Another request from the noobie. I have seen layouts that have a diagram of the yard, with lights indicating the state of the turnouts, etc. I am not looking for someone to teach me in a reply, rather for pointers to a book, video, online tutorial, etc. showing how to construct one. Any pointers are greatly appreciated. As always, thank you for your help and patience.
Richard
It's really a lot simpler than you think.
Here's a quick and dirty picture of a breadboard mockup I did a while back. Now, this is designed with the idea that you're putting the LEDs in dwarf signals on the layout (and with manual throw linkages through the SPDT switch).
straight-through
diverging
It would be very similar if you're making a yard diagram on the fascia -- though instead of bi-color LEDS, you could just use single-color as you're just lighting up the "active" path. I could probably whip something up if you'd wanna see it visually.
-Dan
Builder of Bowser steam! Railimages Site
This is the layout diagram / control panel for Phase 2 of my layout.
It's a piece of 3/16 inch "shower liner" from a big-box home improvement store. This is basically a piece of Masonite with one side coated in hard white plastic. Lots of other colors are available. The bad news is that it only comes in 4x8 foot sheets. The good news is that a 4x8 foot sheet costs about $10, and you can flip the sheet around and use it for fascia or other projects.
I used automotive pin-striping tape for the black lines. The wood frame is 1x2 lumber. I used a router to notch out the corner so I could recess the panel into the frame. The whole frame and panel assembly then mounts behind the fascia with a couple of screws, so it's easy to remove for maintenance and upgrades.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
MisterBeasley This is the layout diagram / control panel for Phase 2 of my layout...
This is the layout diagram / control panel for Phase 2 of my layout...
Showoff
Are those DPDT switches, or SPDT switches you're using?
RideOnRoadI have seen layouts that have a diagram of the yard, with lights indicating the state of the turnouts, etc.
what are you using to control the turnouts: manual or switch machines? accessory power or DCC decoder?
greg - Philadelphia & Reading / Reading
gregc what are you using to control the turnouts: manual or switch machines? accessory power or DCC decoder?
Tortoise switch machines, accessory power, DPDT switches.
greg's diagram works, though will always show a light regardless of whether the turnout is thrown for a track or not (i.e. it'll work great on an on-layout signal).
For your control panel, I would do nearly identical wiring, with the following exceptions.
1. use single-color LEDs -- ON means track lined, OFF means not aligned (note, you'll have to break some of the connections as drawn)
2. If you're going to have two lights per turnout (instead of, for example, only lighting the diverging route), then you can wire two of the LEDs together in opposite directions, like this:
(+) ---{ [LEDS] } --(RESISTOR)-- (-)
The LEDS would be "stacked" like this
--- >| ---
--- |< ---
when the +'ve is on the left, then the "top" LED is lit (for example, the through route).
when the +'ve is on the right, then the "bottom" LED is lit (for example, the diverging route).
Only thing you have to watch out for is that the LEDs have sufficient reverse-voltage tolerance to not burn out -- the 3.3V LEDs I have are all OK with up to 5V reverse voltage, so there should be no problems.
Neo6874 remarked: Showoff
I purposely only showed the front of the panel because I didn't want the rat's nest behind it to set a bad example.
A mix of both. They are all miniatronics toggles, some DPDT for the Tortoises, some SPDT momentary for the twin-coils. In the lower right there are 2 SPST for structure and street lighting, and the red pushbuttons are for electromagnet uncouplers. The 4 long tracks at the top have SPST toggles to cut power individually, because I use those tracks for staging/storage and I sometimes want to silence the engines and shut off the passenger car lighting.
MisterBeasley I purposely only showed the front of the panel because I didn't want the rat's nest behind it to set a bad example.
Yeah, I remember those pictures too. Did you ever get to tacking the wires to the board/ routing them nicely, or is it still a mess these days?
MisterBeasley A mix of both. They are all miniatronics toggles, some DPDT for the Tortoises, some SPDT momentary for the twin-coils. In the lower right there are 2 SPST for structure and street lighting, and the red pushbuttons are for electromagnet uncouplers. The 4 long tracks at the top have SPST toggles to cut power individually, because I use those tracks for staging/storage and I sometimes want to silence the engines and shut off the passenger car lighting.
NeO6874 continued: Yeah, I remember those pictures too. Did you ever get to tacking the wires to the board/ routing them nicely, or is it still a mess these days?
This panel is better than the other ones. The on-panel wiring is pretty decent. The wires that go directly to the layout come straight out and are bundled with tie-wraps once they all come together.
Makes sense - the twin coil machines are all hooked into those "snapper" (or whatever) capacitive discharge units, aren't they?
also -- in the middle of the longer tracks (middle yard, by the looks of it) -- are those LED indicators for the active route I see?