Please find our latest news of events here:-

LMRG are showing our Stonesby Magna Layout at the Soar Valley Model Railway Club's "Heart of the Midlands" model railway exhibition at Loughborough Grammar School on the 17th and 18th of August.

 

The layout is DCC Controlled using an NCE PowerCab TM with a ProCab TM additional handset, and the points are servo-controlled using the MegaPoints TM system.  The OO-9 Quarry feature is controlled automatically using the EX-RAIL Automation features of the Arduino-based DCC-EX TM Command Station, demonstrating random locomotive sounds and varying time delays at each end ranging from 7 to 20 seconds.  Two line-tracking sensors are used detect the arrival of the locomotive at each end of the journey.  The locomotive can also be controlled manually using the Android Engine Driver App or iPhone Wi-throttle App.  Details of the code used are available on request.

 



Click to watch the video of O-Gauge and OO-Gauge models on our test track and layouts at LMRG in October 2022

A video of Leicester Model Railway Group's "OO"-gauge fixed layout, taken at the beginning of 2020 using a wagon mounted Sony HDR-AZ1 camera. (Sound file from soundboard.com and video editor VideoPad by NCH software)

Roger Manning gave a comprehensive talk to Leicester Model Railway Group Virtual Clubnight on 12th May 2021 on modelling Signalling systems for Model Railway layouts.

 

Leicester Model Railway Group held their 70th Anniversary Exhibition at St. Margarets Church in Leicester on 17th and 18th August 2019.

A short video has been produced by one of our visitors Martin Edwards, and can be viewed on his YouTube channel:-

Amongst the many new layouts on display, we also demonstrated :-

Automatic Signalling (on a budget!)

We demonstrated an automatic signalling system on our N-gauge layout controlled by a simple, readily available, easy to program, and cheap (~£9) microcontroller – an “Arduino Nano” – and infra-red sensors in the track (~ 60p each).

Wireless Control of Trains

Using a small computer – “Raspberry Pi” – to run a wireless network and the free JMRI software to control trains under Digital Command Control (DCC).  We are also using an “Arduino Mega” with a “motor shield” to power the layout using the free “DCC++” software system.  Trains can be controlled using free mobile phone apps – “EngineDriver” for AndroidTM or “WiThrottle” for iPhoneTM