I figure this could be fun. I would love to see everyones control panels. DCC or DC, it doesn't matter. I'm at the stage of my build where I need to think about control panels. Do I recess it, have it sticking out, or do I just use the facia? How do I access the back side? Do people even use control panels anymore with the advent of JMRI? Does using Digitrax change things? I would love to see your control panels and how you access the back side of them. I have some ideas how I want to do mine, but I am the world's biggest copy cat, so I may steal some of your ideas.
Progress on my N Scale road came to a halt early last year, but this is my control panel that is in progress. It'll be primarily a DC railroad, but with a convenient DCC input when I want to learn more about it. Left panel is for turnouts, right is for blocks and other functions. Kato power pack will sit in the center. The panels are hinged, trim has not been fixed in place at the bottom of each panel.
Wow, that is some NASA looking stuff right there. I think my panels will be hinges like this although I want the track plan on there. How do keep it straight which switch goes to which turnout?
Great topic, I am sure you will get lots of idea here. On my current layout I have a control panel for each of my two staging yards The first photo below is a close up of one of them. Some explanation of what it does is as follows. The red push buttons select the routes using all of the turnouts except for the wye turnout. All trains enter the staging yard on the aligned route. When leaving the staging tracks trains travel around the loop in the clockwise direction. The wye turnout is automatically switched using sensors but can also be switched with the push buttons next to it on the control panel. The toggle switches select which sidings will be used in an automatic mode which also use sensors. The panels are mounted in boxes which is mounted on the edge of the layout. The photo shows both boxes before the panels were finished. A pair of 4-40 machine screws secure the panel on the bottom so the insides can be accessed when needed. Here are some links to posts I have on my layout blog about control panels on my current layout. https://palisadecanyonrr.blogspot.com/search/label/staging yard https://palisadecanyonrr.blogspot.com/2020/09/updated-control-panel.html https://palisadecanyonrr.blogspot.com/2017/11/single-turnout-control-panel.html
Thank you. On my previous N Scale road, I displayed small numbered signs by each turnout and I'll probably stick with that plan. CSX does this at our local yard as can be seen at each switchstand. [Cayce, SC - 03/16/1993]
It actually takes a much shorter period of time to memorize which button/switch goes to which switch/block than you might think, especially when one train is headed into a block already occupied by another. Doug
My last layout I had in my teenager years had the atlas switch and block controls. There were numerous times when I threw the wrong switch and sent a train onto an unpowered siding. Good times. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
That’s pretty cool! It does keep it simpler and Prototypical to boot. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
So many good ideas here. Your panels are simple (compared to what I have going on in my head) but easy to understand. Thanks for the blog links. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I still make plenty of mistakes. The challenge of real railroading without the dire, life-threatening, consequences! Doug
There's actually truth in that, as the most frequently used turnout numbers get committed to memory through simple repetition. So do the turnout numbers that cause trouble.
You don't want to see my control panels. Nobody wants to see my control panels. I don't want to see my control panels.
JMRI Panel Pro, with touch screen monitor? I have a Pi SPROG 3 DCC system, and am thinking along those lines... eventually.
I made this prototype for my brothers new layout. It's wireless and just need a power cable. It has been in use for well over a year and it's working fine. I am just going to make some minor changes before I make another three. There's going to be one for each station. The layout isn't ready yet. My camera doesn't like led's. The visibility is actually very good, even at daylight.
SDVike, there are some fantastic control panels shown by some very talented model railroaders but I have one to post and I am not being sarcastic nor being facetious with the posting. You asked "Does using Digitrax change things?" IMHO, yes using DCC, by any manufacturer, should remove the need for a fancy panel, but using DC you will need some type of a panel. So here is my control panel used on club layout and home layout: With this one unit I control loco motor, lights, and sounds. I also control lights in tail end cars, track cleaning car motors and lights in cabeese. I also control all of the turnouts as the club has numbered each turnout with a small popsicle stick sign near each turnout. By using power routing turnout the sidings or yard tracks will be dead until switch is thrown and then dead again when switch is closed. Be well, Carl
Has anybody tried displaying a JMRI control panel on their smart phone, and controlling switches with it? I already use my smart phone with Engine Driver app to run trains, and it can throw switches by DCC address (which could correspond to numbered signs on the layout, but in N scale, they would be big as billboards to be visible.) But I don't yet have any of switches under DCC control. It would be nice to have a touch-sensitive display of the layout (or a section thereof) on the phone, to be able to point to a switch, see it's status (even if that is just the last commanded status), and throw it if needed.
