Railmaster is part of Hornby future

[GWR Greg]

I email customer support and asked specifically if Railmaster would continue to be developed following Hornby's recent difficulties. The answer was a vey positive yes! Good news.

[Chris Surrey]

Excellent news. Lets hope this means that loco detection is on its way soon as we have been waiting for it for ages. It would allow Railmaster to compete with the ever more sophisticated opposition that is leaving it behind. 

[RDS]

... leaving it behind. 

 

Like what?

[poliss]

Like the system I have that already has train detection?

[Fishmanoz]

Which is z21?

[hosh]

Excellent news. Lets hope this means that loco detection is on its way soon as we have been waiting for it for ages.

 

LOL

[PJ_model_trains]

DCC opened a new door for model railways

 

Railmaster though very basic in the early days opened a new window for us all and has come a long way, especially in the last two years.

 

Loco Detections, is coming, or is coming soon, both were quoted last year, but remaining positive I think it is fair to say that it is nearer now than it was last year! In fact it is nearer now than when it was first mentioned, 5 to 6 years ago.

 

We live in hope for LD but at least while we have waited patiently RM has got better and TTS Sound has been made available. 😀

[St1ngr4y]

Have you noticed there is a file in the Railmaster folder called "Loco Detection Module.inf"? It seems to contain setup information used by Windows to configure the drivers needed by the Hornby LDM. I think it has been there for quite a while, which suggests they have been working on it for some time.

Ray

[96RAF]

The trouble with LD is Ray that there was that Eureka moment some long time ago that was never expanded upon by Hornby, so we remain unaware of if the pre-published stuff about hardware is still valid, including indicative pricing.

 

Nor can we be sure if the RM manual inclusions for scale speed calibration are correct/uptodate regarding the pictured sensors, and therefore just as importantly is RM working to the same hymn sheet as the hardware producers are - one would sincerely hope so.

 

this is regardless of if and when we are actualy ever likely to see LD and at what cost for hoardware and any effect on RM update pricing (e.g. SuperPRO)

[St1ngr4y]

You're probably right, Rob

[PJ_model_trains]

 I agree Rob, although regarding the hymn sheet, HRMS have said many times everything they add is checked not just with RM but also with LD so that when that all important day comes they will work together.

 

I would add one other consideration regarding the delay, which we were once told was imminent, since then the world market has changed and Hornby hit financially frustrating times. Launching LD is not like launching TTS Sound and new locos and carriages, they are bread and butter sales, items sure to sell, but LD is different, I think, it will be wanted by some of us, not all of us, it is probably going to be one of those items that has to be launched, installed by the desperate to have it and then sales will grow although probably gradually.

 

Promise after promise has not helped, encouraging members to talk about it was good at first, but came to a point some were fed up of hearing about it and wanted Hornby to launch it not because we wanted it but to hopefully shut us up. The launching of the product will no doubt come down to finance for Hornby linked to confidence in the product that it doesn't receive have problems from day one like signalling had.

 

We mean while wait patiently, looking forward to that special day, the launch of Loco Detection, a system that if it works how we think it will work, how we are led to think it will work, for some of us it will be like receiving our first train set (maybe).

[hosh]

They haven't got a clue!

 

1/ It is miles overdue - at least 15 years

 

2/ Having sensors that need to send loco IDs back tells you they haven't got a clue. Totally unnecessary cost - can easily be handled in software

 

3/ Instructions in the sensors is hilarious.

 

One can only hope that they scrapped the whole thing after realising how ridiculous it was and will either give up on it for now or start all over again with someone who's got a clue!

[Nick_]

@hosh

For us lesser LD experts, can you expound on your points 1 & 2?

How could point 1 be implemented in software? And why are 'instructions in the sensors hilarious'? What is the 'correct' way of doing LD?

 

P.S. If Hornby are '15 years' overdue, who was doing LD 15 years ago or even 10 years ago? I'd be interested in looking at their system?

[hosh]

Digitrax have had hardware for yonks capable of working with many free software packages for ages.

 

When you first put a loco on the layout you can initialise it by placing it just before the first sensor on it's route and then start it. It could/should then be tracked indefinitely through time by RM (or whatever software package).

 

As I just alluded to, every train should have a route, which includes how it travels from sensor to sensor and what it does at each respective sensor. The benefits of this are numerous, including it being infinitely more intuative and also allowing the system to know where a train is headed which is a huge benefit from the automation point of view.

 

I hope they have realised this.

[Yelrow]

Digitrax released ld in 2000, but you would need to rob a bank to buy their system. If the hornby indicated prices still hild good, tis a much cheaper alternative, in my view. Everything i read says ld, made by whoever, is a very expensive addition to layouts, and not for the faint hearted. john

[37lover]

Nick,

Hosh has contributed to several discussions on LD on various threads and if you are not already familiar with his views then try clicking on his User name and reading some of his previous posts. Enlightening!

[Bulver]

Digitrax top starter system without loco detection appears to be nearing the £600 mark - ouch!.  The power supply is separate, and costs nearly £50 on its own, though I have added that into the total.

Negative comments about the Hornby product ignore the differing cost factors, and Hornby's aim to offer an affordable, useable system.   I have it and find it suits my needs, though they are not taxing, I will admit.  I also have the NCE PowerCab, purchased on thee recommendation of the sound chip supplier, as I was having some problems with my APT-E, and again the Hornby product was derided.  Turned out the problem was a faulty sound decoder retro-fitted by the supplier!

have recently purchased the SLW class 24 Sulzer with sound, and Railmaster performs as well as the PowerCab, it being let down only by the inability to use function keys above F25 (which is only a very minor irritation)

 

Rod

[choralc]

Disclaimer: I do use other than Hornby products in my predominately Hornby system.

 

I find it interesting that an avid supporter of product x goes on the fora for product y to take any and often every opportunity to belittle product y whether it is computers, smartphones, cars, model train brands, DCC v DC, etc.

 

Any supporter of product y who critiques the supporter of product x (sometimes referred to as a troll, is it?) is often corrected along the lines of ignorance or bias.

 

Apples to apples comparisons of features are often few and far between in their critiques as they concentrate on the features that have consistently worked for them but are missing in the other's product, so ipso facto the other product is not as good. Or worse, it's implemented differently which is often criticised as non-intuitive (becuase they learned how to do it on their product). Their missionary zeal is often down to immaturity or a bad experience.

 

I have used other systems with other people's layouts but I would certainly not negatively criticize their choices when visiting. I hope I would display a little more tact and maturity but then again perhaps one day I'll grow up.

 

Each to their own and enjoy your trains. Hornby's LD may come obviously later than sooner or perhaps not at all. Disappointment? Yes. Worth making a paper tiger about and getting all worked up? No.

[hosh]

http://www.digitrax.com/products/command-stations-boosters/dcs100/

http://www.digitrax.com/products/power-supplies/ps514/

http://www.digitrax.com/products/computer-control/ms100/

 

Thats $390 US

 

Then as many of these as you want or need for US$150 - maybe only 1 since 16 actually = 32 compared to sensors.

 

http://www.digitrax.com/products/detection-signaling/bdl168/

[RB51]

Each to their own and enjoy your trains. Hornby's LD may come obviously later than sooner or perhaps not at all. Disappointment? Yes. Worth making a paper tiger about and getting all worked up? No.

Nicely put choralc. R-

[Jjeffs]

I've been reading this thread since it started, waiting all the time for someone / anyone to ask the most obvious question of all. But no-one has, so I guess I must.

This whole topic started from a simple post:

I email customer support and asked specifically if Railmaster would continue to be developed following Hornby's recent difficulties. The answer was a vey positive yes! Good news

 

Since then the OP has not added anything further to the discussion. Thats interesting in itself. But think about what was said:

He asked customer support if Railmaster was going to be canned (effectively). Seriously?? What did he expect them to say "Oh yes, it's dead, and you're the first person we've told. Please spread the word"!!!! Come on folks, get real.

If Railmaster (or any other part of Hornby's range) is going to be dropped why on earth would they tell some random customer before stockholders, the business press, the organisation as a whole, retailers, etc etc.?

I'm absolutely NOT suggesting customer support lied either. Their job is to always provide a positive experience for customers, so if the bosses have decided to can anything they're not likely to put them in a difficult position, so they would be among the last to know.

Similarly the guys developing the software won't know until it's too late either. That's the reality of corporate restructuring.

Asking a direct question like that is NEVER going to get a worthwhile answer. So all the rest of you can do is speculate and wait, which I guess is why this has descended into yet another pointless waffle about Loco Detection.

There are of course plenty of other valuable clues to consider, some real, some circumstantial: financial woes, selling off stock, lots more stories of people moving away from RM to other software, talk of focussing on core business, less response on here (and support in general it appears) from HRMS  recently, and of course the longest period without an update in the software's history!

[hosh]

As slow as Hornby were to join the computer era, there is no going back now. The only way RM will disappear is if Hornby itself went under.

 

What will happen is that the Select and Elite will disappear eventually. Most will use a PC, iPad or iPhone. I'd expect Hornby to come up with an add on device for those with none of the above - just a controller that can be plugged into the eLink.

 

I praise Hornby for the eLink but it's been a long time coming. IMO, it is a huge blow to their prestige that it is so far unaccompanied by LD and good automation software.

[RB51]

Thanks Jj - for stating the obvious. Whilst no-one may have said anything on here directly there are many of us who have been through the same thought processes. R-