Welcome to Version 7.1!

Version 7.1 brings a basket of new features, improvements, and fixes, most in response to user requests.  If you are one who asked for a new feature, check the list below -- maybe it's in there.

If you already upgraded to Version 7, then 7.1 is a free upgrade -- get yours by clicking the button below.  If you are a user of an older version, there is a small upgrade price.  Details below. 

New Features in 7.1

Car Swap by Drag and Drop

This feature is for the user who wants to operate one of our AO layouts but use different cars -- maybe from a Chris Pedersen or Jim Schenk collection.  As that user soon discovers, attempts to delete the old cars and replace them with new ones invariably cause the ops scheme to break.

Car Swap is the answer.  It allows you to replace a car on the layout with a different type, while retaining the car's data and its ops role.  It's easy to do -- just drag an image from a collection and drop it onto the car to be replaced.  And flexible -- drag from either Car Bar or Car Chooser; drop onto either car top, side view,or car grid cell; right-drag to set options or replace multiple cars at once.

car swap by drag and drop

AAR Override

What makes Car Swap workable is a new property which allows you to override the factory-supplied AAR code on a car with some other string of characters -- maybe another recognized AAR code, maybe not.  This allows you to be very specific about what loads can be carried in what cars. The property can be edited in Car Data Properties, or can be applied automatically as part of Car Swap.

Overpass Track

Experienced tracklayers know how to create the illusion of one track on top of another, but it involves construction of clip boxes and other complexities.  Version 7.1 reduces the job to one click -- just mark a track section as "Overpass" and then the track and its roadstyle will be drawn on top of other track and scenery, will hide trains going underneath, and will show trains going on top.

overpass track	overpass on the Detroit Terminal RR
perfect turntable setup -- click to enlarge	turntable with platform scenery

Overpass track is the new best way to set up a stylish turntable.  Mark the bridge track and each short external track as Overpass, then you can style as desired and get smooth rotation and crossings. (Click the above picture for an example.)

Sound Enhancements

Users who like hearing the trains run have complained about glitches and poor sound quality.  Version 7.1 takes steps to improve the situation.  First, it fixes a bug which was causing hiccups and gaps between sounds.  Second, it comes with a reworked set of chuff and running sounds, giving better transitions between speeds.  Third, it has a new Sound tab in Preferences where you can adjust relative channel volumes.

Full-Screen View

If you want to immerse yourself in running your layout, try the new Full-Screen View.  This removes menus and toolbars, extends the view to the edges of the screen, and optionally displays a few compact controls so you can continue to operate the trains.

Full-Screen View showing main menu, car monitor; train toolbar; close box

While developing this feature, we improved the train control bar -- for one thing, it can now be shrunk down to just one button -- and we created a new toolbar with a full set of train-operation buttons as a compact alternative for driving.

New Layouts

Included with 7.1 are two dozen new Advanced Operations Plans to test drive and enjoy, bringing the total number of AO plans to over 240.  Most of these exciting new additions are of the larger, more complex variety which many of you were requesting, including plans by Wolfgang Dudler - Westport Terminal RR, Byron Henderson - NYC Scioto Furnace and Andy Sperandeo - San Jacinto District. We’ve dressed them up with a new scenery layer and, of course, the full Advanced Ops treatment.

There are also AO contributions from our users – Richard Fletcher’s Saddlestring, Mark Simon's Detroit Terminal Railroad, Bruce “Mac” MacLeod’s California Western and Foothills Branch, and Mark “MJ” Johnson's Western Region Connecting RR. A BIG Thanks to these folks for sharing their designs and work.

Mark Simon -- Detroit Terminal Railroad	Bruno Pigozzo -- White Pass and Yukon RR
Bruce MacLeod -- California Western

And from Bruno, the magnificent White Pass and Yukon Railroad -- a narrow gauge line, one of the world's first adapters of container shipping systems and the first to enter the integrated ship-train-truck business. This largely mining and now tourist railroad runs from Skagway Alaska to Whitehorse, Yukon in Canada through the daunting Coastal Mountain range.  The WP&Y comes with its own custom set of narrow-gauge rolling stock.

Other Improvements

• Car Shift: rearrange a train by shuffling a car forward or back, with built-in keyboard shortcuts
• Grids: AO grids now stay up to date as you run, with improved multi-row delete, duplicate
• Train Control Panel: more flexibility in arranging buttons, resizing
• Strict H/V Draw: press Ctrl while drawing for exact horizontal / vertical track
• Updated AO Doc: revamped Advanced Ops User Guide twice the size of the first version

Bugs Fixed

• Bug with foreign characters in paths, leading to "cannot find default cars" at install
• Allow access to AO layouts for users with TP license
• Selecting car now correctly brings up waybill
• Car chooser now allows picking a collection when brought up from Car Bar
• AO: improved development checklist; fixes in switchlist generation; logic fixes
• New comment column in Industries grid
• Improved version of FixOps routine
• Chooser tree Find command repaired and improved
• Fix to avoid duplicate car collections after download
• Delete temp folders on program exit
  

For a complete list, see the TrainPlayer Version History.

How To Obtain 7.1

Whether upgrading from a previous version or buying for the first time:

Click here to download and install 7.1 ==>

Once in the program, choose Help > Check for Upgrades from the main menu.  This brings up a dialog showing what upgrades are available, at what cost, with of course a handy Buy button.

If you do not already have them, you can add the Chris Pedersen Car Collections for a special bundle price.  See details in the dialog.