Dill

Dill's TrainPlayer

Demo Version 0.95, Mar 2003

About the Player

TrainPlayer is a new program for running virtual model trains on preconfigured layouts. It is specifically designed to work with the layouts from Linn H. Westcott's classic 101 Track Plans for Model Railroaders from Kalmbach Publishing Co. First published in 1956, the book has sold over half a million copies worldwide and is still in print. The track plans it contains are imaginatively designed, technically sound, and beautifully illustrated.

Few hobbyists have admired this book without wanting more. The vast empty yards, the complex switching patterns, the double-tracked inter-city mainlines --- all sit waiting for miniature equipment to go chuffing across the landscape. TrainPlayer is designed to alleviate the emptiness and bring these fine layouts to life. We admit that sitting at a computer with a mouse cannot compete with the thrill of walking around a club railroad with an MRC Prodigy, but it's a step in the same general direction.

With TrainPlayer, we present each layout with its original background artwork, a full network of live tracks, operational turnouts, rotating turntables, a drag-around control panel, and a starter train sitting on a spur, warmed up and ready to roll. Turn the speed knob, and off she goes. Control the speed and direction, couple and uncouple cars, sound your horn, build up your own set of custom rolling stock, enjoy! You're driving a classic railroad layout.

This documentation accompanies the first demo version of the program. Not all of the details are in final form, and there are some glitches and bugs. If you find problems, we'd appreciate an e-mail to the address at the bottom of this document.

Setup

Insert the CD. It should automatically start and bring up the installation dialog. (If it doesn't start, double-click on setup.exe.)
To run the program, click Trial Run from CD. The full capabilities of the program are available in this mode. Choose one of the layouts and begin. Or:
To install the program on your computer, click Install to Disk. If you install the program, (a) it loads faster, (b) it appears in your Start menu, (c) it saves your preferences between sessions, and (d) it doesn't disappear when you pass the CD on to a friend :-)

To uninstall the program: use the command Start > TrainPlayer > Uninstall.

Note: The demo version of the program is locked in Run mode. Track editing and layout construction tools are not available.

Tutorial

Open the Elizabeth & Rahway River Ry.(101 Track Plans number 13). Find a short freight train parked at South Newark. If the layout doesn't fill your screen, enlarge the view using the Zoom In tool (+ on the toolbar).
At the lower right is the control panel, the multi-function device you use to control the train. The prominent feature is the speed knob, with its red needle resting on 0. Press on the needle and drag it clockwise until the train starts moving. (For details of speed and other controls, see "Control Panel" below.)
Left to its own devices, the train will just keep going counter-clockwise around the outer oval. Don't be alarmed when it disappears as it goes through the tunnel.
While it's looping, try a few things. Click the slide switch, and the train will change direction (in an instantaneous non-prototypical way). Click the stop button, and the train stops instantly. For a more prototypical stop, click the speed knob once at the 6:00 position; it will rotate, slowing the train down as it goes.
Click one of the car icons in the window at the bottom of the control panel. This selects a car, as indicated by a pink highlight under the icon and on the car itself. You can remove the highlight by clicking the same icon again.
Right-click on a car icon, and you get a menu of options for manipulating the train. You can add a car, delete one, change properties, etc. Feel free to experiment, nothing will change permanently unless you save the file. Changes can be made while the train is moving.
Try the zoom tools (+/- icons in the right toolbar or View > Zoom on the menu) to zoom in for a closer view. As long as Train > Auto-Follow is checked, the screen will automatically move to follow the train.
To throw a switch, click on it. Green lights show which route through the switch is currently open. Don't be alarmed if the train goes through a closed switch --- by default Operation > Auto-Open Switches is on, meaning a train can throw a switch by just going through it.
Try the horn. Press and hold the horn button on the control panel. Right-click on it for more options, or use Train Properties to set the horn you want associated with the selected train. Try Loco Sounds at different speeds.
If you delete the train, or want a second one, use Train > New Train to create one. A new train locates itself at a random place --- if you want it somewhere else, you have to drive it there.
To uncouple: select the car you want to drop, then click the uncouple button just left of the stop button. If the button is dimmed, it means (a) you're going in the wrong direction (the engine has to be moving away from the car, of course), or (b) the two cars to be unhooked are not on the same section of track, or (c) you're trying to uncouple the lead car. After uncoupling, you will have a train fragment without an engine, which naturally doesn't move under its own power.
To couple: move slowly toward the car to be coupled, and bump it gently. If it doesn't couple, you may be moving too fast, or not have both cars on the same track section.
That's all you need to know to go drop off that boxcar at Petrolian Alley. Good luck.

The Control Panel

The control panel controls one train at a time. To select the train to be controlled: (a) click on any car in the train, or (b) select the train from the Train menu. Devices on the control panel are:

Speed Knob. To operate the speed knob, you can (a) drag the needle, (b) click anywhere and the knob will rotate to that position, or (c) double-click anywhere to go immediately to that speed. Note that you can't move past the marked stops. The knob is on a logarithmic scale, so you get more control at low speeds.
Slide Switch. Click to reverse the direction of motion of the selected train.
Uncouple Button. Click to drop off the selected car and those behind it. This button is active only if conditions are right for uncoupling: cars to be uncoupled must be on the same track, the train must be moving, and moving away from the cars to be uncoupled, and the selected car is not the lead car. A little pink spike in the train window shows where the uncoupling will occur.
Stop Button. Click to stop the train. To stop all trains, right-click an empty space on the layout and choose Stop All Trains. Other ways to stop the train: (a) move the speed to zero, (b) choose Stop from the Train menu, (c) crash.
Horn Button (not shown in the above screen shot). Press and hold to sound the horn. Right-click to choose another horn sound, or to turn on/off steam loco sounds. When you choose a sound, it becomes associated with the current train.
Train Window. This shows an iconic representation of the train. Click to select a car, or click an empty space to deselect. Use the arrow buttons to scroll the window horizontally. For a larger view of the train, right-click in the window and choose Train Properties.
Speed Display. The number at the upper left shows the speed in MPH or KM/H, calibrated accurately according to the layout scale. To see speed in metric, choose metric units in either Car Properties or Layout Properties.
Close Button. Click the X to take down the control panel. To bring it up again, use View > Control Panel or open another layout file.

Adding and Editing Trains

To add a car to a train: right-click on a car to add a new car behind it. Choose Add Car and select from one of the car types.
To remove a car: right-click and choose Delete. If you remove the engine, the train becomes immobile.
To create a new train: from the Train menu, choose New Train or New Locomotive. The former creates a standard four-car train; the latter just a steam engine. The new train or engine is deposited on track number 1 of the layout.
To remove an entire train: right-click on any car and choose Delete Train.
To point an entire train in the other direction: right-click on any car and choose Reverse Train.
To save the current set of trains: use File > Save As to store the layout in a new rrw file. Train consists and positions are saved with the layout.

Operating Turntables

To operate a turntable: point anywhere on the circumference until it highlights, then (a) double-click to begin clockwise rotation, or (b) right-click and choose the rotation direction. The turntable rotates until its track aligns with an external track.

Command Reference

File	New	Create new empty layout. Not useful in the demo version.
	Open/Close	Open a layout (rrw) file, or close the current one.
	Open Layout	Choose a layout from the set of rrw files in a directory.
	Save/Save As	Save the current layout, including trains.
	[Recent Files]	Recently-used rrw files.

Edit		Standard edit commands for editing text in dialog boxes.

View	Toolbar/Status Bar	Standard Windows view commands. The status bar does not yet show any useful data.
	Control Panel	Show or hide the control panel, operating the currently-selected train.
	Zoom In/Out	Magnify or reduce the image by 25%. To zoom in on or out from a particular spot, right-click the spot and choose Zoom To / From.
	Refresh	Repaint the screen and readjust all train positions.
	Background	Toggle the display of the background bitmap.
	Tracks	Toggle the display of the overlaid tracks.
	Grid	Toggle the display of the sizing grid.

Train	New Train	Create a new four-car train on track 1.
	New Locomotive	Create a new steam engine on track 1.
	Add Car	Add a car behind the currently-selected car.
	Go	Begin moving at slow speed.
	Stop	Stop the current train.
	Reverse	Change the direction of travel of the current train.
	Auto-Follow	Toggle whether the screen is to automatically move to follow the selected train.
	[Current Trains]	Choose a train from this list to select it into the control panel. To edit the names which appear on the list, use Train Properties. (Note: train names are not currently saved with layout files.)

Operation	Auto-Open Switches	Toggle whether trains may go through closed switches. If this mode is checked, and a train goes through a closed switch, it throws the switch to the new open position.
	Barrel Through	Same as above, except trains do not throw switches to new positions, they just go on through.
	Random Switching	If this command is checked, then every few seconds a random switch will change position.
	Crash Mode	If this command is checked, then trains will crash upon encountering a closed switch or end of spur (default is to bounce back) or encountering another train on the same track (default is to float right through).

Window		Standard Windows menu.
Help		Online help.

Car	Uncouple	Uncouple the selected car.
	Add Car	Add a new car behind the selected car.
	Delete Car	Delete the selected car.
	Delete Train	Delete the selected train.
	Reverse Train	Point the train in the opposite direction.
	Car Properties	Bring up a dialog for setting car color and size.
	Train Properties	Bring up a dialog for setting train name and horn choice.

Layout	Stop All Trains	Immediately stop all movement.
	Zoom To/From	Magnify or reduce the view and recenter at the cursor position.
	Auto-Follow	Toggle whether the screen is to automatically move to follow the selected train.
	Layout Properties	Bring up a dialog for specifying scale and viewing layout size. If you change the scale in this dialog, it affects measurements throughout the program.

For More Information

For questions, comments, or to report bugs, please e-mail Jim Dill at jim@jimdill.net.