On 24th December JMRI 2.14 was released, and is available for download from the JMRI website.
JMRI is a set of computer programs that will allow your PC to talk to your DCC controlled model railway. It is an open source project and therefore can be downloaded for no cost. JMRI is written in Java, and will therefore functon under Windows, Mac OSX, or Linux, and will talk to almost any DCC system (not MRC /Gaugemaster Prodigy) that has a computer connection.
The new release includes the debut of Decoderpro3, the part of the suite that is designed to aid the programming of locomotive decoder chips.
Significant upgrades are also included to the Operations suite of programmes that allow the building of timetables and wagon movements for the layout by providing sets of instructions to train operators, for example whether a train is meant to stop at a station and which wagons should be dropped off or picked up. Operations can be used without a DCC system attached, as it doesn’t need a layout connection to produce its schedules and instructions.
Improvements are also included for Panelpro, and in particular the layout editor, which allows you to create a track diagram on the pc screen and use the mouse to operate points and signals. One significant enhancement in the new release is to allow both points in a crossover to be operated by a single click.
There is stacks more additional functionality besides that listed here and I dare say I’ll get to grips with most of it over the coming months, especially as I start to experiment with automated train movements and infr red train detection.
Rede Valley currently runs JMRI 2.12 and has been doing so since its release in June 2011. The layout PC will be upgraded to the new software tomorrow, and I’ll report back on anything of interest. The full configuration of the JMRI & Lenz DCC setup for the layout is discussed here
Once again thanks to Bob Jacobsen and the rest of the JMRI team for yet more great work
