Is there such thing as a Automatic stop device/circuit board that you can hook up in between the rail and the transmitter aka power pack? I’m not on DCC as of yet . I know all about dcc and plan to covert in the future, but what I’m looking for is a device that will Automatically stop the train when it’s in the station. I think i saw a manufacture who produced it with a timer that you can set, but don’t remeber who exactly. If I get this type of device, I may not need to go DCC because the way my layout is designed. Which will be cheaper for me because I only need the trains to stop completly at the station and some spur.
You can kill the power to that section of track and the train will stop. Restore power and it will go. This can be set to a timer. However, slow starting and stopping might be a little unprototypical.
Errrrrkkkkkkk. Whaaaaaaaaaaaa.
I don’t get what you mean. How’s that possible?
A train,
FYI: You’ve got this thread posted twice.
http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=68289
(This one is ID=68288) You might want to delete the other one so you don’t have to look two places to get your answer. [:)]
Tom
They do have several circuits that will do exactly what you are asking. It will start at point A and go to pt B wait for a set amount of time then either go back to Pt A or on to Pt C. You program the times yourself. I saw one that even has a Terminal anouncement when the train pulls in. You can also program it to go to the end of the line and return to the starting point after a set amount of time. I will look around and try to find the site I saw it at the other day. Acutally they are kind of common.
Terry[8D]
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A Simple Diode will kill power to the engine entering a chosen stub , and allow it to back out. Problem is when backing a train into it, since Train length’s vary.
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Better is to have an tiny insulated piece of rail attached to a red sigmal light that turns on when a metal wheel crosses it - and YOU turn off the power and change direction for departing same.example - round house; or track in a tunnel.
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For stopping at a Station and proceeding forward -such as a station- a timer will work - giving you ON - OFF - ON at the preset speed setting. Variable speeds? You wouldn’t pay for it.
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Inexpensive would be a ‘stopping block’ controlled by a DPDT toggle and 12 volt auto bulb inserted into the circuit to slow the train to a stop, then switched out.
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If I wanted realism, I would use a 2nd cheap power pack for the station stop with variable speed control. You become the station master, but it’s not automatic…
Auto-stop for plain DC power comes in a couple of flavors:
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Run onto dead track (either or both rails.) The train WILL stop, rather like running into a wall. Good for flat-spotting drivers and finding which couplers will fail in compression. Track can be killed with a switch on the panel, or be normally dead unless powered through a pushbutton.
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Run onto successive sections with lower and lower voltage. Pioneered by the late Ed Ravenscroft, this involved one locomotive length rail sections, each with a greater resistance between it and the power feeder. Steam locos with open frame motors took two sections, 10 ohm resistor to the first, 150 ohm resistor to the second. These values are too low for modern can motors, and the sections start getting very long if you run six-unit diesels.
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Use some kind of detector to cut power when the locomotive reaches a certain spot. The detector can be electronic (track power detector,) optical (photoelectric,) magnetic (reed switch) or brute force and ignorance (weight-operated mechanical switch.) The stop can be either type described above.
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As a last resort, handle the train individually with a dedicated throttle. This is what separates the dispatchers from the engineers (drivers, mechanicians, lok-fuhreren or whatever.) If you can see the locomotive, you can control it.
Chuck
A Train check this out.
http://home.cogeco.ca/~rpaisley4/AutoStop.html
Terry[8D]