OK, I knew I has seen Catrain before. Not anything I need, although it is interesting. I am actually going to use regular old DC track control. If I really get hooked on this stuff maybe I will get DCC ,which is the standard digital control system for model trains . There is just no need for it on a layout of the size I am making, it is more for giant club layouts and such where there is a desire to run multiple trains on the same lines. The wiring on my layout is fairly complex though. With what I have purchased and some things my dad is sending me, I will have 11 turnouts, most of which will have remote switches. Along with that I am going to have 2 reversing loops, which require elaborate wiring to make sure the polarity is correct in relation to an approaching train , otherwise it will instantly reverse and jump off the tack when entering the reverse leg, and perhaps shear off the drive gears as well. I also will have 8 separate sidings which can be isolated, to park engines or whole trains, and then activate another.
The large lot of gear I bought off of Ebay has the siding switches and one of the reversing loop switch setups I need. That stuff is sitting at the Post Office right now.
![frustration !hairpull!](./images/smilies/hairpull.gif)
I almost drove over to pick it up, but I guess I can wait for the wife to pick it up on her way home later as she drives right by there. I also decided to give XtrkCAD a try, and it is a bit easier than it first seemed to me. It does not have the drag and drop ease of Anyrail, but it allows you to draw much more detail and things like the structure of the table as well. In the short term, I will have a 4'x8' sheet of plywood with track on it out in the shop that I can stand up out of the way. This will allow me to experiment a bit with some things I want to do before I build the permanent one in a month or so.