Not completed, but working.
(The Searchlight signal in the background has nothing to do with the CTC board. It is a lightning detector, i.e. time to unplug stuff warning.)
This is my project to keep railroading after dismantling my far too large layout of past years and before any construction of a smaller one in the future.
It is/was fun to build and now operate and the cost of construction was suprisingly low. The LEDs, switches and small electronics were bought as grab bags and the whole thing is run over two wires from an ancient Mac Pro Cheesegrater. (It will run from a Raspberry Pi without modification, but not as satisfactorily.) Interestingly, the most costly part of the project was the wooden frame. I have not purchased wood for years and was shocked at the current prices of what used to be ordinary 1x6 smooth lumber.
The board display is made up of 4x6 inch cheapo plastic panels (Amazon) - an idea gotten from an old YouTube documentary of the first electronic CTC boards. The track schematic is ordinary paper printed on an inkjet and stuck on with rubber cement. (Sticks well but easy to peel for replacement.) The small I2C module for each panel is mounted on the backside and with this concept, any panel can be removed for modification or replacement without affecting the rest of the board. (And lots of changes have been made.)
It is a folded configuration - separated by the red line - upper left is west and lower right is east. Each block has an indicator and there are over a hundred on the main line. If the block length is set to 1 mile (each is individually configurable) then the entire "division" is over a hundred miles long. If the variable for simulation speed is set to lowest, then a freight can take over an hour in real time to get from end to end. Set to really fast, the board blinks far faster than any human dispatcher can possibly follow.
Programming (my other hobby) is varied. As the board itself has no logic, it can be thought of as just a huge touch screen monitor. All operation is controlled from the PC, so it can be set to run as an American freight railroad or as an British passenger system, with the signals and turnouts programmed to match. Every block has a pair of virtual (or real in some cases) block signals that follow the normal operations of real ones - there can't be a violent cornfield meet. Most of the physical signals are programmed to be interlocking and others are being added as I find the need during operations.
Small displays at each station gives the name of the passing or stopped consist, such as "EP453" or "FF166". More displays are planned for the long stretches of main line to give a better understanding of the current status of the board. With lots of trains going in both directions, it is easy to lose track of what is behind that illuminated block LED. As there is no provision for backing up, if two consists are misrouted head to head on a single stretch of main, then the railroad is effectively "locked up" and the dispatcher gets a meeting with his/her boss.
The schematic being large enough to have many varied operational configurations, I have just begun to explore the ramifications of operation. The latest is a simulation of profit. Each of the five possible consists (Express passenger, Passenger, Fast freight, Freight, Slow Freight and each with its own max speed and acceleration) makes a maximum amount of profit if it is not delayed end to end. However, if a Passenger consist is stuck at a platform while some slow drag is tying up one of the long stretches of main line, then the expenses continue to mount. Or, if a slow freight is continually side-tracked to wait, the excruciatingly long acceleration/braking time really adds to the delay of clearing the main. It is quite possible for a train to descend below the profit breakeven point long before it reaches its destination.
Anyway, it was fun to build and is fun to program and operate. Not an actual layout in reality, but interesting in itself while I decide if to build a smaller physical layout.
Ken in East Texas.
(The Searchlight signal in the background has nothing to do with the CTC board. It is a lightning detector, i.e. time to unplug stuff warning.)
This is my project to keep railroading after dismantling my far too large layout of past years and before any construction of a smaller one in the future.
It is/was fun to build and now operate and the cost of construction was suprisingly low. The LEDs, switches and small electronics were bought as grab bags and the whole thing is run over two wires from an ancient Mac Pro Cheesegrater. (It will run from a Raspberry Pi without modification, but not as satisfactorily.) Interestingly, the most costly part of the project was the wooden frame. I have not purchased wood for years and was shocked at the current prices of what used to be ordinary 1x6 smooth lumber.
The board display is made up of 4x6 inch cheapo plastic panels (Amazon) - an idea gotten from an old YouTube documentary of the first electronic CTC boards. The track schematic is ordinary paper printed on an inkjet and stuck on with rubber cement. (Sticks well but easy to peel for replacement.) The small I2C module for each panel is mounted on the backside and with this concept, any panel can be removed for modification or replacement without affecting the rest of the board. (And lots of changes have been made.)
It is a folded configuration - separated by the red line - upper left is west and lower right is east. Each block has an indicator and there are over a hundred on the main line. If the block length is set to 1 mile (each is individually configurable) then the entire "division" is over a hundred miles long. If the variable for simulation speed is set to lowest, then a freight can take over an hour in real time to get from end to end. Set to really fast, the board blinks far faster than any human dispatcher can possibly follow.
Programming (my other hobby) is varied. As the board itself has no logic, it can be thought of as just a huge touch screen monitor. All operation is controlled from the PC, so it can be set to run as an American freight railroad or as an British passenger system, with the signals and turnouts programmed to match. Every block has a pair of virtual (or real in some cases) block signals that follow the normal operations of real ones - there can't be a violent cornfield meet. Most of the physical signals are programmed to be interlocking and others are being added as I find the need during operations.
Small displays at each station gives the name of the passing or stopped consist, such as "EP453" or "FF166". More displays are planned for the long stretches of main line to give a better understanding of the current status of the board. With lots of trains going in both directions, it is easy to lose track of what is behind that illuminated block LED. As there is no provision for backing up, if two consists are misrouted head to head on a single stretch of main, then the railroad is effectively "locked up" and the dispatcher gets a meeting with his/her boss.
The schematic being large enough to have many varied operational configurations, I have just begun to explore the ramifications of operation. The latest is a simulation of profit. Each of the five possible consists (Express passenger, Passenger, Fast freight, Freight, Slow Freight and each with its own max speed and acceleration) makes a maximum amount of profit if it is not delayed end to end. However, if a Passenger consist is stuck at a platform while some slow drag is tying up one of the long stretches of main line, then the expenses continue to mount. Or, if a slow freight is continually side-tracked to wait, the excruciatingly long acceleration/braking time really adds to the delay of clearing the main. It is quite possible for a train to descend below the profit breakeven point long before it reaches its destination.
Anyway, it was fun to build and is fun to program and operate. Not an actual layout in reality, but interesting in itself while I decide if to build a smaller physical layout.
Ken in East Texas.
