There are a number of inexpensive
(< $10.00) radio control units that have come to market that may
have model railroad control applications. These controllers are
designed to connect to LED strip lights, either of a single
color or of the RGB variety (R=red, G=green, B=blue)
I have done some experimenting with a few
of the devices I have found on eBay, Amazon and from other
vendors. Some of these devices communicate from the transmitter
to the receiver via infrared signals and other use RF (Radio
Frequency). I have limited my experiments for this article to
RF devices as they generally have greater range and can operate
around barriers (IR units require line-of-sight operation)
The devices to be explored also are
designed to operate RGB LEDs so that one color can be used to
control the engine speed while another color is used to toggle a
DPDT (Double Pole Double Throw) relay to reverse the motor's
direction of rotation. If you have no need to reverse your
train you can use one of the simpler, one color controllers.