and the materials and finishes are top quality. Anybody who has used such a device for other purposes (phone calls, emails, social networking, music, pho- tos, games, and so on) will be immediately familiar with tap- ping, sliding, and other gestures. Using the throttle app becomes very intuitive, and even novices will quickly learn the ropes. If there’s a downside, it’s that using a touch-screen throttle means one cannot find function buttons by feel alone. A quick glance is necessary to confirm one is hitting the “F2” button
Left-
Handed A slider
controls the
speed — currently at 48 (of 126). The arrow above the speed readout shows the locomotive is running forward, while the green lights on the keys show the light and bell are ac- tive. The short whistle has been blown, too. This throttle is set up for one- handed operation by a left-handed person.
and not, say, the “F6” directly below it. That said, these devic- es also have well-lit screens that are easier to read than a tradi- tional throttle screen — espe- cially important if one’s layout lighting focuses on the trains and not the aisles. Finally, I know from experi- ence throttles can get dropped and damaged. Of course, this can happen to iPhones and iPods, too. The difference is, there are scores of protective cases available for iPhones and iPods. I’ve tried two styles on my layout: a simple backing plate and a wallet. The backing plate better preserves the iPod Touch’s ergonomic design, but the wallet design protects the screen as well. The wallet even provides a handy place for an engineer’s cheat sheet. To make this, I typed up a list of useful hints in a credit card-sized text box. I then added about an inch to the top of the box, printed this out, and cut it to size. I folded over the top inch to slip into one of the credit card pockets in the wallet. Guests appreciate the simple reminders of speed re- strictions, when to use the bell, function key assignments, and so forth.
Right- Handed Here is the throttle in action, controlling CNR 1532. In this photo, the throttle is set up for one- handed operation by a right-handed person and the locomotive is running forward at speed step 67. The light, bell, and whis- tle are now inactive.
Intuitive Functions There are a couple of really nifty features in TouchCab. One of my favorites is the ability to assign a “name” to a decoder ad- dress. This is particularly handy if the equipment’s road number does not work well with tradi- tional addressing conventions. Most of the time, one- to four- digit addresses work perfectly well for DCC. For example, if I want to run my model of CNR 4-6-0 No. 1532 (decoder ad- dress “1532”), it’s easy enough to read the four-digit road num- ber off the cab side and enter it into the stack. The same thing applies to CNR 44-Tonner No. 1 (decoder address “1”). However, I also have a decod-
42 RAILROAD MODEL CRAFTSMAN
er-equipped Model 40 Burro Crane on the layout that has no reporting marks. I’ve assigned it to address “40” because that makes sense to me, but nobody else would know that. Touch- Cab’s naming feature means that, in the locomotive list, I was able to name this address “Bur- ro Crane,” which everybody can understand.
CNR 15815 is a gas-electric locomotive on my layout, and I could include the full, five-digit road number in the name — even though its decoder address (“5815”) has only four digits. In this way, there’s no confusion as to which digits one should enter to acquire the unit. For decoders mounted in rolling stock (to control marker lights, for example), I have add- ed a description to the name like “CNR Combine 7184” or “CNR Caboose 79431.” This way, op- erators know they are not look- ing at a locomotive address. (In theory, with a naming sys- tem like this, there’s no need for the DCC address to relate, at all, to the road number. One could simply start assigning addresses as 1, 2, 3, 4, and so forth. That said, I’ve stuck to traditional naming conventions, so they make sense on my conventional DCC throttles as well.)
Another feature I appreciate is the ability to assign icons to the various function buttons. For example, instead of seeing “F0” or “F1” on the screen — which don’t convey any information about what they control — op- erators can see a light bulb and a bell. The most important icons (“Bell,” “Horn,” Whistle,” “Head- light”) are immediately recogniz- able. Other, infrequently used functions can be less intuitive. However, they’re not as confus- ing as having to remember that on my steam locomotives “F4” is the blow down and “F10” is the water fill function, but on a die- sel “F4” engages the cooling fans and “F10” turns on the cab light.
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