A spring could be used to return the points to their normal position, but as I read his post, he does not even bother with this. He has three tracks leading into a single maine lion and does not care what position the points are in since all traffic is in one direction only.
Still, LION is a purist when it comes to interlocking. You need a lever to select the switch (which controls power to the selected track) and another lever to clear the home signal.
No. I removed the switch machines on the exit side of the loops and just allow the loco to push the point rails into proper position. If the next loco is passing through the turnout from the other track, it pushes them back. There is no need for a switch machine at all. This works well with Atlas turnouts since they don’t lock into place but it might be problematic if I tried this with Peco turnouts.
You understand correctly. There are two turnouts on the exit end of the reversing loops and I never have to be concerned with how the point rails are positioned because any loco passing through the turnouts will push the point rails into proper position. Power to Atlas turnout is not routing dependent.
Guess this works so long as you never need to go backwards.
Is there some particular reason you think someone couldn’t?
Most of the time switch control is completely independent of the “operating system”, you could absolutely run your trains on DCC and build the exact same switch and signal interlocking system.
Or your knobs could be connected to switches and inputs to a computerized system that handles the interlocking logic and sets the switches and signals via DCC accessory decoders.
There’s no reason why your physical setup need be analog or digital on the back end.
Not to put too fine a point on it, but there’s nothing “special” that you have a signal system - many people do. The lever control panel is less common, but that’s just an interface, it could be wired up under the hood a number of different ways.
by hand, caboose ground throws …
This is a complex question that would require a complex answer. Here’re the short answers. This is what I used on my layout, but there are a million ways to adapt the basic system for other layouts.
Pretty much a 100% Digitrax layout. Plus JMRI to supply the logic and control where needed.
A) Momentary push bottons mounted on the fascia; B) directly from the hand-held throttle, and C) dispatcher using a laptop computer. Tortoise machines mounted under the benchwork.
A) Lighted signals indicate the condition of the switch and the occupancy of the track(s) beyond the turnout, and B) the dispatcher has a diagram of the layout showing all occupancy and switch condition. He knows when you’re trying to run a fast one . . .
Yes. Several Digitrax SE8C controller boards in conjunction with the JMRI computer interface control all aspects of the signal system. The SE8C also has circuitry and wiring connectors to power and control the manual momentary push-buttons mounted on the fascia in proximity to the turnouts.
Several Digitrax BDL16 detector boards
I don’t. Trains only go through the reverse loops in one direction. In the roughly 15 years since I removed the switch machines, I’ve never once needed to go through the reverse loops in a clockwise direction. It’s never been an issue.
Wow! Thanks guys for all the nice comments and the good ideas I have seen. I have never had a DCC system and all I know (not much) is from some reading. Two of the things that I have read that many like DCC so much for, is the ability to run several locos at once and for the onboard sound. Both are great ideas! It goes without saying that I think that each of us should do whatever brings the most pleasure in this hobby.
As I stated earlier my modest background in this field is with DC. When I was a small kid and my dad was helping me to get going in this he spent some time explaining all about DC circuits. Back in that day we had a seperate switch (toggle, knife switch, whatever) to switch on or off the various circuits. Of course back then I just wanted to turn on one of my 3 blocks and get my diesel out and let her rip. Did not take long for that to get quite monotonous! Bet some of you may have gone through that.
For a long time, in between attempts at 3 different small layouts, I thought that my main interest was into really nice fine buildings and railroad cars and locos, but I found I really did not have the patience for all of that. I tended to get mired down and had a hard job finishing a project. Later on I finally figured out that my main interest seemed to be in “operation”. I don’t mean that I wanted to model the NYC in it’s entirety but am simply interested in what it takes to move a piece of railroad equipment, box car, tank, hopper, loco whatever from one place to another similar to what real rail operators do.
Some of my readings on operations demonstrated that some model railroaders were using CTC boards and well thought out detection circuitry. Hence my early questions on how do you know how a turnout is set, or if a block is occupied, without seeing that visually? I read of one home basement model railroad that was designed to have up to 25 operators. So for those of you who operate your railroad like that how do you kee
Layout of LION uses block signals and have nothing at all to do with switches. There are magnets glued to the underside of the train, and a reed switch glued in the gauge. Train passes and the signal immediately bethind it drops to red. The second signal back goes to yellow, and the third signal bak goes to green.
LION cannot afford all of these DCClings of witch ewe speak. Still each signal requires two dpdt relaays. LION has a whole wall of relays, and thousands of conductors around the layout.
LION cannot figgr out wat little black boxes are doing. Him likes relays that go CLICK and you can see what each part of it is doing.
ROAR
All of my turnouts on the DCC-layout are currently operated using fingers, but I might soon consider using toggle switches.
I found this website of possible help: https://dccwiki.com/DCC_Friendly_Turnout. In the middle of the page is a diagram of how to wire a toggle. I did that to power the turnouts.
With DCC, it is totally unnecessary to throw toggles to control track blocks. There is constant power to the track and the internal decoders in the loco control the movement of the loco based on commands sent from the throttle. I do have an on/off switch to my roundhouse so the locos inside aren’t constantly drawing power and I don’t have to individually turn off the sound to each parked loco but that is optional.
As you can tell from the replies, turnout control is independent from the operating system. Even if you use DCC to run your trains, you can still control your turnouts with long used methods, both powered and manual. DCC gives you the added option of controlling turnouts from the throttle but I’ve never explored that option.
My trains run on DCC (Digitax). Still, all turnouts are controlled by old-fashioned Atlas twin-coil switch machines mounted under the layout, powered by a 25-year old Atlas transformer. The only disadvantage is that (at the moment) the same transformer is used for lights in buildings. This means that every time a turnout switch is thrown, the building lights dim for a fraction of a second. This problem should be easily corrected by separating both power sources.
It would seem to me that you might want to spend more time on the operations part of your question. There are lots of different types of operations an