SIAM Limited
	News from S I A M - Autumn 1998

---

The main news is that we have a new steam era simulation set in the Llandudno area on the North Wales coast. Llandudno 1958 is Platinum, and includes both Llandudno and Llandudno Junction and the entire line connecting them, together with the yard and shed at the Junction, and both weekday and summer Saturday schedules.

We also have another main line Driver, a second Paddington to Exeter via Westbury, this time set in the eighties; there is also a commuter Driver covering the Cardiff Valleys line from Cardiff Central to Rhymney.

Finally, we offer you the chance to face the challenge of managing Virgin Cross-country's motive power for a week, with our Virgin Cross-Country Fleet Manager.

Our full list is available on our World Wide Web site (see below); when asked for a list we now send a full price list without details, plus full details of simulations announced in the last year or so. On request we can supply on disk the complete list as a zipped HTML file, or in Microsoft Word 97 format.

Watch our regular ads in Rail for further announcements. There may well be some new 1998 simulations before our next newsletter.

The following new simulations are available now for the PC. The Drivers (only) will be available from Monday 2^nd November for the Amiga.

NEW! Platinum Series - Llandudno 1958 - The simulation starts at 6 am and runs to 10 pm, and is set in 1958 before the arrival of any main line diesels in the area. Both weekday and Saturday schedules are provided; effectively this gives you two very different simulations. All main line services are steam-hauled, and they include many excursions and reliefs at higher difficulty levels. Freights serve the yards and other sidings. As in our Ashford 1958 simulation, more detailed freight shunting is included. Bonus points are available for allocation of locos from the correct depot, and for correct placement of incoming freight. (Difficulty #####) Price �45
NOTE: THIS SIMULATION WILL NOT BE AVAILABLE FOR THE AMIGA

NEW! Driver : Paddington to Exeter 2 (80s) - You are in charge of your selected train (from a choice of 9) on this varied line: fast to Reading, then twisting and turning through Westbury to Taunton, then over Wellington bank to Exeter. You have a choice of schedules for loco-hauled services, with a variety of locos available: classes 47/0, 47/4, 50 and HST (2 x class 43). (Difficulty ##) Price �18

NEW! Driver : Cardiff Valleys (Cardiff Central to Rhymney) - Drive this steeply-graded route with frequent stops. This is a marked contrast to our usual long distance routes, and keeping time with many stops and speed restrictions is a real challenge. You have a choice of schedules for loco-hauled and multiple unit services, with a variety of locos available, including a couple of preserved classes that have been hired in for commuter traffic. (Difficulty ##) Price �18

Virgin Cross-Country Manager 1998 - Manage a fleet of 33 class 47 and 17 class 86/2 locomotives for a week, achieving the greatest possible productive mileage while ensuring that all trains are covered and that scheduled maintenance is performed correctly. Virgin have taken a lot of stick, often unfairly, for poor performance; see if you can do better with this fleet of aging motive power. As well as Virgin's own electrics and 24 locos of class 47/8, you have to manage Great Western Trains' five used on the overnight sleeper services, and four 47/7s hired in from Fragonset Railways. Biggest yet in this series, with 50 locos and 14 main locations, as well as out-and-back workings to other places. (Difficulty ##) Price �12
NOTE: THIS SIMULATION WILL NOT BE AVAILABLE FOR THE AMIGA

Amiga orders have decreased markedly in the last year, and if this decline continues we shall have no option but to cease Amiga support. Our two new Drivers will be available for the Amiga, but the Llandudno 1958 and Virgin Cross-Country Fleet Manager simulations will not. All our existing Amiga simulations will continue to be available.

Simulation speed on PC

All our current programs should run on any PC processor. If you have problems with running too fast, please check the program date (file date on the original disk) - if it is older than 1994 and you are using a 486 or faster processor, you need an update, provided free on return of your original disks, or with a new order. If you have a Pentium II or later running at 266MHz or faster, you may find that older simulations (earlier than 27th November 1997) do not run at all, due to a bug in the Borland Pascal system we use to develop the programs; again, if this happens please send us a list of those affected and we will replace them.

PC Disk Size

Due to price changes and the growing size of our programs, we are now using high density 3½" PC disks (holding 1.44Mb each). If you have an older machine that can not accept these disks, please ask for the 720k variety.

We can no longer supply 5¼" disks.