Trainsim.Com - Home https://trainsim.com/forums/ Home en Sat, 14 Nov 2026 22:39:54 GMT vBulletin 60 https://trainsim.com/forums/images/misc/rss.png Trainsim.Com - Home https://trainsim.com/forums/ State of the Site - November 2026 https://trainsim.com/forums/articles/articles/news/2357505-state-of-the-site-november-2026 Sat, 14 Nov 2026 22:21:09 GMT Click image for larger version Name: 20261112_124737.jpg Views: 0 Size: 48.3 KB ID: 2358453 Can you believe it -- Thanksgiving is two weeks away....

After the beginning of the year dragging out while we awaited our house build to be complete, the last couple months have just sped by in a blink. We took a walk around the property today, and it's amazing how different everything looks from just two weeks ago when all the leaves were still up and in their full fall colors. Not today -- they're almost all down now, and we can see across the gorge, and the water is running low enough we can walk across the Emory in places.

With the season change, there's less to do outside, and that's leaving me time for a few overdue changes here.


Click image for larger version Name: fetch.jpg Views: 0 Size: 31.7 KB ID: 2358454First, something I think everyone will be thankful for -- Steam4Me is back online at a new address: https://steam4me.au/

After it went down in 2024, it seems access to its previous address wasn't possible. Yuri's son was finally able to bring it back a week ago at its new address.

In addition, the TeamAlco items which were previously payware are now available as freeware (see https://teamalco.steam4me.au/) including their Garretts. For Australian enthusiasts, this is a great outcome.

For 30 years, the site has been an anchor for the Australian simulation community, and also shares a glimpse into some of Yuri's other interests. I particularly loved seeing the harbor shots of older and newer cruise ships and ferries... and I think we all can be grateful that the countless tutorials are back to be used by new generations in the community. Well done, and a promise ultimately kept.

File Library Upgrade

Click image for larger version Name: Screenshot 2026-11-14 125721.png Views: 5 Size: 117.5 KB ID: 2358482 If you've used the File Library lately, you probably noticed it got a facelift... Search result lists will now be expandable cards, with summary information displayed in the collapsed view, and full details if you click on the top portion. That should save some space on the screen while scrolling.

The look and feel update was long overdue, but what you won't see is the changes that took place in the background. Up until last week, the file library shared a database with the forum's software, which was less than ideal from a support standpoint. They're now separate. If theres ever a need to move to another platform, or we suffer some form of hacking attack where the forum software is the entry point, having them logically separate reduces a lot of risk. After watching two hectic days of widespread technology failures in the news, reducing risk cannot be overlooked.

Something else that was just implemented was resource pooling. Up until now, all of the site's activity shared the same resources, be it downloading, searching, or just browsing the forums. Now, the downloading and searching are all carved out into their own resource pool, with caps and limits on how much resource those processes can consume. We already have "download slots" to keep the number of free downloads at any one time (i.e. the "Server Full" message that some of you have seen). That's now been implemented for searches as well. If there are too many searches being executed at once, you might get a "Try again in 30 seconds" message. Watching the logs, I've seen as many as 20 searches happening at the same time, each running 5-15 seconds of server time. The math never lies, and when the server runs out of resources, everything stops while services reset and restart. By segregating the pool, the web server should stay up during periods of heavy downloading and searching. I'll be watching the logs to see if that pans out, but I'm encouraged from what I've seen since it went live.

Let's shift back to what you can see...

In addition to the dropdown based searches we've used for the last 20+ years, there is now a tag based search available. This is a lot more efficient on the back-end, especially when looking for things like two and three character reporting marks. It also allows items like a trainset to be classified as a locomotive, passenger car, and other attributes that people might want to search on. You'll see the tags displayed in blue badges on the file cards. Using Ctrl-Click on these, you can assemble a tag based search.

The new database schema is also facilitating two other changes --- reviews and an overhaul of the quota system for free members.

Quota System Changes

Today, downloads are counted over a rolling 30 days, which has made it hard to track when your allowance resets and how much credit you'll see recover on any given day.

That all changes in January. Each member will be getting a fixed Reset Day, so you'll always know when your allowance refreshes:
  • If you joined before December 1, 2026, your Reset Day will be on the 1st of each month, starting on January 1, 2027.
  • If you join after December 1, 2026, your Reset Day will be based on the calendar day you joined
  • If you have a FastPass or First Class Membership and do not renew, your Reset Day will be adjusted to match the expiry day of your membership
The number of credits that post depends on how many days are in that month. A 30-day month gets the existing amount -- credits for 500Mb. For a 31-day month, you'll get a little more, and February gets a little less.


Click image for larger version Name: image.png Views: 0 Size: 913.6 KB ID: 2358495​While this is all new and forward looking, we're also taking a trip back in time... back to your early 2000's cell phone plans... and rollover minutes.

Before unlimited calling was the norm, most phone plans included a set number of minutes. So... think of your download allowance credits as minutes... If you don't use all of your credits before your Reset Day, that unused balance will carry over for use in the following month. Just like a cell phone plan, that unused balance only carries over once, so at most you might wind up with double the available credits when the next month starts.

If you do run out of credits, you now can borrow from next month's allowance and avoid Download Jail
  • The loan has to cover what you're over if you're already over
  • A loan can't be larger than next month's allowance
  • Any amount you borrow and don't use will roll over to the next month
Something else new are bonus credits. These are a little less defined as the the "why" but the "how" is wired and ready to go.

We might give bonus credits for winning a contest, or maybe creating the next world changing upload. Unlike rollover, Bonuses don't necessarily expire unless it's stated at the time they're issued. If you buy a membership, they'll stay in your "bank" indefinitely.

That's a lot of changes around quotas, and I hope it addresses some of the concerns I've heard over the past couple years we've had them. Ideally I'd like people to buy memberships and help support the ongoing expense of keeping the site operating, but I realize that's not an easy option for some of you, and being able to "save up" credits should help.

File Reviews

Click image for larger version Name: image.png Views: 0 Size: 17.4 KB ID: 2358487This is the last big change added... And I know you'll either love it or hate it.

Face it -- not every download is going to be great, and before you use up download credits, it would be nice to know if it's worth doing now, or maybe waiting for another time. Hopefully reviews will make those types of decisions possible. Just like you'll see on retail sites, you can give a 1 to 5 star rating, and leave a written review. After you've submitted a review, you can also add screenshots.

A few of you found this without a formal announcement, and I'd encourage all of you to give it a try after downloading something. Best case, the uploader will get some feedback on their work. Worst case... the uploader might get some feedback on their work. All too often, something gets uploaded and the creators have no idea if it was worth their time doing so.

To help support the review function, My Downloads has been added to the File Library menu, and will list all the files you've downloaded in the past three years (the previous rebuild when the site moved from vBulletin 4 to vBulletin 5). Its required for the short term to support the quota calculations and site activity metrics. You are now also getting a prompt if you've already downloaded it once before (thus helping you save credits).

Your downloading history is not shared with anyone including the file uploaders, but if you'd prefer to not have your older history retained, you can also opt to have it Forgotten after a month by going into the user settings and checking the box for Download History towards the bottom.

I know that's a lot of change in a little time, but these are things that had been in progress for a while, and due to some conflicts with my time, they never got tested and implemented. Happy to hear feedback on what you like and your concerns, as a couple of you have already done.

With that, it's time to wrap things up.

Even though Thanksgiving is over a week away, I want to close as I usually do by saying thank you, and how grateful I am for this community.

Thank you to those whose memberships and store purchases help keep the servers running, to all the uploaders who keep the library full, and to everyone else who takes a minute to converse, leave a review or even report a problem.

Those small things all add up, and make the site just that much better for the next person who stops by.

However you plan to spend the holiday, I hope you have time with the people you love and maybe get to enjoy a few hours on the rails as well...

Thanks for stopping by. I'm glad you're here.]]> News eric https://trainsim.com/forums/articles/articles/news/2357505-state-of-the-site-november-2026 Search engine updates https://trainsim.com/forums/articles/articles/news/2357218-search-engine-updates Tue, 03 Nov 2026 16:12:00 GMT Sometime ago I mentioned making some new changes in the file search capability of our library. Among those are the ability for a file to belong to...
Click image for larger version Name: Screenshot_20261103-110725.jpg Views: 0 Size: 63.7 KB ID: 2357220 Those have started to roll out and some are available for public preview.

In addition to the back-end changes, I've also made a few changes to the user interface to bring things up to a more current state. Results in the new setup use cards that can be expanded and collapsed, allowing more information on the page and less to scroll past.

This is still somewhat a work in progress where colors might change and information might be rearranged, but this will be the new general look and feel in the File Library sections.

If you received a direct link to a file in the past, those are already being displayed out of the new database structure, as shown to the side..

https://trainsim.com/forums/filelib-...leid?fid=90242

Click image for larger version Name: Screenshot_20261103-110922-display-0.png.png Views: 0 Size: 72.7 KB ID: 2357219 Layout and structure of the search forms remains mostly the same, but the result grid is definitely not the same. Hopefully the information is organized clearly enough that people will be able to find what they're looking for.

Please leave your feedback at the following topic:

https://trainsim.com/forums/forum/ge...-engine-update]]> News eric https://trainsim.com/forums/articles/articles/news/2357218-search-engine-updates