Information:
Version 1.1 of Antwerpen Brussel now includes Belgian Signals.

General info about the history of this route:
Railroadcompany:    NMBS-SNCB
Routelength:            57 km

Lines:
L00 : 2,6 km
L25 : 43,8 km
L27 : 40 km ( 90% parallel with L25)
L161: 10 km (incomplete)

Allowed Speeds:
In the present condition of the railroads (anno 2002/2003) L00 : 40 and 50 km/h L25 : 140 km/h, 160 km/h between Kontich and Berchem. At the end the speedlimit of 160 km/h will be possible for the entire line. L27 : 120 km/u, fly-overs 90 km/u. Fly-overs are at Sint-Katlijne Waver, Mechelen Zuid and Haren L161: 130 km/u.

Operational Procedures:
* Trains drive in Belgium on the left track !
* Maximum allowed speed for trackchange is 40 km/h, 60 km/h at Berchem Zuid, Kontich, Sint-Katlijne Waver and Vilvoorde.
* Passengertrains have priority over freighttrains.

History:
On may 5th 1835 the first railroad was build on the European Continent. It was the Belgian line which connected Brussels with Mechelen and 1 year later on may 3th 1836 the part to Antwerpen-Centraal was added. The station is still there and is part of the cultural heritage. Exactly 100 year after the first trainrun the line was electrified. This happened on may 5th 1935 and they used 3kv DC.
Later L27 was added which connected Berchem with Brussels, this line is electrified since 1950. L25 is used for passengers and L27 was intended for freighttrains only but due to increasing demand for passengers, more and more passengertrains drive on L27. Among them the Thalys which is not technicaly capable of driving on L25. L25 does not allow freighttrains but it happens sometimes.
At this moment Antwerpen-Centraal is under reconstruction for the High Speed Line (HSL) Amsterdam-Brussels. Once it is completed it will have 3 floors within the classical building. In the route only a few tracks are available in Antwerpen-Centraal like in reality. Close to Antwerpen-Centraal is Antwerpen-Berchem, trains to Essen, Gent, Oostende and Lier leave from this station. It is a largly urban area, only after Kontich you will find an agricultural area. After Sint- Katlijne-Waver you enter the area of Mechelen. But the transition between Antwerpen and Mechelen is not longer visible. Between Mechelen and Vilvoorde you find more farms (and a higher fps) After Vilvoorde you find the Schaarbeek yards, one of the largest yards made for MSTS. After Schaarbeek station you enter Brussels, you enter first Brussels-North where L25 and L27 cease to excist and L0 start, this is the North-South Connection. This line is 2.6km long, has 6 tracks and belongs to the busiest railroads in the world. Brussels has 5 stations, Brussels-North, Brussels-Congres, Brussels-Central, Brussels-Kapellekerk and Brussel-South (Midi). From Brussels-South the HST trains leave to Germany (Thalys: Köln), France (TGV/Thalys: Paris, Nice), UK (Eurstar: London) and the Netherlands (Benelux via L25, Thalys via L27 to Amsterdam).

Remarks:
This route is as realistic as possible, but:
*MSTS only allows an average of 1500 objects for each tile, so not everything is as detailed as we wanted.
*Not everything has been made for the route, some buildings are missing etc. Some specific Belgium stations and items are still missing.
*People traveling this route will find that it is quite realistic but they will also find differences in the landscape.
*It might be necessary to decrease your detail sliders in MSTS. On some parts the fps is quite low. This means however also that you will not see every detail.
*The area around Antwerpen-Centraal changes daily due to the works for the HST. So expect some changes between MSTS and reality. Perhaps in a later update this will change.
*Everyone is allowed to extend the route. However the author might make updates in the future where the core L25/L27 will be changed. So please extend only.
*Publication of extended routes is allowed after consultation AND agreement of the MS TrainStop-Team only.

Installation:
- X-Tracks v3.x must be installed. Use the latest version!
- Use the installer, the files will be placed in the directory: Belgie3".
- Now execute the installme.bat which is placed in the Belgie3 directory.
- The route includes no activities.
- The route includes some paths so you can use the route.

Changes Update v.1.0. -> v.1.1.:
The major change was the introduction of the Belgian Signals, build by Alain Noël and engineered for this route by Danny Vermeêren. Doing this the area around Antwerpen had to change which includes new buildings and more important more track too.
Other changes include the surrounding of Brussels-Midi, which now includes the Zuidertoren.

Credits:
The MS TrainStop Team thanks the following persons for their contributions to this project:
Alain Noël, Axel Boey, Danny Vermeeren, Diego de Jonge, Frans Vranken, Gerry Denayer and Jan Willems.
And to a number of independent 3D designers who's objects we used, like: the object builders of the Benelux-Sim Team (BST), Ian Morgan, José Jiminez, Dick van Dijk, Hans Tol, tark1054, Mark Todd and the many other builders who's name we have forgotten!

------ MS Trainstop.com - Copyright statements: ------

1.  This model may not be included on a CD distribution without permission of the author & skinner.
2.  The contents of this zip-file (models, textures, graphics...etc) is freeware and cannot be used commercially in any way.
3.  You can not distribute this file or place it on your website without our permission.
4.  You may extend the route but you need our permission before releasing it. If you receive our permission we expect
      you to include the correct credits in the File_id.diz and the Readme file.
      Also the orignal README file MUST be included as Readme_Original..
5.  If you do not receive an answer from us when requesting for placement on your site or for permission to make
     skins of our model then the default answer is "no"!
6.  We do not allow the model of this product to be changed, adapted or any alterations made through Reverse
     Engineering. If you want something changed then contact the author. If you don't we consider it illegal!!
7.  By using this model you agree that we are not liable for any damage it might cause to your life, your PC or your other rolling stock.


©2003-2004 by MS Trainstop.com
www.mstrainstop.com
info: info@mstrainstop.com