Bring your layout to life

Chris Gadsby demonstrates easy ways to add lights and sounds on your layout.

Since the dawn of civilisation, the human race has always been looking for the next big technological advancement, such as the wheel, electricity and flight. Recently though, there have been even more significant advancements… in the field of making a little model railway locomotive travel around a layout in a slightly more realistic way.

OK, so we accept that none of these will revolutionise the way we live our lives, however they are major steps forward in how we can all run a model railway more accurately, and achieve a better result in a direct comparison between your miniature world and the prototype. After all, this is what most of us are trying to accomplish.

The main reason for all of this new technology is the introduction of DCC operation. DCC has opened up a new world of possibilities both on and off the rails and perhaps now, more than ever, depicting the rest of the world has become even more desirable on a layout. Things such as working traffic lights and level crossings mean that our little worlds are now more realistic than ever before and when you factor in working signals and automatic train control, you can run your layout just like the real thing. Even if you don’t feel like operating your layout and just wish to sit and watch it work, technology can make that happen too. Route setting and automatic train shuttling are becoming more popular, especially with larger layouts.

Over the next few pages we’ll be explaining how some of the latest technology works and what you need to do to install the latest train, signal and infrastructure control on your layout. It’s easier than you might think, and the results will significantly improve the overall feel of your layout.