Even as the Internet propels us into a future of e-commerce and faceless, cross-continent staff meetings, it can also put us in touch with the past. Those who missed out on the great age of steam, for instance, can visit Bryan Attewell's website. From there they can download a program that will satisfy (and occasionally frustrate) their yen to drive a steam locomotive.

Bryan Attewell, author of a steam locomotive simulator, stands beside the real item, a Stanier 5MT fitted with Stephenson valve gear.

The steam locomotive simulator is found at www.battewell.freeserve.co.uk.

Attewell is a principal lecturer in the engineering department at the University of Sunderland in the northeast of England, and is the leader of the school's innovation and product design/management bachelor's degree courses. Before he became a teacher, Attewell worked in industry as a design engineer, including a stint designing diesel engines for railway locomotives.

Like many others, Attewell has been fascinated by trains since childhood. "It was my interest in steam locos that lead to my wanting a career in mechanical engineering," he said. He grew up in the small northeast mining town of Boldon Colliery. "We had a railway running about a mile from our house and the local coal mine had extensive sidings. I could lie awake at night and listen to the steam locos lifting their trains up the heavy gradients. I had to pass the line on my way to school and would always hope that the level crossing gates would close to let me see a steam train pass. I had a model railway and started train spotting at about 10 years." Young Attewell also began "bunking" (train spotter's slang for trespassing) in locomotive sheds.

"I have never driven a real locomotive, although I have had a few footplate [locomotive cab] rides, one when I was just 11 years old," he recalled. "I find books written by footplate crew [locomotive engineers and firemen] to be fascinating, and I have a good collection of them. I have also read the British Railways handbook for steam locomotive enginemen and numerous books on the design and construction of steam locomotives.

"The simulator came into being because I was teaching a final-year mechatronics class about control theory, and I wrote a computer model of a railway and electric loco, whose speed the students had to control. Part of the assessment was in the form of a game; students scored points according to the performance of their controller program. Criteria included not exceeding speed restrictions, minimum journey time, and minimum energy consumption." Attewell had already written a software model of the processes involved in the generation of electricity from geothermal sources. In that model, steam turbines were among the engine cycles examined. He realized that he could combine the two models. "Throw in a few thousand happily spent programming hours, and out pops a [steam locomotive] simulator."

Written in TurboPascal to run under MS-DOS, Attewell's program simulates the thermodynamics of a steam locomotive, including the engine, boiler, and all major controls. The driver chooses a route and a locomotive, and takes control of the brake, cutoff, damper, injectors, blower, firing rate, sand, and water scoop. Gauge information includes boiler pressure, water level, speed, and superheat temperature. The route simulation presents distances, place names, gradients, speed restrictions, and water troughs.

The user, who is doing the work of both the driver and the fireman, must be careful not to overfill the boiler, let the fire go out, forget to open the cylinder cocks, or exceed the speed limit. Otherwise, the train ride is abruptly ended.

"I regularly forget to open the blower before closing the regulator," Attewell said, admitting that the controls are difficult to master, because of "the speed at which everything happens." The Spartan program does includes a comprehensive help document, a quick help screen, and a "practice mode" for driver training.

Most of the existing choices for routes and locomotives are British. But would-be engineers can add new machines and modify existing routes or design new ones. In the United States, enthusiasts can drive from Cheyenne to Laramie or from San Francisco to Los Angeles. In Italy, one can climb the mountains from Bologna to Pistoia, and in South Africa, drive the Orange Express from Kimberley to De Aar.

Because the freeware simulator is a "labor of love," revisions arrive on a considerably slower timetable than that of commercial software. Attewell is working on a Windows version that may draw from the long list of features that users wish could be added. "Surprisingly, no regular users ever request sound or graphics," Attewell said. His own routine is well established. "I normally play badminton on Monday evenings, followed by an imaginary drive along some long- forgotten railway track."

JAY O'LEARY


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