Just putting some thoughts down for discussion. There are plenty of DCC controllers for model trains, but I wonder if it would be fun to make a microcontrolled engine that responded visually to track signals. **broken link removed**
I think a real locomoto goes so fast that its driver can't see a naked pretty girl at the side of the tracks. The girl is with him unless he is a nerd.
I think DCC is cool, I was just tinkering with a non DCC system (no data coming through the tracks, just power)
Working LED signals to set the speed. Possibly IR modulated data for programming the digital engineer. A slightly autonomous system.