# Welcome to Traintastic manual

**Traintastic** is model railroad control and automation software.
It allows you to control locomotives, switches, signals, and accessories from your computer, and automate your entire layout.

Whether you’re building your first digital model railway or managing a large automated system, Traintastic helps you run trains smoothly and safely.

## Key features
- Control locomotives and accessories
- Supports multiple digital control systems
- Real-time monitoring of your layout
- Multi-user and network control
- Extensible using scripting

## How Traintastic works
Traintastic uses a **client/server architecture**:

- The **server** controls your layout and manages the automation.
- The **client** is the graphical interface you use to operate and monitor the layout.

Both can run on the same computer, or the server can run on one machine (for example a Raspberry Pi) while clients connect from other PCs on the network.

## Getting started
If you’re new to Traintastic, start here:

- Installation Guide:
    - [Windows](installation/windows.md)
    - [Linux](installation/linux.md)
- Quick start series:
    - [Create your first world](quickstart/world.md)
    - [Connect to your command station](quickstart/command-station.md)
    - [Add and control a train](quickstart/trains.md)

## Documentation structure
- **Beginner Guides** – step-by-step setup and first trains
- **Advanced Topics** – automation, scripts, and custom setups
- **Reference** – detailed descriptions of settings and commands
- **FAQ and Troubleshooting** – common problems and solutions

## Community and Support
The **[Traintastic Community Forum](https://discourse.traintastic.org)** is the primary place for support, discussion, and sharing ideas.
Join the community to ask questions, learn from other users, and help each other get the most out of Traintastic.

Additional resources:

- [Project Website](https://traintastic.org) – news, downloads, and general info
- [GitHub Repository](https://github.com/traintastic/traintastic) – source code, issue tracker, and development
