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Train Brain

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  • Member since
    April 2003
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Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, July 6, 2006 10:11 PM
i ahve no clue but i will ask my friend and get his opinion but it sounds cool.
  • Member since
    April 2003
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Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, July 6, 2006 9:02 PM
Hi All,
I think the train brain is a pretty good idea for club and large layouts where multiple trains are running. I’ve noticed at shows there is always someone monitoring the track for derailments. I wonder if it can detect a derailment? Any clues? If not what happens then? Can a DCC system detect a derailment?
Rap213
  • Member since
    June 2003
  • From: CANADA
  • 2,292 posts
Posted by ereimer on Thursday, July 6, 2006 8:32 AM
it's a hardware and software solution to train control , originally made for DC but nicely adapted to DCC . basically you wire up detectors , signals , turnout motors , your dcc system etc. to these control modules and write a program to run it all using their programming language .

you have hte option of the train brain controlling all your trains (if you're a good enough programmer!) or having it run some trains while you run others . pretty nice for someone with a layout that needs several people to operate but it's tuesday night and you're all alone but want to run an op session . you can take control of a train at any point , so it's not like you have to go watch tv after starting it up

with DC it can automatically switch the power blocks to keep your train going . since 'running the track' is one of the things some people don't like about DC this makes it almost as good as DCC

disclaimer : i bought a train brain basic module for experimental purposes , but haven't gotten around to using it at all yet , so have no practical experience with it .

edit website is http://www.cti-electronics.com/index.htm
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Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, July 5, 2006 11:50 PM
Can it rerail an errant car or perform switching?? [}:)][;)][:D]
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Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, July 5, 2006 11:03 PM
Nah, its not for me, I like to run my trains.

Besides my computer does enough for me already.[:D]
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Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, July 5, 2006 10:06 PM
I havn't seen it or anything so i don't know much about it, but it does seem like it could be a good idea. Especially if the company makes a control panel for it. In a sense it could be more realistic, to me it seems like it could have potential.
  • Member since
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  • From: Finger Lakes
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Posted by howmus on Wednesday, July 5, 2006 9:49 PM
Think of that! You could turn on the computer, get the trains going and then go watch TV. Gee, that sounds like a lot of fun. Wow! [}:)]

Ray Seneca Lake, Ontario, and Western R.R. (S.L.O.&W.) in HO

We'll get there sooner or later! 

  • Member since
    April 2003
  • 305,205 posts
Train Brain
Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, July 5, 2006 9:20 PM
Hi All,
I was reading this months MR and saw an ad for the Train Brain. It allows you to control you railroad via a computer program. Anyone tried it out yet? What do you think about it? Personally I like controling the trains on my own.
Rap213

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