Pland by CoyoteAngel Dimsum

The following plans were posted by CoyoteAngel Dimsum on the SL bb

I'm thinking of working on a rail system, probably using Mr. Shang's system as a basis, and would like to begin a list of features that might be desirable. All my work will be open source. Based on personal preference and the experience in Caledon, it will be the visual equivalent of a 2- or 3-foot narrow gauge, in order to keep the size of the rolling stock as small as possible. And should it need to be said, my parts will be steam and steam-electric, or perhaps pneumatic for subterranean intra-sim travel.

My general thought is to treat a rail system like any other isochronous packetized network, which means the network is stupid but the users (rolling stock, stations) are smart.

Technical Features:Track features
points/switches (with moving parts)
straight
radius
wye
straight sections
straight and curved grades (this is a non-trivial problem)
small/medium/large fixed-radius curves
arbitrary number of rails? E.g. standard two-rail, dual-gauge, central rail with guide rails, overhead track (yes, monorail)

Experience
sounds appropriate to place/type of object
particle systems for smoke/steam
costumery for those of you who want to play at running trains (conductors, etc.)

Rolling stock
automated and/or manual controls
an ad-rotator car :-)

Infrastructure
passenger stations
freight stations
bridges
railroad detritus - work equipment, carts, benches, telegraph systems

Management
real-time monitoring (like the SLRR map on the ANWR offshore prim rig)
scheduling capabilities

Standards (with components) for rolling stock
automated sanity checking (for border crossings)
self-tuning for performance
ticket punching system to allow trainspotters and system-riders to compete in coverage games (ride to all stations in X time, see all M-class locomotives, etc.)

Consist assembly and switching yards (yeah...right. Maybe in v2)

Please feel free to add/comment on technical features. I doubt that there's any sustainable infrastructure-based business model in any environment where teleportation and the ability to fly exist, hence my concentration on the gearhead parts