After my previous post my mind wandered into what might have to be done to revamp my S-Mod yard by replacing the not so good NJ twin coil machines with stall motors. For those that have not seen it I built a rather elaborate control panel for the pre-DCC days that contained everything needed to run a complete layout. It folded up into a suitcase as well.
In my vein of "Keep It Simple" on my new layout I was **very against** performing turnout control functions from the DCC handle. But for a module that is now going to be DCC only forever, I thought about using regular motor decoders to run the switch machines. They are cheap enough and easy to get. Further, I have no experience at all with accessory decoders. The thought of using DCC track power to run the switch machines through motor decoders was at least momentarily interesting and a viable solution. It keeps the "stuff to carry" to an absolute minimum. The stall motors are supposed to be a low current draw. There would be no need for a panel or even a turnout motor power system. You would have to go through the snap switch/extra contact Olympics to power the frog polarity via the movement of the switch machine which could be tedious and annoying. I would ID the turnouts with a number next to them on the layout. The only down side I could think of is the possibility of someone else having a loco address of 01 to 19. (19 turnouts on the yard module) I only have one 2 digit loco address on my B&O Docksider. In my own captive world that would not be a problem. Otherwise, select loco, pop in the turnout number and reverse. All pretty simple in concept and execution. Thank You, Bill Lane Modeling the Mighty Pennsy & PRSL in 1957 in S Scale since 1988 See my finished models at: <http://www.lanestrains.com/> http://www.lanestrains.com Look at what has been made in PRR in S Scale! Custom Train Parts Design <http://www.lanestrains.com/SolidWorks_Modeling.htm> http://www.lanestrains.com/SolidWorks_Modeling.htm PRR Builders Photos Bought, Sold & Traded (Trading is MUCH preferred) <http://www.lanestrains.com/PRRphotos.xls> http://www.lanestrains.com/PRRphotos.xls ***Join the PRR T&HS*** The other members are not ALL like me! <http://www.prrths.com/> http://www.prrths.com <http://www.lanestrains.com/PRRTHS_Application.pdf> http://www.lanestrains.com/PRRTHS_Application.pdf Join the Pennsylvania Reading Seashore Lines Historical Society It's FREE to join! <http://www.prslhs.com/> http://www.prslhs.com Preserving The Memory Of The PRSL [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
