the ultimate 4x8?

[rogertra]

Control panels went out with the Dodo.  Don't need one for DCC.
Cheers
Roger T.

Roger-

Not necessarily true.

People with DC pikes still need control panels and even some folks running DCC do. For example, My grandson has a control panel on the DCC layout I built for him. It controls turnouts and has switches for the various lighting areas of the layout. I had planned to use an EZCommand DCC system for him but feared that its limited power and few function controls would be problematic, so I used separate power for the turnouts but then got an NCE DCC system instead of the EZC. Still, the separate turnout power saved quite a bit of money over DCC turnouts. The track and a majority of the things that move are Bachmann products. I think Bachmann has the best for the money trains for an entry-level model rail. If he sticks with it, his Bachmann trains can move along with him. If he doesn't, it's not a fortune lost.
                                                                                                                                                           -- D

Doneldon

I can see your point.  While my old DC GER never had a "control panel" in the conventional sense, it did have one panel at Granville Junction that had a track plan and DPDT switches controlling power to the various sections.  However, as all my throttles were walk around plug in throttles, as are my DCC throttles these days, there was never the traditional control panel.  i.e., one that had all controls, throttles, block controls, etc., etc.,  in one central location.  You had to walk around the railroad with your train, just as in real life.

Except in staging yards, I do not use switch machines, all my switches are lined by using a home made over centre spring.  Just touch the points and the switch is lined for the new direction.  For me, more prototypical than using switch machines as my GER is not a CTC dispatched railway so has almost no power operated switches, all are and lined, even out on the main, by hand.  Throttles are all walk around.  I have six plug in points just for my main yard, that's a 33 foot length.  Even if I did use switch machines, I still would not build a "control panel" but would put the activating switch on the fascia  opposite the switches location. Control panels for flat yards are not prototypical, unless you're modelling European.  :-)

But you know me.  Trying to be as prototypical as possible and not a builder of model railroad but the builder of a railroad model and especially not a builder of [gasp] a train set.

Cheers

Roger T.

[jbrock27]

We ALL know, you've said it ad nauseam.

[jward]

not sure where he hides the control panel, but the builder mentioned the layout is dc with 14 blocks and 2 cabs so there has to be a control panel somewhere. given the overall level of engineering that went into his design it wouldn't surprise me if he has a portable control panel that attatched to the layout with a computer ribbon cable. those have about 60 conductors, and the small wire size (22-24 guage can be used) is not a factor in dc the way it is in dcc.

[CNE Runner]

I have notice a lively, and interesting, discussion on portable control panels and would like to contribute. For some time I have been a member of the Narrow Gauge Modelling Online forum (...a UK forum) and, while I don't model in narrow gauge or English railways (more's the pity), I have learned a great deal from this website. It can be accessed (although you must join to go further than the 'welcoming' page) at http://ngrm-online.com/forums/index.php?

More to the point is how to reliably connect all those DC block wires (not to mention turnout wiring) each time the protable control panel is attached? Our clever English brothers use various computer plugs. If you remember the days of yore in computers, they used various plugs/sockets to connect printers, disk drives, etc. to the CPU. [You young-ins will have to take my word for this...heck we used to make 'do' with 16 mb.] Those same plugs can be had at Radio Shack and will handle 20+ wires in come cases. Anyway those folks in the exhibition circuit (UK) have to put up, and take down, their layouts on a regular basis. Many of these layouts utilize those aforementioned computer plugs. I am sure there are some very knowledgeable people on this forum that can give us the number of said plugs.

I hope this helps by giving a possible answer to the portable control panel question. Oh, another tip, I learned from that Welsh website was to use plastic binding pieces to hold wiring in place...genius!

Regards to all,
Ray

PS: Jeff, it looks like you have peaked some interest with your thread.

[rogertra]

We ALL know, you've said it ad nauseam.

Because I don't play with toy trains! 

I'm building a model of a railroad.

Cheers

Roger T.

[Doneldon]

heck we used to make 'do' with 16 mb
Regards to all,
Ray

Ray-

It was tighter than that! My first home computer, a Trash 80, had 4 KB of RAM which I daringly increased to 16 KB when I installed a real (for the time) keyboard and an on/off indicator light. That wasn't the only difference, either. Programs and data were kept on a cassette recorder (serial so it took lots of time) and there was no provision for a floppy drive for a while. I finally sprang for two DSDD (double-sided, double-density) 5.25" floppies in  custom bay in the computer desk I built from scratch because there weren't any computer desks or even plans yet. I think those floppies held 130 KB on each side but they were light years faster to access than the cassette. The first hard drive, which I didn't buy due to cost, held 20 MB and cost $1999, or $100 per megabyte. At that rate, the one TB drive in the laptop I'm using right now would cost $100,000,000. And I haven't checked, but I'd guess the MTBF is many, many times as long as those old drives.

One thing was better though: The economical use of resources. I could do actual word processing on my first computer, without today's mostly unused bells and whistles of course, because programmers did their work so carefully that those limited storage and calculating capacities were optimized. Now everything has millions of lines of code and no one worries about how large programs are or how much data is in a file.

In some ways, computers were more fun then. They were certainly more challenging though not in the frustrating way that they challenge us today. It was reasonable to write one's own programs and it was a real kick to figure out how to accomplish a task with such limited speed and memory. I was very lucky in that regard. I spent Saturday mornings of my senior year of high school (I had a call yesterday about the planning for our 50th anniversary reunion next summer - Wow, did that hurt) playing with what was then the most powerful computer on earth, an IBM System 7090 at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. There was a program for high school kids who were good at math and I somehow got into it. The best thing I came out of it with was no fear of the machines, unlike so many of my age mates, some of whom are still intimidated by computers.

Well, enough of my stroll down memory lane. Let's play trains!
                                                                                                -- D

[jbrock27]

Because I don't play with toy trains!  

I'm building a model of a railroad.

Cheers

Roger T.

Indeed, so you have clearly stated on enough occasions now, that I don't know what purpose it serves to continually bear such repetition.  What would you like for doing so, The Victoria Cross, an MBE?

Doc, obviously, not all of us play with trains...

[rogertra]

Because I don't play with toy trains! 

I'm building a model of a railroad.

Cheers

Roger T.

Indeed, so you have clearly stated on enough occasions now, that I don't know what purpose it serves to continually bear such repetition.  What would you like for doing so, The Victoria Cross, an MBE?

OK, point taken.  :-)


However, as a VC is only awarded for bravery in combat, I'll take the MBE.  With thanks.



Cheers

Roger T.

[jbrock27]

Excellent!  I will talk with her Majesty!

[rogertra]

Excellent!  I will talk with her Majesty!

I knew I could count on you. 

Cheers

Roger T.

[Pops]

We ALL know, you've said it ad nauseam.

Because I don't play with toy trains! 

I'm building a model of a railroad.

Cheers

Roger T.

Hate to disillusion you, but as soon as you turn on the power, you're playing with your toy trains.  Granted, they may look more accurate to scale, but unless you are building a 1:1 scale, it's still a toy train.  Put away your feeling of superiority and relax.  It's just a hobby.

[Jerrys HO]

Hate to disillusion you, but as soon as you turn on the power, you're playing with your toy trains.  Granted, they may look more accurate to scale, but unless you are building a 1:1 scale, it's still a toy train.  Put away your feeling of superiority and relax.  It's just a hobby.

Pop's,

Well put.

Jerry

[CNE Runner]

Thanks for the walk down 'Memory Lane' Don. Yes, I remember the 'Trash 80s' and their cassette drives. How about the similar Commodor PET? I went to the 'dark side' and got all my training on Apple products ('funny how the 'dark side' is now the 'bright side'). Anyway things have definitely changed. I wonder how much change will occur in our hobby over the next couple of years?

Back to the thread: I just wrote to a friend in the 'People's Republik of Kalifornia' and he uses RV > auto connectors on his [portable] layout. A quick check through the 2013 RV Accessories catalog showed that these connectors range from 4 to 7 circuits. Our motorhome has a 7-way connector that I would think is too large/heavy for our hobby use (although there are flat connectors that look smaller). I think DCC requires much less in wiring and, therefore, would require a smaller connector.

That being said, any powered turnout controllers would need wiring - from the controller to the panel (assuming you aren't using point decoders). On some layouts that can result in a lot of wires! I guess those previously mentioned computer connections would be the best.

I will try to display my electronics ignorance at our local Radio Shack and see if I can get a part # on those PC connectors.

Regards,
Ray

[rogertra]

We ALL know, you've said it ad nauseam.

Because I don't play with toy trains! 

I'm building a model of a railroad.

Cheers

Roger T.

Hate to disillusion you, but as soon as you turn on the power, you're playing with your toy trains.  Granted, they may look more accurate to scale, but unless you are building a 1:1 scale, it's still a toy train.  Put away your feeling of superiority and relax.  It's just a hobby.

Did you notice, I put a wink at the end of that comment?  Of course we are playing with toy train.  Duh!

Cheers

Roger T.

[jward]

on my own layouts which have been sectional, i used radio shack connectors  whih are available in up to 12 conductors in both male and female. you solder your wires into the plugs, then insert them into the plastic connectors. in doing so, it is a good idea to reverse one or more of the plugs if you use more than one set of connectors. that way, each set of connectors will have a unique setup of plugs, and it will be immpossible to accidentally connect the wrong connectors together.