TrainSource

TrainSource is the block that starts any railway process flow.

It generates trains, places them on the tracks in the rail yard and injects the train into the train process flowchart.

You can set the block not to place created trains on a track of the rail yard (this behavior is controlled with the After creation parameter). It is commonly used when you need to pass the train agent to the regular process flowchart where it can go through delays, queues, decisions, etc. and place it on a track of the rail yard later on (using TrainEnter block).

Train “arrival times”, i.e. the times when new trains appear in the model can be set up similarly to the Source block in the Process Modeling Library (an in fact, Source is used inside the TrainSource). Arrivals can defined by interarrival times or by arrival schedule. In addition, there is a “manual mode” when TrainSource would create a train only when its inject() function is called. Just like in Source, you can limit the number of arrivals.

A new train should contain at least one rail car. You can tell TrainSource to use your own rail car type. The same applies for the train.

You can assign custom 2D or 3D animation shapes to the cars and perform any additional setup for each car, for example, set up a custom length, in the Car setup field.

A new train is placed on a track and can occupy several tracks. You need to specify the offset of the first car on the track and orientation of the train relative to the track. If the train doesn’t fit on a single track, it will occupy the next track according to the nearest switch.

A train has its first car (the one that has been created first) and the last car. In the train API “front” always means the first car.

The train cruise speed and acceleration/deceleration, are also defined in the TrainSource block but can be modified later via the train API. The speed of the train is at this time set to its cruise speed, so that, if needed, the train can start immediately at the cruise speed.

Arrivals defined by

Specifies the mode of train generation:

Interarrival time — the time between two subsequent trains is defined by the specified expression.
Arrival table in Database — trains are generated according to the records in the specified database table. You specify the table below in the Database table parameter, then select the table column containing the arrival moments in the Arrival date drop-down list. The block will generate one train per each data record in the specified table.
Arrival schedule — trains are generated at exact times defined in the arrival schedule.
Manual (call inject() method) — trains are not generated automatically and are only generated on calls of inject() function.

Get value: arrivalType
Set new value dynamically: set_arrivalType(new value)
Valid values:
Interarrival time — TrainSource.INTERARRIVAL_TIME
Arrival table in Database — TrainSource.DATABASE_ARRIVAL_TABLE
Arrival schedule — TrainSource.ARRIVAL_SCHEDULE
Manual (call inject() method) — TrainSource.MANUAL

Interarrival time

[Visible if Arrivals defined by is set to Interarrival time]
Expression used to evaluate the time interval between the two subsequent trains.

Value type: double
Default value: 10 minutes

First arrival occurs

[Visible if Arrivals defined by Interarrival time]
Specifies the time of the first train arrival to block TrainSource.

After timeout — the first arrival occurs after the time specified in Interarrival time parameter has run out.
At model start — the first arrival occurs when the model is run.
At the specified time — the first arrival occurs at the moment of time specified in the First arrival time parameter.

Syntax: RailConstants.FirstArrivalMode firstArrivalMode
Valid values:
TrainSource.AFTER_TIMEOUT
TrainSource.AT_START
TrainSource.AT_TIME

First arrival time

[Visible if First arrival occurs At the specified time]
The exact time when the TrainSource block generates the first train. This time cannot be less that the model run time or the time of creation and initialization of this TrainSource block.

Syntax: double firstArrivalTime

Arrival schedule

[Visible if Arrivals defined by is set to Arrival schedule]
The name of the Schedule object with integer value type containing times of train arrivals. Typically, the value column would contain 1 as one train is generated at a time.

Syntax: Schedule<Integer> arrivalSchedule

Set agent parameters from DB

[Visible and applies if Arrivals defined by option isn’t set to Arrival table in Database or Calls of inject() function]
If the option is selected (true), enables initialization of trains' parameters from Database table. The similar technique is described here for agents generated by Source block.

Syntax: boolean setAgentParametersFromDB

Database table

[Visible and applies only if the Set agent parameters from DB option is set]
Specify the database table containing the data on arriving trains.

Syntax: TableInput databaseTable

Limited number of arrivals

If the option is selected (true), the number of arrivals will be limited to Maximum number of arrivals.

Syntax: boolean limitArrivals
Default value: false

Maximum number of arrivals

[Visible when the Limited number of arrivals is selected]
The maximum number of arrivals to be generated by this block.

Syntax: int maxArrivals
Default value: 1000

Database table

[Visible if Arrivals defined by: Arrival table in Database]
Choose here the database table containing the data on agent arrivals.

Arrival date

[Visible if Arrivals defined by: Arrival table in Database]
Choose here the column of the Database table that contains the agent arrival timestamps.

# of cars (including loco)

The number of cars in the train. Must be 1 or more.

Value type: int
Default value: 11

After creation

Defines what to be done with the created train. There are two options available:

Put the train in a rail yard — The train will be put into the specified rail yard (in this case you specify the rail yard, the track, offset, and orientation on the track using the parameters given below).
Leave as a logical agent (will use TrainEnter later on) — The train will not be placed on the track of the rail yard by this block. This option is commonly used when you need to pass the train agent to the regular process flowchart where it can go through delays, queues, decisions, etc. and place it on a track of the rail yard later on (using TrainEnter block).

Syntax: boolean putInRailYard
Default value: Put the train in a rail yard — true

Entry point defined as

[Visible if After creation is set to Put the train in a rail yard]
Here you can choose how you will define the position on track where new trains will be placed.
There are two alternative options:

Position on track — Define the point graphically with specific space markup element Position on track.
Offset on the track — Define the point as the distance from the start or end point of the track to the front side of the first car of the train, in the units specified on the right. You specify the offset in the parameter Offset of 1st car, see below.

Name: LocationType locationType
Valid values:
Position on track — TrainSource.LOCATION_POSITION_ON_TRACK
Offset on the track — TrainSource.LOCATION_TRACK_OFFSET
Default value: Position on track

Position on track

[Visible if After creation is set to Put the train in a rail yard and Entry point defined as Position on track]
Here you should choose the Position on track element defining the point of the track where new trains will be placed.

Value type: PositionOnTrack
Local variable: T train — the train

Railway track

[Visible if After creation is set to Put the train in a rail yard and Entry point defined as is set to Offset on the track]
The railway track where the newly created train will be placed (all cars should be fully located on a single track).

Value type: RailwayTrack
Local variable: T train — the train

Offset from

[Visible if Entry point defined as Offset on the track]
Choose here where to count the offset from: End of the track or Beginning of the track.

Value type: boolean
Default value: false (from the end of the track) Local variable: T train — the train

Offset of 1st car

[Visible if After creation is set to Put the train in a rail yard and Entry point defined as Offset on the track]
The distance from the start or end point of the track to the front side of the first car of the train.

Type: double
Default value: 10 meters
Local variables:
double tracklength — the length of the track
T train — the train

Orientation on track

[Visible if After creation is set to Put the train in a rail yard]
Defines the orientation of the train relative to the track:

Forward (first car is closer to the end of the track) — the train orientation is the same as the track
Backward (first car is closer to the beginning) — opposite orientation

Syntax: boolean orientation
Default value: Forward (first car is closer to the end of the track) — true
Local variable: T train — the train

New train

The train type created by this TrainSource. (This type should have the option that it is used in flowcharts as train.)

Value type: Agent

Initial speed

Initial speed of the train. This speed must be >= 0. If the initial speed is less than the cruise speed, the train will start accelerating to its cruise speed from the moment it appears on the track.

Value type: double
Default value: 20 meters per second Local variable: T train — the train

Cruise speed

The cruise speed of the train. This speed must be > 0. It will be used as default but you can change it later on via the train API or in the TrainMoveTo block.

Value type: double
Default value: 20 meters per second Local variable: T train — the train

Acceleration

The acceleration of the train. This value must be > 0. When you request the train to accelerate to a desired speed, the speed will be growing by acceleration value each second. The acceleration can be changed later on via the train API.

Value type: double
Default value: 1 meters per second² Local variable: T train — the train

Deceleration

The deceleration of the train. This value must be > 0. When you request the train to decelerate to a desired speed, or to stop, the speed will be reducing by deceleration value each time unit. The deceleration can be changed later on via the train API.

Value type: double
Default value: 2 meters per second² Local variable: T train — the train

Add trains to

Here you specify where the trains created by this block will be stored: in the default population of root agent, or in some custom population (specified below in the Train population property).

Syntax: boolean addTrainToCustomPopulation
Default value: default population of root agent — false

Train population

[Visible if Add trains to is set to Custom population]
The name of the agent population where the rail cars created by this block will be stored.

Value type: AgentList

New rail car

The type of the rail cars created by this block. Should evaluate to an object of rail car type. You can provide different construction codes for different cars by using the local variable carindex, for example: carindex == 0 ? new MyLocomotive() : new MyHopper()

Value type: Agent
Default value: Agent
Local variables:
int carindex — the index of the car that is being created, starting from 0
T train — the train

Car length

The expression returning the car length.

Value type: double
Local variables:
int carindex — index of the car that is being set up, starting from 0
T train — the train
RC car — the rail car being set up

Car setup

The code that is executed for each car where you can perform additional rail car setup. You can set up the car animation shapes, initialize custom statistics, etc. Use the local variable carindex to distinguish between the cars, for example: car.setWidth( carindex == 0 ? 3.5 : 4 );

Local variables:
RC car — the rail car being set up
int carindex — index of the car that is being set up, starting from 0
T train — the train

Add rail cars to

Here you specify where the rail cars created by this block will be stored: in the default population of root agent, or in some custom population (specified below in the Car population property). The default population (Java collection of type AgentList<Agent>) contained in the top-level agent can be accessed with the function getDefaultPopulation().

Syntax: boolean addCarToCustomPopulation
Default value: default population of root agent — false

Car population

[Visible if Add rail cars to is set to Custom population] The name of the agent population where the rail cars created by this block will be stored.

Value type: AgentList
Local variable: RC agent — the rail car

On exit

Code executed when the train exits the block.

Local variable: T train — the train

out

The output port.

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