Forget DCC, I Like Analog DC Much Better!

How dare you simplify your life!!!      I used DCC to run a 'G' display layout outdoors one summer (got payed for it too, Great fun!!) and I decided I didn't like the complications of DCC (cv's etc) I also used Aristocrafts radio system which I preferred. I also like MTH's DCS, but sometimes there's nothing to beat simple analogue.      Stephen     (cTR...Choose the Right)

Simple is good. 

I run both an analog and digital and have the best of both worlds. All I had to install was a toggle switch. Analog with MRC and DCC with Lenz.

All the best,

Miketg

Picked up a Sunset 44-tonner. No DCC, though I may be able to squeeze in an H.O. decoder. I run the little critter on DC.

shouldve used this..if I deside to go DCC in my O gauge..this will be my first choice..Id had the the MRC black box version when I was in HO..Ran that for my BLI steamers..worked great..

DCC remains most beneficial for those who operate multiple locomotives, especially with multiple people.

Bob

If all you want to do is run a train or two - I agree DC is the way to go.  But if you want to build and run a railroad with multi-train operation DCC (or DCS's) is the way to go today.  It simplifies wiring and operation.  

Ed Rappe    

Not me. I prefer DCC or DCS all the way. Nothing against DC it is just my personal preference. Even if I had a small layout with only one or two locomotives I would still prefer Command Control.

Back when I was a 3 railer (just before TMCC came out) I had a layout with conventional block wiring. Ed is correct. It was much more work and expense to wire and I hated flipping those block switches. I was always flipping the wrong one and the locomotive would hit a dead spot. It really took the fun out of it for me. The 2 or 3 cables necessary to make DCC or DCS work are not a deal breaker for me.

Hey, it's your railroad and you've got to do what makes you happy.

All opinion.

Speaking strictly for myself and the layout, I have three loops of continuous running with two separate back and forth lines,( streetcar ) and I simply have no need for command control. If I did switching I would go with the less expensive and bulletproof block system.

I am mulling over an engine yard addition and that's the way I will go. I think command control holds a fascination in it's own right and while some enjoy it, those of us who prefer to avoid it are misconstrued as being opponents of these systems. I think there is more than enough room for both types of operating systems.

I also switch off between contemporary and tinplate equipment which is another reason to keep the operating system simple for my uses. One day it could be a Unique Arts set and the next MTH..so why pay for something you don't use unless you are enamored of the concept?

I can remember that it was not that long ago when tethered control units were all the rage and you had this long telephone cord that plugged into various sockets..I wonder if any of these are still around?

The whole scene is evolving, and I think radio control will be the next step..and I think having the state of the art is appealing in of itself to many. Its just not my cup of tea.

Radio Control of DCC has been around a long time.   Recievers not in locos however.

I agree, for just running trains on loops, straight DC or AC is probably all you want.   If you have a good throttle system, you get good control for one train.   Any system where each train has its own track does not gain much from a digital control system.

DCC and the other digital systems become a much bigger advantage when you have more than one train/loco on the same track.    And the more you run on that track, the more convenient Digital becomes.   

WOW, GUYS!

It looks like I lit the fuse for that rocket!

BUT CONSIDER MY OPERATING PREFERENCE: 

I have ONE short-line freight, running between Barstow and Needles, pulled by either a GP-60 Diesel or a 2-6-0 Mogul Steamer, never both, and I'm the only operator!

I have no Switches, no Sidings, no Crossings, no Yards, no Timetables, no Dispatchers, or any of that "let's play railroad" stuff...but I did build a 2% Grade, just to give the locos something to do.

I'm like the 5-year-old kid who enjoys running his Thomas the Tanker on the little circle of track around the Christmas Tree, except my "circle" is 123.5 feet in circumference.

In addition, I have not one single man-made object on my "Calico Freight Lines" short line railroad.  No houses, no barns, no factories, no businesses, no cars, no people, no tunnels, no bridges, no trestles, no telegraph poles, no nuthin!

Only a couple of Mountain Goats for the fake mountains I bought at Home Depot!

I built my layout to represent sheer High Desert wilderness, guys! No Trees, no Grass, no Brooks, no Streams...just rocky, dry, desolate mountains and desert terrain. This is the kind of territory where I live, and this is how I'm modeling my layout!

Here's the best controller ever made:

BAD ORDER HAL

Electroliner:

It's all good. We all have our preferences. I like Command and you like Conventional. I am not your opponent and I don't believe you are my opponent. As long as you are happy and having fun I'm happy for you.

"I'm like the 5-year-old kid who enjoys running his Thomas the Tanker on the little circle of track around the Christmas Tree, except my "circle" is 123.5 feet in circumference, and I'm the ONLY operator."

Hal, just curious. Since this is the way you feel what made you choose 2 rail? Most guys that feel the same way you do are 3 railers?

Good Question!

DCC offers a lot more than motor control. Control of lights, sounds, etc., etc..  But we all make our choices depending on what we need and want.

Butch

HEY HUDSON,

Three Rails?..... Me?.....NEVAH!

I prefer 2-rail because of its protoypically accurate appearance, with more attention to detail.

This does not necessarily mean that I need a full-blown Railroad to enjoy 2-Rail, you understand. 

BAD ORDER HAL

As has been said, we all have our preferences.   I went to DCC about 3 years ago and it has been a big improvement for MY operations.   I have a little 1000 feet of track and about 80 switches.    this is not a loop it is point to point from staging.    All track is connected, that is you can run from anyplace to anyplace without picking up a train.  I normally have 7 operators and a tower operator for a session.   All 7 operators are basically on the same track, but not in the same place, obviously at one time.   Lots of industrial switching and a lot of yard work.    I model  (very loosely) the highly industrialized Monongehela Valley area of Western Pennsylvania.    

For me,  DCC has been a big improvement over block control and straight DC.   The block control no longer necessary is the big improvement, more than motor control or lights etc.  

But if it were a shortline with one or two locos and only one running at a time, DC would be fine with good throttle such as a GML which I used to use.

HEY PRR JIM:

I'm extremely impressed, but this is a type of operation I have absolutely no interest in.

(There are people like me, as you're fnding out!)

Have a nice Super Bowl!

BAD ORDER HAL

(My dad was a fireman for Pennsy, keeping the boilers hot on 2-8-0 Consols and 2-8-2 Mikes, hauling War consists of steel & coal in 1942-44. I rode in the cab of Switchers with him many times when he had Yard duty and I was out of school. Great fun for a 6 to 8-year-old!)

I understand perfectly. I always say there are a million ways to go about this hobby and none of them are wrong. I am somewhat like you. When I originally switched over to 2 rail I mainly did it because I couldn't stand the look of the center rail. I wouldn't mind having some of the more scale like operating accessories on my layout. I once had a guy weather and detail a Lionel water tower, not the one where you see the water going down, all this one does is the spout comes down. It came out very realistic looking even though it says Lionel.

However, I do like switches, crossings and a reasonable attempt at portraying the operations of the prototype. I plan to have two loops so when I want to railfan I can but to me operation is important because I think if I only had loops I might get bored with the layout. I guess I am somewhere between you and prrjim.

All opinion.

prrjim: Was your layout featured in the NMRA Scale Rails? I was a member when that issue came out and I saved it because of the really cool O scale layout featured.

Man, I wish I had similar memories. That must have been awesome!

To add to prrjim's post - there is also the factor of radio vs fixed location control.  For switching, viewing, and testing equipment/track, there is nothing like being close up with your train.  We ran my last railroad with Aristo Craft DC radio throttles. They worked ok but you still had the issue of walking ahead of your train to assign blocks to your cab, or losing control if you didn't.  We run the new railroad with 5 NCE DCC radio cabs and I'm about to add a 6th.  Their operation has been rock solid so I haven't bothered to run a cab bus around the line for plug in operation.

Ed Rappe

HEY HUDSON,

It WAS awesome!

I'll never forget the first time (at age 6), that I climbed the ladder up the left-hand side of an 0-6-0 Pennsy B-6 Switcher in the vast Benwood, W. Va. yards.

That locomotive was a giant (to me) hot, hissing beast, with all the valves, gauges, and levers! (I did eventually get to know what each of them were for...Fireman Dad taught me!)

This was 70 years ago, guys...

BAD ORDER HAL

(please...no highballing in the yards...)

Hudson,

My layout was in the NMRA Scale Rails probably about 6-7 years ago.    It was also in "48/ft" and the old "Model Railroading" magazine that folded.   It was the feature article in the last issue of that one!   Boy did I take a ribbing on that.   

Oops, I think I am mistaken, it was in the last issue of Rail Model Journal.

DCC is very nice but........analog here for now and quite flexible. 

The layout is two long branch  lines interconnected with four sub branches & eight switching zones over about 150' point to point, Each zone and each branch has it's own powerpack and toggles.  Small but doable.

When in a lazy fish tank mood I will be able to run Doodle bugs & RDCs over the entire layout from one central point.  Otherwise I could walk the entire open basement perimeter and pull switching duties in any industrial park or yard while anything could be done at any other point independantly by several folks simultaneously.

Throwing one relay switch at each town gives the local operator overriding control of his branch and/or his service tracks. 

No roundy round possible.

HEY TOM,

Switching Zones?   Fish Tank?   Doodle Bugs?   Roundy Round?

I never heard of such terms!

But at least I know that you must be into O-Scale, 2-Rail!

Cheers, and have one on me!

BAD ORDER HAL

My trolley line is dc analog. The cars reverse when the trolley poles are switched and at the same time the lighting changes, headlights and markers turning on or off as the direction changes, sound is from my computer(I select recorded sound depending upon the car running) with some decent speakers under the layout. Given that, no matter what, I have to change the trolley poles to reverse direction, it all works for me.

(BTW, my grandfather was a Pennsy Telegrapher/Block Operator)

If I can find the money for power supplies I believe I would convert the trains at The Childrens Museum of the Treasure Coast to DC.  We run Williams engines and I had to rewire them so that they would only run forward.  Things will be simpler switching to DC since the can motors are DC to begin with.

Al

HEY TOM T.

No, that's not a Howitzer round. It's a 40mm AntiAircraft round, fired by Bofors AA Naval Machine Guns. Howies were never smaller than 70mm, and went up to over 300mm caliber.

Iowa-class battleships mounted eighty of these AA guns in twenty quad-mounts. (Shown)

Their job was either to hang a curtain of steel over our warships or trash the Kamikazes before they dove into our ships with a load of bombs.

Note how the ammo is passed to the gun crew in 4-round clips...note also the depleted brass in the gun tub. 

Get it?

Got it!

Good!

BAD ORDER