Watford Junction to Milton Keynes Central - Downloads and Information

Please read through this page carefully; should a problem arise, the answer may be found in here somewhere...

The Watford Junction to Milton Keynes Central BVE route has undergone testing in BVE2, and as such BVE2 is strongly recommended for running this route. The route has not been tested thoroughly with BVE1, or optimised for it, and consequently performance will not be as good in BVE1 as in BVE2!

The route uses a large number of objects, necessary to re-create the various bridges, station buildings and catenary details; not to mention the scenery, tunnels and 3D trains. This, combined with the fact that the route has 4 tracks throughout most of it's length, means the route may be a little more demanding than some other routes. Many of the objects are well optimised however, and as simple as possible. Station areas may slow down your framerate, due to the level of detail.

The routes are available in several 'detail levels'. These are Low, Standard, Medium and High detail. The Low Detail route is for slower machines, and loads far fewer trees. These use transparency which can hamper performance on low end machines. The Standard Detail and above routes contain full scenic detail, including trees. The Standard Detail route contains all the detail you'd expect from a good BVE route, and should be considered the 'mainstream' or 'official' version of the route.

The Medium and High Detail routes feature very realistic and detailed catenary. These catenary objects are optimised as much as possible through various techniques, but a faster processor and a good 3D accelerator such as a GeForce2 will be needed for good performance.

In the Low, Standard and Medium detail routes, all textures are 256x256 pixels or less, and all are 8-bit, 256 colour bitmaps also. The High Detail route uses textures larger than 256x256 pixels to represent the 'sagging' catenary wires, so will only display correctly with high quality graphics cards, for example the GeForce range. If you choose to install the High Detail add-on, take a look at 'HighDetail_Catenary.txt' in your 'BVE\Railway\Object\WCML_WJ-MKC\' folder for details on using 3D objects rather than textures to represent the wires.

The Route Files

If the route has been installed successfully (details on this further down) you should have a new 'WJ-MKC_Standard' folder in your 'BVE\Railway\Route' folder. In this folder, the following route files can be found:

• LowDetail_310_Summer.rw
• LowDetail_310_Winter.rw
• LowDetail_87_Summer.rw
• LowDetail_87_Winter.rw
• StandardDetail_310_Summer.rw
• StandardDetail_310_Winter.rw
• StandardDetail_87_Summer.rw
• StandardDetail_87_Winter.rw

If you decide to try the High Detail routes as well, then you will also have a 'WJ-MKC_HighDetail' folder, containing the Medium and High Detail routes with the same Summer/Winter and Class 310/Class 87 variations.

Timetables

The timetables included with WJ-MKC are based on timings recorded while driving this route, and while they are close to reality, there may be some differences. With the Class 87 diagram for example, the departure time in the route may not reflect any real West Coast timetable, as not all Intercity services call at both Watford Junction and Milton Keynes in reality.

Driving the Class 87

Click here to read a short guide on driving the Class 87 included with WJ-MKC. Note that Neutral Sections have now been added to the route, so read the guide for information regarding these.

Using other Trains with the Route

If you would like to use a train other than the Class 87 or Steve Green's Class 310 (Steve's great cl. 43 HST for example), please note that the track and 'passing train' sounds may not work correctly with the alternative train. I would recommend making a WJ-MKC specific copy of the other train's folder, and copy the 'Run*.wav' files from the 87 folder ('BVE\Train\87_wj-mkc') to the other trains' folder, to ensure that the correct track sounds are played. Passing another train could sound odd otherwise!

Copyright Issues and Your Usage of WJ-MKC Files in Your Own Routes

The developer retains the copyright and ownership of the material contained within these downloads, unless otherwise stated in the "Readme". If you would like to use any files (bitmaps, sounds, B3D objects) from within the WJ-MKC folders, then please send me an e-mail to seek permission before using them. When files are used, credit for those files should be clearly stated. Please see 'Readme.txt' in your 'BVE\Railway\Object\WCML_WJ-MKC\' folder after installation, for more details.

Credits

Many people have helped during the development of the route, however thanks goes to the following in particular:

And thanks goes to anyone else who's been involved at any point!

'WJ-MKC Standard' File Downloads Here, the standard Watford Junction to Milton Keynes Central route, object and train files can be downloaded. The download features the Summer and Winter versions of the route, and also Class 87 and Class 310 diagrams. You don't need to download the High Detail add-on for the WJ-MKC Standard and Low detail routes to work. The 'Replacement Transparency Textures' should only be used if such details as overhead gantry headspans, signal cages, or signal ladders don't appear, or seem invisible. Try the route first before using these textures, to detemine if they're necessary or not. If the catenary seen in the route looks like what can be seen in the WJ-MKC screenshots, then you don't need to use these textures! If these replacement textures are used unnecessarily, then the catenary may appear 'blocky', with the lines appearing much thicker than they should be. Installation: Simply run the self-extracting archives, and choose the folder in which BVE2 is installed ('C:\Program Files\BVE' by default). Click the 'Install' button, and all the files will be extracted to their correct locations within your BVE folder. Note that the directory structure contained within the archives is configured for BVE2. Note: WJ-MKC Version 1.1 is now available on this page. Version 1.0 has been discontinued. Existing users may either download all the new v1.1 files (recommended), or download the V1.1 Update to upgrade your existing installation. Please also note that v1.0 is no longer supported - if you are experiencing any difficulties with the old WJ-MKC and require assistance, please upgrade to v1.1 first. This may well resolve your problem anyway! And remember - to get the best performance from the route, ensure that BVE is closed and restarted before loading or switching between any WJ-MKC routes! Restarting Windows prior to loading the routes might also be wise...

Downloads - WJ-MKC Standard (includes Low Detail version) - Version 1.1 Standard Files (2.97MB) Objects, markers, and sounds - Updated 20/02/2002 Standard Routes (195KB) Standard and Low Detail route files (Summer/Winter and class 87/310 diagrams) - Updated 20/02/2002 Trains (2.14MB) Class 87, and Steve Green's Class 310; customised for WJ-MKC - Updated 20/02/2002 Downloads - WJ-MKC Patches Version 1.1 Update (1.0MB) Patch to upgrade the existing WJ-MKC to version 1.1. Only necessary for WJ-MKC v1.0 users, click here for details about the patch. - New and updated, 24/02/2002 GeForce Textures (146KB) 'Replacement Transparency Textures' - ALL route versions. For use with GeForce cards (and only use if necessary!) - Updated 20/02/2002 Note - the developer retains the copyright and ownership of the material contained within these downloads (unless otherwise stated in the 'Readme'). If you would like to use any material, please contact me via e-mail.

'WJ-MKC Medium/High Detail' File Downloads These High Detail routes are more demanding, so a faster processor and a good 3D accelerator such as a GeForce2 will be needed for good performance. How well the Medium Detail route runs will depend on the video card as much as the processor speed; the High Detail route usually works well on 800MHz+ procesors and GeForce/TNT2 systems. If you have installed the 'Replacement Transparency Textures' already, you will need to re-install them after installing the High Detail add-on. Installation: Simply run the self-extracting archives, and choose the folder in which BVE is installed ('C:\Program Files\BVE' by default). Click the 'Install' button, and all the files will be extracted to their correct locations within your BVE folder. Note that the directory structure contained within the archives is configured for BVE2. Also note, that the High Detail files are an add-on to the Standard WJ-MKC files; so these are also needed for the High Detail Catenary add-on to function. And remember - to get the best performance from the route, ensure that BVE is closed and restarted before loading or switching between any WJ-MKC routes! Restarting Windows prior to loading the routes might also be wise...

Downloads - WJ-MKC High Detail (includes Medium Detail version) - Version 1.1 High Detail (365KB) Medium/High Detail Add-on (for Class 87 and Class 310, Summer and Winter) - Updated 24/02/2002 Note - the developer retains the copyright and ownership of the material contained within these downloads (unless otherwise stated in the 'Readme'). If you would like to use any material, please contact me via e-mail.

Other WJ-MKC Add-ons WJ-MKC High Detail Class 87, Dusk-Night, Winter version using 'Graduated Light Effects' Author: Bryan Dudley (Railtech) This is Bryan's conversion of the former daylight High Detail, Class 87 Winter version to include dusk and night time lighting, using the 'Graduated Light Effects' technique. A little light remains on departure from Watford Junction, but it'll be dark by the time Milton Keynes is reached... Once installed, a new route file - 'HighDetail_87_Winter (GLE).rw' will be placed in the 'WJ-MKC_High Detail' route folder. Being a version of the existing High Detail routes, the same High Detail hardware requirements apply. Installation: Simply run the self-extracting archive, and choose the folder in which BVE is installed ('C:\Program Files\BVE' by default). Click the 'Install' button, and the route file will be extracted to it's correct location within your BVE folder. Note that the directory structure contained within the archive is configured for BVE2. Also note, you need to have the existing High Detail add-on installed for this route to work.

Downloads - WJ-MKC Class 87, Dusk-Night, Winter version using 'Graduated Light Effects' - by Bryan Dudley (WJ-MKC Version 1.1) Dusk-Night (50KB) Medium/High Detail Add-on (for Class 87 and Class 310, Summer and Winter) - Updated 20/02/2002 Note - the developer retains the copyright and ownership of the material contained within these downloads (unless otherwise stated in the 'Readme'). If you would like to use any material, please contact me via e-mail.