Randy P,
I like what you're doing there with the Arduino's! The tape on the track idea is brilliant! Love it!
I was just wondering about the RS485 communication problems that you were having. Can you elaborate on what the best way is to avoid the problems that you encountered? I guess I want to know how you did this. I'm working on some stuff that would make use of the RS485 multi-drop bus but am no where near actually putting anything together yet. I'm also wondering what you used for the drivers. I'm looking at the Texas Instruments ones for around 80 cents each.
It's only a matter of time before this forum recognizes that Arduino is not a spelling error.