The anxious wait for the new Ultimate Trainz Collection is almost over as the thousands of CD's began shipping this week. Some lucky Australians who ordered the overnight service will be kissing their postman this morning and the majority of you should have your copy in your hands next week. For those of you who haven't yet made your mind up whether or not to upgrade to Ultimate Trainz, the reviews are sure to start flowing into the forums (http://www.auran.com/trainz/forum/default.htm) over the next few days. To help clarify some of the many questions we are still asked, here is a brief explanation of the different Trainz versions that have been released. Trainz Community Edition: This was the first release of Trainz almost one year ago. It was available only online and contained 3 layouts, locos from 12 countries and didn't support DirectX. Trainz V1.1 and V1.1.1: These versions were the retail versions released around the world. The USA in February, Australia in March, Scandanavia in April, France in May, Germany, Spain and Italy in July, Netherlands in August and the UK in September. (The strange delay for the UK was beyond our control and we apologise to all our British friends). These versions introduced DirectX support and a number of new features and improved the overall performance. Service Pack 3: This free upgrade added large map support, improved physics and numerous performance enhancements. Ultimate Trainz Collection: This is the latest version of Trainz (V1.5) with loads of new features such as dual cabs and multiple in cab camera views plus 6 brand new scenarios. In addition UTC includes a special new Trainz Paint Shed version, now with more than 50 items you can repaint PLUS tons of new content including the TGV, GG1, and new German and Swiss scenery packs. Remember that if you have a discount voucher (http://www.auran.com/trainz/shop.htm), these will expire on November 30th, so don't let them go to waste! Last week we promised more news on the Trainz on the Road project. This week we are pleased to announce that we have appointed a Global Co-ordinator to head up this new division. Henk Plaggemars, also known as Cafe, will be taking on the responsibility of helping to arrange Trainz demonstrations at rail shows, hobby stores and pretty much any other place where you might find a collection of train fans. Just a quick bit of background, Henk was so impressed by the reception of Trainz at his local model train show that he has now given up his day job and will be working with us full time. Visit the Trainz on the Road forum to discover how much fun you can have showing off Trainz to people who have never even seen or heard of it. The new Train on the Road website will be up and runing in the next few weeks. We would like to congratulate Henk on his appointment and wish him well in his world-wide endeavours. This week, we're also pleased to announce a new Trainz Screenshot Competition. There will be 10 winners and each will receive a free copy of Ultimate Trainz Collection. The competition will run for 2 weeks until December 6 so that we can send the winners their copy in time to put under the Xmas tree. Visit the Competition page (http://www.auran.com/trainz/competition.htm) for more details.