Converting Lionel LCS SensorTrack To Atlas O Track

Nice Job!

Looks like it turned out quite well, thank you for posting and for the clear photos of the parts and modifications. I will probably be doing the same thing to my Atlas track if my Legacy 990 ever shows up.

If you have a modern period layout, a styrene box to represent a signaling control box of some sort may pass to hide the button board. Then you could have holes for the buttons.

Awesome, nice work!

I like the conversion, looks simple.  I think I'd like to protect and hide the circuit board under the track.  I'm thinking that maybe it would be possible to extend the IR sensors a bit so the PCB could be mounted slightly lower. 

Jon, any chance of getting the exact part number of those sensors?  I was considering mounting the PCB under the platform and just mounting the sensors up at track level.  I'm just thinking having a spare or two would be a good idea if I'm pulling them off the board.

AS for Gargraves it could be done a similar way. However, what is the min/max distance from the top of rail to the top of sensor?

And is there some clearance around the sensor that is needed?

I asked that question previously, and Jon Z. said it would work farther down, but the angle that it could see the locomotive emitter would be lower and fast moving locomotives might not have time to transmit the whole information packet.

That's why I'm thinking that I'd like to keep the sensors at the same relative height as they are on the Fastrack section and just extend them so the PCB can be lower.

GRJ, did you get to play with the Sensor Track yet?

We'll done!

Peter

This thread is great. It will be interesting to see what comes out of it. 

Not yet, I did take one apart and look at the details.  I'm going to connect them up this week.

wonder if the ribbon cable is commonly available and how long can it be?

GRJ

Will you mount the sensors on a smaller PC Card?  Can't wait to see. I'll probably take a similar approach outline in the OPs blog myself. I'm not worried about the record Pgm buttons as it's sounds as if the iPad May take care of needing to access them. 

I'd probably need them on a small board, I'm thinking just of a proto-board with the leads extended a couple of inches.  I'd like the top of the PCB board to be protected and covered in some fashion.  Being under the table would be ideal.

I figure the recording buttons can just be extended as far as you need, I'm sure a simple splice fixes that.

I may yet have to invest in the crimping tool for these connectors, even though it's pretty steep....

I'd like the board covered or protected somehow also. Wonder if a thin piece of styrene could be made to fit over it and mounted under the Atlas track as the OP has done? Or would styrene be a bad idea? Not sure I want to tackle removing the sensors to relocate the board.

There should be enough room between the top of the board and ties to place a thin piece of styrene. It may also be possible to create a small styrene box to cover the board. I will continue to play around. 

Brian

A protective cover and then a little ballast and it would be like it's not there. 

Here's a quick shot of the sensor track integrated into Atlas track.  The ballast is temporary, just there to see the effect.  I think it can be hidden pretty effectively without too much trouble.

Looks Good john, too bad I missed seeing/assisting with the addition last night.

Yep, I'm usually there Sunday, but sometimes you can't ignore the better half.

I finally got around to making a quick video showing how I installed a SensorTrack board under a piece of Atlas-O track. This technique has worked well on my layout.

    https://youtu.be/RP-04dG2yV8

Here's a link to the "case template" I mention in the video:

    http://www.highrailcompany.com...ensorTrackAtlasO.pdf

Enjoy!