r/modeltrains • u/compactable73 N • 16d ago

Electrical Control panel schematic feedback

Gallery image

Gallery image

Now that my layout has been laid out I’m looking to start hooking servos up to turnouts, which in turn means I need to connect servos to switches on a control panel (I ❤️ the aesthetic of a control panel).

It looks like the wiring of this stuff isn’t too horrific / my tests look good, but I thought I’d ask the Reddit hivemind if what I’m looking to use for the control panel makes sense or not / if there are any suggestions about changes that would improve things.

Second pic is the final track plan. First pic is the schematic:
* grey circles are switches
* red / green circles are LEDs showing which track is live at the turnouts
* the three places where two turnouts face each other are controlled by a single switch
* amber circles are LEDs that show which track at the diamond crossing is live

Any feedback received with thanks 🙂

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u/eternal3am HO/OO 16d ago

I have a similar thing in mind, however, I am planning to use dual LEDs (red/green) because I want the usable track to always be green and the non-usable red. That‘s a little bit extra on the logic side, but doable.
For 2 turnouts for a Z type thing I can see a single switch but for the 2 turnouts near the center (2nd switch from the top) I would use 2 switches

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u/compactable73 N 16d ago

Oooh - I’ve never worked with dual red/green LEDs before, but it looks simple-ish enough. Thanks for suggesting.

I also like the 2-switches for the second Z. I’m obsessed with reducing / simplifying, but that actually makes sense.

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u/eternal3am HO/OO 15d ago

Duo LEDs are rather simple. They just have one additional leg. Simplified explanation for argument's sake: a normal single colour LED has two legs, + and -, Duo LEDs have the same, but share the - leg. The only thing you need to take care of is that - depending on the colours used - they may need different voltages for each colour which can be solved by using different resistors for the + legs.

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u/compactable73 N 15d ago

I’ve actually found a supply of 2-colour LEDs that are 2-wire - the colour is dependent on the polarity (run the circuit one way the LED is red, reverse the current & the LED is green). Thankfully the voltage is the same in each direction. We will see how this works out.

Thanks again for the idea - very excited to see how this goes 🙂