The WebRailRoader

CTC version 5.5 has now been released and is available from our download page. It contains some enhancements partially based on customer feedback.

There was a problem not being able to assign a speed list when none Continue reading →

We have now completed the technical stuff, so everything should be back to normal.

We have relocated the forum and the CTC user manual to https://forum.webrailroader.com/ and https://ctc.webrailroader.com/ respectively. Notice the “https” – not utterly important for our purpose, but some browser may complain about the regular “http”, so here we go.

The old places will now redirect to the new places.

The manual has now a different look – it little bit bland, but it has the advantage of being mobile friendly, and therefore load more quickly. The contents have also been updated today.

As for CTC – the  version 5.3 has now been released, with basically two upgrades:

The Editing of Display-only objects (“Others”) has been upgraded with regard to display of texts: you can now select the anchor position of the text (box) so as you type in text, on the main screen it will flow the way you want it. Also you can save some text parameters has defaults and apply these defaults to other text objects. So you don’t have to rely on the group edit for disp-only objects to make font style, size, and colors the same for multiple text objects.

Also, we implemented a customer suggestion to simplify the linking procedure of blocks which are not so near by. The “Link nearby Objects” function within the block tool will not do only the link nearbys, but also show open connections which you need to care of also, since the tool cannot do it. Those spots are now marked with yellow dots. You just need to click on these dots (the first with the left button, the other with the right button) to connect those ends.

I should have come up with these idea much earlier….

Your WebRailRoaderTeam

I just want to give you an update on recent developments, on where things stand, etc. This blog appears to me a good place to communicate some background info among other things.

Why Release 5.x?

When CTC was started using .net framework with VisualStudio, the framework was version 2.x (and I was running Windows XP). If you have the framework 2 on your computer from some time ago, everything is fine. But this is not always the case. A few years ago, a customer had a problem and he manually downloaded the libraries, but today this is not possible anymore. So the project needed to be upgraded to a more recent .net framework version. This opportunity was also used to cleanup some things (new project in VS, etc). So 5.0 is basically 4.13 but targeting .net framework 4.7.2, the latest available. This has apparently solved a more recent problem installing CTC.

For 5.0, I added a little welcome window, so that you know that CTC has started – it may take a little time for a territory to load, but you have at least an early indicator that more is to come. Incidentally, this was a benefit for myself – after post-production of 5.1 I didn’t get the welcome window, but because of that I was able to quickly resolve the issue.

Do you use two monitors side by side?

Then I have good news for you. You can now move – and save – the window position and size for the probably most important windows, the main window, the detailed list window and the train data window (runtime only). Especially during editing you may have quite a number of windows open, so a second monitor will help you a lot with the added real estate. CTC has been adjusted to save and restore window position and size for the mentioned windows especially with side-by-side monitors in mind.

Y-Switches

Not on an urgent list, but a customer request. TDP doesn’t have them, but there is a clone that has them, but I don’t know how they behave with regard to the speed restrictions. Here’s how CTC will handle that: Speed limits will be enforced on both legs, so the “straight” leg (now bent to build one leg of the “Y”) will be behave like the “diverge” leg.

In CTC, a speed block can have one or two speed lists. This is useful if a block has different speed limits based on the directions. If you have two lists for one block, the first one is used for trains heading to the left, the second one for those going to the right. If you have only one list, the limits apply to both directions. If a speed block is assigned to a switch, you have – until now – only one list that applies – a second speed list will just be ignored. This has been modified for Y-switches: if you assign two speed lists, the first one will be applied for trains facing the switch heading to the left, the second one for those to the right. So it possible to apply different speed limits for each leg.

Default Position of Switches

This was a customer request. Without any further action, any switch will be displayed in status “0”, which is “straight” for normal switches. Because of special conditions for slip switches, “straight” shows as “diverge” on the display. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Not having thought about this myself, but thanks to the customer request, you can now set the default position yourself. If you open the detailed window of a switch or a slip switch, and click on symbol showing the switch and its state with the right mouse, you can change it to whatever you want. The main display as well as the symbol in the detailed window will change to show the new state. If you click again, it will go back to what it was (for single slip there are 3 states, and for double slip you have 4 states, so you need to toggle more often).
This function is available only during editing. The state is property of the individual territory. Older CTC versions than 5.1 will ignore the state even if present in the file, and if the file does not have the state info, CTC will continue to display the state as before.

Disable Form Timer

Also a customer request. This is something I had for quite some time for myself – you know, privileged developer as I am, not want to give away not all the goodies. So that was easy to implement. just had to open it up for the release version. The timer was introduced to help to de-clutter the desktop from open detailed windows, that you have forgotten and sitting somewhere.
The option has been added as a check-mark in the sub menu “Operation Mode” of the main panel. If you click to check it on, the timers will stop; if you click to check it off, the timers will resume.

Fill Up

If you ever wanted to shift (move) a big chunk of territory symbols from one place of the layout to another, you had to cover the whole area to be moved with dots in the shifting tool of the editor – by “drawing” lines until you have covered the whole area. Now you can draw a rectangle or any construct that surrounds the area you want to move. The only condition is the boundary needs completely enclose the area you want to move. The new button “Fill Up” allows you to turn on the fill-up function. You can then click on any grid within the area and the tool will put the dots in the area on the grids that don’t have dots yet. Clicking on a grid that already has a dot will do nothing, as won’t do any click on the boundary or even outside the area.

Finally…

CTC 5.1 was released to include one error correction, which was important enough to release as it is right now – even more changes are going to come.
So keep watching

Your WebRailRoader Team

I just want to give you an update how the Coronavirus pandemic is affecting us.

We are in an area of emergency orders (who is not!), and all non-essential businesses are ordered to be shut down.

So who determines what is essential? I would make the point that CTC is essential, for me as the developer, and for you as customers.

More seriously – since I run everything from my home office, and there is no direct contact with my customers (other than electronically via mail or internet interaction) I am officially allowed to continue.

Of course, I do social distancing – with my wife….

I hope, of course, that you are doing ok. If not, please get better.

Just want to say, that in these times of staying at home, not able to travel, probably not much to do, CTC is just perfect to get thru it. You can spend hours playing it, and get a taste of the wide world (CTC wise of course).

It is still free. And while there are limits unless you purchase some licenses, you can continue to use the free version, and when your situation improves especially financially, you can get the licenses then.

I still think that is a good deal, don’t you think?

The current version of CTC, by the way, is 4.12.

Enjoy the game and happy Dispatching

Your WebRailRoader Team

I haven’t posted here for a while, so first off I want to apologize for my silence.

No, it wasn’t Dorian (came close).

However, soon after that, I got involved into a software project, which of course takes some time away. Good news is, though, that I could use things from the CTC project into this new project – and from there things feed back into CTC, including problems I found that apply to both projects. Over there, I added a feature that allow to add images to be placed on the scenery – adjusts the size when zooming in or out. In CTC graphics (lines, circles, even texts) are drawn onto the screen, larger or smaller as needed. Actually, external images (from a file) are also drawn by the graphics routine, I just haven’t done it before and have since learned how to do it.

Although slowed down, development on CTC is not idle. As of now, the current release is 4.11. Besides of corrections here and there, you might notice additions for the future support of the helper function.

CTC will support both types, the coupled and the un-coupled types. While the coupled type could be run using the train merge/split feature, the required setup via train schedule is not flexible enough, e.g. you could not use any helper engine – it has to be the one assigned on that schedule, not anyone that happens to be currently available.

Note, we are talking here about pushers (aka bankers), not helpers in the middle of the train (those would still have to be handled by scheduling)

Part of it is an adjustment of the runtime model – the algorithm that determines the speed and acceleration/braking needed for any situation encountered by the train. The current model has a weakness when it comes to slow speeds which is detrimental for a good helper performance.

The next feature after that is probably going to be the crew time handling, e.g. the time available until a train crew needs to rest and to be replaced with a fresh crew.

That’s it for now. Hopefully there won’t be that long period of silence on my part!

As always

Enjoy the game and happy Dispatching

Your WebRailRoader Team