One feature I miss with trains is scripting. Back in 2014 or 2015, I wrote a very simple cab command interpreter in python for JMRI, “cab3.py”.

I should add something like in Cab Engineer:

• Tie it with an existing throttle (e.g. for a specific DCC address)
• Or let the script change/mix engines.
• Be able to save / recall scripts.
• Also control turnouts.
• Introduce a mini-editor with a less cryptic language, and buttons to quickly insert language keywords.
• Make it line-agnostic so that the script can be one line or multi lines.

Random examples:

Label start

Throttle 537 speed +12 for 5s until B370 then speed 0

Reverse T330

F2 press

F5 on

Throttle 113 speed +12 for 2s

Speed 0

Speed -12 for 2s

Normal T330

F5 off

Throttle 537 speed -12 for 5s until B310 then speed 0

Loop start

Here each command is one keyword + one value, and the “then” keyword is a no-op.

A command like “for” or “until” would simply introduce a pause.

A “function press” would toggle it for a fixed time, e.g. 300-500 ms.

A logical extension is a “record macro” mode, that records the actions, generates the script, which can then be edited, saved, recalled.

Recalling a script would open a card on the recycle view with a status/run/stop. Running would “inject” commands in controllers, but not block the user. E.g. one could try to “beat” the system, or start/stop an engine during a macro run. Useful for things like horn/bell, or prevent a collision.

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