willy6 I feel the control panel of the layout is very important. I also see with the advanced technology, control panels will be gone and it will be all pc's or notebooks. Well I'm from the old school and love control panels just like the one in May's MR on page 46. In all the years I've been model railroading I've never seen any good articles of building one etc. It has been discussed on this forum before, but MR or RMC has never got into control panel construction as far as I know and if they did please let me know what issue it was.
I feel the control panel of the layout is very important. I also see with the advanced technology, control panels will be gone and it will be all pc's or notebooks. Well I'm from the old school and love control panels just like the one in May's MR on page 46. In all the years I've been model railroading I've never seen any good articles of building one etc. It has been discussed on this forum before, but MR or RMC has never got into control panel construction as far as I know and if they did please let me know what issue it was.
I have an 11' x 12' layout with 2 control panels. Here's a link which shows how I build mine. Here's a picture of one control panel.
Engineer Jeff NS Nut Visit my layout at: http://www.thebinks.com/trains/
There is a chapter on control panel design in Andy Sperandeo's book on wiring, and if you can find a copy at a swap meet, a discussion in Linn Westcott's older book on wiring, both from Kalmbach. Note also that MicroMark has a control panel "kit" so to speak.
The hobby seems to be of two minds these days on control panels.
On the one hand, the old fashioned kind that Westcott wrote about, where a central master panel had everything: block control, turnout control, as well as fixed throttles for running the trains (and control of powered accessories I suppose) predates the modern era of walkaround control (DC or DCC) not to mention wireless control which I happen to think is really the future standard. The person at the panel was dispatcher, brakeman, engineer, and local operator. It seemed like miles of wiring came into the panel. My cousin Ken Ducat who had an engineering degree had such a panel on his huge old DC layout and the wiring was a thing of organized beauty. His panel top was hinged mostly because I think Ken loved to show off the wiring! The track plan, the lights for blocks and switches, the toggles or rotary switches, were really all part of the "show" in showing off your layout in the old days.
But a lot of people are attracted to DCC, apart from its many other virtues and attributes, mostly to do away with all that wiring. I know it isn't just two wires to a track and you can run the Gorre & Daphetid, but it is still simpler wiring once you eliminate blocks and multiple cabs. Someone one told me they did the math and the money you save on wire can pay for the DCC system!
On the other hand there seems to be more interest in operations and having a dispatcher, complete with radio contact with the crews. While few of us will ever have (or want) working CTC, some semblance of the old control panel in the hands of a dispatcher retains CTC-like realism. The prototype train crews don't decide all on their own to enter the next block or to cross over or to take siding; the CTC equipped dispatcher decides -- AND he controls the switches and the block signals. And yeah a prototype engineer can run a block, but not without the dispatcher screaming at him (or her) and why model that situation?
Even if you prefer timetable and train order operation, where local operators play a larger role, over CTC there is still the issue that the train crew does not have unfettered right to do what it pleases that DCC can make a crew think it has.
A central control panel, or a sequence of smaller control panels, perhaps using Andy Sperandeo's theory of local priority control wiring within a DC system, has a role to play in a DCC equipped layout that has either timetable/train order or CTC-like operations with a dispatcher.
I guess what I am saying is DCC gives you the ability to run trains but running trains is not the same as running a railroad.
I think the hobby in general is still coming to grips with what DCC hath wrought on the issue of freedom versus discipline in running a railroad. There is still a role for some sort of central control panel, in the hands of someone in charge.
End of sermon.
Dave Nelson
I have a DCC layout but I like to operate manually thrown turnouts like the prototype, manually.
So my contorl panel has a few tortoise driven turnouts, controlled from the yardmaster.
Or at Harbor Jct where you have control over staging entrance.
Wolfgang
Pueblo & Salt Lake RR
Come to us http://www.westportterminal.de my videos my blog
On my 24'x24' around the room Digitrax DCC layout, I have four switch control districts. With over 110 switches, it seemed more efficient that the tethered Loco-net plug-ins be placed on drawings of the track layout, showing the exact position of the numbered electrically controlled switches. Using a probe on the numbered double terminals, one can more easitly see the position of the 24 switches for the switch control power district, than by dialing in the switch pin number on the throttle. This panel takes up room, and requires a great deal of wiring, but is very efficient. Later, it will be trimmed to the diagram size. Bob Hahn
Click onthe photo to enlarge it, and then click on the small sequential photos, (in the upper right), to view my layout album of photos.
You are right to a certain extent. What I have seen in articles is how to make a pretty map display for the control panel. But control philosophy and architecture is rarely, if ever, discussed. The closest articles to organizing controls were probably the MZL series in the 1972 Model Railroader.
More common on large layouts built for operation is some form of walk-around control for inidividual trains, usually with a dispatcher in the background. What information the dispatcher is provided outside of communication with the train engineers varies widely. Some give him a complete schematic or map populated with track block occupancy information. Others give him a desk, and communications links. And what the dispatcher should have depends upon his duties. Is he responsible for power routing and turnout throwing? Or just responsible for clearing trains and getting the timetable done?
On smaller layouts, DCC (especially with sound) encourages walk-around control sans dispatcher. The train crew is responsible for everything about their train, from blowing the whistle to throwing turnouts and performing uncoupling to maintaining clearance from other trains. After all, if you are going to have function keys and use them, you want to be next to your locomotive, not seated at a control panel 10ft away.
As a result, on DCC layouts the tendency is to locate throttle ports (if tethered) and turnout controls (if independent of DCC) near natural switching areas. This usually ends up putting the controls in the fascia to minimize aisle space intrusion. Walkaround control also neatly avoids the "need" for occupancy and turnout indications at the panel - the train crew can see the situation 1st hand.
With the emphasis on walkaround control, the design and ergonomics of a central panel have been neglected. A notable almost-universal example of what not to do for a central panel is the Atlas style of ganged controls because of the excessive memorization or look-ups required. Where are the Block F boundaries or where is turnout 18? Where is the control for the turnout I need to throw? Which explains the move to toggle switches, push buttons, and indicators being directly embedded in a map of the layout.
Once you are in embedding controls in a map, it's really a matter of personal choice. The toggles, buttons, or other controls need to be large enough and spaced far enough apart for easy selection and manipulation. Is the map surface going to be viewed and operated from a seated or standing position? The viewing and operating position should determine the height and angle of the control panel. For 2 operators to share a given panel, the throttles or throttle ports should be on opposite sides of the panel. Dual power packs don't give 2 operators room to operate.
With the advent of computer printed maps and graphics, paper maps sealed in plexiglass or similar have become a fairly common and easy way to generate a nice looking panel. In the old days, we used narrow pinstripe tape on the surface of choice for the map.
my thoughts, your choices
Fred W