Conductors App

Very impressive! I have no idea about border crossing, but his seems rational. This will undoubtedly add realism to any run. I can see a two man crew going through these procedures and forgetting they are running a MODEL railroad. If your release it to others I believe it will be an instant hit. How hard would it be for people to customize the app?

Were you reading my mind Bill?

That is exactly what I was looking to do for our future operations on the layout.  I also wanted a way to have Waybills & Car Cards incorporated in it too.

But that is a fantastic start, and yes you have clearly put a lot of work into this!

Look forward to seeing this evolve, any chance in the future of releasing a editable version?

Jas...

Configurable for others

hmmm. It's certainly possible, I'll put some thought into it.

Sound Effects

Can anybody point me toward a video or sound effect library that includes the sound of a brake wheel being applied and released. I'm looking for some stand-in's until I can get out and record my own.

More sound effects

If you play with the app a bit you'll discover that most of the sound effects and many of the texts and timings have random variations. This was a lot of fun to create and a real challenge to figure out how to make iOS play nice with multiple streams in HTML5, triggered from Javascript.

I wanted to make sure it never seemed like you were just going through the same script over and over.

One of the things that frustrates me with RailPro is that, while I can have a clink or stretch sound, I can only have 1 sound per button. I wanted to be able to have random variations and this solves that perfectly for me. Once I get out there and record more coupler clunks, no two in a row should sound the same, since the program pulls from a pool of sounds. For example, there are currently 18 hose separation variations and 13 coupler clunks.

Paper

 Will you have paper copies for those without smartphones?

Will you have paper copies...

Nope, I have a few spare ipod touch 4's lying around and people can use those if needed.

Very nice, Bill.

Very nice, Bill.  Impressive...!

Looks good !

Bill, this is a great idea for operations. Even I have a few Iphones laying around and this could be a great idea to put some real time prototype operations into my railroad. Hope you continue to develop this idea, and look forward to maybe using it on my railroad. I can tell that you have put a LOT of thought and effort into making this work. The fact that there is no paperwork to have to deal with is a real plus !

Michael

Bill, thought you'd appreciate this

...and answer David's question.

http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=22244

btw, I always wondered about border crossing protocol. Nicely done! 

Brad.

Nice

Shuffling too much paper can be a drag on operations and quickly turn "fun" into mundane office work.  

App is a smart way to go!

Joe

Cell phone games

 My concern is the op session will devolve into moving the train 10 feet, play a "game" on the cell phone.  Move the train 10 feet, play a "game" on the cell phone.  Move the train 10 feet, play a "game" on  the cell phone.  An op session where I spend more time looking at my cell phone than I spend running the train doesn't sound appealing.  It might sound better for people who spend more time on their cell phone and are comfortable with that.  I'm sure some people will think all the minutiae built into the cell phone app will make it feel more "real". Spending more quality time looking at my cell phone and less time interacting with the train isn't where I want to head.

Having all the documentation on one device to me seems more cumbersome than having multiple documents.   If all your information is on a smart phone there is no way you can display a ZTS map and look at the switch list at the same time, or compare the timetable and your track authorities at the same time. For that matter on a switch or train list  app you can't really read more than 10-20 lines at once in a screen.

PS : The initial terminal brake test is performed at a train's initial or when that cars have not previously been tested are added to the train.  It has nothing to do a new crew taking control of a train or whether the train line has been  "modified".

Switch Lists are not on the app.

I don't use switch lists. Who said anything about switch lists? I use my own car cards. This data is not on the app. So this is moot for me. This tool is a way for me to include the supporitng documents, interactive elements and sound effects to my operating sessions similar to the methods Lance Mindhiem suggests, and without a pile of extra paper. Primary documents such as switch lists or car cards are not part of my digital plan.

Initial Brake Test happens when a new train is assembled. You may be right that when a new crew takes control of the train it's not relevant but when the CN crew takes the train from BNSF, this IS what they do here.

When new cars are added to the train, the trainline (the air line from front to back) is considered MODIFIED and it has everything to do with doing a brake test. But the test procedure to follow when new cars are added to an already tested train is called an Intermediate Brake Test, It's much faster and only the new cars are checked.

Cell phone games

For anyone who does not wish to do these tasks, as stated before, they are completely optional.

Otherwise, It's really no different than running sounds from a controller. It's all part of the larger game we call op operations.

Brake tests

If a train adds a cut of cars the brake lined is 'modified', but the brake test depends on whether the cars have been tested.  If the cars have had an initial terminal test then all they need is the intermediate.  If the cars haven't been tested then they need a full initial terminal test.  The determining factor is not whether the train line has been 'modified' , because it was modified the same either way, it whether the cars were tested.

Changing railroads doesn't require a full initial terminal test, trains run through all the time with no test.  However since the trains may be changing countries the air test in one country's  laws may not meet the other country's requirements.

There are also more stringent tests for 1500 mile inspections that have to be done by carmen instead of train crews.  If the train on the BNSF is going more than 1000 miles but less than 1500 they might do a 1500 mile inspection to save delays on inspections down line.

Looking forward to trying it

Looking forward to trying it out Bill! I think most folks are forgetting that on a two man crew the engineer will be working the throttle, the conductor will be doing the dirty work. 

Looking forward to trying it

Me too! see you soon.

Ummmmm...

Android version? And no, I'm not going to try to write one.

Android version

It should work fine on Android or iOS. Its just a web page with javascript behind it. Does it not work for you?

PC

 On a PC I can get to the page that says CN or BN ops and has the three sound buttons, but the only thing I can get to beyond that is the PDC page, none of the sounds play, nor will it open either the CN or BN ops pages.

Options

You might want to test out the time to complete tasks with and without using the app.  From a dispatching and scheduling point of view you may want to consider making the use of the app "mandatory" since there may be significant differences in how long things take with or without the app.  If you have multiple operators and some are not using the app, you could make the dispatching harder since there would be a wider variation in how long it takes trains to get over the road.  If it takes 5 minutes to complete a "trip" without the app and 20 minutes to complete the trip with the app it could upset the flow of the session.

not an issue here.

On my little railroad, where there are generally only 2 crews, if 1 crew takes too long, it's normal. The prototype has the same problem   They fill their time by doing each others work at the other end, and then they sit on their butts and visit

There's no schedule in the modern world of the Letellier sub. There's only late for dinner.

I'll look into the page not working on some devices. It works in Firefox on the PC and iOS for me with no problems at all.

Doesn't work in IE

ok, so the app does not work in Internet Explorer.
 I'll work on that.

IE

 If it helps, I viewed it on IE 7, I will try it on my IE 10 machine later this morning.