In control I explained how the underside of the layout is wired. Now for the controllers and control panel.
I decided on two controllers. This is perhaps more than necessary for a layout of this size but I wanted two controllers to get optimum control of different loco types. I find that the older locos and some recent ones respond better to PWM feedback controllers. I used the now defunct ECM controllers on earlier layouts many years ago and found them to be highly effective. The mo
I opted for DC rather than DCC for a number of reasons including:
I have a number of older locomotives that would be more difficult to chip
I felt that DCC was unnecessary on such a small layout – although I am now in two minds and I ended up over-engineering the DC anyway!
I chose cab control as described in Wiring the Layout Part 2 (my copy is about 40 years old but I do not think cab-control has changed much) mainly because it is what I had done before on a pre
Last year I was asked a question about how I intended to actuate the points. Unfortunately I missed that question and so have only just responded. Apologies to Jack Benson for that. Here is the explanation I promised. I am using stiff push/pull wires under the baseboard as shown here:
The other components in the design are choc-box connectors. The brass insides of the choc-box connectors are used as joiners for the wire to allow the system to be re-configurable (see 1). T
