"Paneling" ...

Panel for stub-ended staging and ramp cross-over 

... or what do you call the process of building panels?

Today I finally built the panels for controlling the turnout ladders in hidden staging, as well as the hidden cross-over on the ramp.

I didn't bother with turnout position feedback on these panels since I eventually will have a monitor on the wall that shows turnout positions, occupancy, and maybe even a live video feed of the traffic on the ramp. Also, all these turnouts are driven by solenoid motors, so there's a satisfying SMACK whenever they throw, so you know you hit the button right. I'm using push-buttons for the route selection, just like on the rest of the layout. However, the cross-over is controlled by a toggle switch. There are only two scenarios when this cross-over is used, and both require the train to be under manual control:

• A train leaving staging, but using the inbound track of the ramp (e.g. to bypass a train that's already waiting on the outbound track.
• A train entering the stub-ended staging tracks 5 through 8.

Panel for entering through staging from the ramp

Eventually (in the far, far future), there could be automation in staging that takes a train from the inbound (downward) track on the ramp to one of tracks 1 through 4 for storage, as well as release a train from these tracks and positions it on the outbound track of the ramp.

For now, there's manual control of trains in staging (supported by occupancy detection), as well as manual selection which track the train ends up on.

The panels are made from hardboard and are -- obviously -- very basic. However, they are relatively quick to build,  ... and throw out if needs change.

And here's an overview shot of what the Talheim operator position looks like. I intentionally split the panels for staging in two, so that they can be reached easily by the operator/dispatcher working behind the Talheim operator, as well as are within easy reach for one man operation.