Model Train-related Notes Blog -- these are personal notes and musings on the subject of model train control, automation, electronics, or whatever I find interesting. I also have more posts in a blog dedicated to the maintenance of the Randall Museum Model Railroad.
2023-05-21 - Conductor 2: Now the Default on the Automation Computer!
Category Rtac
I tested Conductor 2 with script 53 while the rest of the team was cleaning the layout and it worked reliably.
Thus I enabled it as the default for the automation computer.
Basic recovery was also tested and worked in the “ideal” conditions.
Known cases where recovery will not work:
- Branchline on virtual block B830.
- PA/FR on flaky block B321 not registering the train stopped.
- Any train stopped across two blocks and activating both blocks.
The plan for B830 is to convert it to a real block sensor.
The plan for B321 is to change the sensor to another type than the BD20 with hopefully better sensitivity -- I’m especially interested in trying the new ATOM DCC Block Detector (CKT-BD1) from Iowa Scaled Engineering.
Dealing with the train stopped and activated two blocks will need more work, either on the Conductor engine side or on the script side. I need to think more about how I want to handle that one. One option is for the recovery script to be able to mark 2 consecutively occupied blocks as “occupied + trailing” since that’s really the state they are supposed to be in. Then the normal engine behavior will take care of it properly.