Automatic Routing of Passenger Station Turnouts

[rrinker]

 Adding the mini panel means not even having to remember routes. And not having to switch the throttle into macro mode or anything, just press the button on the panel for the desired route.

                --Randy

[mlehman]

Rich,

I give to the NCE Switch-8 solution. Implemented through macros, all you have to do is remember the different routes. I've used this for my  staging yard for 4 years now with virtually zero issues. It's very easy to program, another advantage.

[BroadwayLion]

LION does not do DCC. Him thinks they are for FROGS or some such animal.

LION uses DC and has TORTOISES to move the switch points, but him can route the yard with the use of a single lever. With no lever pulled the train stays on the main line, call it track 0.

Pulling any lever will move the lead switch from track 0 to the yard alignments.The default movement would be to the number 6 track.

Pulling the first lever moves both the lead switch and the switch for track 1.

Pulling only the second lever moves both the lead switch (switch 1 remains in the default position) the train goes to track 2

Pulling only the third lever moves both the lead switch and switch 3 (switch 1 and 2 remain in the default position) the train goes to track 3.

And so on.

Roar

[Javelina]

Our hosts here at MR ran an article a few years back on "cascading" Tortoises to set  up routes. I can't recall when this was, but if you are a subscriber you can probably search for it. I'm guessing it was about 5 years ago or thereabouts. The general idea was to use the secondary contacts of the Tortoise to trigger another, but there were fine points concerning voltage drops and so on. When you search for it, if you do, I'd use the term(s) "cascade" or "cascading Tortoises". Sorry I can't remember more...........

Lou

[dehusman]

There are a couple ways to do it with a diode matrix.  You can set it up to have a rotary switch and as you dial in a track it automatically lines the Tortises.

Or you can use the matrix with a push button for each track.

[gregc]

richhotrain

This arrangement works fine, but it requires a lot of manual flips of the DPDT switches to route trains correctly onto the right passenger station track.

I would like to automate the station track complex so that I can more easily route trains through some automated system.

diode matices can be used to control multiple turnouts for route selection.   here are a few links

see Basic Diode Matix System on the paisley site -- http://home.cogeco.ca/~rpaisley4/StallMatrix.html

the Page site may provide more explanation -- http://rail.felgall.com/dm.htm

there's a passenger station and coach yard on the Pacific Southern.   There's a panel for this section of the layout with push button switches for mainline, station and coach yard tracks.   pressing two buttons aligns all the switches between the two points

[richhotrain]

fmilhaupt

Your situation sounds like a really good fit for an NCE Mini Panel board and Switch 8 turnout decoder.

You would connect the turnouts to the Switch 8 decoder and program it, then connect a pushbutton for each station track to the Mini Panel and program it.

Once you have programmed the Mini Panel, you should be able to line a route by simply pressing the button corresponding to the track you want the train to end up on or depart from.

If I read your description correctly, trains to/from five of the tracks (let's say tracks 1-5) will only go in or out via one leg of the the wye, and trains to/from the other five tracks (let's say 6-10) will only go in or out via the other, so this would make this relatively simple to set up.

If trains could go from any station track (1-10) to/from either leg of the wye, it would be a little more complicated, but not impossible, to set up.

Fritz, thanks for that information.  I had researched the Switch 8 decoder a little bit, but I was not familiar with the Mini Panel.  That sounds like a perfect setup, so I will look into the Mini Panel further.

Yes, you did read my description correctly, trains to/from five of the tracks (tracks 1-5) will only go in or out via one leg of the the wye, and trains to/from the other five tracks (tracks 6-10) will only go in or out via the other leg.

Rich

[fmilhaupt]

Your situation sounds like a really good fit for an NCE Mini Panel board and Switch 8 turnout decoder.

You would connect the turnouts to the Switch 8 decoder and program it, then connect a pushbutton for each station track to the Mini Panel and program it.

Once you have programmed the Mini Panel, you should be able to line a route by simply pressing the button corresponding to the track you want the train to end up on or depart from.

If I read your description correctly, trains to/from five of the tracks (let's say tracks 1-5) will only go in or out via one leg of the the wye, and trains to/from the other five tracks (let's say 6-10) will only go in or out via the other, so this would make this relatively simple to set up.

If trains could go from any station track (1-10) to/from either leg of the wye, it would be a little more complicated, but not impossible, to set up.

[richhotrain]

I have a large downtown passenger station with 10 tracks, that feed off the two legs of a wye.  In other words, a single track leads into the station and split off into 10 passenger tracks via the wye, five tracks per leg.

Looking from the wye on the left to the station on the right, these 10 tracks are reached through a series of 8 turnouts, 4 right hand on the upper portion and 4 left hand on the lower portion.

The turnouts are powered by Tortoises which are controlled by DPDT switches.

This arrangement works fine, but it requires a lot of manual flips of the DPDT switches to route trains correctly onto the right passenger station track.

I would like to automate the station track complex so that I can more easily route trains through some automated system.

Ideally, I could throw one switch or press one button and have the routing take place automatically.

What type of circuitry is available to accomplish this task?

Incidentally, my layout is DCC-powered, using an NCE PH-Pro 5 amp wireless system.

Rich