High value of Trainz rail simulator in education

Since I installed Trainz rail simulator and turned its surveyor mode I knew that this software, presented as game is much more than game. 

I took few months to learn all the stuff, but it was worthy of effort.

Put yourself in role of teacher and think how to present to your students how complicated is any segment of our life due to technology.

- City planning, city traffic and other issues

- Industry, input of raw materials and output of product.

- Complexity of rail, river and sea traffic installations, harbours, terminals

In one case I wanted steel industry structure to display, including ore and coal rail transport input to present complexity of such industrial areas. So using Trainz I prepared ground scenery, and created all main add on objects like furnace, coke oven, energy plant, steel factory etc. Development included railroads and rail instalation, shunter locomotives, ore, coal and tank wagons.

In the single scenery was arranged full path, from coal mine or harbour trough landscape to steel industry area and to the product consumers further. Every detail was present. 

Students were in position to manipulate scenery and to explore various solutions of industry area planing.

The same was with city traffic planning including tram lines and subway. Create landscape, Put the city in. Then try to instal traffic lines. That is the chalenge that students cannot resist.

This is not article that promote company that created this software, but it reminder that there is lot of available software that can be customised to support specific educational issue, and used as interactive mode of teaching.