Terry Terrance has been a model rail-
roader since receiving his first Lionel
train set at age 7. The next couple
of decades he spent as a 3-railer
attempting to scale model in the
days before 3 Rail Scale. Eventually,
rather than go the HO route, Terry
jumped into 2-rail O Scale where he has been ever since.
Currently Terry is building a model of the B&O “West End”
centered around the M&K Junction helper station circa
1950/2 in his basement. The layout features the Cranberry
(three-track) and the Cheat River (two-track) grades and is
designed for helper operation closely following the prototype.
Terry’s blog (
) features the con-
struction progress as well as tips and techniques, articles
and videos. Terry is part of the regular crew of the
Model
Rail Radio
podcast and has also appeared on the
Model
Railcast
podcast.
process should you not receive your merchandise. Payment with
PayPal is far safer for international payments than direct payment
with a credit card.
The only drawback with ordering from China is the “free” ship-
ping. Orders from China are sent via China Post – which gives
new meaning to the term “snail mail”; so don’t expect to receive
your order in less than three weeks, and five to six weeks is pos-
sible. But I haven’t lost an order in the post yet.
Optical train detection offers several advantages over electrical
detection of trains – particularly so for command control sys-
tems, AC operators and high current systems.
A reflective optical detector can be constructed out of modules
designed for the robotics/micro-controller hobbyist with just a
few interconnections between them. The resulting detector can
operate from between two ties and reliably detect trains passing
above. Using this detector can help simplify the design and con-
struction of a signaling or automation system for your railroad.
Give it a try; for $10 what do you have to lose?
“Optical train detection offers
several advantages over electrical
detection of trains – particularly
so for command control systems.”
Optical Train Detection - 9
MRH-May 2014
