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How long has Simsig been running?

You are here: Home > Forum > General > General questions, comments, and issues > How long has Simsig been running?

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How long has Simsig been running? 16/07/2019 at 13:31 #119443
nnr
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Many, many years ago, (and I can't remember when) whilst I was flipping through google looking for signalling Sims, I found this odd little program "Liverpool Street"

It came with no instructions, no manual and no guarantees it would work properly.

I played it a few times and then - lo and behold - it was "issued" as a proper Sim.

I think the rest is history, but when would that odd little program have been made available?

Geoff?????

N.

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How long has Simsig been running? 16/07/2019 at 14:13 #119444
JamesN
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1568 posts
I remember persuading my mother to purchase SimSig Didcot for me in the very early 2000s - 2002? So maybe a couple years earlier?

I initially didn’t really get on with it at first; but I got back into things a couple years later. By that stage all sims were then free; but virtually unsupported.

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How long has Simsig been running? 16/07/2019 at 15:32 #119445
Jan
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888 posts
The original Fenchurch Street demo seems to have been announced in June 1999, though Geoff's actual announcement itself seems to have gone missing somewhere.
Two million people attempt to use Birmingham's magnificent rail network every year, with just over a million of them managing to get further than Smethwick.
Last edited: 16/07/2019 at 18:56 by Jan
Reason: None given

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How long has Simsig been running? 16/07/2019 at 15:53 #119446
GeoffM
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I think Jan is right, 1999.
SimSig Boss
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How long has Simsig been running? 16/07/2019 at 20:52 #119448
Stephen Fulcher
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2004 posts
Jan in post 119445 said:
The original Fenchurch Street demo seems to have been announced in June 1999, though Geoff's actual announcement itself seems to have gone missing somewhere.
Was that old thread you've linked to Clives first interaction with SimSig too?

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How long has Simsig been running? 16/07/2019 at 21:21 #119449
GeoffM
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6271 posts
Stephen Fulcher in post 119448 said:
Jan in post 119445 said:
The original Fenchurch Street demo seems to have been announced in June 1999, though Geoff's actual announcement itself seems to have gone missing somewhere.
Was that old thread you've linked to Clives first interaction with SimSig too?
I believe I had communicated with Clive by snail mail before then - and before SimSig. Perhaps 1997 though I'm not sure.

SimSig Boss
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How long has Simsig been running? 17/07/2019 at 13:18 #119457
clive
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GeoffM in post 119449 said:
Stephen Fulcher in post 119448 said:
Jan in post 119445 said:
The original Fenchurch Street demo seems to have been announced in June 1999, though Geoff's actual announcement itself seems to have gone missing somewhere.
Was that old thread you've linked to Clives first interaction with SimSig too?
I believe I had communicated with Clive by snail mail before then - and before SimSig. Perhaps 1997 though I'm not sure.
Hmm, this has got me to dig through some old mail logs.

In 1995 I had a brief conversation with Geoff about where to get track and signalling plans. Given the data - I was about to be made redundant - I suspect I posted him a King's Cross plan that I had obtained from a source and that formed the basis for the original SimSig King's Cross.

That thread was an interesting bit of nostalgia. Luckily I'd kept the files all these years; disassembling them let me create Fenchurch Street Reborn.

In late 1999 I offered Geoff the KX diagram again, so either I didn't send it or we both forgot about it. There's also a discussion about Liverpool Street and Euston ("simplified").

In late 2000 I sent Geoff reports about the SimSig Didcot beta in which I channeled Maxand: "if there's a way to turn on signal numbers, I didn't see it".

In 2002 Geoff said he wasn't going to have other developers.

In 2004 I sent him comments on SimgSig King's Cross which suggested having eras!

In January 2005 I wrote a tool that allowed bulk renaming of entities - a lot of signal numbers were wrong in Peterborough. A few days later Geoff offered to make me a developer and on 20th February he and Mike taught me the basics.

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How long has Simsig been running? 17/07/2019 at 14:55 #119464
Peter Bennet
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5354 posts
Just looking back through what I have saved over the years.
I have a Simsig manual from March 2002 and what looks like Discus forum moderator instructions from Feb 2003, surely I can't have been doing that for this long?

My first foray into "development" (rebuilding Swindon and Didcot) appears to have been in 2007. That would tie in with Clive's dates as we used to meet up on the 16.50 from Kings Cross to discuss coding and I have beta copies of Bristol which Kurt was doing at the same time. I also seem to have a beta of another of Kurts from the same era which has not seen the light of day.

Peter

I identify as half man half biscuit - crumbs!
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How long has Simsig been running? 17/07/2019 at 15:32 #119467
bugsy
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Peter Bennet in post 119464 said:
I also seem to have a beta of another of Kurts from the same era which has not seen the light of day.

Peter
I note that you don't mention which simulation this was. Is it likely that this particular sim could appear at some time in the furure. or has it died completely?

Everything that you make will be useful - providing it's made of chocolate.
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How long has Simsig been running? 17/07/2019 at 21:51 #119469
casey jones
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72 posts
Hi everyone

I remember the start of Simsig with liverpool street cant remember the year though

cheers

mick

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How long has Simsig been running? 17/07/2019 at 22:05 #119470
jc92
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3625 posts
bugsy in post 119467 said:
Peter Bennet in post 119464 said:
I also seem to have a beta of another of Kurts from the same era which has not seen the light of day.

Peter
I note that you don't mention which simulation this was. Is it likely that this particular sim could appear at some time in the furure. or has it died completely?
Presumably every location will be covered eventually. Bearing in mind how long ago this was it will have been a paged .exe sim which would need rebuilding as a scroll loader sim anyway.

"We don't stop camborne wednesdays"
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How long has Simsig been running? 18/07/2019 at 08:06 #119474
Jan
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888 posts
casey jones in post 119469 said:
I remember the start of Simsig with liverpool street cant remember the year though

Somewhere between May and June 2000 - the actual announcement itself once again seems to have been lost to the mists of time. In any case I guess this means that next year we could celebrate 20 years of Simsig!

Two million people attempt to use Birmingham's magnificent rail network every year, with just over a million of them managing to get further than Smethwick.
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How long has Simsig been running? 18/07/2019 at 10:30 #119477
bugsy
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1658 posts
jc92 in post 119470 said:
bugsy in post 119467 said:
Peter Bennet in post 119464 said:
I also seem to have a beta of another of Kurts from the same era which has not seen the light of day.

Peter
I note that you don't mention which simulation this was. Is it likely that this particular sim could appear at some time in the furure. or has it died completely?
Presumably every location will be covered eventually. Bearing in mind how long ago this was it will have been a paged .exe sim which would need rebuilding as a scroll loader sim anyway.
I accept that this would be the case, but I'm still curious as to which sim was refered to.

Everything that you make will be useful - providing it's made of chocolate.
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