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Video: Touch screen control for a model railroad club layout
Motor decoders are so cheap now, why would you still be accomodating DC?
Interesting operational concept. It wasn’t fully explained, but I think the operator would be moving to the next panel after doing the tasks shown. If not, it would see that for the DC power group, they would be in an overhead cab somewhere. It would have been nice to see how this works in DCC. Guess I’ll have to read the article after the US Mule delivers the March MR.
I would love to see how they put the system together, what makes it run and what components/systems they used. Will that be shown in the March issue?
Very impressive but the electronics seem overly complex. Wouldn’t DCC be a better choice?
Hello everyone. The system can be pretty complex. It was our thought to display what the club has going and provide a very interesting article for ALL to read. If you have any technical questions that were not covered, I can answer those. As more become interested, we even made mention to MR to possibly making extended videos for them for the technical guys. Dean, as far as adding motor decoders to all trains, we have an extensive amount of older hobbiest with older trains. The club decided to accommodate those people without having to rip apart their locos. Because of this technology, there are still a lot of people at the club that will purchase DC locos and never install a decoder, and the newly purchased DC loco runs as smooth as if a decoder is installed. DC operators still continue to use wireless Digitrax throttles as if they were running DCC. Hope this helps. Lou Santello
Robert, you are correct. In the video, we used this touchscreen because this location accommodates block 5, 6 and 7. The demonstration showed him “leaving block 5 on track 1, selecting his track 1 to continue on block 6, then crossover to track 2 as he enters block 7” At that point, he would simply follow his train thru block 7 until he makes another cab selection at block 8, which is another touchscreen. That next touchscreen would accommodate block 7 and 8. Depending on which direction you are going, in this case, he is moving up the blocks sequentially from 1-10 and back to 1. The other mainline is intended for opposite direction (10-1 and back to 10). This is why there are 10 touchscreens around the layout (one at each block boundary location). Each block boundary is the exit and enter of each block and also accommodates a crossover to switch tracks if need be. Lou Santello
Mr. Santello, this is awesome. Very neat and self explanatory. Where can I inquire about a smaller setup like this?
The article acts as more of an informative, rather than a how-to-article, to explain the system without getting into considerable details. We have open houses twice a week on Friday evenings and Sunday afternoons to welcome visitors and explain in person how the system works. It’s a very unique system, with ease of use for the train operator through a Digitrax wireless control for both DC and DCC. As a club we accommodate both users and do so easily in the format provided. EMRRC Board Member
Very interesting thank you for sharing.
Very neat! I might have one of those systems one day!
I think this is interesting from an automated standpoint, but in the video, who’s controlling the train? Where is the throttle? There are switching functions, car drops, and prototypical interlockings i can see this used for, however, it leaves too many questions unanswered and just a teaser of what it can do. I can’t imaging what this costs… eeek! i went to the system’s site and no help there, just a lot of techno-jargon not related to trains at all.
I think it would be nice to have a video about what the costs are, what you ultimately can do, and answer the what, where, when and how to’s for the modeler. I know on my railroad, I’d be interested in lighting automation, and interlocking control…
Impressive control system. At the university where I work we use crestron controls in our classrooms for everything; powering and routing projectors and monitors, moving cameras, audio configuration and leveling, etc. The programs are very versatile and not too complicated to write. Thanks for this great article and video. I’ll show it to the folks at work.
Great concept and setup. I would love to have an article with more detail and without the obnoxious music. My older ears have a hard time hearing the explanations with all the extra noise.
Hello Sam, The article explains that the throttle control is a wireless Digitrax throttle for both DC and DCC. For video purposes, we chose for someone else to control the throttle only because Don,(the demonstrator) had a hard enough time talking into a camera. We took one less job off his hands. You won’t see anything specific like model train stuff on the Crestron website. As far as whats, where’s and whens. I’ve never had to tell a customer that something couldn’t be done. The sky is the limit. Hope this helps. Lou
Very impressive but how about some idea of the cost of the components and installation?
For those of you interested, although this video is not the same layout, this video gives you more refined detail of the Crestron capabilities and a closer view of some functions. Thank you. Lou
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g229lOnY8AE&list=UU5Hx5Jx88AhW4v7V1EepTYQ
Okay, I’ve watched the video, read the article in my hard copy of the March 2015 Model Railroader and I’ve even perused the Creston.com website and I still don’t know the model of the Creston controller, the touch screens nor what they cost.
Really, really incomplete information, people!
Great presentation of the future in operation a layout. Confused me so badly I reread the article the magazine
Lou and all club members are doing a very impressive job of pleasing everyone (especialy us viewers) and are to be congratulated.