automation of track

[stevieedge]

I have a fairly large layout and whilst waiting for loco detection I would like to know if its possible to run 2 trains on the same loop of track as follows, whilst one train is at bottom of loop  the other is at top of loop. I know I could programme it but this does not prevent problems if for some reason one train does not react the same as when being recorded.

I assume I would have to have some sort of sensors that could operate  relays and turn off power to sections of track .on that loop

is this feasable. if so what would I need to do this.

I know this has been asked a lot and have searched forum but does anyone know if loco detection using railmaster will actually happen of loco

i am relatively new to model trains and like railmaster but would like to use some sort of loco detection, what I am after doing is running more trains on the track than I have seperate loops for and I could leave running without fear of problems.

any advise would be appreciated

 

[Chrissaf]

Although there are non Hornby 'Block Detection' hardware products on the market. They use a communication protocol that is not currently supported in Hornby RailMaster (for example Digitrax Loconet). Therefore if you continue using RailMaster as your PC Control software application then what you want to do is not currently achievable.

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In essence, if you cannot pass back loco location information back into RailMaster to process, then there is no way for RailMaster to control the speed and direction of a loco to compensate for actual loco on track positions & situations.

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[St1ngr4y]

@stevieedge

 

Hi Stevie,

I run my trains almost entirely under program control. I have a fairly large layout in my loft area. At one end there are eight parallel "hidden sidings". I also have a through station with 6 platforms, a goods yard and an engine shed with turntable. I am getting to the stage where I have more trains than hidden sidings, so in a few cases I have two trains sharing a hidden siding. Several of my programs involve starting a train off from the station towards the tunnel leading to a hidden siding, then just as that train is entering the tunnel, another train already occupying the destination siding is started and it exits via the tunnel at the other end of the hidden sidings. I find that once the program necessary to achieve these movements is fine-tuned, very little can go wrong. The only times I hit trouble is if a point fails to fire, but using the entry Double Pulse=1 in the INI file has reduced these occurrences considerably.

Ray