Train Spotting Simulator

In the Train Spotting Simulator, you play a train spotter, located somewhere in Britain (the traditional home of the sport, though additional territories could be provided as expansion sets). Armed with your notebook and a copy of the Book of British Engines (provided on the CD-ROM), you set out to spot every locomotive in Britain. You choose a location (be it at a railway station, by a tunnel, on a bridge or elsewhere), and wait; the computer renders a view from your vantage point, with things happening in the background (passengers walking about, cars passing, birds in the sky, &c.; it would have to be realistic). After a while (minutes or hours), without warning, the train passes (its approach audible in surround sound, with each having a distinctive whistle to satisfy the hardcore anoraks), and is rendered passing. Once it does, you call up your virtual notebook and note down its serial number. The game is complete when you've spotted every train.

For those not into the long haul, there could be briefer variants; such as how many trains can you spot within a given time.

The Train Spotting Simulator could also be run as a screen saver or desk accessory, for those who like to watch trains passing whilst at work.