2 X 4 Everett & Monte Cristo RR(ish) build

[TrippiN]

Now that I can see the pics,

Neat track plan. Is it N or N narrow gauge? Either way looks entertaining(operations) I myself am still in the loop running phase(O-36 curves ATLAS O and Gargraves O gauge track) Still in the planning stage for an S gauge layout the O and S gauge layouts will be display layouts like the stores used to have and will be surrounded by a loop of On30. At some point I will make a portable On30 modular setup to experiment with switching and operations.

Thanks. It is in N scale as a project to get my feet wet and test a few 'robotic running' ideas I have. I hope to get some skills and graduate to HOn30 or better yet, On30.

[AF350]

You have a great start so far on the layout. What you describe for the automated running of your railroad is called CTC (computerized train control) there are some that have been from scratch and there might be a couple plug and play systems out there. They usually include prototypical signals(semaphores) that match what is going on the layout. Not sure you would use signals on a logging layout. But anyway making your own sounds fun.

DCC( digital command control), DCS(digital command system), TMCC(Trainmaster command control) and legacy are all command systems that work very much like a computer network with the track being equal coax or cat5 cable and each locomotive like a client PC this allows you to give different locos on the same track different commands or to lash them up to work as a team. They allow for speed matching 2 or more locos which is almost impossible to do in conventional mode.

What you are wanting to do is a step beyond to total automation, it will be very cool once you get it up and running.

[TrippiN]

Exactly. Total automation sans the computer... just a simple microcontroller.

The up and back through the switches is a piece of cake. The real trick will be getting the logs off, hauling empties up, loading logs and hauling them down the grade. There is a limit to what can be done in n scale but HO and O.... yummy. Imagine a locomotive with a brain, programmed to do one of X tasks based on environmental feedback. Maybe the track on entire layout being nothing more than a battery and the loco telling the switch what to do, an on board polarity detector to handle switching... lol I am getting a little light headed.

[TrippiN]

Several members here and nscale.net pointed out flaws and or improvements to the upper branch line. The orange line is all tunnel witch exits below switch three. I will back it under a bit more in the final design to allow one more log car behind the switch.

   

Ted