The new HO scale Panhandle and Santa Fe layout is a representation of the Plains Division's Third District on the Santa Fe's southern transcontinental main line through the Texas Panhandle as it appeared in September 1955. The signal system is controlled by a dispatcher in a room adjacent to the layout. The CTC machine is a portion of the actual prototype US&S machine used by the Santa Fe to control this same section of railroad from 1947 to 1986.

The P&SF signal system consists of four SMINI nodes located in the layout room and one SUSIC node with four DOUT-32 and three DIN-32 boards installed under the CTC machine. Our system is controlled by a laptop PC located under the dispatcher's table. The SUSIC runs the CTC machine. DCCOD track detectors (35 OS circuits) are located on mother boards at each SMINI node. There are 40 2-color LED signal heads, each driven by a remote searchlight signal driver board. The signals themselves were built by Dan Crews of Sunrise Enterprises. I built the cantilever signal bridges and assembled the bridge signal units myself from Sunrise parts. All remote controled turnouts are operated with Tortoise switch motors through "latch" boards I built.

All CMRI boards were purchased directly from Bruce Chubb and I sourced the components and assembled every one of them. They worked perfectly the first time they were fired up. A wiring diagram of our system is available as a PDF file below.

I worked through Bruce's documentation and sample programs to generate an ABS software program which got us running. After the CTC machine was assembled in the Spring of 2005, we started adding functionality to the machine and got it working as an indicator board for the OS sections and turnouts. The next step was to program it to throw the turnouts. This was accomplished in June 2005. The software was then turned over to Mike Burgett of Control Train Components to turn into a fully functional CTC system operating under Santa Fe's Signal System Two as used by the railroad in September 1955. We expect this software to come on line in the Spring of 2006.

One of the keys to our successful implementation of the CMRI system has been thorough documentation and careful wiring. Most of the credit, however, belongs to my friend of over 30 years, Bruce Chubb, who designed and marketed a very successful system. Good friends are what makes this hobby so enjoyable and especially if they posess exceptional skills and talents-- namely Rod Loder, John Signor, Tommy Holt, David Barrow, Steve Priest, Mike Burgett, Stan and Greg Hall, Harlan Boyce, Dan Crews and finally Russell Crump who arranged for me to salvage the CTC machine from the Santa Fe over 20 years ago.




Here is the finished CTC machine built with prototype U. S. & S. components that I salvaged from the Santa Fe's Third District machine in Amarillo.


In 1986 my dad and I began the salvage job of the Third District machine from the Santa Fe General Ofice Building in Amarillo. Almost 20 years later, two of the three remaining machine cabinets are in my Dallas workshop ready to be used in my new CMRI system.
The front panels from the prototype machine were carefully sawed off the cabinets and installed into a wood frame. All indicator lights and lever assemblies were salvaged from the prototype machine and carefully wired. Yellow wires are outputs to the CMRI system and blue wires are inputs.
Careful wiring helps to insure good results! Note CMRI variable names on the labels. The indicators are incandescent bulbs operating on about 16 volts. Track panels are acid-etched aluminum. I drew the artwork with Adobe Illustrator using a prototype panel as a guide.
Four SMINI nodes control the railroad. Here is the SMINI at Hereford. The DCCOD block detectors are at the top with switch indicators and switch controls just above the SMINI. All SMINI nodes are wired with the same general arrangement. The red cables are CAT5 stranded and go to the individual signals.
Signals were custom built by Dan Crews of Sunrise Enterprises. The bridge is an NJ International styrene kit. The detail parts came from Details West and Century Foundry.



CMRI Suggested Wiring Diagram
A one page drawing which shows how I wired the CMRI system to my layout and the interface with my EasyDCC locomotive control.

Click to download the diagram. 240kb: CMRIwiring.pdf

How I Built the CTC Machine
A two page document with photos detailing acquisition, restoration and building of the CTC Machine.

Click to download the diagram. 348kb: aboutmachine.pdf

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Created: September 20, 2005
Last Update: January 12, 2006