Formerly locoThrottle.js
- Visit Main Project Site
- Project Documentation
- Development Blog
- The Idiot's Guide to Railroad Physics
ZephyrCab is an HTML/CSS/JavaScript app that is designed to simulate prototypically accurate controls for model trains. It communicates with your layout using JMRI's JSON WebSockets servlet, which is built into the JMRI web interface.
Note: This project is still heavily under development. It is not recommended to try to use the project unless you are the adventurous type, and/or you understand JavaScript/JSON and are willing to tinker.
Read more on my blog.
- Understand very basic JSON/JavaScript syntax
- A simple web server. lighttpd, nginx, Apache, or JMRI's built in web server should all work fine.
- A layout connected to JMRI with the JMRI JSON WebSockets service enabled
The simplest way to install ZephyrCab is to download the ZIP from this page and extract it onto a web server of your choice. There is no server-side code, so you do not need a sophisticated web server to run it. Once you have extracted it to a directory of your choice, see the setup procedure below.
Before using the program:
-
You MUST set up
bundles.json. Follow this guide to learn how. -
It is recommended that you set up
settings.json. This file makes your life easier by allowing you to configure some general settings, such as autoconnection to JMRI. See this guide for setup information.
When you first log in after setting up bundles.json, you'll need to connect to your JMRI PC (unless you set up autoconnection, which I highly recommend. See this guide.). You can do this by inputting the IP of the PC, with the port of the JMRI web interface. By default, locoThrottle.js uses port 12080, which is the default for JMRI.
Once you have connected to your JMRI PC, you'll need to visit the "Train Settings" tab. There, you'll set up your train by adding the locomotive(s) and cars you wish to use. You need to add the cars as well if you want the load to be simulated by the physics engine.
Unfortunately, with the current rapidly changing state of the "Train Settings" and "Cab" tabs, we cannot provide instructions for these at this time. The best thing you can do is tinker with it to see what you can get working. Enjoy!