Released back in 2001, MSTS is still available, and has spawned a rather large following, especially considering two major add-on manufacturers, 3D Train Stuff and Maple Leaf Tracks.

Why worry about a five-year-old program? Because the imagery is often very dense with trees and buildings, it runs slowly even on new machines without a fast CPU and high-RPM hard drives.

Defrag before installing, there are two patches to download, and make sure your RAM is maxxed out. Turn off utilities that free RAM in the background, eyeball for malware or viruses, and that supreme system hogger Norton Utilities (if you have it).

If you do try this program and like it, I recommend The Bridge Line as an excellent introduction to the world of add-ons. It also has the benefit of taking place around Schenectady, NY, which you may have visited or passed through at one time or another, and features spectacular scenery in the autumn (which can be recreated in the game).