I built 40 miles (Baker to Sumpter and Whitney) of the Sumpter Valley Railway, circa 1937-42, with the help of a couple other guys. Working from Terraserver, to follow the old grade, and 105' of profile maps to get the curves, sidings, etc. accurate, was quite a challenge, seeing as how the Ry was torn up in 1947! Living here helped, as I was able to use digital photos of locations as ground textures, etc. It took us 2 years, and if I did it again, I'd want at least $50,000 for the work I put into it!
Jon Davis and Tim Muir did locomotives and rolling stock from plans and photos. I laid all the track, and placed the structures, etc. along with doing the research. Many SVRy members, including crew members have it on their computers, and run trains that will never be again, dreaming of times past! We've even gotten quite a few donations and many visitors, due to the sim.
It ain't perfect, but it's pretty damn good! If you want to run a narrow gauge 2-6-6-2, 4-6-0 or Climax, this is the place to do it!
Here's a famous location on the original RR, as represented in the sim.
Recently, a guy cracked the code KUJU used, and has fixed many of the major problems the sim had, like the front couplers not working most the time. You can now switch cabs between locomotives, so you can use a switcher and assemble a train, then take the train out and run on a branch or mainline with a road loco.