> there are tons of reasons the "other than DCC" probably has greater
> numbers. Go to the average trainshow and some dealer will have 200
> engines laying on his table. Chances are they are mostly non-DCC.
> Bob Werre
Bob, Bill, Don, etc......
I think the problem here is that Bill's original statement was very broad. It
was: "the current most popular system to run trains is DCC.". Later, Bill
stated that he was referring only to layouts he was personally familiar with.
Similarly, Don later stated he was referring only to locos which SHS has sold.
So a broad statement was made which was questioned and then the statement was
subsequently modified to become very restrictive. Hence we are discussiong
apples and bananas to some extent.
> Look at all the brass changing hands for the last 50 years--chances are most
> of those have never seen a decoder. I'm sure every Christmas, there are tens
> of thousands of HO trainsets sold every year <snip>
Bob....you have just restated the main thrust of my comment. Not to mention
Maerklin, Hornby, Roco, Williams, etc., etc. who all have been selling trains
for decades without any DCC included. Most all of these trains are most likely
running on non-DCC layouts.
> However, when you're talking about functioning layouts built within the last
> 25 years, <snip>.
The restriction of "the last 25 years" was not included in the broad original
statement. Nor was the statement restricted to only SHS locos. Or, just
layouts I have visited. It was a hobby-wide statement that I believe is
incorrect and misleading.
> There are 19 layouts on the tour <snip> all have some kind of command control.
Yes, but the original statement referred only to NMRA-compliant DCC. Not to
command control in general. Again, an apples to strawberries comparison since
there are many forms of command control besides DCC. And, the orginal
statement was not referring only to layouts shown at one convention in Houston.
It stated "current most popular system" WITHOUT all the caveats and
restrictions and modifiers now being attached to it after the fact.
Another twist is that selling more locos with a decoder when compared to locos
without a decoder, does not necessarily relate to how many systems (layouts)
are powered by DCC or something else. If five decoderized locos are sold to
one fellow and only one non-decoderized loco is sold to someone else, you could
very well have the situation where one fellow's layout is DCC powered and one
is not DCC powered. In this example, there is not five times more DCC systems
than non-DCC systems. There is an equal number of each. The original
statement referred to SYSTEMS -- not locos or decoders.
It might make more sense to compare how many non-DCC power sources have been
sold over the past many years vs. NMRA-compliant DCC systems. In other words,
MRC power packs vs. Digi/NCE/Lenz/Zimo systems.
> Also remember
> DCC is part of the umbrella grouping called command control. This
> includes a few guys running Dynatrol, Keller, and any of the 3-rail
> competing systems.
Yep. I remembered that. Not to mention GE Astrac and home-brew systems.
Sorry if this turned out to be a huge topic for disagreement. I was only
trying to correct an obvious error in the original statement.
So far, I still believe there are more non-DCC layouts when considering all the
layouts currently in existence. DCC has a long ways to go to become the "most
popular".
It might be interesting to take a poll of just the folks on this Yahoo List.
Just for fun. The last model railroad convention I attended had just one S
scale layout and it was powered by DC. Although, to be fair, if you brought
your own DCC system with you the layout was capable of being operated with DCC
with a couple of easy-to-make wiring "adjustments". Small sample sizes do lead
to incorrect conclusions.
Moving along now......
"S"incerely....Ed L.
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