[soapbox] I’m probably shovling against the tide on this one, but does any model railroader remember an electrical projects book by Model Railroader. My memory of the book was awakwened after reading and rereading the article on constant locomotive in the August MR. I loved the download on John Allen’s Time-saver,but I’m still at a loss for making the switching against the clock!
Actually there are two, Practical Electronic Projects for Model Railroaders, and More Electronic Project for Model Railroaders (or something like that). Both by Peter J. Thorne. Problem is they are older books and many components used are no longer available.
–Randy
I know I have seen at least one of them at my local library,can’t remember if it was a Modelrailroader book though.
bill
I currently have Peter’s Practical Electronic Projects out of the library. I was inspired to search for it after re-reading John Olson’s Jerome and Southwestern book. I’d like to make one of those walk-around throttles.
It mentions in the book that the handheld throttle connects to the DC output of the power pack. I have and MRC Tech II Loco-motion 2500. Does anyone know if I could attach a simple handheld to that without modifying the 2500?
Phil
I’m pretty sure the 2500 has a pair of terminals labelled “Fixed DC for expansion”. Those are the ones you would connect to if the throttle circuit says to connect it to a DC source.
–Randy
I know this is an old thread but…it’s new to me!
I have used the older “Practical Electronic Projects for Model Railroaders” for years. I started using it in the 1970s when I was just a pup. I still have it, and I still love it. The designs are very simple, and probably would be considered crude by today’s standards, but they are very easy to understand and build, and they provide rock-solid performance. I have built 3 different throttle circuits from that book, some of the Twin-T detector boards, the flashers, the optical detectors, and some of the sound effect circuits. The sound circuits are the only ones I would not bother with. They produce pretty lame diesel horns.
As for component availability, pish posh. All the components in those Thorne circuits are non-critical. You can look up the exact numbers he gives in the plans on-line and easily find equivalent cross-references. But even easier, just look at the descriptions. When he says “small signal npn, such as …”, just go find a small npn transistor. If he says “NPN 40 watt power transistor, etc”, just find an NPN power transistor with equivalent or higher power and voltage ratings to what he specifies. All those circuits are very easy to build, and parts to build them are very commonly, and cheaply, available.
Same here. Back in the 70s I designed a throttle using his book and one of the designs as my starting point. It was DC, had a small corded throttle that could be unplugged and then plugged back in again without the locomotive changing direction or speed. I had lots of fun building those projects. I still have a copy of the book.