TouchCab Instructions
When you launch TouchCab, it loads information about locomotives and accessories from the command station, and you are good to go.
TouchCab remembers where you were last time and picks up where you left with the same locomotive selected if possible.
TouchCab speaks six languages: English, German, Spanis, French, Danish and Swedish.
For now, however, this instruction is only available in English.
Tabs
At the bottom of the screen, you can select TouchCab 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 control routes and turnouts
Where you control signals, lights, decouplers and doors
Where you set TouchCab options
Cab screen
At the top left, you can see the name of the locomotive you are controlling. Tapping the button with the name displays the last four selected locomotives. To go to the locomotive list, touch and hold the button, or simply touch the locomotive tab in the bottom of the screen.
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.
Double-tap the button to immediately stop all trains on the layout.
CAUTION: Stopping all trains steals control of all locomotives in turn, regardless of where they are being controlled.
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 view
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.
If the command station is set to use km/h for speed, so does TouchCab. If not, 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.
If someone takes over your locomotive, the speed digits will start flashing. To regain control, simply touch the speed area.
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.
Flick left or right in the area of the function buttons to view the next 8 functions up to F28. The dots below the buttons show your position in the view and if there are buttons to the left or right.
In the options tab, you may select to show the functions as F0-F28 even though function symbols are set in the command station.
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 have more than 14 locomotives, the list is indexed with letters to the right in the screen, allowing quick navigation to the locos you want.
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.
If the ”Show Last Used Locomotives” option is on, the list is divided into two sections. At the top is a list of the last four selected locomotives. This list is maintained at all times - even when the option is off.
Locomotives that are part of a consist are not marked differently than other locomotives. You may run these locomotives individually, but if you have already selected the consist, you will get a red marking saying that the locomotive is already controlled. This is allright, since you are the one controlling the consist. Tap it again, and you have control of the locomotive.
Turnouts screen
Scroll up and down the list to pick the one you want to change. The current position of the turnout is marked with white, and if a route is set, it is also marked with white. Simply touch the new setting that you want.
If you are using RailCom® or some other feedback mechanism from your accessory decoders, TouchCab will react to the feedback messages and mark the symbols as in an unknown state while switching.
This is indicated by all states of the symbol being marked as grey until the feedback reports that the operation is complete, and it looks especially great when you are using turnouts with slow motor drives.
If the ”Show Last Used Turnouts” option is on, the list is divided into two sections. At the top is a list of the last four used turnouts. This list is maintained at all times - even when the option is off.
Note: If you are not using some sort of feedback, the initial indication may not correspond to the actual position of the turnout.
Note also that if you switch multiple large routes in succession, the status of some turnouts may not be updated.
Signals screen
Scroll up and down the list to pick the one you want to change. The current status or position of the signal is highlighted, and simply touch the new setting that you want.
If you are using RailCom® or some other feedback mechanism from your accessory decoders, TouchCab will react to the feedback messages and mark the symbols as in an unknown state while switching.
This is indicated by all states of the symbol being marked as grey until the feedback reports that the operation is complete, and it looks especially great when you are using semaphore signals with slow motor drives.
Note: If you are not using some sort of feedback, the initial indication may not correspond to the actual position of the signal.
Note also that if you switch multiple large routes in succession, the status of some signals may not be updated.
Options screen
The bar with the left and right hands is used to quickly change from left to right hand operation and vice versa. When you change, most of the cab screen layout is rearranged to better suit the selected mode of operation. Please see the Screen Shots page for more information about the screen layouts.
Option Switches:
Show Function Symbols
On the command station, you can set various symbols to a locomotive’s function buttons.
When this option is on, TouchCab shows the same function symbols that are set in the command station.
Brake before reversing
Use this option to select if the train should stop dead before reversing or brake to zero and reverse.
Run after reversing
Use this option to select if the train should continue running with same speed after braking and reversing.
mfx Uses 28 Steps
In the ECoS and CS, you may choose to run mfx locomotives at 28 speed steps instead of the default 128. Unfortunately, the command station does not say anything about this, so the setting in TouchCab has to be matched manually. This setting is valid for all mfx locomotives.
Show Last Used Turnouts
When this option is on, the turnout list is divided into two parts. At the top of the screen is a list of the last four used turnouts. This list is maintained at all times - even when the option is off or when TouchCab is quit.
Web buttons:
Tap the App Store button to go to the iTunes App Store if you want to rate or review TouchCab.
Obviously this is only possible if you are connected to the internet.
Tap the Show button to get information about the TouchCab version and the hardware and software versions of the connected command station.
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.
Tap the Mail button to close TouchCab and launch the Mail application with a new email addressed to support@touchcab.com
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.
Test drive
Do you want to try before you buy?
Go get TouchCab Free from the App Store - a feature limited free version of TouchCab