Hi all,
I've been in and out of the hobby quite a bit the last few years, I dumped a 90% finished Genesis into the file library a year or two ago with a 3D cab and figured at some point I'd be motivated enough to return. At work, I've been exposed to Claude Code and have used it a ton the last year. There's a ton of reasons to hate AI, but in code, it's gotten quite good, good enough to spark my interest in applying it to Open Rails to see if I can make my own gameplay more interesting.
With a manual that I was sent, I have implemented a PTC system into Open Rails with just an engine script and 3D cab components, which I'd intend to make available to anyone who wants to add such a feature to their own modern U.S. based locomotives.
Working with Claude Code on the best way to implement this, given that display simulation isn't something Open Rails can do natively, the solution was to animate objects around the display - rolling faceted cylinders that can display textures on each of their faces. As the train moves down the line, the cylinders roll progressively depending on the locomotive's location, speed, and upcoming signal and track conditions. The soft keys work and can do a brake test, with audio cues, and there is overspeed warning and enforcement. The display will warn you if you are overspeeding, and beyond a certain threshold applies a full service brake application which you cannot override until the train is stopped and the system reset.
It is also capable of showing you 4 miles of elevation change via the cyan line.
I should mention - the code and the model could all have been built by hand by a more capable human than I, but Claude's ability to take in all of the Open Rails documentation and. come up with a working solution fairly quickly was a welcome surprise for adding a neat feature to a very niche hobby.
There are some misaligned digital readouts on the display which I will sort out, and to my understanding many road's PTC systems have some differences, but for me the goal was a display that "worked" close enough to reality to run without the track monitor and add to the immersion. Thoughts, feelings, is this something people have been asking for or is this a tedious addition that adds no real function? When I test it some more I'll package it up and make it available to anyone, but sometimes I feel that modern U.S. equipment is a not a huge focus for sim users!
Video
Screenshot 2026-10-29 at 11.00.48 AM.pngScreenshot 2026-10-29 at 11.01.21 AM.png
I've been in and out of the hobby quite a bit the last few years, I dumped a 90% finished Genesis into the file library a year or two ago with a 3D cab and figured at some point I'd be motivated enough to return. At work, I've been exposed to Claude Code and have used it a ton the last year. There's a ton of reasons to hate AI, but in code, it's gotten quite good, good enough to spark my interest in applying it to Open Rails to see if I can make my own gameplay more interesting.
With a manual that I was sent, I have implemented a PTC system into Open Rails with just an engine script and 3D cab components, which I'd intend to make available to anyone who wants to add such a feature to their own modern U.S. based locomotives.
Working with Claude Code on the best way to implement this, given that display simulation isn't something Open Rails can do natively, the solution was to animate objects around the display - rolling faceted cylinders that can display textures on each of their faces. As the train moves down the line, the cylinders roll progressively depending on the locomotive's location, speed, and upcoming signal and track conditions. The soft keys work and can do a brake test, with audio cues, and there is overspeed warning and enforcement. The display will warn you if you are overspeeding, and beyond a certain threshold applies a full service brake application which you cannot override until the train is stopped and the system reset.
It is also capable of showing you 4 miles of elevation change via the cyan line.
I should mention - the code and the model could all have been built by hand by a more capable human than I, but Claude's ability to take in all of the Open Rails documentation and. come up with a working solution fairly quickly was a welcome surprise for adding a neat feature to a very niche hobby.
There are some misaligned digital readouts on the display which I will sort out, and to my understanding many road's PTC systems have some differences, but for me the goal was a display that "worked" close enough to reality to run without the track monitor and add to the immersion. Thoughts, feelings, is this something people have been asking for or is this a tedious addition that adds no real function? When I test it some more I'll package it up and make it available to anyone, but sometimes I feel that modern U.S. equipment is a not a huge focus for sim users!
Video
Screenshot 2026-10-29 at 11.00.48 AM.pngScreenshot 2026-10-29 at 11.01.21 AM.png
Comment