I’ld suggest the UK, German or French Ebay site, look for Hornby or meccano (is the same) for 0 gauge. Basset lowke also made trains in GWR livery, but are darn expensive. On my side of the pond there is a lot of GWR stuff in h0 and 0 gauge… (even märklin made some)
Here’s a suggestion - I would love to see someone come up with an integrated package for control panels. The panels would include:
Turnout controls
Accessory controls
Signal controls
operating track & uncoupler controls
lighted indicators for switch positions
As I wire my layout (utilizing both conventional and DCS/TIU-AIU connections) I would like to have a control panel. However, it appears that this is a DIY project with little or no ready made solutions available.
There may not be a big market for this, but I believe if a cost effective prepackaged solution was available, even users of small layouts would like the look of a neat and organized panel that controls everything on their layout.
John,
Control panels are individual to each layout. They aren’t very difficult to build, the biggest challenge is getting the layout printed on the board. I have seen them done where the layout is applied to the back of a clear acrylic panel and then screwed to a piece of plywood, and also (which I think is much nicer) laser etched onto a piece of metal which is then screwed to the plywood.
The problem with having someone else build and wire it is you have to know the location of each switch, what accessory is located where and what type of controller the accessory requires, etc. Then you have the power problem to sort out… I’m not sure I would want to take the risk that I would build something and someone would connect it wrong and then blow something and claim it was my fault…
Now, what you could do is require the layout plan and build the panel itself with the plan adheared to the backer, switch and accessory triggers pre-drilled, and possibly the lights and triggers installed but not wired.
Those are all good points. There is a company that advertises in CTT that will contract this kind of work. However, if there could be some prepackaged solution that would allow the end user the appropriate flexibility to use it with his/her layout, I think there would be a good market for this product.
Not being an electronics wizard, I am challenged by the prospect of creating a panel. My problems are increased by having dual operational control (conventional and DCS). In order to get the appropriate control panel lighting, I need an additional snap relay for each turnout, so the appropriate panel light (red or green) is illuminated irregardless of how the turnout was triggered. This additional work will really create a spaghetti bowl of wiring that I am dreading.