Railfan Technology > Dispatcher game

Way back in the days of disc there was a dispatcher game. Gave you several lines to chose from and you had to manage trains and meets
Anyone know if there is a new version for modern computers especially Mac ?


Gary

Posted from iPhone

It was by Signal Computer Consultants and you can find files for it, but they stopped making the game. It also does not run on any computer greater than Win9*. I do not know if there was a MAC version. To my knowledge, I do not thing there is a displatching type game available.

There is online game.
http://randallhook.com/railroad-dispatcher/play/
 

dcorreia Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It was by Signal Computer Consultants and you can
> find files for it, but they stopped making the
> game. It also does not run on any computer greater
> than Win9*. I do not know if there was a MAC
> version. To my knowledge, I do not thing there is
> a displatching type game available.

Dang, then me running it on Win 10 Pro is a figment of my imagination - I'll be darned. 

Yes, it is still available, and it still works on other than MAC machines. I believe a search on eBay will bring it up - a friend recently bought it off eBay a few months ago. I don't know whether you should search for Train Dispatcher or Signal Computer Consultants. You can still get the program, the accompanying Track Builder program (for making territories), and of course the key(s) to operate the program. Good luck.

 

TD3 and TB3 also work on my laptop WITH windows 10...........

66

Have a look at this. http://webrailroader.com/ctc-introduction/

I think it is even better than TrainDispatcher 3 that Signal Computer Consultants discontinued.

TAW

Railbaron Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> Dang, then me running it on Win 10 Pro is a figment of my imagination - I'll be darned. 
>
> Yes, it is still available, and it still works on other than MAC machines. I believe a search on
> eBay will bring it up - a friend recently bought it off eBay a few months ago. I don't know whether
> you should search for Train Dispatcher or Signal Computer Consultants. You can still get the
> program, the accompanying Track Builder program (for making territories), and of course the key(s)
> to operate the program. Good luck.
>  
Actually, I DID have it running in Windows 10 Pro 64-bit R1909!  I had 'tricked' it into working on Win 7 Pro 64-bit and then did a Win 10 upgrade last November.  It still worked fine! 

Unfortunately, I ultimately decided to abandon the upgraded Win 7 version and did a clean Win 10 install on a spare SSD.  For whatever reason, the 'application move' software I had purchased didn't even 'offer' to move the game.  I have spent a fair amount of time moving the folders, even copying registry entries all without success.  So, I tried the installation CD and ran that in XP compatibility mode.  Unfortunately, it  launches another task which immediate bombs because it isn't launched in compatibility mode.  I managed to 'trap' the launched program and tried unsuccessfully to get that to run in compatibility mode.  I'll get back to it one of these days.  For now, I installed it without problem on my Windows XP box that I keep around for a number of programs that are too costly to migrate to Win 7 and then 10, as well as some historical archival purposes.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/01/20 19:11 by BRAtkinson.

I'll ask if anyone here has the board game, Dispatche?. It is a major fold-out board and you dispatch trains from several yards to several destinations. Much more skill than Monopoly as you're actually "running" a division of a railroad with mixes of traffic.

I can't remember when or where I picked it up but Avalon Hill is the publisher.

DaleR

Archive.org has a lot of the old MS-DOS games that you can play in your browser, including many of the old railroad-themed ones:

https://archive.org/details/softwarelibrary_msdos_games

I picked one up in an antique store in Utica, Illinois a couple years ago.
Never played it yet but it seemed to have all the pieces.

The old lady at the counter thought she was being funny talking to me like
I was a kid: "Now you can go home and pretend you are a dispatcher".
My wife spoke up and told her I was a real dispatcher.

My first thought looking at the game board was if it was updated to
PSR standards all the lines would be single tracked with sidings too
short for trains. :)


dbrcnw Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I'll ask if anyone here has the board game,
> Dispatche?. It is a major fold-out board and you
> dispatch trains from several yards to several
> destinations. Much more skill than Monopoly as
> you're actually "running" a division of a railroad
> with mixes of traffic.
>
> I can't remember when or where I picked it up but
> Avalon Hill is the publisher.
>
> DaleR

I would pay to watch a dispatcher board game match between TAW, Englewood, and SeventyFive.
A modest amount, mind you.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/07/20 07:45 by RRTom.

RRTom Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I would pay to watch a dispatcher board game match
> between TAW, Englewood, and SeventyFive.
> A modest amount, mind you.

That would be a lot of fun, for sure.  I would up the ante and have us all pay even
more to watch several Company Leaders have at it.   Hours of service regulations 
will be in effect.

When I came across the game I bought it as an interesting artifact.

A few days before I retired I made a list of all the things I hated about the job.
When I got home and looked at it all the bad memories flooded back.

There is and old saying from retired people: "I don't miss the job, I miss the people".

My saying is:"I don't miss all the a**holes that made life difficult, I miss the work".

I miss the challenge of pushing the trains along, learning something new everyday
(because the railroad is constantly changing) and attempting to do a better job
everyday.  I DO NOT miss the many incompetents in management who enabled
the incompetents in the various crafts that made the job three times as difficult
as it should have been.

So I have no interest in playing the game.  Perhaps when the grandsons are older and
they want some small idea of what train dispatching is all about I will drag it out.

Next time I come across it in my "warehouse" I will take some photos and post them.