Rico
BN Modeller
Well for a while now I've been trying to figure out a good way to monitor staging tracks on my BN Lake Winifred Subdivision at "Grand Coulee". This is where the three lower staging tracks converge into one before emerging on the West end of the layout.
I've been looking at IR detectors and such but realized that a train covering a detector will light an LED on the panel, but it may be actually past that fouling point.
Then someone gave me a web-cam the other night and I thought I might give that a shot. Well it turned out not too bad, in fact I even went as far as to add a little scenery as well.
Now as long as the trains stay clear of the crossing I know the switches aren't fouled! The trick is approach slow so you can kill the power at the right spot. I still have to mount the laptop over where I can see it from the open area.
Another one of those "temporary fixes" that will likely last a few years...
I've been looking at IR detectors and such but realized that a train covering a detector will light an LED on the panel, but it may be actually past that fouling point.
Then someone gave me a web-cam the other night and I thought I might give that a shot. Well it turned out not too bad, in fact I even went as far as to add a little scenery as well.
Now as long as the trains stay clear of the crossing I know the switches aren't fouled! The trick is approach slow so you can kill the power at the right spot. I still have to mount the laptop over where I can see it from the open area.
Another one of those "temporary fixes" that will likely last a few years...
