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Steve Fred W gave more detail on the idea of having more than one control panel. Keeping it close to the turnouts will save on wire too. A walk around throttle would be an advantage since you can see the train, you don't need indicator lights telling you where the train is. That just leaves turnout position indication. As Fred pointed out, the position of the turnout control switch would indicate which way the turnout is thrown. You could place a peal & stick letter next to the switch such as "R" for reverse (or "S" for siding) and "N" for normal (or "M" for main). I think what you are looking for are three different things. One is turnout position indication. Two, is block occupancy indication and three, is an indicator detecting if a turnout is fouled or cleared. With the idea I had in mind, there is no programming or anything like that. It's going back to the old school way of doing things. A light detector, such as an in infared or photoresistor, would be sutible for indicating a train is over or near a turnout. A detector is placed at a point before and after a turnout for each route. When the indicator light is on, it tells you a train is over the turnout and / or is fouling the tracks. As for block detection, a current detection type detector would probably would be cheaper because only one is needed and more practical for long sidings or double track. It wouldn't give exact indication where a train is, just that it's somewhere in the block. But if you want to know exact location, use a combination of current sensing detectors to tell you a train is in the block and a few strategically placed light sensing detectors for exact location, so you know when to stop. I haven't found an example of the control panel I'm talking about on the web yet. . Getting close though. I found something on the turnout indication lights. It's a [url="http://www.hobby.se/Rutger/Rutger-sida.html"]Turnout Position Indicator Circuit by Rutger Friberg[/url] (shown for twin coil but should work the same for a Tortoise). Of course you wouldn't need all that if you're using a walk around throttle. Unless you want to use a control pannel for a dipatchers pannel. I have an old model railroad electronics book at home with a photo on the cover of the control pannel I'm trying to describe. I hope I can find a used one for sale with a photo of the cover.
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