Model trains

Archiver

Another good site for model RR electronics is Wayne Roderick's site. He has
a number of clever projects and is an expert in both modeling and
electronics. His website is well done and fun to visit.

http://www.ida.net/users/tetonsl/railroad/

Ray McArthur

Archiver

This post is for the 21 model train aficionados who asked for copies of my
model train schematic and codes.

I got tired of the jerky starts and stops using the pulsout command, so I
installed a Parallax servo on the shaft of the train power supply speed
control. After a few trial and error servo codes it works beautifully. The
start and stops are very smooth and very realistic. I used a gimbaled shaft
coupler I found in my junk box which gve my quite a bit of leeway in
installed the servo. Build a bracket for it out of 1/16 aluminum one inch
wide to hold it in position. If you can't find a gimbaled shaft coupler and
have to use a rigid one, you will have to be pretty precise in your mounting.

I used 1300 for the CW rotation, which gives me about 65 to 70 percent of
full speed, with a pause of 200. This gives a good smooth acceleration and a
realistic full speed. For navigating the turnouts I used a CW rotation of
850 with a pause of 200 which gave me a smooth slow speed for passing through
the switches. CCW rotation in all cases was 300. If you decide to go this
route I suggest you put a "servo reset" routine at the beginning of your
program to make sure the servo always starts from full CCW.

If your program requires that one train stop while the other is running, you
will, of course have to use a pulsout command for that instance. I'm
thinking of another power supply and another servo so I can control each
track individually.

Any questions e-mail me direct.

Have fun

Sid