Bob, I'm only familiar with Digitrax, all their systems will throw turnouts. I suspect all the others will as well. The switch machines are controlled by a stationary decoder, there are several you can choose from. Some for twin coil machines, others for slow motion motor types, some control more than one, some offer feedback to indicate which way the turnout is thrown, this can be used for signalling,etc. So all you are really doing is selecting the address of the stationary decoder and, with Digitrax throttles, selecting either thrown or closed, as I recall. I do not use this feature. Depending on how many turnouts you have, this can get pretty expensive. This is something I would consider if I had a dispatcher, as he would throw all turnouts and have readback on their status. Because I, so far, operate primarily with only one or two other people, I find it more satisfactory to install toggle switches in the fascia to control my slow motion motors and not deal with selecting a decoders address while running a loco and blowing for grade crossings, etc. Too much button pushing for me! And what engineer ever was able to throw switches from his cab? When I throw a mainline turnout, I pretend it was done by a dispatcher, otherwise I stop the train and allow time for the brakeman to throw the switch.
The sound and lights, as well as the turnouts, are controlled from your throttle. The sound decoder and speaker are installed in the loco, or tender. Some people install sound in a freight car if they have small locos which will not accomodate a decoder/speaker. You need to improve the pick up on the freight car to get all wheel pickup, as sound that cuts out when travelling over turnouts is more annoying than pleasing. Yes, the sound will come from the engine if that is where you installed the speaker. You can check Tony's site for pictures of installations, that may help you understand.
www.ttx-dcc.com
Extras: Decoder for each loco. Stationary decoders for throwing turnouts. Track signals and crossings is a topic unto itself. Digitrax offers a signalling system, check their pages.
www.digitrax.com
Now you're talking money. I strongly recommend that you stay away from this for now. Get to know the basics before committing any cash to this. There are other firms who make grade crossing signal activators and such, they will work with DC and DCC. They use infrared detectors and pcbs. This is really another subject altogether. I'm not sure which other DCC manufacturers offer what in regards to signalling.
One last note about your track plan. It appears you have reverse loops at each turnback curve. Gap both rails at each end of both turnback curves, at least a train length long. connect the rails to the output of a reversing module, an extra I didn't mention above. The input of the module gets connected to the rail output of the DCC booster, or bus wire. This allows those crossovers to not be reverse blocks themselves, in other words the north rail of all trackage will be one polarity, the south rail the other. This is a bit different than what DC'ers are used to. I, or someone else, can explain this further if needed.You may want to read the Big book of DCC or similar material, it will help clear things up for you.
