Hornby software
1996 video game
Hornby released several pieces of software to complement their core business of model railways.
Hornby Virtual Railway
Hornby Virtual Railway is a video game and model planning environment released for Microsoft Windows in 2001.
Gameplay
Players build a virtual model railway layout in realistic scenes, helping people to plan their real-life layout(s). Fixed track parts, rolling stock, scenery, building, tree and hills similar to a real life model railway. Users can also control the trains once the virtual railway is built and planned, leading to some people to call HVR a train simulator. Some advanced parts such as turntables are absent from the game, and all engines on the same track will all move at once, the same speed and direction, much like a real life DC model railway. Engines included in the first edition include the LNER Class A1/A3, the LNER Class A4, Smokey Joe and the Eurostar.
Hornby Virtual Railway (2001)
Hornby released the First Simulation/Game of the HVR series which was released on 7 June 2001.
Hornby Virtual Railway 2 (2003)
Hornby released Virtual Railway 2 (HVR2), 2 years after the original. The sequel was somewhat more realistic looking than its predecessor, and contained more elements to use such as scenery, new rolling stock, and new engines (includes Virgin 125).
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Hornby software” as 1996 video game. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as 1996 video game. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 17, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5904148. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2001 and 2003.
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This entry incorporates text from “Hornby software” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.