I've been working on the dispatcher's screen lately, improving both the DOS-based QuickBASIC version and the MacOS-based JMRI version.

Here is the QuickBASIC version that I have had for several years:

The first thing that you'll note is that there is more information on the DOS screen at this time. It includes signals, direction of travel, and logs the train symbols as the trains move across the screen. The graphics are a bit clunky compared to the slick JMRI screen, but for a program that uses only ASCII symbols, I thought the graphics were pretty nice for its time.

Here is the JMRI version:

I have only started to add the signals onto the JMRI panel, and I haven't implemented train logging yet.

I'm torn about continuing to use the QuickBASIC program and am wondering if I should just make a whole-hearted jump to the JMRI panel. Both work fine, but I have been having intermittent glitches with the Mac mini that I have been using to drive the QuickBASIC version (see previous post).

I will post further updates on the blog about the panel drama as I continue to refine both programs.