So I realised that while I've done six posts recently about my trip to
Barrow Hill Live, as yet I haven't shown you a single model railway! So this post will show a model railway, but something a little out of the ordinary.
According to the programme there were 11 layouts on show and yet the one I found most interesting wasn't listed as it was part of the
Model Electronic Railway Group (MERG) display stand. Now I've messed about with some
electronics on this blog, but my efforts pale in comparison to those on show here. What you can see in the photo is a DC layout (no fancy computer control) which is fully automated by the stack of electronics in the centre. Essentially the track is broken down into a large number of independent blocks each of which is controlled by a
MERG SuperBloc board which ensures that two trains can never try and occupy the same piece of track, as well as controlling the signals and updating a layout diagram running on the laptop (from the discussion that was all the laptop was used for given that the system was DC and not DCC).
It was great fun to watch with trains running at different speeds being held at signals until the next block was clear, and the guy who had built it was happy to explain and demo how it all worked. I probably spent no more than a few minutes in front of each of the actual layouts on display, but nearer half an hour talking to people on the MERG stand. No surprise then that I've become a member!
If I ever have enough space I do have plans for a large layout that would require block level control due to the track plan so I can see me a) building a number of their kits and b) asking for advice on the forums when my limited electronics knowledge runs out. Hopefully I'll be able to give back by helping more on the software side of things.
I'd have gone to the exhibition for that alone!
ReplyDeleteThat and the full size locomotives were well worth the admission cost.
DeleteThis is fantastic. I'd love to see it but wouldn't know where to start designing it.
ReplyDeleteIt's like Star Trek meets model railways... "It's control, Jim, but not as we know it" ... "Mark, you can't be serious!" Sorry, showing my Trekkie credentials a bit :-) This would have frightened the bejaysus out of me and I would have run from the hall whimpering. Electronics frighten me...although I admit it's pretty darned awesome.
ReplyDeleteI must admit that while I earn my living programming computers, and some of my free time messing about with electronics I'm (so far at least) quite happy for my model railways to be mostly electronics free. I like a good old fashioned DC controller that makes anything on the track move. When I started to get back into the hobby last year I did look into DCC but while I'm sure it can be useful, it seemed to take a lot of the fun out of controlling a layout.
DeleteI specifically liked this layout because it wasn't DCC but it did add some semblance of control -- the ability to ensure two trains didn't run into each other being the most interesting to me. If I ever have the space, the layout currently incubating in my head involves a very long continuous run, and it would be nice to have multiple trains on it at the same time without having to go DCC and I think the MERG SuperBloc should let me do that.