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2,578 Posts
Hey there from a newbie!
Im planning on building my railway using dcc from the ground up. As I will be modelling a portion of the west coast main line and its adjacent carriage works I am interested in any information or recommendations on dcc and computer control. I have a hornby select controll and 4 locos with hornby decoders at the moment, but am not "married" to them.
The plan is to have the computer linked to the railway to look after the running of the trains to a timetable whilst I take control of the train movements and shunting within the carriage works etc. Id like to know which decoders and controllers will work with various software and how to go about linking the computer to the railway physically, is this a usb plug n play or a more complex bus type arrangment? Id like to have the controll panel (?) displayed on the moniter.
Also being new to the hobby, is it possible to controll the signals (I'll be using semaphore) using the computer/dcc to coincide with the points and permissions to enter the blocks of track. Ie if a portion of track is occupied by a train then the signal will be at danger untill the train as cleared that block etc. I know absolutly nothing about signalling or railway operation!!!!! Id like to make my train movements as realistic as possible.
I know this is a big ask but any information will be highly appreciated!
Steve
Im planning on building my railway using dcc from the ground up. As I will be modelling a portion of the west coast main line and its adjacent carriage works I am interested in any information or recommendations on dcc and computer control. I have a hornby select controll and 4 locos with hornby decoders at the moment, but am not "married" to them.
The plan is to have the computer linked to the railway to look after the running of the trains to a timetable whilst I take control of the train movements and shunting within the carriage works etc. Id like to know which decoders and controllers will work with various software and how to go about linking the computer to the railway physically, is this a usb plug n play or a more complex bus type arrangment? Id like to have the controll panel (?) displayed on the moniter.
Also being new to the hobby, is it possible to controll the signals (I'll be using semaphore) using the computer/dcc to coincide with the points and permissions to enter the blocks of track. Ie if a portion of track is occupied by a train then the signal will be at danger untill the train as cleared that block etc. I know absolutly nothing about signalling or railway operation!!!!! Id like to make my train movements as realistic as possible.
I know this is a big ask but any information will be highly appreciated!
Steve