RailControl Pro — CS2 and CS3 controller for iPhone, iPad and Mac

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RailControl Pro — CS2 and CS3 controller for iPhone, iPad and Mac

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northstar		#1 Posted : 24 February 2023 15:29:28(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 23/02/2023(UTC) Posts: 21		Hi all! I'm the developer of RailControl Pro, and happy to answer all your questions, discuss features and ideas here. In a nutshell: RailControl Pro is an app which runs on iPhone, iPad and Mac. I'm trying to give a better user experience for Märklin Central Station 3 with this app, especially on mobile devices. There's still a lot to be done, and since I'm building this app alone in my spare time, unfortunately features grow pretty slow. I'd love to dedicate professional time on it too, but for that the sales are not strong enough yet 😜 EDIT: RailControl Pro now also lets you connect to Central Station 2. See post below. I think the basis is solid though: - Controlling locs: - Precise speed control through +/- buttons or with an old fashioned slider - Natural acceleration/braking through predefined settings - Multiple in parallel on iPad and Mac - Works with keyboard shortcuts on iPad and Mac - Through a game controller like the one from PlayStation or Xbox - Controlling accessories through a keyboard like interface, or through the track diagram - CS3 Start/Stop - Shutting down/Rebooting CS3 Things I'm working on right now: - A better speed slider (edit: done) - Editing locs (stuck on an issue with writing to mfx decoders) - Assigning a loc to a specific game controller, so one iPhone can control 1 loc, and all connected game controllers can control other locs (edit: done) Things I want to add in the near future: - Editing articles - CS2 Track Diagrams (edit: done) - Executing Events (edit: done) The idea is that once all this core functionality is done, I focus more on deep platform integration: e.g. controlling locs from Apple Watch, integrate with Siri/Shortcuts (e.g. "Siri, start loc 186-902"). I don't want to create a new RocRail, but rather the app Märklin should have included with CS3. It should be easy to use, and self explanatory for new CS3 users. All feedback, suggestions and questions welcome! Website: www.railcontrol.pro ↗️ Some screenshots to give an idea, what we are talking about 😜 Edited by user 21 February 2024 10:28:44(UTC) \| Reason: Added info about CS2
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10 users liked this useful post by northstar		mbarreto, roberts, einotuominen, Marklineisenbahn, Alsterstreek, Danlake, Cyborg, Marcus01, Alberto Pedrini, Eddie7979
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bygger01		#2 Posted : 17 March 2023 12:54:24(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 23/11/2008(UTC) Posts: 225 Location: Herning in Denmark		Is it possible, that you will show how to select a locomotive. The reason I ask is that if you use Märklin's web solution on an IPad today, the images are no bigger than those on your CS3! For that reason, I often use the old Apps from Märklin, where the selection of locomotives is much easier. And when things go really crazy, I have 2 iPads running, one of which is 12.9", and the big one is used for track plans, and then my CS3 is actually just a computer! I am also considering, whether I can have a track plan that must be the entire visible track with approx. 100 magnetic items. The two invisible "stations" control themselves with the help of 2 Arduino prints per station.
		Best regards Jørgen St. from Herning in DK H0 / Märklin K track / CS3+ / full digital / Epoke III +/-


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northstar		#3 Posted : 17 March 2023 13:30:11(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 23/02/2023(UTC) Posts: 21		Well it's super simpel: - On iPhone there's a list with locs. You tap on a loc, and it opens the loc full screen. To select another loc, go back to the list and choose a new one. - On iPad, this list is always visible on the left side (unless you want to hide it). Again you tap on a loc and the loc appears on the right side. The app supports dynamic type, so if text and other things are too small on your screen, if you set the size bigger in iOS Settings, RailControl Pro will respect these settings. For Articles, there are two options: 1) Track Diagram and 2) grid with all articles. 1) Here you can see the diagram, and if you want you can hide the left navigation to show the diagram full screen. The diagram is zoomable, btw. And you can show/hide the article names. 2) This is the grid: it will depend on your iPad, but with the navigation visible, you can already show 10 articles per row. So if you hide the navigation, it will be around 13 per row. So I think 100 might be possible on the biggest iPad. Again, you can make the text look bigger. If you have more questions, let me know! Happy to help 😊
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northstar		#4 Posted : 17 March 2023 13:47:05(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 23/02/2023(UTC) Posts: 21		BTW, I updated the app, as mentioned in my first post with a new speed slider and support for multiple game controllers. Read all about it in this blog post ↗️
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bygger01		#5 Posted : 17 March 2023 17:20:18(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 23/11/2008(UTC) Posts: 225 Location: Herning in Denmark		Your target audience is old gray men with presbyopia ("old man's vision"), so I think that your pictograms (icons) are far too small for the aging vision. And these are your main customer !! You have to think that it should be easy to find a locomotive without having to use the special glasses on an iPhone or iPad, and then quickly switch to seeing far! I will try to take a few screenshots of the old app/version from Märklin. Because you have to offer something that doesn't already exist !!!
		Best regards Jørgen St. from Herning in DK H0 / Märklin K track / CS3+ / full digital / Epoke III +/-


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northstar		#6 Posted : 17 March 2023 17:27:20(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 23/02/2023(UTC) Posts: 21		Thanks for the suggestion about the pictograms! I will see how I can make them scale too. The text however already grows together with your iPad settings. Compare these two:
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Danlake		#7 Posted : 17 March 2023 19:32:32(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 03/08/2011(UTC) Posts: 1,571		Thanks for posting. It looks like a well designed app with good documentation behind and the fact that your are keen to improve it will only make it better. We definitely need some competition in this market which will only force Marklin to up their game as well. Well done Best Regards Lasse
		Digital 11m2 layout / C (M&K) tracks / Era IV / CS3 60226 / Train Controller Gold 9 with 4D sound. Mainly Danish and German Locomotives.

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bygger01		#8 Posted : 17 March 2023 22:10:54(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 23/11/2008(UTC) Posts: 225 Location: Herning in Denmark		I am fighting to download 2 pictures .....
		Best regards Jørgen St. from Herning in DK H0 / Märklin K track / CS3+ / full digital / Epoke III +/-


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David Dewar		#9 Posted : 17 March 2023 23:36:35(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 01/02/2004(UTC) Posts: 7,452 Location: Scotland		What does this do that my CS3 can not do. I have an ipad but why would I want to use it. The screen is a bit bigger but that is about all plus it takes up more room om my control desk. I like driving trains and the CS3 events control the turnouts and routes and a shuttle line.
		Take care I like Marklin and will defend the worlds greatest model rail manufacturer.

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thing fish		#10 Posted : 18 March 2023 07:06:02(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 25/01/2020(UTC) Posts: 207 Location: istanbul		Originally Posted by: David Dewar What does this do that my CS3 can not do. David hi, I think the idea is not what this app does which cs3 can not do but what it can do on top of cs3 capabilities. For me, this app means more gadgets that I can control the locos with i.e. having more friends enjoying driving locos or controlling turnouts/signals. Just my two cents ... C.

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bygger01		#11 Posted : 18 March 2023 08:36:25(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 23/11/2008(UTC) Posts: 225 Location: Herning in Denmark		But if your CS3 is connected to your router, you already have this option with an iPhone or an Ipad, where you get the same options as a CS3 gives you! I just suggest that the icons for the locomotives should have a more readable size ( so I have to figure out how to show pictures here !!! ).
		Best regards Jørgen St. from Herning in DK H0 / Märklin K track / CS3+ / full digital / Epoke III +/-

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thing fish		#12 Posted : 18 March 2023 09:07:21(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 25/01/2020(UTC) Posts: 207 Location: istanbul		Originally Posted by: bygger01 But if your CS3 is connected to your router, you already have this option with an iPhone or an Ipad, where you get the same options as a CS3 gives you! Wow ... I didn't know that. Thanks. C.


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northstar		#13 Posted : 18 March 2023 18:57:43(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 23/02/2023(UTC) Posts: 21		Originally Posted by: Danlake Thanks for posting. It looks like a well designed app with good documentation behind and the fact that your are keen to improve it will only make it better. We definitely need some competition in this market which will only force Marklin to up their game as well. Well done Best Regards Lasse Thanks Lasse! I'm not sure how Märklin is actually interested in providing an app again. They retired their previous app and took the web-app route, which works on all platforms, but nowhere really well... It's the cheap option for them.
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northstar		#14 Posted : 18 March 2023 19:20:16(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 23/02/2023(UTC) Posts: 21		Originally Posted by: David Dewar What does this do that my CS3 can not do. I have an ipad but why would I want to use it. The screen is a bit bigger but that is about all plus it takes up more room om my control desk. I like driving trains and the CS3 events control the turnouts and routes and a shuttle line. In terms of functionality, as it stands, the CS3 or CS3 web app can do much more than this app. I keep working to bring CS3 functionality to my app, but that's not what it is all about. My motivation to build this, is the user experience. Let's be honest: Märklin software doesn't work well. It's hard to use, not very well designed, and full of bugs. They used to have a good, but pretty limited app, when CS2 was around, but decided to kill it. And there are other (desktop) apps around already, but they mostly target the very advanced user, for whom CS3 isn't advanced enough. I aim to deliver a well designed and easy to use app, basically the app I'd like to use myself. And if I can make other people happy with it, even better.
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northstar		#15 Posted : 18 March 2023 19:28:10(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 23/02/2023(UTC) Posts: 21		Originally Posted by: thing fish Originally Posted by: bygger01 But if your CS3 is connected to your router, you already have this option with an iPhone or an Ipad, where you get the same options as a CS3 gives you! Wow ... I didn't know that. Thanks. C. Sure, but try to use it for more than a few minutes, and let me know if you like it 😜
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Marcus01		#16 Posted : 19 March 2023 09:13:51(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 10/05/2013(UTC) Posts: 26		I paid my NZ$13.99 to download the App in NZ. It connected to my CS3 in a split second once the IP address was entered. This APP is awesome! You can open multiple windows to run multiple trains, and there is a really cool speed step (auto) increase or decrease in speed. ‘Im super impressed. Well done. To anyone thinking of downloading, it’s worth it…. Edited by user 20 March 2023 12:09:41(UTC) \| Reason: Not specified

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northstar		#17 Posted : 19 March 2023 18:03:38(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 23/02/2023(UTC) Posts: 21		Originally Posted by: Marcus01 I paid my NZ$13.99 to download the App in NZ. It connected to my CS3 in a split second once the IP address was entered. This APP is awesome! You can open multiple windows to run multiple trains, and there is a really cool speed step (auto) increase or decrease in speed. ‘Im super impressed. Well done. To anyone thinking of downloading, it’s worth it…. Thanks for the kind words, Marcus01! All feedback welcome 😊
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northstar		#18 Posted : 10 November 2023 02:41:33(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 23/02/2023(UTC) Posts: 21		Folks, it's been a while, and I'm here with a big update for the app: version 2.0! That number is not an accident, since it's possible now to connect your Central Station 2 as well. This required a full rewrite of the communication layer, to adopt Märklin CAN, which was rather painful, but here we are. I've written a short blog post about the update: https://railcontrol.pro/...r-central-station-2.html If anyone is interested about the CAN stuff, I'm happy to elaborate. Other than controlling locs and articles, I've also added full support for CS2 Track Diagrams. (Which I still prefer over the CS3 style diagrams.) Besides CS2 support, version 2.0 also allows to start events, and control turntables. Two features previously missing in the app. Another big difference with my last update here, is that you can try RailControl Pro now for free! CS2 (and CS3) users, happy to hear what you think about it!
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Johnvr		#19 Posted : 21 February 2024 08:50:24(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 03/10/2010(UTC) Posts: 1,293 Location: Cape Town, South Africa		Hello Northstar I downloaded the Railcontrol pro app last week, and I have had a super time operating my layout using the app. I am using CS2, and I have got a LAN connecting my CS2, iPad, iPhone, Laptop Computer, and of course my MS2 connected to the CS2. It's really fantastic, and I shall be introducing this Railcontrol pro app to my friends with CS2. My layout goes for 5.5m down the side garage wall, so this is handy to have a mobile controller when I am walking along the layout. I also have two friends with very large layouts distributed over a large space, and this will be useful when I am operating there. One suggestion which I would Marklin to consider for the CS (and then the Railcontrol pro would replicate) is to have a filter on locomotive selections. For example, if I am running 6 locomotives today on my layout, I would like to have a filter for the active locomotives on the layout. If tomorrow I choose to run a differerent set of locomotives, then I would like to change the filter for running the active locomotives. Having a filter for active locomotives would make it so much easier for locomotive selection when operating a session. Railcontrol pro has very useful filters for accessories (eg you can select light signals, or semaphore signals on the active keyboard) I originally purchased the Marklin Main Station app, but my iPad had to be re-formatted at one time and I lost the app. I am very disappointed that Marklin decided to discontinue the Marklin Main Station app. But I am now delighted to have found Railcontrol pro. Regards John

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northstar		#20 Posted : 21 February 2024 12:51:54(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 23/02/2023(UTC) Posts: 21		Thank you for the kind words and feedback Johnvr! On my road map for 2024 were three main features: 1. Support for Control Desk-style Track Diagrams 2. Better loc management 3. Editing locs and articles (see blogpost: https://railcontrol.pro/...03/roadmap-for-2024.html ) I'm happy to announce that 1. has been ticked off as of today. The update is available from the App Store. This means the next feature I'll work on, is better loc management. I now have a few features in mind for this: recently used, favourites, and custom collections. They would work in a similar way as the Articles filter, indeed. I hope to release this update in the coming weeks. Will keep you posted here. Any other feedback much appreciated! And feel free to leave a review on the App Store. This really helps.
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northstar		#21 Posted : 09 October 2024 11:27:14(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 23/02/2023(UTC) Posts: 21		And here's the next one: better loc management, ticking of #2 of my 2024 road map. I just released version 3 of RailControl Pro, introducing a column view for locs and collections. With column view (or list view on iPad/Mac), you can easily control multiple locs at the same time, while collections let you organise your locs in groups for faster access. By default there's already a favorites and recents collection, but you can also create your own. Other than that, by default, the start/stop button is now out of the way, living in the upper left corner. For the people who prefer it to be bigger and more up front, the old concept is still available in settings. Read all about it on the blog: https://railcontrol.pro/...all-new-loc-control.html A few screenshots to give you an impression. Feedback and questions welcome! --- The new loc controls. --- Managing a collection. --- This all comes together really nicely when using more than one window.
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JohnjeanB		#22 Posted : 09 October 2024 19:13:22(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 04/02/2011(UTC) Posts: 3,555 Location: Paris, France		Hi Northstar You have developped an interesting product but it seems in direct competition with the native CS3 communication with phones. So why people would buy your product if they have it already for FREE ? (Sorry to be blunt). Agreed you need to plug the CS3 to a wifi router (that many many people already have). Here are some screen copies on my iPhone controlling my layout Layout control loco selection amoung ALL stored in the CS3 to include in a short list of favorites control of any loco up to 32 fonctions per loco control of events layout selection Cheers Jean
		My layout videos latest vid marshalling yard My Layout


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northstar		#23 Posted : 09 October 2024 19:58:53(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 23/02/2023(UTC) Posts: 21		Hi JohnjeanB, Thank you for this very good question! I started building this application out of frustration with that very CS3 web interface, and actually the CS3 interface as a whole. People pay a lot of money for a CS3, while in reality it is obsolete hardware running crap software. My vision for it, is that my app is the app Märklin should have built themselves. Märklin is great at inventing and designing model trains, I love them. But they are not good at all at anything related to software, especially not the design. The accessibility and usability of their products is a nightmare and sub par of anything happening in consumer oriented software business. In my opinion that web app is plain horrible By building my app, I also had to look under the hood of their software, and I can say that also the engineering part of the software is much below the standard as well. You can't imagine how many bugs are in there, or how much of their own documentation is plain wrong. That being said, these are the main reasons why people buy (and keep) a subscription for my app: 1) They want a better experience to control their CS3 from their iPhone/iPad/Mac than what Märklin has to offer. 2) They are using a CS2 and don't have access to the web app. I hope this explains my motivation and thinking behind this app. My goal is to have feature parity with the Märklin solution, so you can avoid their stuff as much as possible, and I'm slowly getting there. Happy to answer any follow-up questions! Originally Posted by: JohnjeanB Hi Northstar You have developped an interesting product but it seems in direct competition with the native CS3 communication with phones. So why people would buy your product if they have it already for FREE ? (Sorry to be blunt).
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bygger01		#24 Posted : 10 October 2024 10:12:58(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 23/11/2008(UTC) Posts: 225 Location: Herning in Denmark		First, product development takes time and it is easy to be overtaken in that process. My world – when I drive the layout alone – consists of a CS3 + a regular IPad with the two old programs from CS2 + a 13” IPad + an IPhone in the back pocket of trousers. So when CS3 is started up, the 2 IPads are connected + the IPhone when walking around. The small one - standing vertically - with the 2 old Apps, that have nice big pictograms for all locomotives, so it controls the train sets. The large one – lying horizontally – is only used for the layout's 6 track plans with their events. CS3 - with the smallest screen - is only used for station work, as physical buttons are best after all. And it is also used for various preparations. I would like to show pictures, but it is beyond my abilities right now ! Of the advantages of your development, I think it works on CS2. The negative for me is, as written before – it will be too small – and that you do not offer more than what I can get out of my setup! Is your system also prepared for a "crossroad" with 2 engines ? Edited by user 11 October 2024 11:03:15(UTC) \| Reason: Not specified
		Best regards Jørgen St. from Herning in DK H0 / Märklin K track / CS3+ / full digital / Epoke III +/-


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bygger01		#25 Posted : 10 October 2024 17:46:37(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 23/11/2008(UTC) Posts: 225 Location: Herning in Denmark		Here is my command station and the picture is reversed (don't know why), but it looks like it is for the southern hemisphere. But press on the picture and it turns right!
		Best regards Jørgen St. from Herning in DK H0 / Märklin K track / CS3+ / full digital / Epoke III +/-


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northstar		#26 Posted : 10 October 2024 21:35:52(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 23/02/2023(UTC) Posts: 21		Originally Posted by: bygger01 Is your system also prepared for a "crossroad" with 2 engines ? Yes, it is. Originally Posted by: bygger01 The negative for me is, as written before – it will be too small – and that you do not offer more than what I can get out of my setup! As I mentioned in my previous answer to you: RailControl Pro scales its interface to your iPad settings. Compare the next screens, with different settings:
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bygger01		#27 Posted : 11 October 2024 09:07:57(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 23/11/2008(UTC) Posts: 225 Location: Herning in Denmark		My image only showed the page with the selection of locomotives, and the pictogram for the individual locomotives much better. But the negative thing about the 2 old CS2 Apps is that all registered locomotives are included ( and here there are 40 )! The speed is also recorded with a vertical slider and the movement is approx. 85% of the length of the IPad. It should also be stated, that I normally do not follow / change the speed of a train from the time it leaves the platform until it stops via a brake module at an entrance signal to the next station, where I then choose which platform the locomotive must stop at (again with a brake module), and I can have up to 3 train sets on such a stretch! It sounds bigger, than it is, because there are only two visible stations with double tracks, while there are also two shadow stations, and they are automatically assigned a track.
		Best regards Jørgen St. from Herning in DK H0 / Märklin K track / CS3+ / full digital / Epoke III +/-


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northstar		#28 Posted : 11 October 2024 11:36:01(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 23/02/2023(UTC) Posts: 21		I just published a small update, which takes the dynamic type even further. As you can see readability is now much improved across the entire app, when the text size on your iPhone or iPad is set to a larger size. The article buttons scale up as well. @bygger01, the negative thing you mention about the CS2 app, is exactly what version 3 of RailControl Pro solves. In my CS3 are 85 locs stored, yet thanks to the collection I made in the app for TEE locomotives, you only see the five locs I added to that collection. You can make any collection you want.
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Johnvr		#29 Posted : 15 October 2024 22:40:30(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 03/10/2010(UTC) Posts: 1,293 Location: Cape Town, South Africa		Hello all, I use CS2. My CS2 is connected to my router, and my laptop computer is also connected to the router. I purchased Railcontrol Pro because I wanted to use an app for controlling my trains from my Ipad and Iphone, but Marklin had removed the Marklin app from the app store. I have to say that I am very pleased with the functionality of Railcontrol Pro. I like the filter on the accessories. And I especially like the new locomotive features for having favourites, where you can select locos to run in an operating session. If I go to visit someone with a CS3+, then I still use Railcontrol Pro as my choice of web app. Thank you John

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AyalaBotto		#30 Posted : 20 November 2024 13:55:10(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 07/02/2010(UTC) Posts: 30 Location: Lisbon, Portugal		Hi, I just install RailControl Pro APP to work with my Märklin Central Station 2 60214. During the installation and connecting process I dealt with minor issues, but the service support and patient provided by Jans proved essential and decisive! Let's hear from you guys your feedback and improvements suggestions to this APP! Thanks in advance Regards Ayala Botto Lisbon, Portugal
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AyalaBotto		#31 Posted : 23 November 2024 16:25:12(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 07/02/2010(UTC) Posts: 30 Location: Lisbon, Portugal		Hi, Can I use RailControl Pro with the ECoS Command Station? Thanks Regards Ayala Botto Lisbon, Portugal
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