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Future Plans Of The HO Division of the H. B. Plant Railroad Historical Society
Immediate Plans:
Improvements To The Mainlines By The North & West Yard Leads:
HO COORDINATOR REPORT
The area of the layout between the TOFC terminal and the West Yard lead needs to be re-worked. This will include a slight re-alignment of the mainlines to space them apart from the yard throat. Along with this re-alignment, a modification to several nearby areas will be included with this. The existing turntable area will be addressed so that it will be more user-friendly and possibly relocated altogether and make it more accessible. This will include an upgrade to the roundhouse and various storage tracks. In doing this, a modification of the engine service facility will also be included. This may entail re-aligning the service facility tracks and/ or moving them to another location within the area. The North yard throat will also be worked on as some of the track work through there is not up to snuff.
Improvements In The Rest Of The HO Layout:
The rest of the HO layout will continue to be freshened up with scenery. Several spots across the layout have begun to show their age and a fresh coat of ground foam makes a world of difference. Small details will continue to be added to scenes as these make a world of difference in the overall look of the railroad. We have a great start on this and I look forward to the continued improvement to the layout.
We have also installed new control panels in Plant City and the West Yard. These have red and green colored LEDs to indicate turnout position on the panels. Some of the turnout controls are a push button instead of a toggle switch. These particular turnouts are not only controlled by multiple panels, but are also connected to the DS64 stationary decoder and can be controlled by a DCC throttle. These control panels are much easier to follow and are a great addition to the layout.
Digital Command Control System Updates:
The DCC implementation to the HO railroad has been completed. The entire HO layout is now running Digitrax DCC. There are several things we have implemented along with the DCC installation that have made the layout a great place to run trains. We have installed a pair of DS64 stationary decoders. These allow an operator to control certain turnouts via a push button on a panel or their DT400 throttle. This makes for walking with your train even more enjoyable as you can throw the turnout right from you controller. We have also added some more power districts so we can run more locomotives at a time without overloading the system.
Future Goals:
The next step is to make new control panels for Downtown area and River City. These panels will look and operate like Plant City and the West Yard panels. They will have LED turnout direction indication as well as more DS64 stationary decoders which will allow some of the turnouts to be push button operated and DCC controlled.
Operation is where this is going. We are creating a layout where many operators at a time can run trains and have fun with the hobby. With the addition of DCC, the layout has the potential for all kinds of operational possibilities. This can evolve into needing a dispatcher, switch lists, car cards, etc. Making the layout functional and user friendly will help everyone get more enjoyment out of the layout and potentially bring in new members.