Model Railway Forum

I would imagine if you enjoy computers this is one way of amalgamating two hobbies.

Trains can be allocated to a specific trajectory, called a Schedule. To create a Schedule we have to select the blocks and the routes between the blocks that we want to be part of the Schedule. We also define the Departure and the Destination blocks and we can add planned waiting times at specific blocks, like at a station. Trains might stop at other blocks too, but that only happens if the route or block ahead is reserved by another train.

Link to video Traincontroller 10 Gold 09 Schedules

Once a train has reached the destination block of a Schedule, it will be taken out of the list and the trains will come to a stop. If we want the train to repeat the Schedule, or to start a different Schedule, we have to change the Schedule Type, or add Schedule Successors. The video shows how.

Link to video Traincontroller 10 Gold 10 Schedule Types and _Successors

The Sligo Rover wrote: ↑Tue Dec 13, 2022 5:29 pm All to complicated for me to understand.

Hmm... I tend to somewhat agree, but there are many who may like to know about it or what is available. So in my view, its a good instructional item

Schedules have a set of Rules that prescribe if the Schedule starts, how the trains behave and if and when routes and blocks ahead are reserved. This video is about the first half of the set of Rules.

Link to video Traincontroller 10 Gold 11 Schedule Rules

Schedules have a set of Rules that prescribe if the Schedule starts, how the trains behave and if and when routes and blocks ahead are reserved. This video is about the second half of the set of Rules.

Link to video Traincontroller 10 Gold 12 Schedule Rules part 2

We want our trains to have accurate stop positions in the blocks, and to drive around with visually pleasing accelerations and decelerations. To accomplish this we have to calibrate the loc in Traincontroller. In many cases the Simplified Speed Profile works fine. It uses three sliders, min speed, max speed and 40 km/hr. To work well with TC first we have to program the DCC decoder in the loc.

Link to video Traincontroller 10 Gold 13 Simplified Speed Profile

Instead of limiting the max speed in a block, which influences all trains that drive through the block, 'Request Yellow' is an alternative method to slow down trains in the block before a scheduled stop. If we place this request yellow in blocks that belong to the schedule, it won't influence trains on other schedules; these can drive through the block at a higher speed.

Link to video Traincontroller 10 Gold 14 Request Yellow

Pushbuttons and switches can be added to a Switchboard to control many different kinds of operations. This video shows how a Schedule can be started such that trains start to drive when a switch is flipped.

Link to video Traincontroller 10 Gold 15 Pushbuttons and Switches

Trains that drive on a cycle- or shuttle schedule with repeat count 0, as well as trains on schedules with successors,
will keep driving indefinitely. There are multiple options to stop the trains.

Immediate stops:
The Freeze button (Esc on the keyboard) stops the trains, but keeps the schedules in the list. Power On (Ctrl Shift P) will start the trains again, exactly where you left off. Perfect for a coffee break, or as an emergency stop when something unexpected happened.
Stop Layout (Ctrl Shift O) stops the trains, removes the schedules from the list and switches the track power off.
Terminate all Schedules stops the trains, removes the schedules from the list. Track power stays on.
Terminate Schedule stops the selected train / schedule and removes it from the list.

All the above methods stop the trains immediately. They may have come to a halt on a turnout, which makes these methods not preferred for neatly ending a driving session. If the next session TC decides to start a train on another schedule, a turnout may switch while a train is on it, which will lead to problems.

The following methods lead to a controlled stop:
Lock all Blocks makes the trains stop at the stop marker of the block that has last been reserved by the train. The schedules stay in the list. To start driving again, toggle Lock all Blocks off again.
Lock all Schedules makes the trains stop at the stop marker of the end block of the schedule and it takes the schedules out of the list.

These controlled stops are the safe ways to end a session.

To use the on/off switch that we created to start the schedules we place the ‘on’ state of the switch in the Condition tab of the schedule. If the switch is off, this condition is not met, which means the schedule will not be restarted once the train reaches the end block of the schedule.

Link to video Traincontroller 10 Gold 16 How to Stop Trains.