Hi, just wondering to what degree folks incorporate their computers into their hobby.
Is your main computer directly connected to your layout for operations? Do you have two computers? One for personal/family and one for the model RR?
My desktop isn’t even in the same room as my display and workbench, and I’m considering tying it all together. Should I bother connecting it to a small 11x2 by 4x2 L-shaped switching layout?
I have an el-cheapo computer that handles all my decoder programming and sound uploading. It doesnt have to handle anything else…cost 30 bucks.
David B
My computer is integrated only through the use of varoius forums, modeling information, and online dealers.
I have about 30 ft of cable that allows me to use Decoder Pro from a seperate
room
Cheap used laptop dedicated to the RR.
[#ditto]
Same here. Mine is located under my layout with the monitor right under the layout edge at a forty degree angle so I can view it comfortably from my chair which is the same one I sit on while running the trains, painting models, installing decoders, etc, etc.
Not to sound high faluting, but I’ve got three computers in the house using an internal wireless network, My basement computer (the one I’m on right now) is my newest. It keeps everyone away from this one, but it’s getting tied right now to my brand new NCE Power Pro , which just arrived today. Being brand new, no serial port , so I had to get a USB to Serial converter and a serial cable to run into the layout room (about 20 feet). Still have to finish all the wiring on the layout , as I ripped all the old wiring out so I could wire it neatly(my own fault). Also re-designing alot of the track work as I wasn’t real happy with the way it was. If you fell asleep reading my response, sorry.
I make with Excel my car cards & waybills. Sometimes I make drawings with AutoCAD. For FREMO-meetings I make also with AutoCAD the layout planning. You see the last at Unna May 08. All the needed paperwork like trainsheet, timetable etc. is made with a computer.
At the layout I’ve until now no computer connected. Sometime in the future I will use it for programming the CVs.
Wolfgang
Decal design is done here, as is foruming. I have Grandma’s old E-machine running 98 and not on the internet, used for car cataloging on Yard Office. WOuld be nicer if portable, but hey. I may put other stuff onit, but as yet I don;t have any other layout stuff needing a computer.
For me, using a computer has two functions with model railroading. One being “administrative”, and one being “operational”. The two functions co-exist in some places and really end up seeming like one in others.
The “administrative” portion is nothing more then a photo of all locomotives, rolling stock, and kits (both built and unbuilt). I keep individual files for all my purchases, including a scan of the receipt from the vendor “just in case” I lose any of my hard copies. Having all this readily available makes it much simpler to track how much I spend, what something is worth (insurance purposes, at minimum), etc.
How does the computer affect operations? Well, right now, it doesn’t. In the future I’d like to implement a system similar to the RMI software that a many shortlines use for tracking cars across their roads, maintainance records, etc. I’d like to implement it in such a way that I can generate waybills, switchlists, and even when a locomotive is due for its inspection to make sure it gets brought to the shop.
Built into the “agent software” would be a routine that simulates customers calling in released cars and asking for the ones in storage. The software would decide which cars on spot were released (albeit randomly) and then would notify the “station agent” or "dispatcher (whoever was running the computer) that the cars were ready for pickup and that the car with initials ABCD #1234 needs to be brought to them…
Of course… this is well into the future. For now.
I’m reasonably integrated, in the systems sense of the word. My layout is connected via both USB and Serial interfaces. My adventures with this integration can be found on my blog.
There are five related topics there about using the computer and trains.
My train friends are pretty dismissive of using the computer with my railroad until they see 4 trains doing different things asyncronously while we visit and walk around the layout room and visit.
Next time you have friends over, try to get two or three trains running with you DCC system by your self and watch your blood pressure and pulse climb out of sight!
I’ve a hard time equating internet use with integration, but then, I tell some of those same guys that code 100 is good enough. [:)]
It can be done. http://www.cti-electronics.com Refundable starter kit integrated with DCC for a hundred bucks.
Joe Daddy
several computers for various uses, one in the train room, doing all the pics you see I make, layout planning (multi computer use) and whatever else, but far no direct MRR connections, that may change in the future.
I have a big ole old Zenith to try to do whatever I can think of to direct connect to the layout, using basic, I want to control signals thru the computer.
one laptop sitting on the dispatch desk at the railroad site. It is not connected in any way to the layout, but instead has train sheets, dispatcher sheets, also Excel data bases for rolling stock, loco rosters, and other misc. information. I also have a cheapie printer attached.
In my office upstairs, I have my desk top and another laptop for my work and home use. They are networked, have all the bell and whistle printers, etc. I exchange info between the computers in the office with the laptop on the railroad using memory sticks, which I also carry with me when I am away from home for backkup purposes. The office laptop is also with me away from home. It also has the same files as the laptop on the dispatch desk, and serves as a backup.
Nothing is physically connected to the railroad.
Bob
Hey Pastor Bob, sounds like you have either sneaker or sandal net! That is the most primal form of integration. [:)]
Grace and peace,
Joe
At any given time, we have probably about a half-dozen desktop and/or laptop computers, a couple printers, and a NAS (Network Attached Storage) box, all connected to each other and the Internet via various wired and wireless LAN segments, bridges, etc.
One desktop machine is dedicated to the layout. DecoderPro and PanelPro are really the only two apps that run only on the layout computer.
However, I use the computers extensively to inventory and document both the layout itself and my rolling stock, storing the resulting files (and there are many) on the NAS. This lets me access them from any computer in the house.
For example, I might work on my layout plan on the computer in my office, where it’s nice and comfy, and save the file to the NAS. Then when I’m working on the layout, I can open it right there on the layout computer.
The same goes for my rolling stock inventory, spreadsheets with stuff like stationary switch machine addresses, layout wiring diagrams, etc. Whatever I need, I can access wherever I’m working.
Steve
I have an old win98 desktop running my layout with PanelPro (it has been replaced by an IMac as my main computer), I also use a 4 year old Mac laptop which controls our local groups modular layout, and does most of my decoder programming. I will probably move most programming over to the win98 computer when I get around to it.
Once you use a computer and DecoderPro to setup decoders I doubt you would want to go back to button pressing.
Mike Ruby