/Track-Plans

Track Plans for DCC++ Valley Line Railroad

What’s DCC++

DCC++ is an open-source hardware and software system for the operation of DCC-equipped model railroads.

The system consists of two parts, the DCC++ Base Station and the DCC++ Controller.

The DCC++ Base Station consists of an Arduino micro controller fitted with an Arduino Motor Shield that can be connected directly to the tracks of a model railroad.

The DCC++ Controller provides operators with a customizable GUI to control their model railroad. It is written in Java using the Processing graphics library and IDE and communicates with the DCC++ Base Station via a standard serial connection over a USB cable or wireless over BlueTooth.

What’s in this Repository

This repository, Track-Plans, contains as-built plans for my own 80” x 36” N-Scale layout with the not-so-inventive name “Valley Line Railroad.” DCC++ was developed to operate this layout, and drove many of my design requirements for the DCC++ automation routines. This is also the layout that is used to demonstrate the DCC++ system in various videos on my DCC++ YouTube channel, and is the layout configured for use within the DCC++ Controller software (and which you can of course easily replace with your own design).

The layout itself was orignally created circa 2006 using a Windows-based program known as WinRail, but later I transitioned to RailModeller for the Mac (WinRail was not at that time availble for the Mac). The design was inspired by, and is partly based on, Layout N-9 in the Atlas book “Introduction to N Scale Model Railroading, Level 1.”

The .layout file can be opened (and edited) directly in RailModeller Pro (http://www.railmodeller.com).

The .pdf file contains various images of the layout where each track is labeled with its Kato N-Scale Unitrack part number. A complete track parts list is also provided in the file.