Tonight's little triumph on the work bench was to finally work out what I got wrong with my XpressNet computer interface I was building. The result a fully functional interface between an ageing laptop and my low-end DCC kit (a Lenz Compact), however this gives me access to do things over Xpressnet, and if I every do get around to upgrading the compact I will be able to control lots more.

The immediate gratification came in setting up WiThrottle and driving a sound equipped loco from my Android phone - plus I get access to more functions than are available on the Lenz controller itself - still not enough for sound really, but it's a small step forwards.

This is really a stepping stone in a set of experiments I want to do to build (or at least prove the concept of), a bespoke control system to be considered for a future project. The idea is for a layout that will require 8 plus operators, the layout will run to a sequence and the locos will be DCC controlled. Now the issue is how to make sure the right locos get passed around the different operators, especially when the operator maybe 15 feet away from a loco - probably can't read the loco number to get the DCC address.

The idea, have a computer that knows the sequence of operations for each operator, connect the DCC command station to the computer. Each operator has a throttle, not DCC, but connected to the computer, probably wirelessly. As the sequence progresses the computer sends a message to the throttle that is displayed to the driver. The message says what the next operation for that driver is, in effect it rosters the movements out to the drivers. Since the computer knows the loco involved, it sets the DCC address for that throttle. As the driver turns up the speed control, the data is sent to the computer, which simply passes this on to the DCC command station.

The computer is not driving the trains, it is merely dispatching sequence information, assigning locos and being a bridge between the throttle network and the DCC system. So I now have the first bit in place, a link between a computer and a DCC command station. Next it's the throttles and the computer to throttle link. The throttles themselves seem simple, and as for the link, I'm thinking about using bluetooth modules - gives you wireless that is legal to use in this country and computers already have interfaces for it. Plus bluetooth stuff is available so cheaply now it's not worth spending time or money on anything else.