The latest version of Trainz: A New Era is now updated on Steam. You can read the full post regarding what is new etc at: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/426668601/trainz-simulator-a-new-era-create-drive-operate-sh/posts/1192489
In short, this version brings us close to our release day goals and is a huge leap forward from the earlier versions released. You can see what has changed at: http://forums.auran.com/trainz/showthread.php?118619-T-ANE-Community-Edition-V1-2-is-Ready!!
There are a few known issues regarding the time it takes to build the shader cache, so "Starting TANE" will appear for a few minutes, and when first loading a new route or new materials, you will have an ingame pause for 30 seconds or so. (These issues will be fixed for day 1 release on May 15)