RR&Co, my control panel & the basics of automation

[alangr]

Thanks, TTG, for the comment; this sounds like something I can play with and see what I can achieve. Will take a while though due to other priorities but I will let you know how I get on.

 

I hope France, like Greece, has some decent weather now...

[two tone green]

Is a tad warm, high 20's even a low 30's but ok. Nothing too warm. Max for me, 54c so still looking around to top that but being stuck with Europe at the moment, its unlikely.

 

Let me know how you get on but it should be ok as long as you set the conditions right.

[theflyingspanner]

This is my layout, a little bit is below the two computer monitors that form my control panel. Its incredible the power of these two flat screens in that from here with one click of a mouse multiple trains set off around the layout with signals, points all behaving themselves. Trains react to signals and slow to a stop if they are red. Horns are sounded before entering tunnels, routes change as trains pass to allow other trains to pass safely onto their destinations. Loco's climb the ramp to the loco sheds and onto the turntable before parking themselves on a free stabling road ready for servicing.

 

Incredible, never fails to amaze me.

 

I thought that when I built the original panel to run my layout using wood, switches, push buttons, multi-way connectors and miles of wire I was doing well. But it was not quite right for me and I changed over to the world of RR&Co and never looked back. The small section of track I have just let laid with one point and about tow feet of track would have taken days to configure in the old DC days. The changes on the old panel would have been bad enough, but all the point control and interlocking with signals etc would have required days of thinking & doing to adjust the TTL logic and the associated wiring. Now its a few clicks of a mouse and watch it all work.

 

If any one needs advice, ask. Only too willing to help out if I can.

 

Regards

 

TTG

are you still using rr&co please

[beast66606]

We are still using RR&Co for signalling and route setting - but not automation.

[two tone green]

Still using RR&Co for signalling and automation and any other variation on a theme of playing trains.

[theflyingspanner]

Just setting out on my trust bike, make coffee for about four months.

 

I thought about answer questions in this thread on in separate posts. Both have merit. In this thread people can ask questions relevant to the position I have reached and it may help clear up things in cases where I have not been clear enough myself. also like yourself who choose to do things differently to myself and are perfectly right in what you are doing. As I keep saying, there are many ways to do things in RR&Co.

 

As for posting in a separate thread, it would keep this thread more concise and would flow a little better. Not bothered really.

 

As for your question, its complicated and needs the user to think for themselves. Joke.

 

Right, what you have done is not a problem and it works as you have found out. But, do you work in off line mode, do you have all blocks visible all the time or only when occupied. This is the basis for the argument for what you have done and what I have done.

 

As I said, what you have done is perfectly correct but there are limitations if you have selected to have blocks invisible except for when occupied and in edit mode and you want to test things in off line mode. If for example you have a laptop and take it to work as I do and the laptop has RR&Co on it. You can run it in off line mode and play with your files. When you come to test your signalling systems, points, routes and interlocking, you will need to trigger the block occupancy detectors to see what happens. If the blocks are invisible as in your case with the block occupancy detector embedded in the block and not as a separate item on the track as one of the black dots, you cannot trigger the block to its occupied state by clicking on the black dot.

 

Later on when you have proved your signal logic, inter locking you can make the black dots invisible except in edit mode to tidy things up.

 

So really it all to do with being able to do things away from the model railway, in work for example. Or even sat in front of the idiots lantern next to the wife when X factor is on. Do you get this rubbish in Canada ?

 

You will have clicked on the create new indicator button in the block properties box rather than what I did and used the short cut selection option that puts a short cut to the block occupancy detector in the block properties.

 

Still with me, make sense. I hope so.

 

As for the second bit, yes, very much so. It does impact release of blocks by the time set in the memory function. It can work to your advantage in some cases as it can allow a train to clear a section of track that does not have track circuiting, such as points. I have continuous track circuiting on my layout so its not to much of a problem but if you have visitors who have stock that does not have lights or resistive wheel sets it can help with problems caused by this. RR&Co will see the block occupied by the loco only and not the stock and an extra two seconds is some times just enough for a train to clear points before the software changes the points the train has travelled over.

 

All mine are set for two seconds at the moment and I think they all will stay this way. But I can think of situations where the speed of block release could be an issue, complex point work and lots of trains running in a small space.

 

Have a go, easy to experiment as its all done in software. Have you got into signalling yet as it impacts this as well. I would like to save this for later when I get to doing signals and the options setting things up though.

 

Hope this has helped.

 

Seem to have a sinking feeling at the moment on my bike and my feet are wet. Lands end, just past it.

what a brilliant post  just joind and using rr@co and learning lot from this forum