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Model Railroad Electronics and Control |
Please let me know via the Contact page if you find that any of the links below are no longer correct -
Model Railroad - General
National Model Raiload Association
NMRA Standards and Recommended Practices
Cochise & Western Model Railroad Club - located in Sierra Vista, Arizona, the original users (and testers) of A-Track. Their website has been replaced with this Facebook page.
Model Railroad Hobbyist - a professionally-produced FREE online magazine covering all aspects of model rairoading - the Forum is always worth a visit
Model Railroader - the US model railroading print magazine with the widest circulation
Track Planning - 3rdPlan-It - the best layout design software I have come across
Colorado Railway Museum - useful range of books of interest to the railroad modeller (although their online shop is not active currently, you can see what they offer by going to Abe Books)
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Model Railroad - DCC Systems & Decoders
NCE Corporation - originally North Coast Engineering, major producers of DCC systems, decoders, and equipment - A-Track is designed to interface to NCE systems
Digitrax - supplier of a lot of the decoders I use, and source of a great deal of useful information on the implementation of DCC
Lenz - German manufacturer of DCC systems, and originator of the control system on which DCC is based
SoundTraxx - manufacturer of the Tsunami range of DCC sound decoders
QSI Industries - manufacturer of the Quantum range of DCC sound decoders
ESU - LokSound - German manufacturer of DCC systems, including the LokSound range of DCC sound decoders
Zimo - Austrian manufacturer of DCC systems, including DCC sound decoders
Allan Gartner's Wiring for DCC - a large resource dealing with all aspects of DCC
Bruce Petrarca - Mr DCC - The DCC University - information, links, and consultancy on all DCC matters
Mark Gurries - although a lot of Mark's website disappeared after his passing, the parts which have been preserved still offer guidance and help on a wide range of DCC topics, with a particular emphasis on NCE equipment
Jim Exler - Jim's Model Railroad Site - some excellent articles, particularly in his 'DCC & Electrical drawings' section, with specific information on NCE systems
Marcus Ammann - NSWGR's Main North - although Marcus's original 'DCC for Everyone' site has gone, his Main North blog contains a great deal of useful information on a range of DCC topics
Mark Schutzer - useful tutorials and articles on NCE DCC equipment, especially radio throttles
JMRI - the group responsible for the development of Decoder Pro and Panel Pro software in Java for Windows, Mac, and Linux systems
DCC Wiki - an encyclopedia all about Digital Command Control used in railroad modeling - written collaboratively by many of its readers - details of A-Track can be found in the DCC Software section here, under Free Software
Curlie Directory - set of site links relevant to model railroading with DCC - but very poor search facility makes it extremely difficult to find a specific site
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Model Railroad - Equipment Suppliers
Walthers - huge range of all things related to model railroads - excellent service via mail order
Tony's Train Exchange - recommended by friends (and personal experience) as offering the best prices for DCC equipment - lots of useful information available
Model Railroad - DCC Equipment Suppliers (UK)
Digitrains - very wide range from all of the major US and European manufacturers - very helpful
Coastal DCC - run by railway modellers and offering an excellent range of DCC equipment and accessories
Wickness Models - very helpful with a lot of useful information, DCC fitting service, DCC sound decoders, DCC products from wide range of manufacturers, conversions, layout scenics, etc.
Electronics Suppliers (UK & US)
Farnell - widest range of electronic components for the professional (available to anyone), with a network of sites world-wide
Newark - US arm of the Premier Farnell Group - very wide range of professional electronic components (available to anyone)
Combined Precision Components (CPC) - very wide range of domestic and industrial equipment and components (not just electronics and computers) at very reasonable prices (a division of Farnell)
RS Components - similar range to Farnell but less specialised - good for transformers - network of sites world-wide
Mouser - large electronic components distributor with a world-wide network, targeted at design engineers
Digi-Key - claim to have the world's largest selection of electronic components, although their prices tend to be higher than other suppliers
OSH Park - printed-circuit board manufacturer - excellent at producing small quantities of PCB's at very reasonable cost within a few weeks - shipped free to anywhere in the world
PCBWay - Chinese printed-circuit board manufacturer - excellent quality matched with rapid delivery and low cost - minimum quantity is 5 boards
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Atari Computers
Atari Archives - information still available for the dedicated enthusiast - including the full text of many reference books such as 'Mapping the Atari' and 'Assembly Language Programming for the Atari Computers'
ABBUC eV - the very active Atari Bit Byter User Club, based in Germany - their comprehensive and well-maintained website has a host of links to all things Atari - but is currently not accessible
Nick Kennedy's Page - features SIO2PC, a program to turn a PC into an Atari
fileserver and without which the original version of A-Track on an Atari 800XL would
have been almost impossible to develop.
Thanks, Nick !
Best Electronics - as the name suggests, the best source of Atari hardware in the world - still in business, although getting in touch can take a bit of effort
B & C Computer Visions - website still appears to be active as a source of Atari hardware and software, but has not been updated for some time
Computer Software Services - the home page of Bob Puff, creator of MyDOS, the Black Box, and BobTerm, the best comms program for the Atari 8-Bit - again very useful in developing A-Track. This website has not been updated for a long time
Microprocessors & Personal Computers
Arduino - complete information on the range of microcontroller modules used in my DCC-related projects - details and guides to all hardware and software, including tutorials for beginners
Microchip (USB Connectivity) - manufacturer of the PIC range of single-chip microcontrollers - lots of data and development information available
Jan Axelson's Lakeview Research - reference information and software for developers of PC peripherals - USB, Parallel, and Serial Ports
Microsoft Developers' Network (Windows) - although often maligned, Microsoft provides an enormous amount of free information on almost any PC topic - the only problem is locating the specific topic of interest
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Copyright © JT Chamberlain 2004-2026 All rights reserved |
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Page Last Updated 16 January 2026 |