train control manual
Contents
1. The screen should look as follows CODE FOR TRAIN CHANNEL RH ARROW ACTIVATES MENU 1 gt SPEED 10 100 2 gt WAIT 2 3 gt SPEED 10 0 4 gt MANUAL 5 gt T T This program makes use of two of the Train Commands SPEED and WAIT It essentially means SPEED up from stopped the sequence will start with all trains stopped to top speed 100 in steps of 10 Then WAIT 2 seconds at this speed before slowing back down to 0 speed stopped again in steps of 10 Then return control to the manual system In order to run this program press the RH arrow to activate the editor menu The following menu is displayed COMPILE CONTINUE EDITS POINT TO POINT POINT TO SENSOR QUIT Own xKOA l Press C for compile The screen now clears and displays the following COMPILING CHANNEL COD T 1 gt SPEED 10 100 2 gt WAIT 2 3 gt SPEED 10 0 4 gt MANUAL COMPLETE WITH NO ERRORS PRESS lt ENTER gt TO RESUME This indicates that the sequence you typed in has been read and understood correctly by the computer Press ENTER to take you back to the editor Now activate the RH arrow menu again and press Q for quit to take you back to the Train PAGE 7 Pr me En op bo ch o2. POINT LOCKOUT POINT LOCKOUT HAS DETECTED A TRAIN NEARBY amp HAS PREVENTED YOU FROM CHANGING THIS POINT Point Lockout will activate itself every time it sees you attempting something which may cause a collision or derailment Whilst the system is running the Dragon s keyboard also provides certain functions For example when warning messages are displayed such as the Point Lockout message above and you want to get the graphic layout schematic re displayed simply press the ENTER key This will always revert the screen back to the layout schematic The following keys operate when the train system is running lt ENTER gt display layout schematic lt SPACE gt accessory lights signals list keyboard help screen Cl lt CLEAR gt quit to main menu A Z point hot keys 0 9 accessory keys lt SPACE gt this will provide a list of the accessories on the layout and there current status Accessories fall into the category of lights and signals colour semaphore The screen will provide a list of the key which activates the accessory 0 9 on the keyboard it s description eg NR SIDING LIGHTS and the current status ON OFF or RED GRN Pressing the accessory s associated key will toggle it into R the other state In the case of lights OFF to ON or ON t OFF and simi
3. For the mom ENTER The screen will verse and even perform You can then sav thes all the a 6 option Train Program Code Each of these options in turn are automated asked to enter you ar following CODI h ri L clear and display som a sequ channel nce for 1 8 can have it s FOR TRAIN CHANNEL 1 RH ARROW ACTIVATES MENU 1 gt MANUAL You defin chann a sequenc sequence of commands in a to 25 different lines can be entered in The scr n shows the default channels MANUAL entered manually Line 1 of the sequence is displ for a train channel nt nt r 1 and press ething similar to the L by entering a special train control language Up this language per setup for all the This indicates that all control for PAGE 6 layed with the words channel 1 is ie via the speed amp direction controller Once a MANUAL command is encountered all control is passed Dragon Train Control System User Manual Issue 1 October 1994 back to the control panel and no further sequences ar executed A simple program can now be entered Using the delete key left arrow delete the MANUAL command from line 1 Now type in the following T SPEED 10 100 lt press ENTER gt WAIT 2 lt ENTER gt SPEED 10 0 lt ENTER gt MANUAL lt ENTER gt
4. of the At present they are all clear indicating all trains are stopped Ensuring that there are slowly turn one of the speed the knob one of the rectangles will fill until it is completely speed With the speed control at full on the control panel for that spe will now be displayed indicating DIRECTION LOCKOUT solid indicating full press the direction switch ed control A warning panel and a message informing you of an attempt to alter the train direction whilst it was still in motion This is another part of the automated system which prevents a train from being suddenly put into reverse whilst it is going in the opposite direction You can only change direction with the speed control at 0 ie when the train is stationary To clear the message simply reset the direction switch There is 1 more button panel the large central red but is the panic button Depressing i message informing you t not yet dealt with on the control ton Not surprisingly this hat all t t displays a warning rains have been shutdown and all trains on the layout will be halted Pressing a key re displays the layout screen ready for further operations to resume The bulk of the screen is taken up with a graphic representation of the tr depicted with blocks wh denoting the direction t thinner lin
5. option works in a similar way Next you need to identify point 24 Again press the RH arrow to open the menu and this time select Point to Point by pressing the P key The layout schematic is displayed and you can simply point to the point required using the lightpen The edit screen is re displayed with the POINT command entered 1 gt SPEED 10 100 2 gt SENSE 37 3 gt POINT 24 T n This time you need to identify the setting for the point 1 or 0 prior to pressing ENTER to accept the command line E The remaining option is the Accessory List which once again provides the list of accessories amp their key codes for help PAGE 11 Gd Dragon Train Control System User Manual Issue 1 October 1994 with the ACC command During compilation errors may be generated if you have made a mistake in the code For example suppose you enter 3 gt POINT 24 2 Where 2 is not a valid state If you now compile this using the C option from the menu COMPILING CHANNEL CODE 1 gt SPEED 10 100 2 gt SEMSE 37 3 gt POINT 24 2 ERR DEVICE STATE INVALID PRESS lt ENTER gt TO RESUME This indicates that an error has been detected and an explanation given A full list of error messages is given below ERR UNKNOWN KEYWORD an unrecogniz
6. 1 October 1994 train power supply Insert the train disk into disk drive 1 amp type RUN TRAIN If you are running on a network ensure the file server is booted up and you have access to the train software on one of the network drives Consult the network manager for details on the specifics of your network Initially the message SETTING UP PROGRAM is displayed whilst the software loads the layout data amp performs it s initialisation After a short period the title screen is displayed and you are prompted to press a key to continue The following screen informs you that points are being reset Whilst this occurs you may notice the points on the layout changing position This process ensures all the points are in a known position Finally all the accessory lights are switched off if they were on and the main menu is then displayed The Main Menu lists all the options which are available within the program and are numbered 1 to 6 In turn some of these options may activate further menus Each of these options are described in the following paragraphs If you are using the system for the first time it is advisable to follow each paragraph in the order shown otherwise unexpected results may occur 2 1 Option 1 Run Control System This option invokes the main control system It allows full operation of the layout To select this o
7. Dragon Train Control System Copyright October 1994 Hardware Design amp Build J Bird amp O Broad Software Design amp Build J Bird Copyright 1991 1994 by J Bird PAGI Gl oO Dragon Train Control System User Manual Issue 1 October 1994 1 Introduction This document details the use of the Dragon Train Control System which enables a user to run amp maintain a sizeable model train layout via the use of a Dragon computer The system provides a number of facilities which include Manual or automated train control Fully programmable train amp accessory sequences Updated layout schematic on screen Collision detection amp prevention 4 If the system has already been setup and you wish to begin using the system then turn to section 2 The remainder of section 1 briefly outlines how to get the system up amp running 1 1 System Requirements In order to use the system a Dragon 32 or 64 computer is required with a DragonDOS 3 or later disk system or a network running DNOS 1 1 or later In addition the train control hardware will need to be attached This will provide up to 8 trains to be controlled 128 accessories points Signals etc and 128 track sensors The Hardware Definitions Manual details further how to configure the train hardware 7 A copy of the TRAIN BAS amp TCODE BIN programs wi
8. ENTIFY EY WH EN R KADY identical to that given when pressing the spacebar lity to identify a particular pen By the message Dragon Train Control System Pressing a key at User Manual Issue 1 October 1994 t this point clears the display amp shows the layout schematic Using the light pen point at the point you wish to identify The screen will return to text mode and print out the key code of the point Pressing this key when the Control System is running will toggle the state of the required point Press a key to return to the main menu 2 2 4 Option 6 Quit Selecting this option leaves the train program and returns back to BASIC Press key 6 when you wish to finish using the system 23 Option 2 Train Program Code Option 2 has been left until last because it is probably the most partial trains comp or ful to run unattended slow down r complex shunting operations lex part of the system With it ll automation of a train system you can create enabling sequences to disk for future use When option 2 menu is displ described below Zak This option is th sequences ar is selected layed Editor amp Compiler defined When selected system under which which train channel you wish to defin of the possible train channels Each own pre defined sequence
9. Wait 30 seconds y it is used to maintain the speed of a train for a Dragon Train Control System User Manual Issue 1 October 1994 ACC lt keycode gt lt state gt Switch the accessory with lt keycode gt to the desired lt state gt The keycode refers to the key associated on the keyboard for the given accessory and the state is either 0 off red or 1 on green Example ACC 2 1 Description Switch accessory keycode 2 to an ON or GREEN state SENSE lt sensor id gt Wait until the train sensor lt sensor id gt is triggered This command does nothing until the sensor identified is triggered by a train passing over it Typically it might be a sensor just outside a station whereupon the next command would be a SPEED command to slow the train down amp stop in the station The sensor does not have to be on the current channel s track it could be triggered by another train There are 128 sensors number 0 127 Example SENSE 14 Description Wait until sensor 14 is triggered POINT lt device id gt lt state gt Change the point with lt device id gt to the lt state gt identified The lt device id gt is between 0 127 and the lt state gt is either 0 straight or 1 lt curved gt Point changes made by train sequence code are still subject to the Point Lockout collision system detailed in section 2 1 therefore change
10. agon Train Control System User Manual Issue 1 October 1994 If compilation errors have occured then unless they ar corrected you will be unable to run the Train Control System The Startup Failed message will be displayed STARTUP FAILED COULD NOT RUN CONTROL SYSTEM BECAUSE SPEED CONTROLS NOT AT ZERO OR UNCOMPILED PROGRAM IN USE CODE HAS ERRORS OR HAS JUST BEEN LOADED This time the reason for failure is due to the uncompiled program in use part of the message As has previously been mentioned there are certain safeguards built in to the system which prevent you from damaging the layout the inability to change the train s direction whilst in motion or the point lockout system These safeguards are still running even if you are executing a pre set sequence of program code For example it is possible to write a piece of code such as I SPEED 10 100 DIR REVERSE which would compile correctly However when you come to run it the train will obey the speed command but will display the Direction Lockout message when it came to execute th DIR command and would then progress onto the next instruction in the sequenc ffectively ignoring the DIR command 2 3 2 List Program Code This option from the Train Program Code menu enables you to S the view the train sequen
11. c ch th pl th ogram nu surin tion x for g 1 curin Code menu channel approximately 2 seconds prior anges you make to the speed controll g will have no effect After back to emp Dragon Train Control System User Manual I ssue 1 ty 9 1 October 1994 that there are no trains on channel 1 to run the Control System You should see completely then r cy annel 1 is clear e trac acea e main k Exit back train on the menu remain at fu In CO on DI This command changes the You must always specify a rules as the direction but ob console in that you cannot is moving When the Control System attem new direction command and the train display the DIR section 2 1 of your sequence will fn EX SP essence sequences ly a few commands ntrol R select the for emain full lst this is via op code with a train the CLEAR key Select option 6 to quit back to the main speed to returning back to 0 Any er whi he speed guage returns the speed control should behave as normal you could try the to the main menu track and select The train should accelerat Ef on T tion 1 again from te to top speed t that speed for 2 seconds and then slow down to a ll stop ECTION lt FORWARD R ys th ample Description T sam ECTION whi
12. ce code for any one channel Selecting the option will then prompt you for the required channel Enter the channel number 1 8 then you can choose to print the program code to the screen by pressing the S key or to a printer by pressing the P key which would send the code to a printer attached to the Dragon If you do not have a printer attached do press the P key because th computer will hang requiring pressing the reset button and the subsequent loss of any train code you may have created If you are on a network you may be able to use the network printer Consult the network manager for details on how to achieve this 2 3 3 Save Program Code Once you have created a train sequence you can save it to disk for later use Select option 3 and enter the channel PAGI Gl 13 number request of the charact Dragon Train Control System User Manual Issue 1 October 1994 which contains the sequence you wish to save Then a t for a filename is displayed This is to be the name sequence you wish to save and can be between 1 and 8 ters no spaces or punctuation characters for example SHUNT1 would be a valid filename Press the ENTER key to to dis confirm the filename and the sequence will be saved k 2 3 4 Load Program Code This option allows a previously saved train sequence to b transferred from disk back into the Dragon The procedure is sim
13. ch iV ERS then E gt train direction direc LOCKOUT warning m and the command will be ign are as follows tion The i that is all there is to creating automated The Train Control language is composed of to that specif ton on the man on whilst a tr change direct p is st ts to execute ied direction command ual ain the wil ill moving it S O b xecuted DIRI ECTION R Change h EVERSE ED lt acceleration rate gt the train direction t lt finish speed gt sage describ red The next Oo reverse d in line This command changes the speed of a train to the lt finish speed gt in steps of the lt acceleration rate gt lt a to 10 for slowing down tarting speed of a train is always 0 D command can be used to change the speed of an 10 but the SP The cceleration rate gt is from 1 to 10 for speeding up and 1 0 The S EE already moving train EX h Th Typical ample m e WAIT SPEED 3 40 VAIT lt seconds gt Description Accelerate from th steps of 3 current stopped speed to 40 in The lt finish speed gt is from 0 to y command does nothing for the lt seconds gt specified required length of time fn EX PAGI ample Description 8 h ri WAIT 30
14. e indicating change a point setting simply a pen attached to Using the pen point on change You will hear th and the graphic display ain layou ilst poin hey are c t Straights amp curves are ts have a thicker line the other simply us the comp e click a will alte the opposite direction You now have the basis f Or CONTEO urrently set to anda setting In order to e the light pen This is uter with a piece of cable the screen to the point you wish to s the point changes over r showing the point set in lling trains on the layout You can therefore begin to manouvre trains around the layout Once you start doing this the layout schematic on screen will begin identifying where on the layout trains are currently located As trains progress around the layout a train icon will be updated on screen as strategic intervals PAGI ER Ww Dragon Train Control System User Manual Issue 1 October 1994 There is more to this than just providing an up to date picture of the layout it is also part of the automated collision detection system The computer will prevent you from attempting things which will quite clearly cause a collision or derailment As an example if you attempt to change a point against a train which is approaching it a warning message is displayed and the point will not be changed
15. ed command has been encountered this is likely to be due to a mis spelt command eg SPERD 10 100 zal ERR NUMERIC PARAMETER EXPECTED a number was expected on the command line and was not provided or was not a number eg SPEED RR 2ND NUMERIC PARAMETER EXPECTED a second number was xpected and was not provided eg SPEED 10 Oo m ERR DIRECTION NOT SPECIFIED direction was not specified or was incorrect for a DIRECTION command ERR SECTION OUT OF RANGE a section numbered was specified with a SECTION command that was out of range 1 8 train channels ERR SPEED OUT OF RANGE the SPEED lt finish speed gt value was out of range 0 100 ERR ACCELERATION OUT OF RANGE the SPEED lt acceleration gt value was out of range 10 to 1 and 1 to 10 ERR DEV NO OUT OF RANGE a POINT lt device id gt or SENSOR lt sensor id gt number was out of range 0 127 ERR DEVICE STATE INVALID a POINT or ACC device state must be 0 or 1 ga ERR LINE NUMBER OUT OF RANGE the line number specified with a GOTO command was out of range or to a non existent command line ERR ACC KEYCODE OUT OF RANGE the accessory keycode specified was out of range 0 9 PAGE 12 Gd Dr
16. ied he operation again Ol Description Begin executing the sequence again from line 1 Example Shunting Code BS aa a la CH 2 24 25 a a a gt CH 3 The above sketch is an example situation A train marked by the symb identified ol is on channel 2 heading in the direction 24 amp 25 and Channel 2 co SP SENS PO SP PO S ED 10 100 37 24 1 10 0 r 24 0 ION 3 AL Channel 3 co POINT 25 0 SECWAIT POINT 25 1 SPEED 10 100 h The above is not work first time stop too soo result PAGE 10 The object is to get onto channel 3 s line the train through points S marks sensor 37 de start the train moving wait till it hits the sensor change the point decelerate the train onto the siding reset the point to the main line call section 3 back to manual de t is set on the main line ed g moving ensure the poin wait to be call switch to sidin start the train an example situation The chances are it will the train may not stop in time or may Only trial and error will give the required n Dragon Train Control System User Manual Issue 1 October 1994 There are a number of support utilities to assist writing the train sequence code particularly with regard to the POINT and SENSE commands In the abov xample it is highly unlikely tha
17. ilar to saving the file in that you enter the train channel number to load a sequence into and the filename of the sequence Once you have loaded a train sequence from disk you must go into the Editor Compiler and re compile the train code otherwise the Train Control System will not run displaying the Startup Failed message 3 Finishing a session At the option end of a session exit the program by selecting 6 from the Main Menu rather than pressing the BREAK key This will ensure the accessory network is correctly disabled Switch the train power off first then the Dragon Remember to remove the disk from the disk drive prior to switching the Dragon off PAGE 1 ERI 4
18. larly with signals RED to GREEN or GREEN to RE The list will stay on screen until another control key is pressed eg ENTER to re display the schematic The system will also continue to run hence changing accessories or the speed of trains will still be acted upon this key provides a help screen essentially providing the keyboard summary listed above lt CLEAR gt quit to main menu This key exits the control system and re displays the main menu A similar procedure exists when exiting the control system to when you enter it ie you must set all the speed controls to 0 ensuring the PAGE 4 trains have stopped message is dis Dr play agon Train User Issue 1 If they ed and the Control System Manual October 1994 are still running system continues running a warning 0 9 these are the accessory keys which toggle individual lights or signals on the layout A Z as well as setting points through use of the lightpen each point can be changed via it s hot key Each point can be allocated a unique key from A up to Z which when pressed will change that point This is often quicker than using the light pen particularly on points which are changed regularly Section 2 2 3 main menu item 5 describes how to identify a particular point s hot key All of these keys function whil
19. ll be required on disk or across the network which provide the software to control the train system 1 2 Configuring the Layout In addition to the train software the layout binary definition file amp layout description file will be required These are created by the LAYOUT BAS amp LAYEXP BAS programs and contain details of the layout in question For example if you created a layout named MODEL1 the files generated would be MODEL1 BIN amp MODEL1 DES The LAYOUT BAS program is used to draw the layout schematic on screen and define the identification of each accessory on the layout Once this process is complete the LAYEXP BAS program creates the necesary output files for the TRAIN program For further details see the Dragon Train Layout User Manual amp usage notes on the LAYEXP program Once this process is complete the layout file name should be entered into the TRAIN BAS program Hence if the layout name was MODEL1 on your Dragon proceed as follows LOAD TRAIN lt ENTER gt 140 FIS MODEL1 lt ENTER gt SAVE TRAIN lt ENTER gt 2 The Train Control Program In order to use the system first power up the Dragon amp accessories monitor disk drives etc then switch on the PAGI ERI hb Dragon Train Control System User Manual Issue
20. ption press the 1 key on the keyboard At this point 1 of 2 things may occur 1 An error message will be displayed in the form STARTUP FAILED COULD NOT RUN CONTROL SYSTEM BECAUSE SPEED CONTROLS NOT AT ZERO OR UNCOMPILED PROGRAM IN USE CODE HAS ERRORS OR HAS JUST BEEN LOADED PRESS lt ENTER gt TO RESUME If you get this message directly after starting the train program it is because of the first reason stated namely speed controls not at zero This indicates that the control panel does not have all the controllers set to 0 or off In order to rectify the situation ensure all the speed controllers are turned fully anti clockwise with the arrow pointing upwards This is part of the automated system PAGE 2 Dragon Train Control System User Manual Issue 1 October 1994 which ensures that when you run the system trains are not suddenly started up at full speed Now press the ENTER key The main menu will be re displayed and you can select option 1 again 2 The screen will clear and display a graphic schematic of the layout At the top of th numbered 1 to 8 These indicate t possible trains 1 to 8 no trains on the track controllers up As you turn scr n are 8 rectangles each he speed of each
21. s which will obviously cause a collision derailment will be ignored and the Point Lockout warning message displayed Example POINT 89 1 Description Change point 89 to the curved direction MANUAL Revert to manual control This command will force the system to obtain all the train speed amp direction information from the manual console Example MANUAL Description Revert to manual operation SECWAIT This command waits until the current channel number is called from another channel via a SECTION command Once called it will progress to the next line of the sequence Typically it will be used to synchronize dependencies on another train Example SECWAIT PAGE 9 Dragon Train Control System User Manual Issue 1 October 1994 Description Wait until called by another train sequence SECTION lt channel no gt This command calls the specified channel number to allow it to continue processing after a SECWAIT call For example if channel 3 has interpreted a SECWAIT call it will wait until another chan processing Example SEC Description continue GOTO lt line n The GOTO command passes control to th to perform t Example GOT 11 continue nel calls SECTION 3 whereupon it wi TION 4 Call train channel 4 to allow its sequence to umber gt lin number specif
22. st the system is running and even if the layout schematic is not displayed due to a help screen or warning message it will also continue to run The layout is not display This is the heart of the Dragon ed to perform all the model railway 2 2 Train Utilitie Menu options 3 layout option 1 which is more 2 Bis 2 2 1 Option 3 TO Ho Summary Con S 6 are useful train system layout operations trol System invol layout under your control described below ex will tkey Help List be described ful schematic will also continue to update even though it and allows you ved in running a utilities in running the most of which are available when the Control System is running and ar comp Option 2 lly in section Pressing key 3 from the main menu gives the summary of hot to Sys tem keys available when running that given when pressing the 2 2 2 Option 4 Accessory List the Control Syst a tem the Control identical key under Pressing key 4 from the main menu gives the accessory list summary under the Control System 2 2 3 Option 5 This option provides the abil point s hot key by pointing to it with the light n clears and displays pressing key 5 POINT HOT POINT TO PRESS A K PAGE 5 Point Hotkey Code 7 eh KEYS m B T ELi T scr POINT TO ID
23. t you will know what sensor number is near the Siding or even that the point is numbered 24 To aid this the editor menu has a number of assist options When in the Train Code editor pressing the right hand arrow opens up the menu ACCESSORY LIST COMPILE CONTINUE EDITS POINT TO POINT POINT TO SENSOR QUIT OnuTxOA PR The C Compile option has already been used to ensure the train code is acceptable to the computer along with Quit to leave the editor The X command simply closes down the menu and returns back to the editor The P amp S options are best demonstrated through the example shown above in typing in the sequence for channel a 1 gt SPEED 10 100 2 gt At this point it is likely you know which sensor you want to check for but not it s id Press the RH arrow to activate the menu and press S for Point to Sensor The layout schematic is displayed Using the lightpen point to where on the schematic the sensor is Since they are not shown you may need to move the pen along the track until you hit the sensor required Once this occurs the text screen is re displayed and the sensor command line will have been entered for you T 1 gt SPEED 10 100 2 gt SENSE 37 All you need do is press ENTER to accept the command line The Point to Point
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