"That is very interesting. Please tell me more.
I operate my DCC-powered layout with NCE products, but as you say, It doesn't have to be Digitrax in order to use Loconet."
I am using NCE for my layout, but am also using a Digitrax LocoNet foe detection and signals. Here is a link to a paper about how to set it up.
http://mysite.verizon.net/vzescsbb/HO_MRR/LocoNet%20for%20nonDigitrax%20layouts-rev3.pdf
You should do some reading about LocoNet, the BDL-168, and the SE8C. This information is all available on the Digitrax web site.
Elmer.
The above is my opinion, from an active and experienced Model Railroader in N scale and HO since 1961.
(Modeling Freelance, Eastern US, HO scale, in 1962, with NCE DCC for locomotive control and a stand alone LocoNet for block detection and signals.) http://waynes-trains.com/ at home, and N scale at the Club.
There are multiple options for both occupancy detection and for lighting the map board. Not only do you have products from Digitrax, but also Team Digital and CML Electronics. As an example, one possible solution would be to use Digitrax's BDL168 for occupancy detection and Team Digital's SIC24AD to light the map board. Either one can act as a Loconet master, so you do not need a Loconet capable command station. Normally, you would need either a Loconet throttle or a PC connection to program the BDL168, but the SIC24AD has a feature they call DCC Gateway that takes DCC switch commands and places them on the Loconet bus(the SIC24 would need a connection to the track to use this feature). Again, this is just one of several possible combinations.
CSX Robert richhotrain: ...I don't know what it might be called but where my layout curves from one wall to another, I envision a large panel suspended from the ceiling with a map of my layout and a series of LEDs that would light to indicate what portion (block) of the layout trains are in. But, you are right. The problem with such an arrangement is that a bunch of wires would have to be strung from each block under the layout and back up to the "map board". Ugh. Rich One of the reasons I picked Digitrax for my layout control is in a situation like this you do not have to have a bunch of wires running from each block up to the "map board", the only thing you have to have between the layout and the map board is Loconet. You have your block detectors feed the block status into Loconet and output modules mounted behind the map board to monitor the block status through Loconet and light the appropriate blocks. Not having all those wires between the map board and the layout also makes building the map board easier - instead of building it in place you can build it at a workbench and test it out there by running a Loconet cable to it. You can even use Loconet in a situation like this if you are not using Digitrax for the control system because it can operate independently of the command station.
richhotrain: ...I don't know what it might be called but where my layout curves from one wall to another, I envision a large panel suspended from the ceiling with a map of my layout and a series of LEDs that would light to indicate what portion (block) of the layout trains are in. But, you are right. The problem with such an arrangement is that a bunch of wires would have to be strung from each block under the layout and back up to the "map board". Ugh. Rich
...I don't know what it might be called but where my layout curves from one wall to another, I envision a large panel suspended from the ceiling with a map of my layout and a series of LEDs that would light to indicate what portion (block) of the layout trains are in.
But, you are right. The problem with such an arrangement is that a bunch of wires would have to be strung from each block under the layout and back up to the "map board". Ugh.
Rich
One of the reasons I picked Digitrax for my layout control is in a situation like this you do not have to have a bunch of wires running from each block up to the "map board", the only thing you have to have between the layout and the map board is Loconet. You have your block detectors feed the block status into Loconet and output modules mounted behind the map board to monitor the block status through Loconet and light the appropriate blocks. Not having all those wires between the map board and the layout also makes building the map board easier - instead of building it in place you can build it at a workbench and test it out there by running a Loconet cable to it. You can even use Loconet in a situation like this if you are not using Digitrax for the control system because it can operate independently of the command station.
CSX,
That is very interesting. Please tell me more.
I operate my DCC-powered layout with NCE products, but as you say, It doesn't have to be Digitrax in order to use Loconet.
To quote you, "You have your block detectors feed the block status into Loconet and output modules mounted behind the map board to monitor the block status through Loconet and light the appropriate blocks."
Can you tell me the kind of block detectors you use and the type of "output modules" mounted behind the map board?
Thanks.
Alton Junction
richhotrain ...I don't know what it might be called but where my layout curves from one wall to another, I envision a large panel suspended from the ceiling with a map of my layout and a series of LEDs that would light to indicate what portion (block) of the layout trains are in. But, you are right. The problem with such an arrangement is that a bunch of wires would have to be strung from each block under the layout and back up to the "map board". Ugh. Rich
Having just Googled MTH RealTrax, I see that it's a three rail track system. I presume that the train is also a standard tinplate/hi-rail type in that there's a direct electrical path from one running rail to the other through the metal wheels and axles. That leaves only one question:
Are the running rails of the real-trax sections electrically isolated from each other?
If so, all you have to do is designate one rail to deliver locomotive power (along with the center third rail.) Then, electrically isolate the other rail and cut a gap (or insert an insulated rail joiner) at each point where you want to separate adjacent sections for detection purposes.
Having divided the detection rail, you then must attach a wire to each separate section. Each wire will lead to the lamp (or lamps) corresponding to that section on your track map. Since the wire will only carry lamp current, you can use small-section, inexpensive wire. I would use two-pair communication cable and split out each wire separately, while retaining the four-wire covered cable from the panel to the roadbed.
The other end of each bulb is connected to an entirely separate power supply, voltage suited to the lamps. The other lead of that power supply, in turn, is connected to the locomotive power running rail.
With this setup, any time there is a locomotive or car in a detection section, the lamp(s) marking that section in the track map will light. All others will remain dark. There will be no interference with locomotive operation. This exactly parallels what I saw at 125th Street on the used-to-be IRT, now NY Metro.
(I just wish that two-rail circuits were as simple!)
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
gandydancer19 It depends on what you call a map board. My layout has block detection and signals installed. They work from a computer. The layout track plan is drawn on the computer screen with the signals drawn also. The computer screen becomes the map board and it indicates where the train(s) are and also what the signals are showing. To me this is so much easier that running a bunch of wires to a map bard type of panel that has to be hard wired.
It depends on what you call a map board.
My layout has block detection and signals installed. They work from a computer. The layout track plan is drawn on the computer screen with the signals drawn also. The computer screen becomes the map board and it indicates where the train(s) are and also what the signals are showing. To me this is so much easier that running a bunch of wires to a map bard type of panel that has to be hard wired.
Well, the OP called it a map board. I don't know what it might be called but where my layout curves from one wall to another, I envision a large panel suspended from the ceiling with a map of my layout and a series of LEDs that would light to indicate what portion (block) of the layout trains are in.
My layout has block detection and signals installed. They work from a computer. The layout track plan is drawn on the computer screen with the signals drawn also. The computer screen becomes the map board and it indicates where the train(s) are and also what the signals are showing. To me this is so much easier that running a bunch of wires to a map bard type of panel that has to be hard wired. If you go to my layout web page, you can see a screen shot of my panel. (Copy and paste the URL in my signature block into your web browser.)
However, it can be done by hard wiring, and could depend on what type of DCC system you have and what type of block detection units you have. The Digitrax BDL-168 has a little test board that plugs into the main board. It has LED's on it that light up when a train is in a block. You could wire these LED test outputs to LED's on a map board.
Has anyone taken on such a project?
This topic interests me greatly, and I have thought about it, wishfully, for a long time.
I have a large P-shaped layout with a double mainline operating in DCC. It measures 22' x 42' so it is easy to lose track of the whereabouts of certain trains, mainly because I typically run 4 trains at a time, two on each track, as a solo operator. Sometimes, I just stopped everything, power down the layout and head upstairs from the basement. Next time I return, I forget where I left the 4 trains on the layout. An overhead map of the layout with lighted locations would be the ultimate.
I don't know what MTH realtrax is unless it is the brand of track. What matters is the type of control or power you are using for the train.
What you need is some type of block detection that is compatible with the type of power the track is getting. This can be either simple or complicated depending on what you use. The simplest is to use the weight of the train to push down on a contactor or microswitch and light a light. Lionel trains used such a contactor in the 1950's and 60's. If you can't find any, you may be able to make a simple type of contactor yourself using a microswitch. The contactor doesn't have to be electrically connected to the track, so the type of track power doesn't matter in this case. Needless to say, the track has to be able to move up and down a little bit so the switch is open with no weight on the track.
From there, it gets more complicated and expensive. Such as in photo cells, IR detectors, current detectors, and electrical circuits that take the data and turn them into voltage outputs to power an LED or other light indicator.
I have seen on numerous layouts where there is a map board of the track, with incremental lights, that are lit up when the train is in that particular area of the layout.
I am in the process of putting up an O-gauge train around the top of the wall in my son's room and am making a "control panel" at his desk for him to operate the train from. I would like to include a "map" that would show him where the train was at a particular time, but don't know what all I would need to do accomplish this.
I am using MTH realtrax, so I am looking for the simplest and most compatible way to go about this.
I did look through all the other post, but did not find anything (in this section) that seemed to cover what I am wanting to do.
Thanks in advance.