HART Railroad — Auto Dispatcher Guide

Publication: DS-AUTO · Rev A · Eff 2026-08-20
Railroad: HART Railroad · Pittsburgh & Chartiers Valley Division · Neville Island Operations
Scope: JMRI Dispatcher System on PanelPro (panels Dispatcher System and HART Railroad)

This is how you send a train from one station to another, or along a named list of stations. You click stations; the system picks the path, throws turnouts, and runs the locomotive.

It is not the CTC machine. Authority and signal Hold still belong to CATS or the USS panel. Run either CATS CTC or the USS machine — never both — and do not start Dispatcher System from inside CATS. Use PanelPro.

CTC desks: ../ctc/DISPATCHER_GUIDE.md (USS) · ../../../cats/docs/DISPATCHER_GUIDE_CTC.md (Digicon).

1. What you click

Two windows:

Stations, west → east around the plant, then the yard and house:

You can only start and stop at those stations. Occupancy icons and MoveTo buttons are in place. Stage 1 was re-run 2026-08-22 after hidden yard throats (graph is 91 sections / 688 transits / 1508 traininfo). Every listed station is a valid start and destination, including OS S-R…OS S-4 (enter/leave via 103 or OS East Lead). Manual Princess pairs (Mast 36RA→Mast 40LA, Mast 36RB→Mast 38LA) were re-added after Discover. After any future Stage 1: python3 jmri/layouts/hart/scripts/fix_traininfo_detection.py then reconcile_dispatcher_stations.py. Never run Stage 1 or store tables from CATS.

2. Session start (once)

1. Open PanelPro (not CATS). Load the HART tables.
2. Put the train on the rails at a station. Release it from WiThrottle — do not keep a phone throttle on that address.
3. On Dispatcher System, click Run Dispatcher System → OK.
4. Leave Simulate Dispatched Trains off for a real train (on only to dry-run with no locomotive).
5. Turn Dispatch Path must be clear off unless the whole train sits inside one station block. If the tail occupies the next block, a “path must be clear” wait will never finish.
6. Express Train (no stopping) on = go to the destination with as few stops as possible. Off = stop at every station on the way.

3. Register the train (once per session, or after you move it by hand)

1. Click Setup Train in Section.
2. Choose 1 train (or several if you are registering more than one).
3. Pick the station block the engine is in, then the roster entry. Every DecoderPro loco with a speed profile is listed (the full HART roster). Dispatcher System hides locos that have no profile; ensure_dispatcher_roster_profiles.py writes the same synthetic 10-step / 400 mm/s profile 2091 already had.
4. A neighbor block highlights. Answer which way the train is facing — toward that highlight, or the other way. That is polarity, not the route. Stock Dispatcher System used to invert that answer (see DISPATCHER_LAYOUT_HOOPS.md); HART’s overlay stores what you clicked and uses it on the first dispatch. If the loco still backs, release WiThrottle and re-register — do not “fix facing” by editing mast slots.
5. Accept length and speed factor if they look right.

The station label on HART Railroad should show the train name. If you lift the train to another station by hand, register it again there.

4. Send it to one station (no saved route)

Use this when you just want “go to OS Main East.”

1. Click Run Dispatch so it is selected (Setup Route must be off).
2. On HART Railroad, click the wide label of the destination station.
3. Pick the train if asked, and Express vs stopping if asked.

The system takes the shortest path (block lengths). It does not ask which plant to go through. From OS East Main Ext to OS Main East that is normally east through 117b, not around through Plane.

To force a path that is not the shortest, do not use this mode. Build a route that lists the stations you want it to visit (section 5).

5. Pick a few stations, then reuse that as a named route

Use this when you want a specific itinerary: stop here, then here, then there.

Build it once

1. Click Setup Route (Run Dispatch turns off).
2. On HART Railroad, click stations in the order the train should visit them, starting where it is (or where it should begin).
3. After each click, choose Select another station until the last stop, then Complete Route.
4. Click Finish selecting routes when you are done creating.

Skip Set Action… unless you know you need a station script.

Name is assigned from the first and last stations. Review it under View/Edit Routes. To drop a stop, edit the route and use the delete-row checkbox. To add a stop, build a new route — there is no insert.

Run it later

1. Train registered, sitting at (or able to reach) the first station.
2. Click Run Route.
3. Choose 1 route.
4. Pick the train. Prefer show routes starting at train position.
5. Pick the route, then: - Run the route and stop - Run the route and return to the start (shortest way back, not necessarily the same stations) - Run, return, and repeat

That is the “predefined route” workflow. Build once, run whenever the train is in place.

Example

Train on OS East Main Ext, facing east, want OS Barn then East End without going the long way around Plane:

OS East Main Ext → OS Main East → OS East Lead

To send it the long way on purpose, put OS Brick-Plane (and whatever else you need) in the list so shortest-path cannot skip it.

6. When it will not start

To abort: Stop Dispatcher System, or Modify Dispatcher System → delete the active transit. Then Run Dispatcher System again before the next move.

7. Buttons you can ignore (for this desk)

Leave these alone until someone is tuning the railroad: Set Stopping Length, Set Stop Sensor, Set Station Wait Time, Set Station Direction, Restrict Transit Operation, scheduler / timetable / analog clock.

Set Station Direction is the advanced way to forbid one exit from a station (so shortest-path cannot use it). Prefer a named route with extra stations unless you are locking a one-way plant for the session.

8. Quick recap

9. NX on HART Railroad (separate desk)

JMRI Entry/Exit lives on HART Railroad as a white USS lamp on the approach track into each CTC switch (NX Mast 2L, NX Mast 6LB, …). It turns green when that end of a route is active. That is not the Dispatcher System pair: the loco is MoveTo, the small track-circuit square is progress.

Now (SML mode): click two white lamps to throw the path and let SML set the facing mast. Default AAR icons stay. LE turnout circles still work. NX does not Hold or reserve blocks.

Later (lock mode): python3 jmri/layouts/hart/scripts/apply_nx_layer.py --mode lock then deploy. After that, NX Holds every source mast at Stop until you click a route, and reserves the path. Use that desk instead of CATS CTC and USS Logic. Switch back with --mode sml.

You can also flip it in PanelPro: Tools → Entry Exit — pair type Turnout and Signal Mast Logic vs Full Interlock, and Use ABS Signal Mode. Store from PanelPro if you change it there.

1. Open PanelPro.
2. Click the white lamp, then the exit lamp to line turnouts / SML.
3. First prove-out pair: NX Mast 2L → NX Mast 6LB (Brick main) and NX Mast 4RA → NX Mast 2L (OS W-1 out).

Do not click Dispatcher System MoveTo labels as NX points — those are a different desk. Hand-throws 116/118/119 and yard stubs are not NX ends.