Well spoken Bill and boB,
At first I had never thought beyond DC for my own layout, till my good
friend Rusty Paulus had open house after a trainshow. (Rusty's layout
appeared in several venues including the 50 Years of S in MR, it's own
feature in MR and a few early SHS ads.)
Anyway during this open house, we had three trains running on a single
stall garage sized layout with three loops plus a branch-line. Rotary
switches controlled the blocks. Rusty was the only guy who could
half-way keep things running in real time, but it wasn't long before he
was a tired, frazzled, and one confused dispatcher. The difficulty in
actually having multiple operators sharing trackage with only short
distances was the culprit. There had to be a better way. In the real
world even the mighty UP puts excess trains in the hole until there is a
slot available--modelers get bored and want to run trains!
When I operate on several local layouts, we've had as many as 10 guys of
various skill levels generally making things work without ever having to
control blocks--we get verbal clearance or watch our signals. A switch
list or car card plus the names of industries and towns is enough to
figure out in one 2-3 hour session. I think perhaps that command
control might actually add a few years of life or at least, maybe keep
from pulling out the last bit of hair you have--assuming your wiring was
done correctly in the first place!
BTW, I plan on operating on a local live steam park sized layout this
weekend--that should be a hoot for a first timer like me! Walking a
real train will be different but there aren't any duck unders either not
to mention no electrical current of any kind.
Bob Werre
PhotoTraxx
Hi boB --
Unfortunately, everyone is eventually a dying breed. I still use DC,
though the layout is being wired to accommodate DCC and I have an NCE
unit
on hand. DC has some real advantages: not so picky about shorts – a good
thing when debugging track and rolling stock; everything usually comes
from
the factory DC useable, not DC “ready”; the current batch of RRM steam
locos
(well, the last 20 years!) all run really well without having to play
with
any programming or lighting; there is no additional expense in the
initial
setup of a locomotive; and so on. DCC has its own obvious advantages: run
the trains, not the track (this IS a biggie); independent multiple loco
operation on the same track; if you have sound, each loco has its own
voice
and it doesn’t get lost if more than one loco is on the same track, so
double heading a diesel and a steamer you get both sound effects;
constant
lighting; and so on.
So, do what makes you happy!
Have fun!
Bill
---------------------------
...
I believe DC operators like you and me are a dying breed, but still don't
see a need to change my whole control system at this stage of the
game. ...
boB Nicholson
