RailKernel combines visual track-plan design, automatic driving, route calculation, blocks and feedback with hardware-tested integrations for Märklin CS3, ECoS, Z21 and YaMoRC, plus Generic / Native support for Z21 LAN, LocoNet Binary LAN, LocoNet USB and XPressNet LAN.
DownloadRailKernel is digital model train software for designing, controlling and automating DCC model railways and model railroad layouts on Windows, macOS and Linux.
Live recording
This live recording shows RailKernel calculating and protecting routes in real time. Watch trains accelerate, reserve corridors, operate turnouts and wait safely for one another while the complete operational state remains visible on the layout.
RailScript: Stop fighting your software, start playing with your trains.
Watch the RailScript demoThis is a RailScript demo. RailKernel also supports drag and drop for train movements.
Draw layouts geometrically and let RailKernel understand the railway structure automatically. Drawing is based on rail catalogues; RailKernel comes with many catalogues such as Märklin, Roco and Fleischmann. Is yours not there? No problem: with the Catalogue Editor you can create your own in the blink of an eye. After choosing your catalogue, select a rail from the Draw menu, drop it on the canvas and connect other rails. The drawing function can work with heights and slopes. You can define an upper and lower view height on the canvas, so you can work on multiple levels without being confused by overlaps. And just for fun there is a built-in 3D viewer. The ENTERPRISE edition is also available free of charge for the time being.
Place feedbacks, turnouts and accessories directly on the layout with visual ownership. From the Define menu you can place a feedback or an accessory such as a turnout, decoupler or turntable. You specify the address information in a dialog and then click on the grid to place it. For feedbacks, multiple rails can be selected. Then you need blocks. Do you really want to select sets of rails and declare them as blocks? No need: RailKernel generates the blocks for you, starting at feedbacks and ending at turnouts. You can manipulate blocks afterwards, but mostly the result will be right. Of course you can edit feedbacks, accessories and blocks later. You do not need as many feedbacks as in other control software. Trains do not get lost between feedbacks; RailKernel simply waits at the next one. The ENTERPRISE edition is also available free of charge for the time being.
Automatic driving designed to be deadlock-free, collision-free and precise. By clicking on blocks you can define stop and brake positions, without measuring. To get going, import locomotives from your command station with one click, then define Simple Trains: just a locomotive and a train length. Before a train is accepted for automatic driving, it must be calibrated. Speed is measured automatically using feedback toggles. Braking distances are the only place in RailKernel where you need a slider, four times. RailKernel calibrates trains, not locomotives, because they behave differently when pulling heavy loads. After that you can place trains on feedbacks and tell RailKernel to start. RailKernel supports Simple Moves and Route Moves. In the first mode you set all turnouts and tell the train: this is your route. In the second you specify two blocks and let RailKernel find the path. Routes can be repetitive and chainable. Trains set the turnouts ahead of them as needed. While driving, trains use four blocks: one behind, one occupied and two ahead.
Koploper, created by the late Paul Haagsma, holds a special place in the Dutch model railway community. RailKernel provides a limited import function for existing Koploper databases, although users will obtain the best results by starting from scratch. RailKernel is currently being developed intensively to bring the important functionality of Koploper into a modern, actively maintained environment.
RailScript automates your model railway with a simple, readable language. Scripts can respond to events involving feedbacks, blocks, trains, locomotives, turnouts, signals, routes and command stations. They can read and change properties, operate accessories and functions, generate routes, move trains and safely reserve railway objects. RailScript was developed in part to match Koploper’s logical and special actions, but has grown into a general, flexible automation system fully integrated into RailKernel.
Free Driving: Research and Design Rules
RailKernel’s Dutch-language research report on Triplets, safe states, deadlock prevention, joint train decisions and geometric release.
Deadlock-free routing in complex rail networks
A research paper about network modelling, safe states, buffers and deadlock-free train routing.
Inglenook Sidings
A classic shunting puzzle with simple rules, a compact track plan and surprising operational depth.
