Good day to all from a hot and steamy Connecticut.
I have 4 siding tracks located between back drops and buildings, and often I can't see if they are occupied. I am thinking about installing some kind of "occupancy system/device". which would certainly help. The installation has to be fairly easy due to the fact that the access to the tracks themselves is not the best. I am sure that a similar scenario came up before on this forum, and I thank all for their suggestions.
Richard
Optical or infrared detectors are probably the best thing to use for general detection. That way, you don't need special axles with resistors, and you can detect rolling stock even if they've got plastic wheels.
Another thing to try is cheap video surveillance cameras. You can find them on eBay. If the sidings are all visible from one spot, you would only need one camera. I have an old analog TV I use for a monitor. I have a couple of under-layout staging tracks for my subways, and I plan to use an old camcorder for my camera. (The tape transport crapped out, but the camera part is still fine.) You can get video switch boxes if you need multiple cameras to cover all your sidings.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
our train club went low tech on this one- had several staging tracks that were not visable from the aisle until they suspended a couple of cheap Full length dressing mirrors ( the kind you mount on a door to see your shoes in) from the ceiling at the apropriate angle. Could also hang from shelf brackets on the wall or from an overhead valance.
Earl
I once caught a train in my pajama's. How it got in my pajama's I'll never know... (sorry, Groucho)
Get yourself something like this for around $20 you can either use an old TV or a computer monitor.
I have several of these throughout the train room/layout inside a couple of tunnels for example and nestled among the overhead track lighting they are not even noticeable. I have a friend who took it tot he next level and purchased wireless cameras and uses one of those hand held TV's as a monitor. If your looking to go on the cheap scour the yard sales for a wireless baby monitors
Website: http://bobfrey.auclair.com
MisterBeasleyOptical or infrared detectors are probably the best thing to use for general detection. That way, you don't need special axles with resistors, and you can detect rolling stock even if they've got plastic wheels. Another thing to try is cheap video surveillance cameras. You can find them on eBay. If the sidings are all visible from one spot, you would only need one camera. I have an old analog TV I use for a monitor. I have a couple of under-layout staging tracks for my subways, and I plan to use an old camcorder for my camera. (The tape transport crapped out, but the camera part is still fine.) You can get video switch boxes if you need multiple cameras to cover all your sidings.
A long time ago I picked-up a box of old LCD displays that were removed from service from airplane seats (Think: Back of the seat in-flight movies). They take 12VDC to run and a standard NTSC video signal. So just about any small camera will work. I actually have a number I bought for a different project from the X10 store (now defunct I think, but the cameras are probably still available). The nice thing about the cameras is they come with around 50 feet or so of (flat) cable that makes it easy to put them somewhere else, and still terminate in a regular NTSC RCA plug. They also feed power down the cable too so hookup is super easy. Anyway, something like that is easy to acquire and set up. Even if you don't find the exact parts I have. LCD monitors are cheap on ebay, even if you buy them new. And of course you could always pick up an el-cheapo computer and just use USB "web" cameras. I personally prefer using a dedicated type of camera / monitor setup for that type of use though.
John