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Electrical Work—My Control Station
In my previous post, I briefly mentioned how I will be using PC connectors as quick disconnects so i can easily detach my control station from the layout.
To build on that, I figured I’d make a post regarding the control station itself.
I started with a roughly 2 x 2 1/2 foot piece of 5-ply plywood i had laying around. I then drilled two holes in the back, and attached two hooks near the front, to allow me to hang it underneath the layout when its not needed.
Next, I screwed on my controller. I may create a post talking about the controller itself, but the basics is that its a custom controller built using 3 PWM controllers off Amazon, 3 DPDT switches for reversing polarity, barrel jack connectors for input and ouput, and 3 red LEDs to indicate whether or not the individual controllers are online.
The most important piece of the control station, though, is the control panel. I have wired both mainlines and the yard track to separate cut off switches, as well as wiring separate blocks to the yard track. These blocks allow me to cut power to the yard lead, A/D track, ladder, each of the classfication tracks, etc. This panel also has the DPDT switch used for the reversing loop. Most of this panel will be redundant once I upgrade to DCC, but its essential for running trains in DC.
Finally, the control station is connected to the layout via a 6-Pin PC connector for the mainlines, and a 20-Pin PC connector for the yard.
CannibalChow, casey-jones and 3 others1 Comment-
Nice work still a lot to be done, keep it up!
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