Garden Railway Forum

Thats great to hear Michael. Do you have anymore videos of it running please.

It's been a while so I thought I would update this thread with the latest developments on my railway.

My railway has expanded, and there are now 13 items controlled by ESP8266 and ESP32 processors. There are 7 locos (1 steam), 2 wagons (sound and location), a railway station (sound, lights and 6 points), 2 handheld remote controllers and one central controller.

The main change has been the removal of the wi-fi network! Whilst it worked well it had it's disadvantages, required external power for the router, 15 seconds startup for router and each device and was difficult to run my locos elsewhere.

I now use ESP-Now, a peer to peer protocol developed by the manufactures of the ESP range of processors for direct wireless communication. It effectively works like a 2.4Ghz wireless keyboard communciations with a computer. In practise it works well, all devices can communicate with each other and has the advantage of being instantaneous and is low power. If I had known about this protocol earlier I probably wouldn't have gone down the wi-fi network route, but it has been fun and that's what hobbies are all about .

The automation mode continues to be an nice option to use and can now control 6 points, following the addition of a points controller. The addition of a LGB KGF field loco and an Accucraft Baguley Diesel to the fleet means that these can be setup to run automatically whilst the main locos are operating.

https://youtu.be/1BOpqjPOD0E

Lockdown projects have seen the addition of an electronic token system which allows multiple locos to operate without them running into each other, a doubled headed option and several new buildings.

https://youtu.be/a-R3EhYzYSA


Michael

Sounds intriguing. I've tried doing a web search for more info but not found much so far. Can you recommend a good source?

Rik

Rik,
I suspect that "EPS" should read "ESP"?
https://www.espressif.com/en/products/s ... w/overview

Thanks Philip, yes that's the correct link and I've corrected the typo.

Very nice smooth operating. Are you operating both locos from the same controller

Great videos by the way

Southern188 wrote: ↑Fri Jun 12, 2020 10:18 am Thanks Philip, yes that's the correct link and I've corrected the typo.

Thanks to you both. Looks interesting.

Rik

FWLR wrote: ↑Sat Jun 13, 2020 11:14 am Very nice smooth operating. Are you operating both locos from the same controller

Great videos by the way

Thanks Rod. I modified my remote control to send the same speed signal to both locos. Was rather pleased and surpised when it worked so well.

My remote control has two knobs, normally used for controlling 2 locos. In doubled heading mode, the left one controls the speed to both selected locos and the right one can provide a speed offset in case the locos are not matched. As I only use the same type of loco from the same manufacturer, I haven't found this necessary yet.