CATrain Changelog

What's new in CATrain 2.5.0

• The most important enhancement brought by this version is the ability to control a Marklin or DCC model layout (Uhlenbrock, Roco, Arnold, LGB, Lenz, Digitrax,...), by using an Uhlenbrock IB-COM or Intellibox connected to an USB port. For this purpose a new DLL called "catrulni.dll" is included in this package. This DLL can be selected fromthe "Parameters" dialog box. (CATrain must be restarted afterwards). Of course, fora good functioning, the drivers provided by Uhlenbrock for the "USB-LocoNet" interface have to be installed and the IB-COM unit must be powered and connected to the PC.
• It is also necessary that the types of layout and locomotives have been perfectly defined (Marklin, Marklin-Motorola, DCC), using the "IB-Util" tool (or another tool) provided by Uhlenbrock. To let the flexibility for CATrain to settle the solenoid switch-on time, the minimum pulse duration must be set to 100ms.
• A second enhancement is the implementation of a minimalist approach to solve the problem of alternate routes inside itineraries. When several track choices are possible while capturing an itinerary (e.g. in a station), the user can draw several loops through all possible routes. When the "enhanced traffic" option is selected in the "Parameters" dialog box, a train which is stopped by another train standing downstream, will "look" inside the itinerary map for another possible route. The small example "alternate.tci" enables you to see how this system works. You can trace the itinerary and operate the trains in automatic or semi-automatic traffic mode, with and without the "enhanced traffic" option to see the difference.
• A third modification concerns the layout drawing: the previous menu "Move, Copy, Delete" has been replaced by the more classical "Copy & Paste" or "Cut & Paste" procedure. Moving or duplicating a bloc of tracks must be done in two steps. This is a little more laborious, but this allows to copy and paste blocs of layout from one CATrain window to another, through the clipboard. Be aware that this is only a drawing feature. The device labels are also redrawn when possible, but not the track section labels.