driving the trains is in getting used to the controls, the performance of the train you have chosen and adjusting for the various gradients and speed limits you will encounter along the line.

This is not the next piece of hit software headed for the Christmas, or post-Christmas, charts but for anyone remotely interested in the noble train and for anyone who would like a complete change in the sort of software they are loading into their BBC, Flying Scotsman is worth a look. It would be nice if Dee-Kay could write the program to incorporate historical versions of this famous train and its run up and down the East Coast Line to prolong the interest and value of the program. As it stands, it is an interesting, if not brilliantly realised, piece of software.

Melvyn Wright