Presentations
RHJ Rail has produced a number of presentations as part of the Bow Valley Model Railroad Association program.
To view these, go to Presentations
Technical Aspects of the Layout
For those interested in some of the technical details about the layout and its operation, here are some points of interest.
The layout utilizes a detection system referred to as Absolute Position Detection (APD) which detects when a train is at an exact position on the layout. This is different than a block detection system where the system only detects that a train is somewhere in a block.
This section describes how the layout functions and is divided into several parts as follows:
1. General Operating Environment (below)
2. DCC Operation
3. Automated Operations Control Centre (AOCC)
4. Scripts
5. Animation
6. Sound
7. Script concepts and organization
8. Signal System
RHJ Rail is a DCC (Digital Command Control) layout which means that many engines can be run on the same track at the same time (if extreme care is exercised so that no two engines occupy exactly the same space at the same time!). The particular brand of DCC equipment used is Digitrax.
For more information about DCC, see TECHNICAL Page 2
Much of the layout operation is done using computer control. The Digitrax network is interfaced to a Windows PC and software has been developed to run trains, special effects and other features.
The implementation of a Track Occupancy Status (TOS) system has proceeded smoothly and integrates nicely with the earlier Automated Operations Control Centre (AOCC). Both systems work together to keep track of train locations and to run multiple trains and special effects automatically. Over 20,000 lines of computer code are used to do this!
JMRI (Java Model Railroad Interface) is used and is an "open source" (free) system which provides many features to assist with model railroad operations. Control panels, decoder programming, and scripting are some of the main components.
Many readers will be familiar with Panel Pro and Decoder Pro which are the two main components of JMRI. It is the scripting language of JMRI that provides most of the facilities to control and operate the RHJ Rail layout. Scripts will run under either of the two main JMRI components. RHJ Rail uses Panel Pro as its basic JMRI starting point.
The scripting language syntax is referred to as Jython (a Java implementation of the popular computer programming language, Python). Most, but not all, of the rules of Python apply to JMRI scripting. In addition, JMRI adds some critical components to interface with many of the popular brands of DCC equipment.
Layout Specifications since the main layout was completed.
RHJ Rail Scale:
HO 19 x 42 feet (over-all) Canadian Pacific, with liberal doses of freelance present, with significant components of preserved and restored equipment Western Canada around-the-walls with walk-in and double-deck elements double-track mainline with:
- outer mainline: 153.2 feet (2.53 scale miles)
- inner mainline: 151.3 feet (2.50 scale miles)
- historical park mainline: 55 feet (0.73 scale miles)main layout: 701.6 feet (11.57 scale miles)
subterranean subdivision: 65 feet (approx.)
off-layout storage and staging: 17 long storage tracks
(above floor)mainline:
- base: 49 inches
- maximum: 53 inches
subterranean subdivision:
- 41 inchesaround-the-walls (wall brackets) with peninsula (two legs) 72 feet, 6 inches 237 sq. ft. (approx.) Roadbed:
Woodland Scenics foam HO roadbed Track:
code 100 Atlas flex track, Atlas sectional track, Peco turnouts 65 (all remote control powered) no. 6 (main); no. 4 (historical park) 30 inches (main); 22 inches (historical park and subterranean subdivisions) 2.0 percent extruded foam insulation board, plaster cloth, molded foam mountains 16 inch high hardboard with custom printed photo backgrounds Digitrax DCC with JMRI computer interface and many custom-designed components
continued on Technical - Page 2
More details on any of the above can, of course, be obtained by contacting RHJ Rail.
RHJ Rail is owned and operated by Richard H. Johnson
© Copyright 2024 Richard H. Johnson