You wait for ages for a good train simulation and then two come along! Just Trains is pleased to announce that they're stoking up the excitement for the expected arrival of two new train simulations on the PC platform.

Trainz Railway Simulator 2006 is the latest version of the hugely popular Trainz developed by Auran. Trainz, in its 2004 and Passenger Edition incarnations (both published in the UK by Just Trains), has become the simulator of choice for virtual railway enthusiasts. A massive community of has grown up around Trainz and they are eagerly anticipating the release of TRS2006 with all its new features. The entire program has been re-worked from boiler to guard's van to keep it at the top of the virtual railway charts.

Users can decide how far to get involved - from simply watching the railway in action, managing the drivers and their workload or even taking direct control of the trains and driving them.

Realism is the key to the ongoing appeal of Railway Simulator and TRS2006 is no exception in this respect. New physics modelling of events like wheel slip and coupler breakage combine with passenger and freight operations to provide enthusiasts with the complete railway experience.

Meanwhile, down in Somerset, another railway sim is building up a head of steam (and compressing some diesel) ready for its journey along the virtual railway tracks. Train Driver, developed by the experts at Railwaves, is a brilliant standalone simulation of the West Somerset Railway. It uses the tried and tested Trainz software 'engine' to bring this vintage line to life on PC. The diesel and steam engines, all 23 miles of track and the ten accurately modelled stations are all included and ready to drive - straight from the box! As a bonus, owners of Trainz Railway Simulator 2006 and Passenger Edition can use Train Driver as an expansion and add the West Somerset Railway to their existing Railway Simulator operation.

SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS: Windows XP, 2000, ME, 98 - DirectX8.1 (or later)

MINIMUM HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS: PC with 1.8 GHz equivalent or higher processor, DVD-ROM drive, 512 Mb RAM, 64 Mb DirectX 8.1 compatible video card, 3Gb hard drive space (for TRS2006) and 500Mb for Train Driver.