Abstract: An apparatus that enables a train or trailer vehicle to communicate with other vehicles in the same train without using vehicle identifiers other than the relative positions of the two vehicles within the train. It uses short-range communication methodologies to communicate signals between a vehicle and the adjacent vehicle. Vehicles in the same train that are not adjacent intercommunicate via relay.

Abstract: The Invention outlines a method of incorporating a laser pointing device, an optical sensor target device, and a communication by laser beam between the laser-pointer device and the optical sensor target device with the goal of effecting the activation or control of a device embodied in a model railroad or diorama. The Invention includes details of an apparatus incorporating an optical sensor target that can distinguish between the states of being hit and being not hit by a laser beam that is emitted from a laser pointing device that is aimed at the target for the purpose of activating or controlling a device embodied in a model railroad or diorama, and presents that fact to another device via an appropriate electrical circuit.

Abstract: The invention is an electronic Two-Terminal Modulator. It is used electrically in series between a Power Source and a Target Device, and can modulate the power that is sent to the Target Device, at speeds and with modulating complexity that exceed present capability. The invention includes implementation of the modulator as a unit that is inserted into or appended to another device and is used to modulate the power in the other device.