Welcome to the virtual Great Lakes & Allegheny Railroad (GL&A) where members utilize Microsoft Train Simulator on the Kicking Horse Pass 2, Michigan Iron Ore, Bridge Line, and Sandpatch routes by Maple Leaf Tracks. The routes are virtually connected together as realistically as possible based on their actual locations and the use of freeware routes available in the MSTS Community. Equipment used comes from the routes as well as from a few select third party sites. Some equipment is developed here at GL&A based on the works of others and reskinned by us to match the various railroads that used the primary routes. GL&A is free to join and any downloads are also free, however you need to be a member to be able to access the free downloads. Your only purchase requirements are the the commercial products that we utilize here at GL&A and which you desire to use. An Engineer could actually spend all of his or her time running on the freeware routes however they would miss some of the fun that is provided by the commercial routes and their Work Orders (activities).
GL&A is not for the casual MSTS engineer. Individuals wanting to join should have an extensive knowledge of Virtual Railroading and MSTS to include the ability to troubleshoot issues that they might encounter. Upon joining new members are classified as Probationary until they have completed work orders totaling 20 hours. At that time they are classified as In-Training until they reach 50 hours. At 50 hours they are classed as Engineers. At 100 hours they are eligible for the Extra Board if they have completed the NORAC Rules tests.
Due to the 'elite' status of GL&A, membership will be limited to 50 engineers at this time. A waiting list will be maintained for those individuals that submit an application when there are no openings available. The waiting list will be a first-come first-serve basis. GL&A management reserves the right to deny membership to anyone.
