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	4rail.net - Hobby - Alpine Railway - DCC
	Alpine Railway and the Digital Command Control Most of the todays model railroads are computer controlled. Besides controlling the train movements on the layout the computer takes care of switches and special effects like lighting or smoke machines, etc. Of course, some programming is always necessary to make the rolling stock behave just like te prototypes and once the computers are involved, the debugging is always done with computers as well. (No wonder many of the hobbyists are computer geniuses...). Alpine Railway as well is one of the railways run with a numerous computers. The computer control for model railroads is most often done with the DCC standard, DCC standing for the Digital Command Control. In DCC the controlling unit (computer) sends a signal to the unit to be controlled (a locomotive, switch, building, etc.). This signal is normally transferred within the wires that feed the current (normally 14V AC for H0 scale). Recently the radio controlled control units have become more frequent enabling easy walk around as well. With computerisation many added functions have come to improve realism. For example many locomotives have realistic lighting with alternating ditch lights and directional lighting, and a multitude of sounds including horn, bell, air pump, air realease, braking squel, dynamic braking sounds, to name a few. Computers have added to the behavior of the locomotive as well: Pushing the throttle to the maximum affects the engine almost immediately, making the engine to roar, but the movement will start prototypically slowly, and wise verse, the train wont stop immediately, once the momentum is gained. Fascinating new features within an easy reach! The benefits for the computer controlled environment on the Alpine Railway are obvious: Kilometers of wire can be avoided by using a single DCC command bus for all the functions. This reduces weight and helps maintaining the electrical systems. Track operators have the ability to operate the track with computers or specific devices dedicated to certain functions. Train operators operate the trains and have total control of one or more trains simultaneously. This part could be automatized later with automated traffic control. Devices used for Digital Command Control To be added later.	See Alpine Railway at shows... Alpine Railway and DCC... Subribe the Alpine Railways Newsetter & Show Info for Free! Newest Pictures Page... The Swiss Railways section... Alpine Railways in Finnish... Click to enlarge the pictures! The Re6/6 is dashing forward on the tracks as another train passes the station in the background. Above and below some of the Swiss railroad stock seen on the Alpine Railway. The Biehstal bridge is one of the oldest and most distictive part on the alpine Railway. Click the pictures to see the enlarged versions! The Alpine Railway is not just a railway on the modules, but villages with roads connecting them, mountains and gorges. Here an automatically guided bus stops in front of the level crossing to let the train pass first. Blue mountain on the Alpine Railway is one of the postponed projects aiming to improve the landscape to look more mountainlike.
	Alpine Railway took part in the yearly national model railroad meeting in Tampere Finland 27-28.10.2007. The layout mini configuration is shown in the picture. Picture: Lorenz Schmuckli.

	Alpine Railway at Helsinki Model Expo Hobby Show in March 2007. Click the picture to see the whole layout!
	Other Alpine Railway pages Alpine Railway main page... See Alpine Railway at shows... Alpine Railway and DCC... Subsribe the Alpine Railways Newsetter & Show Info for Free! Alpine Railways New Pictures Page... The Hobby section main page...

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