I’ve been wanting a Baldwin Centipede in N scale for 30 years, and finally, there’s one coming out soon. I had the money in my hands, but let the opportunity slip past. I bought an oscilloscope instead.
throttle
The Command Project, So Far
Did you know that you don’t actually need a Digital Command Control station to run your decoder-equipped locomotives? Use the power pack you already have. Just turn the speed knob up all the way, and encode the commands manually by flipping the direction switch back and forth, at about 8,000 times per second. If you do the timings precisely enough, your decoder-equipped locomotives will respond appropriately. What could be simpler?
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What, another Arduino throttle already?
Ahh, you’ve noticed that I’ve been on a bit of a throttle jag lately. I just couldn’t help myself on this one. I saw the APDS-9960 RGB and Gesture Sensor in a recent SparkFun new-products announcement, and immediately knew what to do with it.
How To Build Chuck’s New Throttle
Would you like to build your own version of the automated, Arduino-based throttle I recently built for Chuck’s layout? Well, read on!
Introducing the Library Project
We toured the Central Library’s new Bausch & Lomb building on its opening day, back in 1997. Being the proud parents of a toddler, we naturally visited the new Children’s Center on the second floor. I noticed the glassed-in space under the stairs immediately. “Good place to put a railroad,” I thought. It took me seventeen years to turn that idle notion into reality, but here it is.
Chuck’s New Throttle: Installation
As you may recall, Chuck’s new throttle was essentially functional, but needed some detail work before installation in his layout. I’m smack in the middle of fall show season, so this is a particularly bad time to get things accomplished. The morning after the Mini Maker Faire, I dragged myself out of bed early, and proceeded to attach the remaining pieces.
Furniture Railroads 