Signal Cab Throttle1.4.1

Signal Cab is the model train DCC locomotive controller for iPhone and iPad - built for operators of every level, from a home loop to a club operating session. Whether you run Lionel, Bachmann, Athearn, Kato, Atlas, or Broadway Limited, Signal Cab is ready for your session.

THE THROTTLE

A precision throttle with 128 speed step resolution and haptic feedback on every notch. Every step reaches your decoder, so the loco ramps as smoothly as the slider moves. A swipeable carousel runs multiple locomotives.

YOUR CONTROL SURFACE

On iPad, drag and resize throttles, macros, turnouts, and routes onto custom grid pages - a "Yard" page, a "Main Line" page - that rotate with you. On iPhone, the tabbed Actions grid keeps your most-used controls one tap away.

TURNOUTS & ROUTES

Your command station's turnouts and routes appear automatically when you connect - no setup, no re-typing addresses. Throw turnouts with a tap, fire routes to line a whole path, and watch live state update.

YOUR FLEET

Build your roster with photos, names, and custom organization, on short (1-127) and long (128-10293) DCC addresses. Browse your layout's live roster, sort it, and add only the locomotives you want - your edits are never overwritten by a later sync. Home Layout scoping keeps a club's roster out of your personal library, and DCC-EX Controller files (.dat/.json) import with a duplicate check.

ICLOUD BACKUP

Turn it on and your locomotives, consists, turnouts, routes, macros, and settings back up to your private iCloud, automatically or on demand. A new device becomes a restore, not a rebuild.

FUNCTION CONTROL

Control F0-F28 with momentary and latching modes. Decoder defaults for SoundTraxx, Digitrax, and NMRA built in - or build your own with custom labels, icons, and colors.

MACROS & DANCE MODE

Chain commands into one button - stop everything, kill the lights, ramp down gently. Dance Mode fires lights, bells, and horns across every active loco, then stops itself.

CONSIST BUILDING

Create a consist and Signal Cab picks the mechanism your hardware supports - command-station consisting on DCC-EX, virtual consists everywhere else. Per-member direction and speed trim, plus per-function routing to the lead engine or the whole set. Command-station consists survive a station reboot.

CV PROGRAMMING

Read and write CVs on the programming track - no separate programmer needed - with a visual speed curve editor for CV2-6 and the full 28-point table.

DC OPERATION

On plain DC track, virtual momentum (Beta) eases a loco up to speed and back down like it has weight, with stop always immediate. Horn and bell play through your phone, since a DC loco has no decoder to sound them.

KID MODE

Hand the throttle to a kid with no frustration. Kid Mode strips the app to one locomotive and four big buttons (headlight, bell, horn, mute), caps top speed, and gates the exit.

PROTOCOL SUPPORT

DCC-EX Native. Full command set with programming and diagnostics.
WiThrottle. Works with JMRI, MRC, and compatible command stations.
Roco/Fleischmann Z21 (Beta). Throttle, turnouts, and CV programming.

RELIABLE CONNECTIONS

Signal Cab finds DCC-EX and WiThrottle stations automatically - no IP addresses to enter - and now identifies DCC-EX hardware correctly even when it advertises over WiThrottle. Auto-reconnect recovers dropped links, and address conflict detection catches duplicate addresses.

SAFETY YOU SET ONCE

Decide what Emergency Stop does, what happens when you close the app, and how long a session can resume. Manage track power from the app.

BUILT FOR APPLE

Haptic feedback on every notch. Siri, Spotlight, App Shortcuts, and iPhone Action Button support. Now in English and Swedish, following your device's language.

EULA: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Privacy Policy: https://signalcab.com/privacy

Version History Small fixes in v1.4.1.
-Added an onboarding step to make connecting to a command station easy for new users.
-Help sheet explaining why we might not have found their command station automatically.
-Added a new setting to configured the start point of DC locomotives so they are more responsive. Check out DC Virtual Momentum.
-Fixed the virtual momentum so the stop button doesn't ignore momentum, e-stop still does.
-Settings reachable from the command station screen.
-Kid-mode speed limit enforced everywhere, not just the slider.
-Fixed an issue so that Z21 now reports a dropped link that left users hanging.

Full v1.4 release notes below.

Z21 support, and your whole library backed up to iCloud. A third command station protocol joins DCC-EX and WiThrottle, consisting no longer asks you to pick a mechanism, and everything you've built can now live in iCloud. DC operators get momentum and sound. And the app now speaks Swedish.

Z21 SUPPORT (BETA)
Signal Cab now speaks the Roco/Fleischmann Z21 LAN protocol: speed, direction, functions, emergency stop, and track power, plus pulsed turnout control and CV programming on both the programming track and the main line. Add a Z21 by entering its address. Roster, routes, command-station consists, and per-track power aren't part of the Z21 protocol, so those stay unavailable on a Z21 connection.

CONSISTS THAT SET THEMSELVES UP
Creating a consist no longer asks you to choose a mechanism — Signal Cab picks it from your connection, using command-station consisting on DCC-EX and virtual consists everywhere else. Command-station consists write no CVs to your decoders, and re-register themselves if a station reboot drops them. Route each function to the lead engine or the whole set, drag to reorder members, and swap the lead engine from the editor.

Please note: the advanced consist option has been removed. Advanced consists won't carry over after this update and can't be migrated — recreate them as regular consists.

ICLOUD BACKUP
Opt in and your locomotives, consists, turnouts and routes, macros, speed profiles, station profiles, and settings back up to your private iCloud — automatically as you work, or on demand. Setting up a new device becomes a restore instead of a rebuild, and if a backup already exists when you turn it on, Signal Cab offers to restore it rather than overwrite it. Off until you turn it on.

DC OPERATION
Virtual momentum (Beta) eases a plain DC locomotive up to speed and back down like it has weight, with Switcher, Road Diesel, and Heavy Freight presets per locomotive. Stop and Emergency Stop are always immediate and bypass the ramp. Horn and bell now play through your phone on DC, since a DC locomotive has no decoder to sound them.

NOW IN SWEDISH
The interface is available in Swedish alongside English, following your device's language automatically.

CONNECTION FIXES
• DCC-EX command stations are now identified correctly instead of being treated as WiThrottle-only — the manual "Switch to DCC-EX" step is gone
• Fixed a JMRI connection that could silently time out against a loopback address
• WiThrottle sessions now recover instead of stranding when a server restarts
• Save a station you're connected to, so it stays in your list when it's off the network
• WiThrottle is out of beta

ALSO IN 1.4
• Smoother throttle — every speed step reaches your decoder instead of every fifth
• Show All / Hide All and sorting (last used, name, address, run count) in the layout roster browser
• A live command station log with a raw-commands filter, for when you need to report a problem
• Configurable turnout state colors — keep Mint/Grey or switch to Green/Red
• Hide unmapped functions on station-synced locomotives
• The top-bar speed readout honors your Speed Display setting
• Disconnect fits properly on iPhone 1.4.1 Sep 2 Z21 support, and your whole library backed up to iCloud. A third command station protocol joins DCC-EX and WiThrottle, consisting no longer asks you to pick a mechanism, and everything you've built can now live in iCloud. DC operators get momentum and sound. And the app now speaks Swedish.

Z21 SUPPORT (BETA)
Signal Cab now speaks the Roco/Fleischmann Z21 LAN protocol: speed, direction, functions, emergency stop, and track power, plus pulsed turnout control and CV programming on both the programming track and the main line. Add a Z21 by entering its address. Roster, routes, command-station consists, and per-track power aren't part of the Z21 protocol, so those stay unavailable on a Z21 connection.

CONSISTS THAT SET THEMSELVES UP
Creating a consist no longer asks you to choose a mechanism — Signal Cab picks it from your connection, using command-station consisting on DCC-EX and virtual consists everywhere else. Command-station consists write no CVs to your decoders, and re-register themselves if a station reboot drops them. Route each function to the lead engine or the whole set, drag to reorder members, and swap the lead engine from the editor.

Please note: the advanced consist option has been removed. Advanced consists won't carry over after this update and can't be migrated — recreate them as regular consists.

ICLOUD BACKUP
Opt in and your locomotives, consists, turnouts and routes, macros, speed profiles, station profiles, and settings back up to your private iCloud — automatically as you work, or on demand. Setting up a new device becomes a restore instead of a rebuild, and if a backup already exists when you turn it on, Signal Cab offers to restore it rather than overwrite it. Off until you turn it on.

DC OPERATION
Virtual momentum (Beta) eases a plain DC locomotive up to speed and back down like it has weight, with Switcher, Road Diesel, and Heavy Freight presets per locomotive. Stop and Emergency Stop are always immediate and bypass the ramp. Horn and bell now play through your phone on DC, since a DC locomotive has no decoder to sound them.

NOW IN SWEDISH
The interface is available in Swedish alongside English, following your device's language automatically.

CONNECTION FIXES
• DCC-EX command stations are now identified correctly instead of being treated as WiThrottle-only — the manual "Switch to DCC-EX" step is gone
• Fixed a JMRI connection that could silently time out against a loopback address
• WiThrottle sessions now recover instead of stranding when a server restarts
• Save a station you're connected to, so it stays in your list when it's off the network
• WiThrottle is out of beta

ALSO IN 1.4
• Smoother throttle — every speed step reaches your decoder instead of every fifth
• Show All / Hide All and sorting (last used, name, address, run count) in the layout roster browser
• A live command station log with a raw-commands filter, for when you need to report a problem
• Configurable turnout state colors — keep Mint/Grey or switch to Green/Red
• Hide unmapped functions on station-synced locomotives
• The top-bar speed readout honors your Speed Display setting
• Disconnect fits properly on iPhone 1.4 Aug 11 SignalCab 1.3 — Run your whole model train layout from Signal Cab. This is a big one, a host of new features and improvements including turnout control, executing routes, frustration-free roster use, and a much more stable interface with WiThrottle stations. Check out the release notes:

v1.3.2 Improvements
• Kid Mode now uses the full screen — a bigger throttle and noticeably larger function buttons on both iPhone and iPad, much easier for small hands to hit.
• Lists now dissolve gently as they scroll under the search and section bars instead of hard-clipping at the edge. This now covers iPad library lists too, so iPhone and iPad match.
• The empty Locomotive Library screen stacks its two actions vertically with a clear primary choice, so the labels no longer truncate.
• Pressing a function before adjusting speed no longer flips your locomotive's direction on WiThrottle/JMRI. This was a timing issue when the app claimed the address, and it usually bit you on the very first thing you did with a new throttle.

New
• Your command station's turnouts and routes now appear automatically — throw/close switches and fire routes with a tap, with live position and active-route state.
• Drop turnouts and routes onto your iPad control grid, or add them to the iPhone Actions grid, right alongside throttles and macros.
• iPhone Actions is now tabbed for quicker switching between grids.
• Station locomotives sync automatically on connect, with a show/hide toggle; tap "Save to Library" to keep the ones you want. Go to View Layout Roster to see available locomotives.
• DCC-EX command stations are auto-detected and connected over the native protocol, with the server's own name remembered.
• Edit or delete a saved station right from the connection screen (long-press it).
• Sort your library — locomotives, consists, turnouts, and routes — by name, address, last used, or run count.
• New "Add Page" button in the iPad pages sheet.
• Unified connection-status indicator to ensure consistent behavior across iPhone/iPad.

Improvements
• Big improvements to locomotive sync across multiple command stations.
• Reconnecting no longer duplicates your roster, and club layouts that reuse addresses no longer flood the library.
• Syncing never overwrites your edits — photos, favorites, groups, and custom function names are preserved.
• Faster, more reliable command-station discovery (fewer resolve timeouts on WiThrottle networks).

Bug fixes
• Synced WiThrottle locomotives now pull real function names from JMRI instead of generic "F3, F4…" labels.
• Locomotive syncing for DCC-EX now captures function labels.
• DC track power now stays on — no more silent drop-outs after navigating away or reconnecting.
• Set up a DC track by picking a locomotive instead of typing a raw address.
• JMRI/WiThrottle servers are no longer misdetected as DCC-EX, and a WiThrottle-only server no longer leaves a station stuck "arriving."
• A hung or half-dropped connection (e.g. Wi-Fi drop) no longer shows a false "connected" — it now detects the drop and auto-reconnects.
• An idle DCC-EX disconnect now auto-reconnects instead of freezing your turnouts and routes.
• Ending a loco's service now releases it from the command station, so it stops showing as "in use elsewhere" and won't auto-resume on next launch.
• Accented locomotive names (é, ü, etc.) no longer come through garbled.
• Loco-required macros now show a proper dimmed/disabled state when no loco is selected. 1.3.2 Jul 27 SignalCab 1.3 — Run your whole model train layout from Signal Cab. This is a big one, a host of new features and improvements including turnout control, executing routes, frustration-free roster use, and a much more stable interface with WiThrottle stations. Check out the release notes:

New
• Your command station's turnouts and routes now appear automatically — throw/close switches and fire routes with a tap, with live position and active-route state.
• Drop turnouts and routes onto your iPad control grid, or add them to the iPhone Actions grid, right alongside throttles and macros.
• iPhone Actions is now tabbed for quicker switching between grids.
• Station locomotives sync automatically on connect, with a show/hide toggle; tap "Save to Library" to keep the ones you want. Go to View Layout Roster to see available locomotives.
• DCC-EX command stations are auto-detected and connected over the native protocol, with the server's own name remembered.
• Edit or delete a saved station right from the connection screen (long-press it).
• Sort your library — locomotives, consists, turnouts, and routes — by name, address, last used, or run count.
• New "Add Page" button in the iPad pages sheet.
• Unified connection-status indicator to ensure consistent behavior across iPhone/iPad.

Improvements
• Big improvements to locomotive sync across multiple command stations.
• Reconnecting no longer duplicates your roster, and club layouts that reuse addresses no longer flood the library.
• Syncing never overwrites your edits — photos, favorites, groups, and custom function names are preserved.
• Faster, more reliable command-station discovery (fewer resolve timeouts on WiThrottle networks).

Bug fixes
• Synced WiThrottle locomotives now pull real function names from JMRI instead of generic "F3, F4…" labels.
• Locomotive syncing for DCC-EX now captures function labels.
• DC track power now stays on — no more silent drop-outs after navigating away or reconnecting.
• Set up a DC track by picking a locomotive instead of typing a raw address.
• JMRI/WiThrottle servers are no longer misdetected as DCC-EX, and a WiThrottle-only server no longer leaves a station stuck "arriving."
• A hung or half-dropped connection (e.g. Wi-Fi drop) no longer shows a false "connected" — it now detects the drop and auto-reconnects.
• An idle DCC-EX disconnect now auto-reconnects instead of freezing your turnouts and routes.
• Ending a loco's service now releases it from the command station, so it stops showing as "in use elsewhere" and won't auto-resume on next launch.
• Accented locomotive names (é, ü, etc.) no longer come through garbled.
• Loco-required macros now show a proper dimmed/disabled state when no loco is selected. 1.3 Jul 15 1.1 Jun 24