Description
A layout with a dozen turnouts and twenty locomotives, driven by hand throttles, runs into the limit of having two hands. Two trains is manageable; running the whole layout by itself is out of reach.
Rocrail is the software model railroaders use to take the layout over. Draw the track plan in the program, mark the turnouts, signals and blocks, and every train can then be dispatched by the software: routes set automatically, block occupancy preventing collisions, station stops and departures on schedule. Manual and automatic mix freely — you drive one, it handles the rest.
Hardware support is broad, covering the mainstream DCC command stations from Märklin, Lenz, ESU, Uhlenbrock and Digikeijs, along with LocoNet, XpressNet and S88 buses. Written in C with no Java runtime required, it runs on Windows, macOS, Linux and the Raspberry Pi — a common setup keeps the server on a Pi with a laptop or tablet as the control panel. The basic edition is free.
Visual track plan: Draw the layout and watch turnouts, signals, blocks and trains update live on the diagram.
Automatic routing and blocks: Routes are calculated and turnouts locked between two points, with block occupancy keeping trains apart.
Schedules and dispatching: Give locomotives timetables and shuttle duties so the layout runs itself, and take manual control of any one at will.
Wide hardware support: Märklin, Lenz, ESU, Uhlenbrock and Digikeijs command stations plus LocoNet, XpressNet and S88 buses.
Client-server design: Run the server on a Raspberry Pi and connect laptops, tablets and phones as control panels, several operators at once.
Native cross-platform: Written in C with no interpreter dependency, with native builds for Windows, macOS, Linux and Raspberry Pi PiOS.
Rocrail is the software model railroaders use to take the layout over. Draw the track plan in the program, mark the turnouts, signals and blocks, and every train can then be dispatched by the software: routes set automatically, block occupancy preventing collisions, station stops and departures on schedule. Manual and automatic mix freely — you drive one, it handles the rest.
Hardware support is broad, covering the mainstream DCC command stations from Märklin, Lenz, ESU, Uhlenbrock and Digikeijs, along with LocoNet, XpressNet and S88 buses. Written in C with no Java runtime required, it runs on Windows, macOS, Linux and the Raspberry Pi — a common setup keeps the server on a Pi with a laptop or tablet as the control panel. The basic edition is free.
Features
Visual track plan: Draw the layout and watch turnouts, signals, blocks and trains update live on the diagram.
Automatic routing and blocks: Routes are calculated and turnouts locked between two points, with block occupancy keeping trains apart.
Schedules and dispatching: Give locomotives timetables and shuttle duties so the layout runs itself, and take manual control of any one at will.
Wide hardware support: Märklin, Lenz, ESU, Uhlenbrock and Digikeijs command stations plus LocoNet, XpressNet and S88 buses.
Client-server design: Run the server on a Raspberry Pi and connect laptops, tablets and phones as control panels, several operators at once.
Native cross-platform: Written in C with no interpreter dependency, with native builds for Windows, macOS, Linux and Raspberry Pi PiOS.
