Lunch Box Controller 2

Following on from the success of our portable Cliddesden Lunch Box Controller I made another one for Thornycroft Sidings. This time the train controller is a separate unit, which is the black box in the photo of the previous posting below. I kept the train controller separate so that it can power Thornycroft and Cliddesden track if the two layouts are connected together. This lunch box only provides turnout control, except 3 track power feed switches for sidings are included (independent wiring from the turnout control).

The polythene lunch box came from Sainsbury supermarket at £1.50 and takes hole drilling for the switches very well. The finished unit is comfortable to hold and easy to operate.

The electronics inside (capacitive discharge) were lifted from my 00 gauge layout as it was redundant, having opted for manual control when the track was changed from EM to 00 in 2008. The circuit design is shown in the March 1981 edition of Everyday Electronics magazine. Circuit designs can also be found by searching the web.

The cabling is 8 way CAT 5 of which two runs were needed plus a single wire. 25 way D's connect the unit to the layout under the baseboard.

The black wire is the 15 V DC feed for the turnout electronics.

David