When I saw this link with MIT in it, I knew I was in for something good.

http://tmrc.mit.edu/sys3/blockcard/


But, er, um, it's a bit to heavy for me.  But I did find something interesting that I can use in the meantime while I pursue my Electrical Engineering degree (just kidding).


"Be able to drive a voltage of 0-16V at up to 1A onto the tracks. Each block card supports 8 blocks. Each block's voltage must be individually controlled.

    Train motors generally take much less than 1A, but it may take up to 1A to get them started.
        In addition, the card must not blow up if the track is short-circuited."

Thanks to "richg" for the great links and to "Mark.S+10" for providing actual numbers.

I have multi-meters, but didn't bother to measure any outputs before the transformer overheated. I can't trust any reading now.

I'm going to start with a 12VDC supply from one of my old laptops (look out for those posts with transformers vs. power supplies).  They seem to be more sophisticated than just a rinky-dink transformer.

And I'm going to buy a rheostat at radioshack because that's what the old Atlas transformer has in it.  I've heard I can wire it in line, but I'll do some more research and trace out the wiring from the Atlas as well to see how to properly hook it up.

With gratitude,

Brett

I just bought a new N Scale Bachmann EMD GP40 Diesel Loco,

I would like to know how much current it pulls (without any cars behind it) and what the voltage requirement is so I can build an appropriate controller.

I could not find these specs on the Bachmann site or the paper work that accompanied it.

I looked at some Bachmann Controllers on line, but it didn't list the voltages or the current that it can supply.

Anybody got a link or can supply this info?

Thanks, Brett