For me at the moment I love the new Tyne Valley routes, the Network West Midlands and Sandymill are really good too. I am installing the edinburgh ones so they may be good too.

I love driving the HST sets, and DMU wise the 142's and 150's. I also quite like the 323 EMU.

I sometimes struggle with the Air Brakes on the locos (where you have REL/LAP/SVR) - anybody else find this?

I have mentioned this previously but I am sure you won't mind the repeat. When using the 'Lap' type of brake you need to apply the brake by tapping the > key then let the brake needle drop, then immediately press the < key, which will lap the brake at that point. If this isn't enough brake then tap the > key again and let the brake drop another level then tap the < key to lap at that level. You can use this method until you feel the given brake pressure is enough.

Equally, you can press the < key then the > key to ease the brakes at controlled levels to avoid over breaking and stopping short.

Rout knowledge plays it's part in knowing just when to start braking and just how much brake to lap at, so as not to over brake or not to be able to stop at the station mark or signal.

Play with this system for a time until you find the optimum setting to lap at. Remembering that one press of the > key will drop the brake and immediately pressing the < key will lap at that particular level. You can fine tune the braking by the use of the > & < keys.

As an average braking, press the > key until the pressure drops to 4 Bar then press the < key and watch how the train brakes. At maximum speed and especially with a loaded freight you will have to let the pressure drop at least 3/4 of the way before laping the brake for the initial braking.

I hope that this is of some jelp.

I like the Island Line with M-Train of the MTR in HK.

We'll my favourite route and train is the Northern Line and class 220. But the exterior on the class 220 might need more work on it. Such as the doors etc

BVE is a cabview simulator so I particularly like the 3D cab facility that Michelle has introduced into open BVE. Driving the latest version of the 323 with the ability to look around you, particularly when entering New St. station I find very satisfying. However the recently introduced Japanese Reren route shows moving vehicles on the road alongside the track is spectacular. We are indeed fortunate to have these dedicated enthusiasts without payment for our enjoyment.

network west midlands is my most used routes but my first ever was birmingham south so i always have a soft spot for that route and seen has im still learning where to stop at stations in network west the birmingham i know every stop, there has been so many great trains , when i first joined this community the reason for it was for a drive in my fav train the class 158 super sprinter and at this stage i would like to point out that it is great if more people could develop more real routes has this is clearly one reason people come to the commuinity also with it being free nothing can beat it. Ive tried sevral other simulators in some ways i find weakness and positives about each one, but i will always have bve or openbve installed for the simple fact is we are building a great cummuinity and very good trains and impressive route building skills. it would be great if someone had a transpennine route for the class 185 desiro im building but to end this im sure in time we will have that much to choose from route and train wise we will never leave our PC and will become full time drivers in our own ways.

I think it's like the 'REAL' Drivers. They spend many hours learning their routes, and only are allowed out without a trainer once they know all the signalling, points, stations, stopping patterns, route availability and get that route 'signed off'. I have heard of routes being changed and a driver who hasn't known the diversionary route having to wait for another driver who has the route knowledge to come out and take over. So I think we are all a bit closer than we think to 'real life driving', as I'm sure many drivers in-training have overshot the stop signs, or stopped short. Have 'spadded' signals and maybe missed stops altogether.

It's funny because I think once you 'get into' BVE it doesnt stop at just playing the routes and variety of traction. I am enjoying the Edinburgh and Richwell Network at the moment and keep moving between different classes of trains. I have played around a bit with the train and route files to do different stuff. I can't write code but would love to learn more about development. Maybe I will 'crack' a new route one day.

I agree. It can really be a lot harder than it looks. I actually have a number of different routes I like a lot and keep enjoying even though I've been playing them over and over again - Tokyo Metro Ginza and Hanzomon lines (by Greenshuttle), and the fictional Saijou Line (by Reren) and Chashinai Railway (by "odakyufan" (that's his openBVE forum screen name)). My favourite route and train out of all of them is, however, the Hanzomon Line with 08 Series train. Very nice train, though it's a shame I haven't been able to find objects for an exterior view yet. I can't use the objects in the route because they only exist for one side of the train.

@ frymanuk,

haha it's the opposite for me...I started on BVE 4 before moving over to openBVE, and my first route was the Uchibo line. I've played many routes since then and there are some that I could drive in my sleep and get a perfect score, but i still can't drive Uchibo properly