RailCommand Desktop App

RailCommand Desktop App

The RailCommand desktop app is the native operator surface for running trains. Use it when you need local hardware status, session readiness, Engineer Cab controls, CTC dispatching, Yardmaster workflows, tablet pairing, or offline .rspkg operation.

Web, Desktop, and Runtime

RailCommand has three parts:

The desktop app presents controls and forwards operator intent. The local runtime owns safety-critical execution decisions.

First Launch

When the desktop app opens:

1. Log in to the cloud backend or open a trusted local .rspkg layout file.
2. Choose the operating layout.
3. Open Hardware Setup if the command station or local runtime needs attention.
4. Run Ops Readiness.
5. Start, resume, or join an operating session.
6. Open the role surface you need: Engineer Cab, CTC Dispatcher, Yardmaster, Crew Management, Roster, Inventory, Layout Editor, or Panel Editor.

When to Use the Desktop App

Use the desktop app for:

• Hardware-connected operating sessions.
• Running locomotives from Engineer Cab.
• Dispatching with a native CTC panel.
• Pairing phones or tablets to a local session.
• Offline operation from a local .rspkg.
• Monitoring local runtime and hardware health.

Use the web app when you are setting up account-level data, writing reports, importing large datasets, reviewing training, or managing organization settings.

Closing and stopping (all platforms)

Closing the main window stops RailCommand. The window close button (X, or Alt+F4 on Windows) asks the layout engine to bring the trains to a stand and save the session, and RailCommand exits once the engine confirms. If the engine does not confirm, RailCommand ends it anyway and the trains are left as they are, so turn track power off at the command station. Either way nothing is left running on this computer behind the closed window.

The first time you close it, RailCommand asks once: Stop the railroad, or keep it running in the background? Choose Stop RailCommand to stop and exit, or Keep running in background to hide the window and go on hosting the railroad. Leave Remember my choice ticked and RailCommand will do the same thing every time you close the window afterwards, without asking again.

• To stop RailCommand at any time: use Stop RailCommand. The same control, with the same label, is on the main menu footer, on the sign-in screen, and in the RailCommand notification-area menu.
• To keep the railroad running with the window out of the way: use Keep running in background. RailCommand hides to the notification area and keeps hosting the layout, the hardware links, and any operating session.
• To reopen a hidden window: click the RailCommand icon in the notification area, or choose Open RailCommand from its menu. On Windows 11 the icon may sit behind the hidden-icons ^ overflow next to the clock.
• To change what closing the window does: pick On close: stop the railroad or On close: keep running in the background. The setting is on the main menu and in the notification-area menu, and it applies to this computer.

Do not end the engine process from Task Manager. Ending only RailCommand-Win64-Shipping.exe looks like a crash to RailCommand's engine supervisor, which restarts it. That restart is the supervisor doing its job, not a bug. Stop RailCommand is the supported way to stop everything.

On macOS the same menu (with the same Open RailCommand / Stop RailCommand items) lives on the RailCommand icon in the menu bar at the top-right of the screen; on Ubuntu it lives in the system's indicator/tray area. The close behaviour is the same on all three platforms; only where the icon appears differs.

Troubleshooting

• "I closed the window and the trains kept running": this computer is set to keep RailCommand running in the background. Reopen from the notification-area icon (Open RailCommand) and use Stop RailCommand, then set On close: stop the railroad if you want the window close to stop the railroad from now on.
• "The window closed but the app took a few seconds to disappear": that is the orderly stop. RailCommand is waiting for the layout engine to bring the trains to a stand and save the session before it shuts down.
• "I ended the RailCommand engine in Task Manager and it came straight back": the engine supervisor restarts an unexpectedly terminated engine on purpose. Stop the application with Stop RailCommand instead; that shuts down the supervisor and the engine together.
• "I can't find the tray icon on Windows": check the hidden-icons ^ overflow beside the clock, then drag the RailCommand icon out if you want it always visible.

Safety Notes

• Do not bypass disabled actions.
• If layout switching is blocked, follow the reason shown by the app.
• If movement is unexpected or uncertain, use emergency stop.
• Do not assume the browser, cloud, or desktop UI alone is the physical-hardware authority.

Next Steps

• Downloads & installation
• Starting a RailCommand Operating Session
• RailCommand Engineer Cab
• RailCommand Tablet and Runtime Concepts