There's a computer on my railroad! Not what you may think of, but a computer none the less. It's like one of the computers in your car, an electronic "magic box" that contains a processor, memory and some sort of operating software or firmware, so it meets the criteria to be a computer.
There it is, lurking under the locomotive above like a troll under a bridge. It's a Digitrax DCS-100 DCC controller, the brain behind how my trains are operated. I mention DCC control in the "About" page on this blog. Now that I have the ability to run trains, it's time I do some basic programming of the individual decoders in each locomotive, such as assigning them an address other than the default number they all come with (3). Once this is done, I can dial up that address - the one-to-four digit number on the side of each locomotive - on a handheld throttle, and I'm then controlling that loco.
That's pretty easily done, but decoders have a host of features involving both how each loco performs and sounds, that usually need to be adjusted, so that each one behaves pretty much like the others. Different model and decoder manufacturers have their own way of doing things, and it's nice to establish some in-house standards. (Standards do exist for DCC decoders and systems, these having been established by the National Model Railroad Association (
NMRA), but they don't cover everything). This can get pretty complex and tedious, when trying to program using only the handheld throttle - the only equivalent to a keyboard, mouse and monitor that the Digitrax computer has.
Fortunately, there is another organization that has developed a freeware program and interface to simplify this task -
Decoder Pro by JMRI. This software is run on a conventional PC (or Mac), and gives the user a nice graphical programming interface, with the loco usually resting on a specially wired programming track. The loco in the first photo is on my temporary programming track; I will eventually have one built into the layout, disguised as an abandoned siding. It has to be insulated from the rest of the track.
A couple of Decoder Pro screenshots:
Computers, of course, can have other uses when actually attached to a model railroad. The technology exists to completely or partially automate many functions, such as turnout routing (switching), signaling, and even full train control. If I get into automated signalling before this thing is complete, I think that would be as far as I'd personally want to go.
When unattached, the internet, of course, has changed a lot about the hobby, as it has many aspects of our lives. I can research most anything about the time period I'm modeling, and the now defunct railroads. I can shop for just about anything I need, new or used. I can watch demos of how to do things on YouTube. I enjoy reading a few model railroading forums on the web, and sometimes I'm able to contribute there, and help someone out. That's pretty cool.
Last but not least, computers and the internet enable me to share all this with the world through this blog!
