Provide (semi) automation so that I can run multiple trains simultaneously on the layoutĬontrol one or more trains from a wireless handheldĬurrently I am using a Digikeijs DR5000 as the command station, LAN (Ethernet) connected, with DR4018 accessory decoders driving MTB MP1 point motors. The computer is a Raspberry Pi 400 with a 22inch Iiyama touch screen, connected either via Ethernet or via WiFi, although I can run the same software on my MacBookPro. I am experimenting with both RocRail and JMRI. b) support the computing platforms I use. (I don't have a Windows machine, although I do run Windows programs on my MacBook in VMs). RocRail has enabled me to produce a control panel for the layout and control the points from the touch screen, driving the DR5000 via the Loconet protocol over the LAN. It is also able to provide on-screen windows for driving trains. I attach my current RocRail control panel - a first attempt and probably containing mistakes aplenty, but you have to start somewhere! The yellow marked rectangles show the status of each point and you simply click on the alternative rectangle for a given point to throw the point. With crossovers, a single click moves both points. JMRI is harder work for creating the control panel, but I am an expert Java programmer and I suspect I shall use JMRI a lot more in the future simply because it is open source written in Java and so straightforward for me to tweak and extend as needed. I am interested to hear more of other folks' experiences in controlling their model railways from computers, especially with regard to the software and its configuration. Here is my first attempt at a Layout Panel, kind of equivalent to the RocRail control panel in my earlier posting: I've read material about some of the commercial programs like iTrain, which certainly seem much more polished than RocRail and JMRI, but which have very healthy costs associated with them.Īs well as RocRail, I have been working on a JMRI implementation for my layout - slower going as it turned out. It models crossovers directly and covers my case where I have a single DCC turnout address for both point motorsĬlicking in the circles changes the related turnout position JMRI differs from RocRail in a number of respects including: Here, the circles represent turnouts of one kind or another - with Green representing turnouts in the "straight" position and Red representing turnouts in the "thrown" position. script to implement this limitation instead It does not model 3-way points at all, requiring you to use a pair of RH & LH points instead - this is disappointing simply because not all 4 combinations of point positions are allowed in practice and I shall have to use some form of. However, editing the on-screen icon is tricky and unreliable, hence the weird shape on my double slip in the bottom centre of the panel JMRI models both single slip and double slip diamond crossings. In some respects, the schematic approach taken by RocRail is easier to get to grips with although the final diagram is more faithful to the layout in JMRI. JMRI also stores data about the "physical" turnouts separate from that of the representations in the panel. This leads to more work since you have to define things in two places. This separation may be better in the long run, but it makes starting a slower process. I got fed up with other people's products not being able to do what I wanted. Yes, that is one reason why I am an enthusiast for open source software - the important thing is not that it is free, but that anyone has the ability to take the existing work and alter or extend as they see fit. And that their modifications are available to all in return. I like the analogy you make to scratchbuilding - but expecting everything to be scratchbuilt is a hard demand on many modellers and many make the compromise to use RTR models, or to take RTR models and tweak them (weathering, cut-and-shut modifications, etc), or to kitbuild, again with modifications. I make the same analogy with software - it is often far too much to expect the average modeller to write all their own code.
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