Does anyone have any experience with computer interfaces? I've got an evaluation copy of Railroad & Co. and am having a devil of a time making it work. Actually I think it is working, but since it is not connected to my layout I can't see if the train is running. Am I correct in thinking that the only way to see a train is to be connected to the layout?
I have been using RR & Co for about a year now. I only use it to drive my signals though. I don't want it to run my trains. You should be able to do anything you want by going to the Setup Digital Systems area and selecting Off Line. For me, this lets me test all the signal logic I develop. You still need to define what system you will be using in order to define each element (address and function) but just set it to off line. There is a RR & Co group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/railroadandco/ The creator of the program answers most questions although sometimes not very politely. The program is also not very tolerant of hardware interface problems. I recently tried to upgrade from version 4.5 to 4.7. Version 4.5 is a 16 bit version and works fine on my Win 98/Compaq Celeron computer. However, version 4.7 is a 32 bit version and no longer will talk to my interface with Digitrax. As soon as I described the problem he brushed it off as a hardware problem and wouldn't provide any support. If you want to have the software run your trains, try the RR & Co group. If you want general information I can provide that. David
I played with the demo for RR & Co, and it works fine with my NCE, but I'm not sure it's for me. I got a few block detectors and an input card that I have to install then test with the RR & Co demo again before I decide. I tried the KAM too, without success, but it's too difficult to learn. There is open source software for programming decoders, but I cannot run trains with it. The Digitrax guys can, and like it. Decoder Pro. And there is a freeware program to run trains called Automatic Train Control, but I cannot install it on my computer yet. I had it up annd running in an older version, but when I reloaded my hard drive, then tried to install the new version, it fails install. Still messing with that one. Is there any more programs out there I can try before I decide on any?
