Portable Programming

Attractive!

How timely!

I was sketching out construction plans for something very similar just last night.  I can’t take my computer to the basement, but I CAN take my N scale locos to the computer with this!

Portable Programming

Thanks for the article, Scott. Very useful. I plan to build one just like it. The text says the base is 1/8" plywood, but the base in the pictures looks more like 3/4" plywood or MDF.

I look forward to building my own speedometer, too.

The Bachrus speedometer is no

The Bachrus speedometer is no longer available. Is there a substitute available?  It looks like a pretty good way to speed match engines, since they can be run continuously and adjusted rather than back and forth through a speed trap device. 

I have one...

...of the Bachrus speedometers, and yes, it's nice to get a constant readout. However, IIRC there was a glitch in one of the settings with the JMRI support that made it read out in HO speed when it was in N. I sent them an email about it, but never got a reply. It's pretty fiddly to set it up in N scale though... I eventually put two brass strips on a board, 9mm apart, and put the cradles on those rather than rail. 

There were other usable settings, so it wasn't that big a deal. When I bought mine, I got extra wheel cradles so I could use it for steamers, too. My practice was to set the speed in MPH to match the Digitrax throttle settings...  so that, for example, if the throttle was at "60" then the unloaded locomotive ran at 60mph. Yard locos were speed-curve limited to 50mph, and road engines to 100mph.

My current wanna-do is a double track speed trap, built into a T-Trak module for use both when programming and when running trains. It's Arduino based, and intended to be powered by two 18650 rechargeable Lithium ion batteries.