Dear Railroad & Co.-User,
we are frequently asked, which systems, interfaces, devices, configurations and decoders are compatible to our software and which of them are officially supported. For this reason I give you some additional information regarding this issue.
The following list will be extended in the future, as soon as new systems or devices appear, that are either supported by our software or which we discourage from.
Please note: Railroad & Co. Software is only approved for use with the systems and devices listed below. We discourage from use of any systems, that are not explicitly mentioned as compatible in the following list. If you do not detect your system in the following or if your system is even mentioned as not supported, then we strongly recommend to choose an alternative system. Use of not supported or not compatible systems or devices against our advise is carried out at your own risk. In case of problems we do not warrant any support or warranty.
In case of changes of the version of our software we usually warrant compatibility to the officially supported systems or devices. In exceptional cases, where this is not possible, we point out this factor explicitly. This warranty is not valid for any system or device, that is not officially supported. Each version change may result in a possible incompatibility to such system or device, that may even prevent the software from being used any further. Even more: we explicitly reserve the right to take technical measures to prevent our software from being used with a not supported system or device. Please do not be tempted to use our software with a not officially supported system or device, if you find out by trial and error, that the software "works" with such system. We discourage from combining our software with such system or device. The next version may already prevent you from using our software with such system any further. In such cases we deny any warranty claims.
Please note also, that the level of support provided by our software to a certain digital system also depends on the market share of the particular system. More Information...
The systems, interfaces, devices, configurations and decoders listed below are approved for use with our Railroad & Co. software:
Operating Systems:
The current version 10 of our software officially supports all Windows systems up to Windows 11, that are also officially supported by Microsoft.
Use on older Windows versions, that are not supported by Microsoft anymore, may be possible in certain cases, but on these systems, use is done on your own risk and without any warranty.
All statements refer to
natively running operating systems. Environments, which emulate Windows systems on other operating systems or as virtual machine are not officially supported. Use in such environments is done "as is" and without warranty.
Computer-Hardware:
For normal home layouts there are no specific requirements with regard to the hardware of the computer. Computers, which aren't too old (not older than about 5 years) and with average capabilities (no netbook or cheap computer from the discount store) are usually sufficient.
Screen Resolution:
The resolution and size of the screen as well as the viewing distance must be in a balanced relationship. It is ideal if the scaling of the screen display ("Setting for readability on the screen") is set to 100%. The higher the scaling, the greater the limitations of the display that must be expected.
The higher the scaling, the more CPU power and memory space is needed to calculate and display the screen content. Other requirements are imposed on our software than, e.g. to a video program, which should deliver sharp images on the one hand, but this on the other hand usually only on a single screen. Not only does our software often have to support several screens and other connected mobile devices simultaneously, but also control a model railway "by the way". In order to ensure the highest possible performance of the PC for the core task of train control and because our software does not require a high-resolution screen display, we recommend setting the scaling as low as possible. If necessary, the screen resolution or viewing distance must be reduced.
Coexistence with third party software:
Our software does not affect the flow of other programs.
Conversely, there are programs from other manufacturers, that can affect or even disturb the functionality of our software. These include in particular programs that run continuously in the background or nest into the logic of other software. This applies for example for certain virus scanners, programs for copying the screen, programs for monitoring the communications of PC interfaces, and more. Our software supports only those system configurations where its function is not disturbed by other programs, e.g. by incorrect virus warnings as known from "Norton" or "Avira", or even program crashes as they can occur with a program called "Hardcopy".
Digital Command Units and Interfaces:
Depending on the used software (TrainController vs. TrainProgrammer) all systems and interfaces listed on our
hardware list. If nothing else is mentioned, the digital command station of a certain manufacturer may only be connected to the computer with the interface of the
same manufacturer.
If a digital command station has its own built-in interface, this must be used to connect it to the PC.
The only exceptions of this statement are:
Digitrax LocoNet may be connected to the computer with the LocoBuffer interface. Other devices may be operated through the LocoNet, if these devices comply completely with the LocoNet standard defined by Digitrax.
The central units of the Selectrix compatible systems Trix Selectrix, Rautenhaus and MUET may be combined with each other, too, if they come from different manufacturers.
Digital systems or interfaces that are connected to the PC via an IP network must be connected to the PC using a fully wired connection. There must be no WLAN on the connection or a section of it.
Locomotive Decoders:
In this regard there are no restrictions. All locomotive decoders can be used with our software, that are approved by the manufacturer of the command unit or decoder for use with the system, with which the decoder is controlled. For automatic operation in conjunction with calculated stop points (i.e. combined brake/stop indicators and Virtual Stop Indicators) the use of back emf decoders is strongly recommended.
Turnout and Signal Decoders:
In this regard there are no restrictions. All turnout and signal decoders can be used with our software, that are approved by the manufacturer of the command unit, interface or decoder for use with the system, with which the decoder is controlled.
Feedback Decoders:
In this regard there are no restrictions. All feedback decoders can be used with our software, that are approved by the manufacturer of the command unit, interface or decoder for use with the system, to which the decoder is connected.
Handheld Controllers:
In this regard there are no restrictions. All handhelds can be used with our software, that are approved by the manufacturer of the command unit or handheld for use with the system, to which the handheld is connected.
Digital Turntable Decoders:
All turntable decoders listed in the documentation of TrainController.
Systems and devices, which are marked with the addition "Beta" or "Beta Version":
These systems are fully supported as far as our software is concerned. However, they are marked with this addition, as long as they have not yet proven their full suitability for daily use in combination with our software. We also reserve the right to remove the support for these systems from our software in case such system fails to prove their suitability.
Mobile Devices for +SmartHand Mobile:
In general, mobile devices with network access and a functioning Web browser are suited for +SmartHand Mobile.
More information...
System Limitations for +SmartHand Classic:
+SmartHand Classic does not officially support Windows 8.x/64 bit and Windows 10.
More information...
Printers:
Due to the variety of possible printer configurations we cannot warrant, that the print function is working properly in all cases. For this reason the complete printing function in our software is provided "as is". If printing in our software does not work in your particular case, then this is no reason for complaint and warranty.
The following systems, devices and configurations are explicitly not supported by our software (this list is not exhaustive):
Lenz LZV200 with connection to the PC via a separate interface, i.e. not via the interface built into the central unit.
Tams mc² with a setting other than "Tams mc²" in the "Setup Digital Systems" dialog
ESU ECoS for programming of decoders. This is not possible due to a limitation of the ECoS.
Uhlenbrock Intellibox/Fleischmann Twin Center with direct connection to the computer through the build-in interface and use of the LocoNet data protocol.
Uhlenbrock Intellibox/Fleischmann Twin Center through LocoNet and connection to the computer via MS100, LocoBuffer or another LocoNet interface for train control (turnout, signal and feedback control is supported, however).
According to Uhlenbrock all LocoNet based feedback systems of Uhlenbrock follow an own standard, which differs in some aspects from the LocoNet standard defined by Digitrax. For this reason LocoNet based feedback systems from Uhlenbrock can only be used with certain limitations (no indication of initial feedback state) and without warranty.
ROCO-Digital with connection to the computer with a Lenz computer interface
Uhlenbrock 6021/LocoNet Adapter.
Rautenhaus RMX with indirect connection via the "virtual COM-Port" of the "RMX-PC-Zentrale".
Central Station or ESU ECoS with connection to the PC through Marklin 6050/6051 and the "Sniffer" connector.
Arnold Digital
Edits Pro
LGB MZS
All self-made command units or interfaces, even if they emulate the data protocol of an officially supported system or interface.