I have always operated my trains conventionally. My current layout is 11’x17’ with Gargraves track and Ross turnouts. It has a double main (O-54 and O-63) with 11 side tracks (all but one also has an uncoupler section). Tracks are powered with a MRC Dual (270 watts) and all tracks are set up with blocks so power can be toggled on/off. I also have a scratchbuilt turntable and use an old MTH M-750 to power the track bridge on the turntable and the turntable storage tracks.
Below is my plan for a layout rebuild, with grey track for the double main, blue track for the side tracks and the turnouts are in red.
The new layout will be similar to the current layout, but a bit bigger, and my double main will have O-72 and O-80 curves. My new layout will be powered by my MRC Dual. As I have a spare MRC Dual, I’m thinking about using this to power my turntable area and the DZ-1000’s motors on my Ross switches.
Seven of my 12 engines (3 - 3rd Rail, 3 - Atlas, 1 - Weaver) have TMCC, so I’m thinking about adding Legacy to my layout. I would continue to use one or both of my MRC Duals for power and would conventionally control the DZ-1000s for the Ross Turnouts.
I figure that if I ordered the Lionel 990 set, this would be good to power the double main, but what the heck would I do with the side tracks and the turntable area?
Thanks for any help,
Jim