Why do European Train makers have all the cool stuff?

I believe you will find the demographic of the age ranges are generally lower in Europe that model railroad.

I think you can fill in the rest of that response.

It's not just age, but people of all ages are more into model trains in Europe than the states.  I am from the states, but currently traveling in Europe.  Watching tv at a hotel in Scotland, I saw an tv advert for model trains.  Hard to imagine that happening in the US.

 

Also, the OP was discussing command control.  DCC is standardized across manufacturers in Europe which encourages independent developers.  Looking at the magazines here shows an amazing array of products.  This is unlike the sorry state of O gauge command control in the states where control systems are unique to manufacturers.  IMHO 

 

Bill

 

Well the younger demographic would include me as well. It seems those under a certain age here in the states want more tech in their trains. When I first got interested in O scale Lionel was announcing the Vision Line. That was the coolest model train line I had seen. Well in Europe they're doing that in HO scale! Why don't American makers try this as well?

Have you seen MTH's HO line with smoke, integrated sound, remote couplers, DCC or DCS capable.  G

I have, but why isn't it being replicated throughout the model train world? Roco, Marklin, ESU, Fleischman, and a host of makers in Europe do what one company in America has done. Wasn't it a European company that invented DCC? 

I would expect model train technologies to be more advanced in Europe, And Asia too, for that matter. Why?

 

Real Trains are far more common in both places than here in the USA.

 

More public exposure to railroads in real life (not to mention having a reasonably stable middle class) translates into more interest in miniature ones. More participants, more industry to serve them, more advances in technology. And most of it being HO scale and smaller, little in the way of honking enormous power demands and a heavily electrically noisy environment like we have here in 3-rail 'O' to frustrate the adoption of DCC in its unadulterated form. 

 

(well, I'm speculating with that last part, but I'm pretty sure of the first paragraph)

 

---PCJ

Please do note that MTH now has DCC integrated into their PS3.0.  I wouldn't be a bit surprised if Lionel embedded DCC into their Legacy in the near future.



I have built my own high amperage decoder for three rail O gauge, something you really can't do with TMCC or DCS.

 

Regards,

 

Lou N

 

It's not just European layouts. My On30 layout uses the Sprog 3, JMRI, and "old" android phones as wireless throttles. My three year old can run trains easily. And the whole setup cost a fraction of any of the popular DCC systems. (I buy the phones used off eBay for around $15 each.) I was tempted to use cheap tablets as Yard control panels, but it seemed odd for a turn of the century layout. Still, the technology is there. 

 

But yes, I wish the major manufacturers would take advantage of 2013 technology. Nearly everyone has wifi in their homes, tablets and smartphones abound - why reinvent the wheel? 

 

Scott 

If anyone in interested in layout control from smart phones and tablets I suggest looking at page 1 on the latest MTH catalog.  The bold type at the top of the page reads "Command Control from Your Smart Phone".

 

http://www.mthtrains.com/sites.../2014_v_1/index.html

 

This video shows a layout using a PC that provides layout and lighting automation as well as the use of phones and tablets for remote control of trains, switches and other features.  The PC based system opens up new possibilities for accessing some of the features that are in every Proto Sound 2 and 3 MTH locomotive. 

 

 

This is a tablet that is being used for local yard switch control.

 

 

And here is a view of the dispatchers desk.

 

 

 

 

 

When I was at the local Barnes & Noble store last week, I purchased a copy of Hornby Magazine ($12 per issue, published in England, and it's a monthly).  Really some impressive model railroading--primarily HO/OO, of course--depicted in that publication.  I need to study things a good bit further, but I think the Europeans and Brits may be leaving us in their dust when it comes to building the hobby of model railroading.  But, as others have pointed out, it somewhat stands to reason because rail transportation is still such a vital part of things in those countries.

 

What I found especially impressive is this is a magazine devoted primarily to the products of a specific manufacturer, but still inclusive of some others, such as Bachmann.  Equally impressive was the number of dealer ads.  I hadn't expected that because we often read about how few and far between train dealers are on the continent or in England.  That may even be true, but this hefty, glossy magazine sure didn't leave that impression.

 

I'll be reading this magazine again (I believe the issue I bought had some 152 pages or so) because even though I'm not into Hornby HO/OO, I do have a fair collection of Marklin HO and like to see what is being done in the area of British and European modeling.  Great modeling interest me regardless of scale.

It's 3-Rail O gauge dealers that are few and far between here in the UK. Especially US outline. 

Most large towns (at least in my area) have a model shop. Though they have reduced in number due to the economic downturn. These carry OO and N gauge in the main.

Hornby is our version of Lionel in other words what the average man in the street thinks of when he sees a model train.

 

I don't think we are any more technically advanced in model trains here. For all it's well known problems our Lionel Acela really causes a stir at shows.

The biggest attraction of 3-Rail O gauge for me is the action accessories they may not be 

prototypical but they sure are fun. None of the UK manufactures has anything like them.

 

Nick