I've been wanting to add the ability to automate driving locomotives for a while. Originally, I had planned on adding a wiring system that let you connect sensors to various things, but the interface for that always seemed like it would be too complex both to implement and to use.
Signal boxes and blocks are the solution that I came up with. Signal blocks can be attached to a signal box to create a sequence of actions that will be performed by locomotives when they pass through that signal box.
Each block performs a single action which can be adjusted by turning their dials to the desired setting. If you have a sequence that you want to use in multiple places you can copy the stack or the signal box it's connected to.
The available blocks are:
- Brake for setting the brake.
- Throttle for setting speed.
- Bell for ringing the bell (if there is one).
- Whistle for blowing the whistle or horn.
- Switch direction for changing directions at switches.
- Doors for opening/closing the left, right, middle, or all three sets of doors.
- Decouple for decoupling the front or back coupling.
- Wait for pausing between actions.
The signal box and blocks can be found in the misc drawer of the toolbox.
I've uploaded a small example layout to the workshop:
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1324893272