Are you by any chance meaning this?
http://jmri.sourceforge.net/
No, I think he means Bruce Chubb's Computer/Model Railroad Interface (C/MRI) System .
I think there are still a few using Bruce Chubb's CMRI for running signals and such. The resistance detectors are really good and we use them actively still. DCC might make certain aspects of CMRI obsolete, others may disagree. It's debatable, just like DC vs DCC.
Chris Palomarez
I'll go out on a limb here and say that I don't believe that CMRI and DCC are competing products. CMRI is, I believe, designed to complement both DC and DCC in the arena of train detection. There is a website here: http://www.jlcenterprises.net/Index.htm. While I'm sure there are other competitors, the one that I'm familiar with would be products sold by a company called RR-Cirkits. They're website is here: http://www.rr-cirkits.com/
DCC does not make CMRI obsolete. My club uses DCC for running trains and CMRI for controlling turnouts, block detection and signalling.
Download and install JMRI. In Edit->Preferences->Connections you can choose CMRI as a layout interface just as (for example) Digitrax or NCE. Not only that, you can have more than one active connection to the layout, so you could use CMRI for some things and a DCC system for others.
There are a couple areas where C/MRI and DCC overlap, but as mentioned they are used in a complementary fashion on a number of layouts.
As a matter of fact, if I'm not mistaken Dr. Chubb's layout uses DCC for loco control and C/MRI for everything else.
The C/MRI User's Yahoo group, although slow at times, is quite active at others. I'd say C/MRI is alive and as well as any other aspect of the hobby.
CMRI is still used. The original design required you to roll your own code to respond to block detectors and light signals, using some programming language - the examples in the book were mostly in QBASIC, which used to be part of DOS. For the non-programmer, JMRI supports the CMRI as one of the possible systems, so you can use JMRI panels and signal logic to run a CMRI system. Bare boards, kits, and assembled units are available, as are updated versions of Dr. Chubbs books on the system. It's still viable.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
CMRI is still very much in use today. I operate on several layouts that it is used for the signals, dispatching panel, and when needed (the museum in docent mode) 100% computer control.
The only part of DCC that I see as possibly a competing technology would be the decoder transmission (S-9.3.2 ). Even then that would only be a real competition if every single piece of rolling stock on the layout had a decoder. Detecting only the locomotives would be disastrous.
A number of people use CMRI for detection and DCC for running trains
I recently purchased two S/MINI boards and have already built and installed dozens of DCC/OD detectors. Bruce's C/MRI system is elegant and affordable and the best I've found in ten years of searching. Some say it's older technology, but I've yet to see anything using Arduino's or anything like that which comes close to what C/MRI does. I think C/MRI is very alive and an excellent choice!
As mentioned, JMRI Panel Pro is java based software you can use to program your C/MRI graphically, rather than writing lines of Visual Basic code. I'm using JMRI as well. It is free (with suggested donation), which is great!
Finally, DCC is then used to run your trains. It also integrates with JMRI Decoder Pro, making decoder programming much easier.