Hi

Does anyone know if the new CS3 track plan now shows locos as the travel along the tracks and if so with their ID displayed?

I currently have Ecos - but with 99% of my locos having FMX decoders - I cant use the railcom bus on Ecos - I am wondering what the track operating visuals are on the CS3/CAN bus?

Regards

Greg

Hi Thanks for this - this is interesting. Are you saying the Viessmann will track train movement with MFX decoders in them?

Rgds

Greg

Märklin might support that when the RailCom patents expire or when they obtain a patent license. So don't expect that in the near future.

I don't know. Also depends on how long someone pays the patent fees.

mfx is closed technology and mfx manufacturers cannot use these patents free of any licenses.
There also is a European patent.

mfx itself can't report the position of a loco: it's symply impossible.
To report the position of a loco, you need some sort of "position" detector: RFID, IR, Bar-code.
An "indirect" method is used by model train SW based on PC: provided that a certain route has been defined, the system can show the "expected" position of the loco, by means of "feedback" signals (of various type, usually connected on a s-88 bus)

They probably could if they didn't waste their resources creating software that causes your loko to slow down if you run out of coal or water or diesel or sand. They need to realize we aren't children "playing trains", but adults who want to run a railroad.

The railroads know how much the loko must pull and the rate consumables are used. They do not send equipment out with the "hope" it makes it to its destination. This is why coal tipples had scales and diesel engines have fuel gauges. This software has as much realism as the Sun rising in the west tomorrow. Knowing what equipment is where on their system does matter to the railroad.

It's simply possible with a location decoder (to be developed) that reports all locos on its track section to the CS.
Won't be cheap if one needs many location decoders for a big layout.


It would then be possible to assign locos to categories and to define actions for specific categories.
Local trains stop at the platform, express trains pass through the station, freight trains bypass the station. All that with a single location decoder before the station.
ECoS and RailCom allow this today. It can also be done with mfx.

This is true, but that feature set is optional, isn't it?
A railroad manager is concerned with the positioning of the equipment and meeting schedule, but he relies on someone to make sure the locomotives are properly stocked. Someone must do that - and this aspect of the train simulation introduced by Märklin allows you to pay consequences if you didn't pay enough attention to ensure the train is 'fully tanked up before departing'. Issues happen, and managing the resulting schedule slip and rerouting that occurs from a train stranded and needing to seek emergency supplies can be fun too.

Lots of good points here - you can though just bypass the issue and go to pc/software control and be done with it. In all reality the command stations all try but it will be a long time before they can copy software - just the physical restrictions of the hardware alone makes fast easy access and ease of use difficult. Software like Train Controller is now so advanced - there is no longer any need at all for a command station to be used - but most do still connect through it because we all have one. As someone pointed out in the thread its all a very personal thing for each modeler. I for example am in the hobby for technology complexity options - drawn in when marklin released the first digital system - I love the idea of automation and rarely ever manually operate a train - but that's just me. I love this forum because we are all diverse and bring so much to the table between us all. Rgds Greg