Iron bridge designed
A new iron bridge designed and printed for the Dave's Mill layout. In fact, I'm thinking of renaming the project 'Iron Bridge Mill'
.jpg "See gallery below***")
Iron Bridge Mill (Formerly Dave's Mill)
Gauge: 009 (Kato Unitrack N gauge)
Power Control: DCC / DCC-EX / EXRAIL
Status: Work in progress
Iron Bridge Mill (formerly Dave’s Mill)
Iron Bridge Mill is an experiment using DCC-EX and EXRAIL. It consists of a basic loop with 2 sidings. Up to 4 trains interact with each other using EXRAIL scripts. Reserving and freeing some of the 9 virtual zones, they keep themselves a safe distance from each other.
Infra-red sensors updates the system as to where the trains are and the EXRAIL scripts start/stop/perform functions for each train.
The mill was renamed after the renovation of the nearby iron bridge!
What is DCC-EX?
DCC-EX is an open source (free) system that allows users to create DCC command stations using popular development boards such as some of the Arduino family.
After buying the development processor board and adding some extra hardware bits (power control shield) and downloading the free software, the base station can control DCC locomotives and accessories on a model railway layout.
Trains can then be controlled by free software on mobile phones/tablets/PCs or custom made throttle units.
What is EXRAIL?
EXRAIL means EXtended Railroad Automation Instruction Language. It enables scripts to be pre-written to control trains or any other device connected to the command station.
Here is an example of part of a script.
Here is an example of part of a script.
AT(53) //At sensor 53
STOP // Start stopping this train
DELAY(3000) //Wait 3 seconds for loco to stop
FON(17) //Function 17 on (Platform announcements)
DELAYRANDOM(3000,5000) // Wait for a random time between 3 - 5 seconds
FOFF(17) // Function #17 off
FON(4) // Function #4 on (whistle)
DELAY(30) //Give the chip a moment to act
FOFF(4) // Function #4 off
DELAY(2000) // Wait 2 seconds before moving off
FWD(30) //Accelerate forwards up to speed 30
More info here: https://dcc-ex.com/exrail/
Iron Bridge Mill Photos
Click on an image to open the image gallery.jpg "2024-04-09 developments(0).jpg")
.jpg "2024-04-09 developments(3).jpg")
.jpg "2024-04-18 iron bridge construction(2).jpg")
.jpg "2025 Iron Bridge Mill(3).jpg")
.jpg "2024-04-09 developments(1).jpg")
.jpg "2024-04-18 iron bridge construction(1).jpg")
.jpg "2025 Iron Bridge Mill(2).jpg")
.jpg "2024-04-09 developments(2).jpg")
.jpg "2025 Iron Bridge Mill(0).jpg")
.jpg "2025 Iron Bridge Mill(1).jpg")
.jpg "2025 Iron Bridge Mill(4).jpg")
Please note: the rights to any photos displayed remain with the owner of the photo, and if not my own, then they are used purely as examples and I take no credit for them.