![]() However, the large scale (G gauge) trains also run on DCC and are very entertaining and robust. I find the figures and people to be tiny. The engines and cars are wonderfully detailed, but best viewed at eye level. The most popular scale for DCC trains is HO. There are a number of automation examples on YouTube as well. ![]() There are support forums on groups.io and for all of this stuff. ![]() If you want to set something up fairly quickly so the children (even if adult-sized) can watch the trains run, then take a look at another system. Maybe start small with two ovals, three trains and a passing siding, or something like that. But this would be less expensive than custom software to automate your current inventory. And you'd need new locomotives, the command systems, the software, detection hardware and so on. Also, in order to get what you want, you might have to invest a significant amount of time programming and configuring the software. These are all software packages that can provide a high level of automation, but they work with DCC (Digital Command Control) and engines with decoders inside, not post-war Lionel. JMRI has been mentioned and there's also iTrain, RocRail and TrainController. The ESU ECos system supports automation as well. However, the level of automation you seek is regularly done with Marklin command systems and trains, for example. There just aren't any off-the-shelf computer automation systems I can think of for three-rail O gauge. This forum is the perfect place to be.Īs has been mentioned, one main stumbling block is your inventory of old and new locomotives and command systems. Unlike many situations where the general public cites its success as proof that we should be able solve whatever problem they have, your request in this context is more appropriate than you may realize. One day, relatively soon I think, you will be pleasantly surprised to see it actually occur.įlying people to the moon and back was, and remains to this day, the most complex control task ever accomplished. Continue to ask questions and contribute. ![]() Yet, we're all are on track (no pun intended) to make it happen, sooner or later. My feeling is that what your asking is still too much for present-day model railroad enthusiasts and suppliers to handle, at least currently. One consequence of so many kids having and playing with toy trains back in the day is that a large number of them became technical professionals who in their careers aspired to solve these kinds of challenges, starting with what they learned with those trains - myself included. This is often done in developing complex solutions to real-world problems. The thing about making a small-scale world that mimics reality is that the control you seek is just as complex as in the real world - in fact the software and user interfaces needed for your layout could easily be transported up to 1:1 scale afterward. You would think that doing it on a small scale would be much simpler than in 1:1, but it's actually no different, especially for the user interface and control software, and only slightly simpler for your small-world infrastructure. It's important that it function correctly to be safe to the trains being controlled, the people on them, and those on the ground that the trains will encounter. In the real world (1:1 scale) what you're asking takes a great deal of what is generically called "infrastructure", a significant amount of software for user interface and control, and a great deal of detailed testing to make sure it works correctly before making it operational.
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