Christopher Mitchell updates Class 800 cab

1/ Christopher Mitchell’s latest update is a progress report, not a finished-build reveal. In a July 26 post later highlighted by Hackaday on August 5, he said he has spent more than three years building a physical train simulator in his apartment modeled on the UK Class 80x family, including the Class 800. (z80.me) 2/ The project is unusually literal about replication. Mitchell wrote that he has tried to match the real cab’s instruments and controls “as closely as possible,” using real components where he can and building replicas where he cannot. He also said the work spans custom CAN bus hardware, daughterboards, and the full panel structure. (z80.me) 3/ The July update matters because it shows the project moving through integration work across several subsystems at once. Mitchell said he usually waits until a component is complete before posting, but this time published a roundup because he had made progress across multiple hardware areas over the prior half-year. (z80.me) 4/ One of the clearest examples is the headlight control panel. Mitchell described the real train’s setup as a six-position knob for head and tail light states, a push-on/push-off hazard-light button, and LEDs on a front-of-train diagram showing the active configuration. (z80.me) 5/ Rather than approximate that panel in software alone, Mitchell said he designed a PCB with white and red surface-mount LEDs that also serves as a daughterboard for one of the simulator’s CAN bus transceivers. The board breaks out terminals for the selector switch and hazard button, tying the visual indicators and control inputs into the broader system. (z80.me) 6/ The update is also a reminder that fidelity can hinge on small parts. Mitchell wrote that he tested three white LED options and three red LED options to get similar apparent brightness, then went through two PCB revisions before settling on the right size and layout. He said JLC made frosted white diffusers for the LEDs. (z80.me) 7/ The hardest problem in this slice of the build was not software. Mitchell said sourcing the correct six-position selector switch proved difficult because buying the needed part new would require spending “hundreds of dollars” on multiples, so he assembled his own from the right parts after several wrong eBay guesses. (z80.me) 8/ That detail says a lot about the whole project: it sits between restoration, fabrication and interface engineering. The goal is not just a train-themed controller, but a cab that behaves and looks like the original hardware closely enough to support simulation use. That framing comes from Mitchell’s own description of using real parts where possible and custom replicas where necessary. (z80.me) 9/ Mitchell said he has already tested the headlight panel work with Train Simulator and Train Sim World. But he also flagged a current limitation: Train Sim World does not expose the current output state of dashboard LEDs and indicators, which leaves part of the feedback loop incomplete for now. (z80.me) 10/ Hackaday’s write-up treated the post as a snapshot of continued incremental progress rather than a single breakthrough. Its August 5 item said Mitchell’s July blog update provided many details on the build’s progress after three years of work on the replica British Rail Class 800 control cab. (hackaday.com) 11/ The next concrete step is already named. Mitchell wrote that the headlight panel will get its own dedicated post later, where he plans to show the PCB iterations, the diffuser, and how the final version works with Train Simulator. (z80.me)