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TrainPlayer
brings to life the wonderful layouts
from Linn Westcott's classic 101
Track Plans for Model Railroaders.
We overlay Linn's artwork with a network of electronically-built rails,
provide it with an infinite supply of customizable rolling stock, and
hand you the controls. Rotate the speed dial a few degrees and
watch as a train chuffs to life and rolls out of the yard.
Build trains to suit the
railroad's needs, and run as many as you can manage. Use the
control panel or toolbar buttons to operate each train --- set the speed
and direction, sound the horn as you roar through town. Set out
and pick up cars with realistic coupling and uncoupling. Throw
switches by clicking, or let the train throw them automatically as it
barrels through. Click a turntable and watch it rotate into
position.
The way to appreciate
a great track plan is to operate it.
Features
The TrainPlayer Control Panel
The control panel in
TrainPlayer 2 has all the features of version 1, along with some really handy
new ones, in a stylish new
brass-and-walnut case. Once you've rotated the shiny new knob, you'll
never look back.
The new control panel
was custom designed for TrainPlayer by Rick Fernandez of
creativeblox.
Yard Mode
Yard sessions are easier than ever in
TrainPlayer 2! When you're operating in "yard mode," rotating the
speed dial controls both the speed and the direction. Thanks to our
users for suggesting this handy feature.
To use Yard Mode:
- Rotate the speed
knob counterclockwise, so it goes past the zero point at around 7:00.
- The train stops and
reverses direction. Train speed remains zero until you rotate past
the Stop button at 6:00.
- Continue to rotate
counterclockwise. The train speed increases in the usual way --
slowly at first -- as the train moves in reverse. You can rotate
all the way around to maximum reverse speed at the 7:00 position.
- While yard mode is
in effect, the Stop button flashes, and a yellow Y appears in the upper
right of the control panel.
Upcoming
Switch
Switching is easier than ever in
TrainPlayer 2! As you drive, the program knows what switch is coming
up next along your direction of travel, whether an inch or a mile away, and
makes it easy to see and throw.
When the Switch Window is on display,
it automatically shows a close-up of the upcoming switch, while a red frame
highlights it on the layout:
To throw the upcoming
switch, press the space bar. This works whether or not the
switch window is on display.
The upcoming switch
changes whenever the train (a) passes over a switch or (b) reverses
direction. The switch window automatically updates at those events (or
not; see note below), as well as whenever you position the mouse cursor over
a different switch on the layout.
Train Control Window
Uncoupling is easier than ever in
TrainPlayer 2! One key is the new "uncoupling pin" in the train
control window, which shows where the next uncouple (or add car, or paste)
will occur.
The uncoupling pin
is a tall orange spike in the train control window. Its position
indicates where:
- the train will
separate when you uncouple. To uncouple, click the Uncouple button
on the control panel, choose Uncouple from one of the Train
menus, or press Ctrl-U. These actions have no effect if the
pin is in front of or behind the train.
- car(s) will be
inserted when you add or paste. To add a car, click an icon on the
Cars toolbar, or choose Add Car from a Train menu. To
paste, choose Paste from the Edit menu, or press Ctrl-V.
These actions work with the pin in any position.
If the train is too long
to fit in the window, there are several ways you can scroll a different part
into view:
- Click one of the
scroller buttons. Click the right button to move the train to
the left (it's the window that moves right), and vice versa. A
button is dimmed when you cannot scroll further in that direction.
- Press and hold a
scroller button. The scroll repeats automatically.
- Press an arrow
key. This moves the uncoupling pin to the edge of the window,
then scrolls the train.
- Select a car.
If the selected car is not visible, the train scrolls automatically
until it is.
Car Top
Patterns
Top-down train views are more
interesting in TrainPlayer 2! Images are now shown on all the standard
TrainPlayer car types.
For now, these images
are hard-coded and cannot be edited. They can be dispensed with
altogether by unchecking the new option "Show car-top images" in the
Settings tab of the Options dialog. This feature is not
available on Windows 98 or ME.
Train Tree
The Train Tree is a standard Windows
tree control useful for surveying and navigating your rolling stock. For example:
The Jersey Valley
Central has four trains: two freights and two strings of boxcars.
Click one to:
- Select a train
and/or car. If you click a train name, it selects the train
and makes it active. If you click a car name, it selects both the
train and the car.
- Choose an action
from the context menu. Right-click a car name in the tree to
bring up the context menu, so you can edit the collection of cars and
trains.
Nicer Turns
Cars have two trucks, with a
wheelbase 2/3 the car length. So when a car enters a siding or
navigates a bend, it looks right as it goes through the turn.
The Simulated Hand
Having trouble driving that train
where it needs to be? Use the tested model railroader's solution:
lift it off the track and put it elsewhere! In TrainPlayer, this
takes the form of a popup command,
Place Train Here.
Right-click a track segment, choose Place Train Here, and the selected
train jumps onto the indicated track.
Scheduling
TrainPlayer offers an
innovative package of features for developing operating schedules. It
gives you a railroad clock which runs at scale speed, a set of enhanced
layouts with invisible stations defined on them, and a new schedule
window showing arrivals and departures at the stations. Like this:
You set up
your railroad ready to begin its daily operation, start the clock, and
proceed to drive your daily routes. At the end of the day, you
have a schedule you can print out and hang on the wall.
 The
clock
is like the one in your railroad room: it runs at the speed of your
choice (by default, six times normal speed) and starts the day at the
time you set (default: before sunup). The schedule window
keeps a running record of train movements in schedule-style format; its
contents can be copied and pasted into Notepad or Excel. Both
windows are dockable and resizable, and all data is retained when you
save a layout. The
stations
are regions or points on the track defined at the factory: to see where
they are, use View > Stations.
Even if you don't care to
generate operating schedules, you still see notices of train movement on
the status bar, which we think adds to the operating fun. Let us
know if you agree. If you work with
switch lists, you
may want to try the command Show Car IDs on the Train
menu. This displays a unique TrainPlayer-generated number on top
of each car, as shown in this screen shot. Use these numbers in
your switch lists -- they don't change or disappear as you move cars on
and off the layout. (Thanks to Dave Smith for suggesting this
feature.)
Record/Playback
TrainPlayer takes the
tedium out of difficult operations! Click Record, run
through the operation sequence, click Stop, save, the file, and
you'll never have to do it again. You can play back the operation
automatically, and let the railroad run itself.
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TrainPlayer has
a Recording toolbar with four buttons:
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Record:
start or stop recording, and show status -- red when
recording, green when playing back
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Rewind:
reset recording and train to the starting point
-
Stop:
stop recording or playing
-
Play:
play prerecorded sequence from the beginning
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Each train has its own
recording, and all are saved when you save the layout. You can play
back the recording of one train while you're driving another.
What this leads to: the
virtual operating session! Let TrainPlayer play the role
of your Friday-night gang, operating the yards and the main line
automatically while you service the branch. Or, work out a
difficult sequence and e-mail it to your club as a sort of training
video.
 Linked layouts
Special new track lets
you drive from one layout right onto another! Pick any stub or
siding, specify a target layout, drive off the siding, and poof!
the scene changes and you are running the same train in a different
world. Great for connections between multi-level layouts, N-Trak modules, or just cruising randomly through
the 101. In TrackLayer, you just right-click a track
section and choose Link to Layout..., then
navigate to another layout file or choose one of the
open windows on the screen. Whan the train
reaches the end of the indicated section, it will
automatically jump to the target layout and continue
on its way. You can specify where on the
target you want it to land by doing a similar link
operation from that layout.
Acceleration /
Deceleration
Turn the
dial and chuff gradually up to speed, or hit Stop and coast into the station.
Choose the acceleration factor under File Preferences,
Operation tab.
 Track
Properties
New in 2.17: Now you can check curve radii on your
plan or any published plan! Right-click a track section,
curve, circle, or turntable, choose Properties, and you get a little
dialog giving track length and radius, in your choice of units , as
shown at right.
Thanks to Ron Tindall for requesting this feature.
What Users Are Saying About
TrainPlayer
Ron Colby: I
bought TrainPlayer after I saw your ad in Model Railroader
earlier this year. It was so good that I then bought TrackLayer.
In my fifty years of model railroading I have never seen
anything as great as your programs. They have been a joy to use
and play with. I have used TrackLayer to prepare some moderately
advanced layouts and they have worked perfectly. The ability to
go from one layout to another is excellent.
Ed Avetta:
This afternoon my wife is off to her duplicate bridge club,
which leaves me all alone, so that means that the Hungry Horse
is going to see some traffic!
Jim Battista: I
received the CD for Trainplayer-Tracklayer, and following your
instructions, I installed it on my son's computer. It works
great!! All layouts are available as well as the Track Layer
program. I want to express my thanks for your great support over
the past few days. You promptly answered all my questions and
gave out good instructions. I hope you will have success in your
future programs, hopefully more Trainplayer/Tracklayer
enhancements. Feel free to use this commendation.
[Thanks, Jim, we did!]
Drew Kiely:
I got so excited with the demo, ...
I played with this thing until my wife came down to get me at 1:30
this morning, then woke up at 7 and started again!
Phil Scandura (from
January
2006 Model Railroad News): “Wow! This is really cool!” I must have used those exact words at
least a dozen times while playing with TrainPlayer (okay, maybe two
dozen). This is a really fun software package, well implemented,
well documented, and intuitive to use....TrainPlayer provides the
ability to both play and operate your layout quickly and easily,
with virtually no learning curve.
Paul Omilian: Saw
the TrainPlayer review in Model Railroader News January edition
today. Excellent review for an excellent program!
Ron Eberhardt: I'm trying your demo
of Trainplayer and am throughly enjoying it - I've had a well worn
copy of 101 Track Plans for over 40 years!
Ed Kozlowsky: A friend suggested I try
your program. I told him after playing with it for 15 minutes I was
sold and bought it. The possibilities are beginning to blossom. If
this works out the way I think it will, I might have some trouble
actually building what I'm already having fun operating!
[Re: Kingfield & Kennebec] I am
thoroughly amazed that you can get the helix to work. It really
looks terrific ... I don't know how your sales are, but this program
is the best thing to come along in a long time. We need to make
sure everyone knows about this!
Steve Ward: I just downloaded your
software and I love it. I was interested in building the Turtle
creek and running it helps me decide. It is a great tool for someone
just getting into the hobby. Being able to run these layouts
to decide which is the one for you before you commit a train load of
money starting a layout that you don't like.
Eric Lundberg: I
ran some of the S&LS first level. Remarkable! It won't replace the
octopus in the basement but I must say it's quite interesting to
operate it on the computer.
Casey Sterbenz: The more I play with
things, the more I like it!
Mike O'Brien: Just
wanted to let you know how much I like your program. I just found
your website today from a posting on the All-model-railroading.co.uk
forum (AMR). I've downloaded the demo and the additional layouts.
I've often thought how neat it would be to be able to run many of
the 101 Layouts trackplans to get a better idea of how they flow and
where the good and bad points are. Train Player really fills the
bill for this.
William Baldwin: I need to hint to Santa that this
should show up under the tree.
Al Olsen:
This is terrific!! I just downloaded the latest version and have run
it successfully. The little I know about programming, makes me stand
in awe, at your being able to accomplish all this! Keep up the good
work! I'm going to get my son to try this also.
Larry Blanchard:
Everyone who's tried it seems to like it - you must be
getting it right :-). Keep it up.
Bill Kaiser:
Overall, it's a fun program and nicely done and easy to use and
figure out. I'm an experienced DOS programmer, and am finally
getting into Windows programming, so I'm impressed with what you've
done.
Mike Tennent:
You've done a great job. The
interface is intuitive and simple, (I jumped right
in and ran a few trains before looking at the docs) and it's fun to
play.
Steve Daly: I
downloaded and installed your Demo program just a little while ago.
I love it!!! It captures the feel of the layouts of my youth.
I loved the operational side of the hobby then and still enjoy the
demands of switching and dispatching today. Your Player is exactly
what I have been yearning for since I first set up MSTS. No more
dull, hour-long hauls to the next siding, no more brain-teasing
examinations of myopic yard scenes in order to find the correct
turnout. And, it has the "top-down" view that I enjoyed with my
first tabletop layout. I can see it all, estimate times, plan moves,
and enjoy the whole session in a compact package.
I am also pleased that you are going to include
the routes from "101 Track Plans". I am very familiar with them. I
keep the book handy as I dream about the days when my three little
girls are old enough to help me (rather than demolish things). Your
application allows me to enjoy the hobby now without the fear of
losing any of my equipment to toddlers' accidents.
Specific features that I like are the use of
familiar layouts and hobby-wide standards of layout diagram,
"top-down" view, user-friendly turnout operation, control from the
mouse rather than the keyboard, with intuitive control display on
the control panel.
I will be spending a lot of time testing the
various layouts that you have already uploaded. I hope to have a
chance to provide some more feedback in the near future, but for
now...Keep up the good work !!!
J K Neus: Someone posted the link on
rec.models.railroad, so went out and took a look. Downloaded the
demo and after playing for about an hour or so, bought a copy! So
now after about 30 years I've finally got to "run" a train on the
Pittsburgh, Midvale & Ironton RR (#10). Great work.
David Smith: I
haven’t downloaded Trainplayer here at work but intend to do so when
I get home. From the looks of it, all I can say “What a great idea!”
I have been using RR-Track design software since almost the
beginning and have, of course, paid for numerous upgrades. I asked
the owner about the ability to run trains on the layouts I designed
in order to see how the design translates into play value. His
answer was that it would be very difficult to build this into the
current product.
Now I have Trainz and MS-Train Simulator but find them laborious to
use and to get working properly.
Thus, your software seems to be geared JUST to the model railroader
who wants to operate a model railroad! No grandiose scenery or “real
time” 2 hours needed to get from point A to B. Don’t get me wrong,
these features and program have their place but yours seems to be
the first I have seen for model railroading.
PeteC:
Thanks
for your efforts on a really fun way to run trains with an almost
inexhaustible number of layouts.
See also:
What Users Are Saying
About TrackLayer
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