Model Railway Sets

[Glendora Spink]

WonderlandModels are specialists in the widest range of train sets and model railways. Our model railway train products include train sets, locomotives, track and trackside accessories, from leading manufacturers including Hornby. All the most popular model hobbies at Wonderland Models. We also have a wide range of model railway scenics and LGB Garden Railways. Express shipping available.

I am very sorry to bother you. I have tried to search the answer to what must be a very simple problem but have had no luck.

Obviously I am new to Arduino and have little understanding of it. I am learning but very slowly.

I have a set of traffic lights. I can do the lesson and work the leds on the breadboard.

My traffic lights I have for my model railway though have the polarity around the opposite way.

The common wire is positive. The red, amber and green are negative.

I think my question is, can I get the negative to come through the digital (pwm)?

I know it must be a silly question.

The lights have 4 wires. One common that must be powered by a positive current, and the three others that when connected to the negative of a battery light. I believe that the only way to do this is to reverse the output on the Arduino but it seems very strange.

In your case your LEDs are on when set LOW, off when set HIGH. Beginners often find this odd but you'll quickly get used to it. Low side switching (which is what you're basically doing here) is actually more common than high side switching.

I use similar traffic lights for our layout.

I put the common wire to the 5v pin on the arduino (with a current limiting resistor between) and then each of the 3 wires for the 3 LEDs go to an output pin on the arduino. Setting the pin high turns off the light. Setting the pin low turns on the light.

Cool! Now post some pics. Even if it is just a work in progress and no, I don't care if your layout is not complete. Pics of projects are always a good idea. And especially so if it involves railway layouts!

Thanks vinceherman. I have it working with a mega but having troubles getting a nano to work.

I have also got two speedometers and a welding light working. I am having alot of trouble using Nanos.

Thanks for your help.

richardvanraay:

Thanks vinceherman. I have it working with a mega but having troubles getting a nano to work.

I have also got two speedometers and a welding light working. I am having alot of trouble using Nanos.

Thanks for your help.

Current limiting resistors are required to control the current through the LEDs. Apparently these lights are in fact LEDs (otherwise the polarity would be irrelevant); we need to know their specifications in order to discuss the matter. It is somewhat unlikely that they incorporate current limiting resistors in such a small assembly so we need to know from the original product description, how they are supposed to be used.

PWM is used to vary brightness. This is a most improbable requirement on a model railway as traffic lights and railway signals in real life do not vary. The brightness is pre-set by the resistors. I suspect the OP is not really aware of what PWM is by the sound of it.

The video never got posted, so I have no idea what a "welding scene" or "welding light" might be but certainly an Arduino (Nanos are most suitable) can generate an excellent simulation of welding in miniature, with the right code.

Our cases are more than just a transport solution - they are a mobile world in miniature format. Equipped with a pre-installed track layout and carefully designed scenery, you can set up and present your model railway anywhere. Its robust construction protects your valuable models, while the compact design makes it easy to transport. Ideal for exhibitions, meetings with like-minded people or simply to enjoy your hobby while travelling.

With the NOCH model railway case, you can take your passion for model landscaping anywhere. It not only offers safe transport, but also the incomparable pleasure of bringing your model railway to life anytime, anywhere.

The scale models include locomotives, rolling stock, streetcars, tracks, signalling, cranes, and landscapes including: countryside, roads, bridges, buildings, vehicles, harbors, urban landscape, model figures, lights, and features such as rivers, hills, tunnels, and canyons.

The earliest model railways were the 'carpet railways' in the 1840s. The first documented model railway was the Railway of the Prince Imperial (French: Chemin de fer du Prince Imprial) built in 1859 by Emperor Napoleon III for his then 3-year-old son, also Napoleon, in the grounds of the Chteau de Saint-Cloud in Paris. It was powered by clockwork and ran in a figure-of-eight.[1] Electric trains appeared around the start of the 20th century, but these were crude likenesses. Model trains today are more realistic, in addition to being much more technologically advanced. Today modellers create model railway layouts, often recreating real locations and periods throughout history.

The world's oldest working model railway is a model designed to train signalmen on the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway. It is located in the National Railway Museum, York, England and dates back to 1912. It remained in use until 1995. The model was built as a training exercise by apprentices of the company's Horwich Works and supplied with rolling stock by Bassett-Lowke.[2]

Involvement ranges from possession of a train set to spending hours and large sums of money on a large and exacting model of a railroad and the scenery through which it passes, called a "layout". Hobbyists, called "railway modellers" or "model railroaders", may maintain models large enough to ride (see Live steam, Ridable miniature railway and Backyard railroad).

Modellers may collect model trains, building a landscape for the trains to pass through. They may also operate their own railroad in miniature. For some modellers, the goal of building a layout is to eventually run it as if it were a real railroad (if the layout is based on the fancy of the builder) or as the real railroad did (if the layout is based on a prototype). If modellers choose to model a prototype, they may reproduce track-by-track reproductions of the real railroad in miniature, often using prototype track diagrams and historic maps.

Model railroad clubs exist where enthusiasts meet. Clubs often display models for the public. One specialist branch concentrates on larger scales and gauges, commonly using track gauges from 3.5 to 7.5 inches (89 to 191 mm). Models in these scales are usually hand-built and powered by live steam, or diesel-hydraulic, and the engines are often powerful enough to haul dozens of human passengers.

The oldest society is 'The Model Railway Club'[5] (established 1910), near Kings Cross, London, UK. As well as building model railways, it has 5,000 books and periodicals. Similarly, 'The Historical Model Railway Society'[6] at Butterley, near Ripley, Derbyshire specialises in historical matters and has archives available to members and non-members.

The largest common scale is 1:8, with 1:4 sometimes used for park rides. G scale (Garden, 1:24 scale) is most popular for backyard modelling. It is easier to fit a G scale model into a garden and keep scenery proportional to the trains. Gauge 1 and Gauge 3 are also popular for gardens. O, S, HO, and N scale are more often used indoors.[7][8]

Later, modellers became dissatisfied with inaccuracies and developed standards in which everything is correctly scaled. These are used by modellers but have not spread to mass-production because the inaccuracies and overscale properties of the commercial scales ensure reliable operation and allow for shortcuts necessary for cost control. The finescale standards include the UK's P4, and the even finer S4, which uses track dimensions scaled from the prototype. This 4 mm:1 ft modelling uses wheels 2 mm (0.079 in) or less wide running on track with a gauge of 18.83 mm (0.741 in). Check-rail and wing-rail clearances are similarly accurate.

A compromise of P4 and OO is "EM" which uses a gauge of 18.2 mm (0.717 in) with more generous tolerances than P4 for check clearances. It gives a better appearance than OO though pointwork is not as close to reality as P4. It suits many where time and improved appearance are important. There is a small following of finescale OO which uses the same 16.5mm gauge as OO, but with the finer scale wheels and smaller clearances as used with EM- it is essentially 'EM-minus-1.7mm.'

Many groups build modules, which are sections of layouts, and can be joined together to form a larger layout, for meetings or for special occasions. For each kind of module system, there is an interface standard, so that modules made by different participants may be connected, even if they have never been connected before. Many of these module types are listed in the Layout standards organizations section of this article.

In HO, the Americans standardized on horn-hook, or X2F couplers. Horn hook couplers have largely given way to a design known as a working knuckle coupler which was popularized by the Kadee Quality Products Co., and which has subsequently been emulated by a number of other manufactures in recent years. Working knuckle couplers are a closer approximation to the "automatic" couplers used on the prototype there and elsewhere. Also in HO, the European manufacturers have standardized, but on a coupler mount, not a coupler: many varieties of coupler can be plugged in (and out) of the NEM coupler box. None of the popular couplers has any resemblance to the prototype three-link chains generally used on the continent.

3a8082e126