Simulating Real-world Schedules With Open Rails

I have been working on a program that turns digitized transit schedules into timetables for Open Rails. For those who aren't familiar, Open Rails is an open-source Microsoft Train Simulator-compatible sim that includes a timetable mode quite similar to TSW's implementation.

My program reads General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS) files, which have been made available by an increasing number of transit operators throughout North America and Europe. These data obviously do not specify any rolling stock or track paths, so my program also accepts a "recipe" file that injects this information.

As an example, here is a recipe I prepared for Amtrak's Saturday services on the Washington-Philadelphia Northeast Corridor:

Code:

route: USA1
date: 2019-08-10
gtfs:
  - url: https://transitland-gtfs.s3.amazonaws.com/datastore-uploads/feed_version/d2483076c78b6d8b12cf67a1fae7c4f5fa5aaad4.zip
    groups:
        ##
        ## Towards Washington
        ##

        # Acela Express
      - selection:
            trip_short_name: '^(2203|2249|2251|2253)$'
        path: philwash
        consist: acela
        note: $dec 2

        # Northeast Regional
      - selection:
            trip_short_name: '^(65|131|153|155|195|147|99|161|87|163|159|135|165|167)$'
        path: philwash
        consist: AcelaHHP-8stndrd
        note: $dec 2

        # Vermonter
      - selection:
            trip_short_name: '^57$'
        path: philwash
        consist: AcelaHHP-8stndrd
        note: $dec 2

        # Palmetto
      - selection:
            trip_short_name: '^89$'
        path: philwash
        consist: AcelaHHP-8stndrd
        note: $dec 2

        ##
        ## Towards Philadelphia
        ##

        (... snip ...)

And the resulting timetable:



And an even briefer recipe for current services on the Settle to Carlisle line:

Code:

route: EUROPE1
date: 2019-12-02
gtfs:
  - url: https://transitland-gtfs.s3.amazonaws.com/datastore-uploads/feed_version/d9fdfe685f3f476dd45d121098f0d921b26677bc.zip
    groups:
        # Towards Settle
      - selection:
            route_id: '^21049$'
        path: local service
        consist: Class 50, 8 carriages
        note: $dec 2

        # Towards Carlisle
      - selection:
            route_id: '^21205$'
        path: settle - carlisle
        consist: Class 50, 8 carriages
        note: $dec 2

And the resulting timetable:



As you can see, the result is a full, authentic timetable with minimal effort spent on rote tasks like reading off of tables or keying in times. My current goal is to build a full Northeast Corridor timetable with as many Amtrak, MARC, SEPTA, and NJ Transit services as the sim can handle.

Perhaps I will be able to produce timetables for TSW, too, when we gain the ability to edit or replace Dovetail's own.