[cjakeman]

Section 2 of the Operating Manual lists the key changes since the previous Stable Version was released. Here is the entry for v1.5.1:




As part of the work in preparing for the next Stable Release (v1.6), I'm trying to summarise all the work done since v1.5.1 was released to update this section of the manual.

I see a lot of work has been done on braking systems. I can find all these Pull Requests just about braking:
738, 766, 828, 732, 835, 847, 829, 833, 851 and 860


Would anyone who knows about brakes be able to help me by summarising these improvements in, say, about 30 words. What's been added and what's been improved?

[pschlik]

There really is a bit of everything brake related, more options for scripting, new types of EP systems can be modeled, SME brake system can be recreated, there are options for significantly more realistic brake blending, relay valves allow for recreating more nuanced brake behaviors, brake shoe friction is now built into the code so users don't need to manually create brake shoe friction curves, the emergency dump valves are a clear win for realism (but I hope nobody has to use those), I did all the nonsense to add some other American features...some of that detail needs to be lost to fit anything in. (With any luck I'd like to see PR 912 and 916 get in to 1.6, that's even more air brake stuff...but then there's a dozen other things I haven't started that I know both users and creators would like to have in a stable version)
Maybe bring it down to a few bullet points like...

• Mouse control for scripted brake controllers (as much as little has changed for scripted brake controllers, this does feel worth mentioning)
• Accurate friction simulation for 4 types of brake shoes
• New prototypical air brake features for both European and American brake systems (I feel like this is the cleanest way to describe things that catches attention without listing off a dozen individual features)
• Additional locomotive air and dynamic brake options (this being relay valves, SME, brake blending...)

[cjakeman]

Hi Phillip,

That's just the sort of summary I think we need for Section 2 of the Manual - many thanks. The PRs had too much detail for me to get my head round quickly.

I hope each item is described in appropriate detail in the Manual !

[pschlik]

I think the documentation has kept up well, hopefully the curious user will be able to scan the brakes section of the manual and notice something new and useful.