Connecting The Railway To The Computer

Hardware

We have used a Lenz DCC command station to operate the railway, this requires the locos to be fitted with DCC chips to allow them to operate on the layout. When we started building our layout we did not have much knowledge on DCC itself which proved to be a disadvantage as we were learning about the control system at the same time as the computer software. If I was to start again I would like to have spennt more time getting the DCC system set up and running properly before moving onto the computer side of the layout.

One advantage with a DCC system is that it can be used to control the point motors and signals, etc as well as the locomotives. The point motors are Peco point motors operated using a Lenz LS150 point decoder. The signals have been but using some LEDs that are connected up to a Lenz LS100 accessory decoder which can also be used to operate any other devices electrical you may like to operate from the DCC system.

The Lenz system is connected to the coputer via its XpressNet system which is also used to interface the DCC controllers to the command station. The Computer is connected to XpressNet using a Lenz USB interface.

Software

We are using the JMRI software to control our layout from the computer. The JMRI software works with many of the DCC systems available and can be used in many different ways to suit your requirements and skills. See website for more information: http://jmri.sourceforge.net/



I will shortly be adding a few photos to complete this page.

Valid HTML 4.01 Transitional Valid CSS!