Layout 2

(top)

I planned and built a figure-of-eight with gradients, a two-platform station, a single-ended siding and a (working) 4-gate level crossing, as an experimental layout with which to learn techniques before attempting something substantial.

With this layout the fundamental advantage of using dual (+ve & -ve) power supplies had not occured to me. So in order to reverse a loco without using a relay I used H-bridge throttles, without one rail being tied to 0V ("Common Ground/Rail"), and requiring a two-pole relay cab/district matrix. I only went as far as 3 cabs and 4 districts so this was not too bad, and it did allow me to gain a lot of experience with the wider control system.

Dimensions in mm. Heights shown in boxes beside track.
The siding ended up on the other side of the through track.

Getting the 4-gate level crossing working was how I learned how to use SG90 servos.
I operate(d) these with the Universal firmware in a MERG Cbus CANMIO board. This provides a good range of speed adjustment.
Making the 4 gates move simultaneously required learning how to use the MERG FCU app (before it became Universal-friendly) to put an event in the board's event table - though since then, for turnout servos, I have only used the default events.

Dimensions in mm. Heights shown in boxes beside track. The siding ended up on the other side of the through track.

Getting the 4-gate level crossing working was how I learned how to use SG90 servos. I operate(d) these with the Universal firmware in a MERG Cbus CANMIO board. This provides a good range of speed adjustment. Making the 4 gates move simultaneously required learning how to use the MERG FCU app (before it became Universal-friendly) to put an event in the board's event table - though since then, for turnout servos, I have only used the default events.