You and the dog need to go to bed and stop laying there starring at it. You done got the back of the chair all but flattened out and the dog is tired of sleeping on it’s soccer ball.
A gorgeous piece of metal! Lasered, I presume? Or CNC / milled?
Stainless?
You probably mentioned it before, but is your panel going in your basement, and will that room become the dispatcher’s office? Or maybe there’s better terminology, if so, how are you naming stuff?
Also, how will you be communicating with the layout devices again?
Finally… could you give us a hint on how much that panel set you back?
Awesome work, Bob!!
Waterjet, I believe. There’s no spatter so Im assming waterjet. Material is A366/1008 steel, in .105 thickness. Pretty thick but I wanted it self supporting with minimal bracing.
This will probably be against one wall in my shop that’s currently a giant disorganized mess. Signaling comms will be wireless via JRMI out into the layout. I’ll be building a wooden version of the remainder of the box, and the table will be either flip-up or slot in place when using it.
Not exactly like this, but these are the proportions.
Board was about $125 delivered. I sent them the CAD file and got a quote, and then some first-time customer discount. It still would have been less that $200 without it.
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You might want to look at Rustoleum Moss in satin?
Yea, that, or Krylon Italian Olive. The prototypes are this interesting green/brown mix.
Bob, does the board leave room for railway expansion or will the board be completely filled?
when i see this and think about all the needed wireing - i’m content to model a time, when the only signals were red flags.
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Room for expansion. This is a 30 column board. I’ll need about 17 for the track I have now.
This is very much a vanity project. I doubt that there actually will be a dispatcher sitting by it directing trains. It’s really just an interest for me.
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Bob;
Several years ago I got to see the N&W dispatchers’ training board. Interestingly, it used S gauge track and an American Flyer hopper car (N&W, of course) to trip the signals. I suppose in the 1950s American Flyer would have been considered “high tech”. since it used two-rail track and was realistically proportioned.
Regards, David Meashey
This is my test harness board, but it shows all the controls that can possibly be in a column on the CTC board.
Starting from the top:
Maintenance Call. This turns on a light bulb on the equipment cabinet for the control point.
Indicator lights and lever for switch control.
Indicator lights and lever for signal control.
Code button. This sends any changes to the column on the CTC board.
Maint call light. Shows the status of the Maintenance Call switch.
Now, obviously I won’t be having remote controlled turnouts, so the function of the switch toggle is To Be Determined.
And this is the breadboard for the hardware behind each CTC column.
That breadboard turns into this. I just finalized the hardware design, and cleaned up the boards.
One of these boards for each vertical column in the panel.
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I gotta ask what type of pellet stove do you have? I have had a Harman for 20yrs and love it . (Dane Harman was local to me) and I burn Turman’s outta WV…sorry off topic… 
Harman Absolute 63. It’s…ok. Mostly annoyed at the constant cleaning maintenance you need to do that I didn’t on my regular wood stove. I do like the “Just fill and forget” but wish the hopper was about 4x the size.
I have an old P68 and I found if you run stove temp as opposed to room temp it’s way less cleaning. I use a 4" drywall mud knife to scrape down the inside about 1 time a week and poke/scrape at the burn pot maybe 3 or 4 times a week.
Empty the ash bin about once every 2 months but storing and moving the 40 lb bags are getting old.
Last warm day for a while allowed me to get the first coat on one side of the panel. This will get wet sanded back and another coat applied as weather allows.
What color did you opt for? Looks kinda hunter green OR are we layering colors … 
Deep Forest Green. Paint guy and I at the hardware store compared a bunch of pictures to what they had in stock and that comes out closest, without special ordering a case of 12 cans.
Three coats, with light sanding between coat 1 and 2, and steel wool between 2 and three. Not automotive quality, but good enough for this.
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Working on the various plates that aren’t already available to purchase (there are a couple manufactures that make to-order custom plates, but I really dont need etched aluminum plates for this)
Anyway, the “Call On” plate.
And the “Maintenance Call” plate.
Not too bad, Ill have to increase the quality for the final product.
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