Your First LCC Network: The Simplest Setup Possible

One of the most common questions we hear is: "What's the absolute minimum I need to try LCC?" The good news is that getting started with Layout Command Control is surprisingly simple. You can have a working LCC network controlling a turnout with just three components and about 15 minutes of setup time. Let's walk through it.

What You'll Need

The simplest possible LCC network consists of just three items:

1. An Input Node - A board with buttons or switches (like an 8-button input board)
2. An Output Node - A board to control your accessory (like a turnout controller)
3. An LCC Power Supply - To power both the LCC bus and your boards

That's it. No computer required. No programming skills needed. No complicated addressing schemes.

You'll also need:

• A turnout (track switch) and its motor/actuator
• A pushbutton or toggle switch
• LCC cables to connect everything (usually standard CAT5/6 network cables work, though check your specific products)

Step 1: Physical Connections

LCC uses a simple daisy-chain wiring scheme. Here's how to connect everything:

1. Connect your LCC power supply to the first device (let's say your input node)
2. Use an LCC cable to connect your input node to your output node
3. Connect your pushbutton to one of the input terminals on your input node
4. Connect your turnout motor to one of the output terminals on your output node

That's your physical network. Notice what you didn't need to do: no setting of addresses, no DIP switches to configure, no worrying about termination resistors (though for longer networks you'll want proper terminators at each end).

Step 2: Power Everything Up

Plug in your LCC power supply. If everything is connected properly, you should see indicator lights on your boards showing they have power and are communicating on the bus. Most LCC devices have LED indicators that show:

• Power (steady light)
• Bus activity (flickering light)
• Configuration mode (different color or pattern)

Step 3: The "Blue/Gold" Configuration

This is where LCC's genius simplicity shines. Most LCC boards have a small button (often blue or gold colored) that's used for configuration. Here's the teaching process:

1. Teach the button: Press and hold the blue/gold button on your input node until the LED changes (usually starts blinking). This puts the board in "teach" mode for that specific input.

2. Teach the turnout: Press and hold the blue/gold button on your output node until its LED changes. This associates that output with the event the input just learned.

3. Test it: Press your pushbutton. The turnout should throw!

That's it. You've just configured your first LCC network without touching a computer, without setting any addresses, and without any programming.

What Just Happened?

Behind the scenes, something elegant occurred. When you put the input board in teach mode, it generated a unique 64-bit event identifier and associated it with that button press. When you put the output board in teach mode, it "listened" for an event on the network and learned to respond to it. Now whenever that button is pressed, the input board sends that event on the LCC bus, and the output board responds by throwing the turnout.

The beauty? Neither board needs to know anything about the other. They're just producing and consuming events. This is LCC's Producer/Consumer model in action.

Making It Better

Want the turnout to toggle between thrown and closed? Most boards let you teach both the "on" and "off" events to the same button. Just repeat the teach process for the opposite turnout direction, and now your single button will toggle the turnout back and forth.

Want to add a second button at the other end of the layout to control the same turnout? Just teach that button the same way, and both buttons will now control the turnout. No need to reconfigure the turnout controller—it doesn't care how many producers are sending its event.

Want to control multiple turnouts with one button (like setting a route)? Teach multiple output boards to respond to the same button press. One event, multiple consumers.

Growing Your Network

The beautiful thing about this simple network is that it grows naturally. Want to add another turnout? Just daisy-chain another output board into your network and teach it. Want to add a signal controller? Same thing. Need a detection board for occupancy sensing? Add it to the chain and teach the relevant events.

You never have to go back and reconfigure the boards you've already set up. Each new device just learns the events it needs to care about, and the network grows organically.

What About Computers?

While you can absolutely run LCC without a computer, configuration software (like JMRI or manufacturer-specific tools) can make more complex setups easier to manage. These tools let you:

• See all devices on your network
• Give things friendly names instead of remembering which button does what
• Back up your configuration
• Create complex logic and automation

But for your first network—or even for a moderately sized layout—the blue/gold button method is perfectly sufficient and actually quite fast once you get the hang of it.

The Power of Simplicity

This simple three-component network demonstrates why LCC is gaining traction in the hobby. It's plug-and-play in the truest sense. No manual address assignment. No complicated configuration files. No need to understand network protocols or programming. Just physical connections and simple teaching.

And yet this same network can scale to hundreds of devices, span multiple rooms, integrate with computer control, and handle sophisticated automation—all while maintaining that same basic simplicity at its core.

Ready to build your first LCC network? Stop by The Layout Command Store and we'll help you get started with exactly what you need—nothing more, nothing less.