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Using RailPro & DCC switch controllers together.

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Dean:
My layout is DCC. I have added RailPro to the layout. One of the things I miss when using RailPro is controlling switches. RailPro has the capability but you can't have two switch controllers connected to the same switch. I think I have found a solution using an AM-1 and some relays.
The DCC switch controllers I use have provisions to use push buttons. And the DCC controllers can be programmed to use only one push button for both switch directions. Push the button once and the switch moves to the diverging route. Push the button a second time and the switch returns to the main.
I set up the AM-1 as a two wire snap switch controller.( my layout is old and has all snap switches ) Instead of the output of the AM-1 going to a switch, it goes to a relay with a 12V DC coil. The wires that would normally go from the DCC controller to a push button now go to a set of normally open contacts on the relay. Go to switch controls on the HC-2 and press the appropriate switch and the relay cycles and the contacts close for an instant and then open again. Just like a push button. So far I have only tested if the AM-1 will cycle the relay...it does!
Now to climb under the layout and make the connections to the DCC controller.



Test setup. The power for the AM-1 is coming from two shorting bars at the front of the layout that supply power to the tracks in that area.

Alan:
Great idea. Just so you know you can save a bunch of relay money by using much smaller relays. There is no real current to speak of on the control side so tiny relays would suffice. As example: http://www.ebay.com/itm/50Pcs-SRD-12VDC-SL-C-DC-12V-5PIN-125-250VAC-28VDC-Power-Relays-/172274246855?hash=item281c5864c7:g:1lkAAOSwZVlXiNT4

Dean:
Thanks for the link.
These relays were hard to pass up; they were free. But I will have to buy some more as I expand RailPro on my layout.

Alan:
Yeah, free is a hard price to beat.  ;D

Dean:
One of the things that I am thinking about is the distance from the relay to the switch controller. I would think the relay could be a lot farther away from the switch controller than the AM-1 could be if was used to cycle the switch directly. You could mount the AM-1 and the relays in a central location and control switches in different locations on the layout. Hmm.

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