Lionel 132 Automatic Station

You can power the approach and departure sections adjacent to the stop block with a Lionel adjustable rheostat to give a slower stop and acceleration cycle. I have done this with automatic block control so that a following train slows when it gets close to another, instead of jerking to a stop every time.

Thanks Rob.  Are these rheostats something Lionel sells presently or or they old parts ?

Forum member Dale H has an entire layout running something like this in conventional. He does a lot of things with relays,  timers and different voltages etc. Here is his blog at the J&C Studios. He has a lot of info posted there. You might also check Dallee, I think they might have some station stop controls for O gauge that may do what you want. Susan Deats posted this Lionel booklet form the '50s that may be of interest 1954 Lionel Booklet. There may be some other info in that thread as well, I was thinking someone else posted some old Lionel reference booklets, but it now escapes me as to where I saw it?

Dan Padova posted:

...Are these rheostats something Lionel sells presently or or they old parts ?

I recommend the #95, but any of these from the prewar era will work for this application. They come up quite affordably & always on eBay, they are not rare or particularly desirable to most.

Rob, those are really neat. I know very little about the old Lionel stuff, but every time I see these old items posted I get the urge to order one. If for nothing else than to just experiment with them. The #91 circuit breakers got me started a while back. Thanks for posting the links and helping to educate us green horns.

In rtr12's blog link, Dale H also describes the diode-method of reducing AC track voltage to ramp down/up speed for station stops/starts.  The diode method has more up-front wiring/connections compared to a two-terminal rheostat, but then also gives direct access to multiple "taps".  Thus you can ramp up/down the speed with more granularity.  eBay is a wildcard when it comes to pricing but for example qty 5 bridge-rectifiers, 8 Amps, for $1.50 shipped (albeit from Asia) - more than enough diodes to duplicate the voltage drop range of a rheostat for a start/stop application.  I didn't see any eBay rheostats at a comparable price point.

The OP mentioned "gradually" adjusting speed like in large-scale.  I believe he is thinking of so-called Momentum control found in most DC power packs used in large-scale.  As it turns out it is fairly easy in the electronic sense to slowly ramp up (or down) a DC voltage over, say, 10 seconds.   The rheostat or diode-method do in themselves provide this automatic gradual voltage adjustment.  Someone correct me but I'm not aware of any off-the-shelf product/module with this capability for O-gauge AC that one could plug-and-play with the 132 station. 

The station has nothing to do with it. What you want to adjust/regulate is the power to the blocks leading in & out of the station stop block. You could use one rheostat on either side, but usually you can dial in just one to provide an easement current for both ends, making the train appear to coast in to the control block gently, and accelerate out gradually.

There is nothing wrong with the diode method, but using a rheostat gives you a very quick and tactile/visual method of adjustment, on the fly, without having to trial & error different diode selections, whether  by moving a clip/wire or twisting a rotary switch. You will need to make adjustments with either system for different locos & consists.

Oh yeah, & those rheostats look really cool too.