Anyone still driving analog today can skip the era of the digital model railway with the help of CTC. The switch is much easier and more cost-effective than to a digital system.

What do you need?

  • A power supply: But at least for now, the old model railway transformer can be used.
  • A Wi-Fi Access Point: For the first attempts, the private Wi-Fi can also be used. From about 20 modules onwards, however, there should be a separate Wi-Fi for the model railway.
  • For each locomotive, a CTC loco module
  • For turnouts and signals with double-coil drive (3 cables, standard for H0) either the CTC turnout module or the CTC Multi-I/O-Board for up to 4 turnouts/signals.
  • For turnouts and signals with a motor drive (2 wires, standard for G track) the CTC turnout module G.
  • For turnouts and signals with servo drive, the CTC turnout module G or the CTC Multi-I/O-Board.

Simultaneous operation of analog locomotives/turnouts/signals and CTC locomotives/turnouts/signals is possible at any time. The control, however, takes place separately via the driving/switching panel and the CTC app. For the track section where the CTC locomotive is traveling, the driving panel must be put at full throttle.

What happens to locomotives with digital decoders?

The digital decoders are replaced by corresponding CTC locomotive modules.

Where do I start?

The easiest way is to get a Starter Set from us, to familiarise yourself with the new world of CTC. You can start with either a turnout, a locomotive or both.

In any case, you will receive a CTC router, the CTC modules and the CTC app. You don’t need anything else, as your existing controller will provide the power supply. The CTC locomotive can run simultaneously with analogue locomotives on the same layout, but needs its own, fully turned up controller. The turnouts can be powered from the light connection of the controller or a separate power source.

And what’s next?

There are several possibilities for this:

  • You gradually upgrade all locomotives, turnouts, and signals to CTC and eventually achieve a model railway controlled solely by CTC.
  • You only upgrade turnouts, signals, and feedback devices to CTC and continue to operate your locomotives analogously.
  • You only upgrade your locomotives to CTC and possibly install CTC-IR-balises in the track, but continue to switch analogously.

If you do not have museum-worthy locomotives that you want to keep in their original state, from our perspective, there’s no reason to stick with analog.

What happens with my feedback devices?

This becomes much simpler with CTC: Complex wiring or proprietary electronics are completely eliminated. Up to four classic sensors can be connected to the CTC multi-I/O board.

However, it is worth taking a look at the CTC-IR-Balise. Two of them can be connected to a CTC turnout module or CTC multi-I/O board. They allow the locomotive to determine its position and possibly also receive a command (e.g. signal stop at 70cm distance). With the help of the CTC-IR balises, simple automation is possible without any intervention from the app.

In all cases, the mentioned feedback information is transmitted over Wi-Fi along with the status messages of the CTC modules.

You can find more about automation in the article Automated driving.