TouchCab Free Instructions
When you launch TouchCab Free, it loads information about locomotives from the command station, and you are good to go.
TouchCab Free remembers where you were last time and picks up where you left with the same locomotive selected if possible.
Tabs
At the bottom of the screen, you can select TouchCab Free screens from a row of tabs.
Touch the tabs to navigate like any other tabbed application.
Where you control locomotives
Where you select locomotives
Where you set TouchCab Free options
Cab screen
At the top left, you can see the name of the locomotive you are controlling. Tapping the button with the name takes you to the Locomotive list tab, just like the tab in the bottom does.
Track Status / Emergency Stop
The big green button is the emergency stop button, which shows the status of the track power. Tap the button to cause a layout-wide emergency stop. When stopped, the button turns red. Tap the button again to resume operation.
If a short circuit occurs on the layout, the command station shuts off power to the tracks and the button turns yellow with the text ”SHUTDOWN”. Fix the short and tap the button to resume operation.
Stop button
Tap this button to immediately stop the selected locomotive.
Reverse button
Tap this button to reverse direction of the currently selected locomotive.
When the green arrow is pointed upwards, the locomotive moves forwards (unless the decoder has the reverse bit set)
When tapping the reverse button, the locomotive by default stops dead. In the options screen, you may change this to brake-and-reverse or to brake-reverse and continue with the same speed as before.
Speed
Tap the area with the large wedge in the left or right half to decrease or increase the speed of the locomotive by one step. Dragging across the area sets the speed to wherever you drag.
Speed steps are used according to the protocol of the decoder. The speed is shown in plain text as well as relative on the graphics.
Functions
Tap the function buttons to operate functions of the locomotive. In the command station, you may define momentary functions, which will be shown without the on/off indication. The buttons are listed with fixed positions, so functions that are disabled in the command station will still appear in TouchCab.
Locomotive List screen
Scroll up and down the list to find the locomotive you want to select. When you touch it, it is selected, and you are taken to the cab screen.
If you select a locomotive that is already being controlled from somewhere else, the name of the locomotive turns red, and a small symbol of a (Touch-)cab appears to the right. Tap once again and you take control of the locomotive. As of ECoS version 3.2.0, this feature does not work when taking over from a network device such as another TouchCab. In that case, you get control immediately. Once ESU fixes this, it will work as described in all cases.
Locomotives that are part of a consist are marked with grey text. In TouchCab Free, you may not run these locomotives individually. You need the paid version of TouchCab to do this.
Options screen
Tap the Change button to select the IP address of a different command station (if you have more than one on the network) or to connect to a command station if you have launched TouchCab in offline mode.
if you enjoy TouchCab Free, and you would like to buy TouchCab to get control of more locomotive functions as well as turnouts and signals, tap the App Store button to go to the iTunes App Store.
Obviously this is only possible if you are connected to the internet.
Tap the Safari button to close TouchCab and start the Safari application with a new window showing the TouchCab website: www.touchcab.com
Obviously this is also only possible if you are connected to the internet.