I needed a box to keep all my NCE Powercab "stuff" for programming my DCC engines. I also use the ESU decoder tester. So I was looking for a box to put all of in and have it easy to set up. I run Z scale trains and made a layout that fit into a cigar box. The Rocky Patel cigar boxes are nice because they have a panel which swings out in front. One of the two cigar box layouts I made had the swing out panel in front and I made the layout capable to run with the top lid closed and the front panel open with working street lights on the layout. Anyhow the cigar box with the opening front panel appealed to my idea for the DCC box. eBay sells the Rocky Patel cigar boxes (no cigars) in a smaller size. I measured the length of the NCE handset and figured it would just fit in diagonally and it did. I mounted the NCE panel to the side of the box. I drilled a hole big enough to pass the plug through the side of the box. The reason for the front opening panel was for the programming track. Open the panel and there is the track. This idea would work for N or HO scales with the larger Rocky Patel box as it has a much longer panel. Pictures to follow.
Dave, get a Lithium Ion power pac and you wont need to drag that wall-wart around. Should be able to run trains all day with a typical 10,000 ma/hr pack Nice idea. I have a board with dual gauge and a metal box with DC-PWM and DCC in it. No storage though. Guess I'll have to upgrade
