Welcome to the ProTrak User Community Support Forum . The forum is designed around the chapters in The Manual. Please post your questions in the appropriate subforums. You may "Subscribe" to topics and reply by email.
Log In
Register
Home
Topic RSS
3:51 pm
December 17, 2021
Offline
Hello -
I'm new to this ProTrak forum, but a protégé of Mike Corley's at the Texas Western MRC. Mike ended up moving to the Atlanta, Ga. area last Thanksgiving (2021), and I am trying to fill his ProTrak shoes, as it were.
Since we moved to our new location in 2013/2014, layout construction has progressed slowly, but has progressed. We have about 40% of the total layout down and running, but have not had any operating sessions yet.
At present, we are starting to look at detection and signaling. We have a Signaling & Detection 'committee', and are trying to determine equipment costs, logic patterns, software, hardware, etc. We intend to establish a small detection and signaling "test section" on the layout consisting of 40 to 50 feet of double track mainline, a couple of cross-overs, a passing siding, and some turnouts leading to small multi track industrial areas.
Since the club has always had a good relationship with ProTrak, we want to use it for the "Signaling" part. I am currently investigating LCC - Layout Command Control - as the signaling and detection system. LCC seems to be the right thing for the job.
My question is: do any of you have experience integrating ProTrak detection and signaling with LCC?
Thanks!
Clarence Zink
COO, Texas Western Model Railroad Club
1:28 pm
April 26, 2015
Offline
Clarence,
Welcome to the ProTrak forum. You do have big shoes to follow after Mick C moved to the Atlanta area.
Couple of things:
I am answering your inquiry with no experience signalling. My small SVL-RR doesn't use any signalling.
Since Jim Moir's death in April 2017 I think a lot of long term ProTrak forum users have drifted away from using the forum. This means you are not likely to get a lot of responses,
I think Signalling is another, somewhat separate, part of ProTrak. I do believe that using the Signalling part of ProTrak requires the use of Grapevine hardware nodes, although I could be wrong here. I'll try to get an answer on this. Mike C might be a good source ask also.
Joe Brann
Orlando, FL
6:48 pm
December 17, 2021
Offline
Thanks Joe.
I got poking around in the ProTrak manuals (Recipe Book and PTBM v1.2) and could find absolutely nothing about signaling, although when I fire up the ProTrak program, there is a tab labeled "Signals", and it does have a menu for "Grapevine Nodes".
I'll try to find the Grapevine website and figure out what it is they have, but it would also be good to know if something else can be substituted for Grapevine.
I'll also shoot Mike Corley a message asking him if he knows anything about the Signals part.
Best,
CRZ
1:33 pm
April 27, 2015
Offline
Hi Clarence, I am a ProTrak user and, starting around 13 months ago, I began an implementation of LCC on my HO scale layout. So far I've done detection and turnout control via JMRI control panels (browser windows), my next big piece to bite off will be signalling, starting at one end and working my way to the other.
I still come by this board frequently, though I don't post much because I do operating sessions so infrequently --> mainly working on the actual layout these days. I'm not sure what benefit LCC integration with ProTrak would result in .... in my mind the core competency of ProTrak is traffic simulation, routing etc. and I would strongly suggest going with a currently supported signaling software like JMRI to configure your LCC system (remember, LCC can operate stand-alone without a computer once it's configured with a computer). Development and future support of ProTrak has been stopped, so I would be careful about putting too much time and effort into connecting ProTrak's signaling functionality with LCC.
Those are my 2 cents anyway. as far as LCC is concerned, by the way, there's an active support group on groups.io and there's a helpful Youtube channel to get started:
JAJ
9:21 am
April 26, 2015
Offline
Clarence,
The Grapevine hardware associated with the Signalling part of ProTrak is best viewed as a separate product from ProTrak. That is why you will not find any Grapevine documentation on the ProTrak web site. If I recall correctly it was Jim Moir's brother Mike who developed the Grapevine hardware. When the NMRA was in preliminary development of what has now become LCC Mike's already available Grapevine node was a viable candidate. But for some non-technical reasons the NMRA bypassed Mike's work and developed their own. Did you even contact Mike Corley?
Joe Brann in Orlando
10:41 am
April 27, 2015
Offline
I did find this link when I googled "grapevine model railroad signalling":
http://www.protrak.org/old_sit.....upport.htm
JAJ
8:46 pm
May 24, 2016
Offline
Hello,
I worked with Jim Moir in the development of ProTrak.
ProTrak was made of 2 parts: the planned movement of cars, passengers, and engines between identified locations within a layout was the first part. The second part was taking that information and using it to create an algorithm to modulate the response of the throttle/engine.
Just before Jim’s death, we had installed several nodes and tested an engine rolling through the various points. It worked really well in fact. That part of the system was Grapevine.
With Jim’s death both ProTrak and Grapevine development also perished.
I am hopeful this information is of some use to you.
Regards,
JS
Most Users Ever Online: 189
Currently Online:
4 Guest(s)
Currently Browsing this Page:
1 Guest(s)
Top Posters:
Nashville: 248
Joe-SVL: 243
casowest: 95
Jim Brewer: 92
Mark Stafflrd: 58
Bob: 53
Fred: 43
John V: 43
jjoyce1: 32
Peter Jackson: 27
Member Stats:
Guest Posters: 0
Members: 259
Moderators: 0
Admins: 5
Forum Stats:
Groups: 3
Forums: 13
Topics: 432
Posts: 1815
Newest Members:
Fred52, ferretjack, Frank, bcole_-8@rogers.com, frich1230, waffle2@mac.com, innovativerc@gmail.com, KRFARRINGTON, George Giles, NandWSRY55Administrators: earlyrail: 71, friscomike: 130, webmaster: 1, hunter48820: 23, Jim Moir: 489
