Not much question that dcc is the standard today for layout control. Decoders are up to 21 pins from 8 initially. Who knows when that will be obsolete? Does anybody have statistical data regarding how many of us are using DCC. Not interested in opinions. i see the next iteration involving virtual reality to run controls from a real engine while looking out the cab window of the model. That shouldn’t cost more then four figures. That would be the ultimate in my opinion but I doubt I will still be here if and when it happens.
Large is psychological, so large anything prototypical, or large in scale, is gonna cost. Always gonna cost. Trouble is, with large comes the apparent flaws, missing details, surfaces making the material more obviously fake…that kinda thing. So, large almost certainly means more going on, and that means time and money…and materials. And heft. And complication because there’s more going on, like more sounds, animation, mechanical action. It’s gonna cost. Always.
DCC+ and ++ are both out and gaining fans. There are other systems that are gaining popularity, but I can’t opine on their efficacy, ease of use, redundancy, potential for evolutionary growth, etc.
DCC works well enough, but I think most of us agree it needs a substantial improvement in how well the engines run reliably with iffy pickup. On-board storage would make the problems of DCC largely go away. From there, DCC works like a dream as far as I am concerned.
Few things go obsolete unless there’s a substantial improvement in a rival, or when the user responds to novelty. We’re routinely encouraged, and there’s that darned marketing psychology again, to want the latest gizmo.
DCC works, it has history, it has fans, its expandable…it’s just this infernal power reliability problem with supposedly dirty track.
As for live steam in scale, YouTube is replete with videos showing all types of locomotives running at large outdoor clubs all across the planet, from Oz to the USA and in EU.
There is a very large contingency still holding on to DC. You can’t call DCC the norm. 8 pin or 21 pin doesn’t matter. Ninty percent of my locomotive fleet only uses two or even one lighting function.
Pete.
Hello All,
Other than an impromptu poll of the members of these forums and other user groups, I doubt any exists.
When I was in college; studying photojournalism, the digital camera was in it’s infancy.
There was much gloom-and-doom speak about how our jobs would be obsolete because cameras would be in everyone’s hands and newspapers wouldn’t hire full-time photographers, they would just pay for images submitted by the general public.
Well, as it turned out photojournalism is alive and well, albeit in a different form from what was “when I went to school”.
Many modelers prefer DC block control over the “New & Improved” DCC.
I suspect when the next iteration of model railroad control comes along some will still embrace DC, many will stick with DCC and others will support whatever new technologies are available.
The decoder is a single component in a vast myriad of components that make up this great hobby.
Many have speculated about “what’s next”.
For the immediate future that might be the only thing available.
Hope this helps.
I’ve pretty much always had trains. For years, though, I enjoyed war simulation games, both cardboard ones like Avalon Hill and later digital ones like Harpoon. I played around with train simulators, but found them unsatisfying. Then I discovered Flight Simulator, and I was hooked.
Eventually, though, I drifted back to model railroading. The thing I had been missing was the actual reality of it. This was solid, real, something I could hold in my hands, not disappearing when I turned the power off. The first night I powered up a DCC engine, I was hooked, even on a small oval. Likewise, I smiled with childlike pleasure at learning to cast walls with Hydrocal. I’ve slowly learned scenery techniques and improved my wiring skills, all just to make my railroad better.
So no, I’m not interested in virtual reality for my railroad. There’s a physical presence that’s important to me. To me, the challenge is to get my models as close to reality as possible. Sometimes, I even give names to my little people.
The introduction of 21-pin decoders didn’t make 8- or 9-pin decoders obsolete. They still work, and will still work for decades to come.
That’s all that you can reasonably hope for - - opinions. I serious doubt that there is data about there about how many model railroaders use DCC, either in terms of absolute numbers or percentages.
I’m no historian, so I don’t know when people started running AC powered model railroads, but popularity of AC power was definitely in vogue in the post-war years. At some point, DC power became the standard, at least in scale modeling. Then, DCC power emerged around 1993. The evolution of DCC power brought about a sea change in model railroading because, for the first time, commands could be issued to individual locomotives.
I personally would not consider virtual reality as a new form of model railroading because it would not involve scale model locomotives running on actual track. What would be a further evolution in model railroading would be something like wireless control. Imagine an actual layout that could be operated without any wiring whatsoever.
Rich
I doubt that there is any statistical data availalbe here so opinions is likely all you are going to get. Now MR magazine or other magazines may have done a poll, but the figures are probably not statistically significant.
All the informal surveys on this forum, and other places, magazines, other forums, etc, suggest amoung HO an N scale modelers, DCC use is between 50% and 60%.
A quick scan thru some of the Facebook groups suggests about the same.
To the OP, I have ZERO interest in a control system that simulates a engine cab.
Sheldon
I doubt that will happen. Sounds like a train sim would be pretty close to what you want.
I doubt that will happen. Sounds like a train sim would be pretty close to what you want but you never know.
I have a dream. Oh back to reality.
I can envision a control system that has low voltage AC through the rails that is only used to charge a hi tech battery pack in each locomotive. Each locomotive would have a chip that receives a control signal wirelessly from a palm sized throttle with voice commands for functions and addresses. Consists are linked to each other for speed matching, lights, horn and bell from the lead unit only no matter which direction.
Oh well. Maybe some day.
Pete.
I agree with Sheldon.
Since I’m in HOn3 and 1900 era HO, fitting DCC is not trivial or fun. The ONLY reason I even use DCC at all is that DCC is the only control system that makes sense for modular layouts at shows. Otherwise, I’d be still using DC. I just have no reason for the features of DCC on a small shelf layout. Sound would be nice but makes DCC installation even tougher in these tiny engines.
I never saw the inside of a steam cab, although I did operate steam turbines on a ship. No interest in pretending I’m in a steam cab - again layout realities dictate.
Fred W
Oh, I don’t know. But the following seems to be pretty close:
I’ve done a couple of DCC installations for friends, but could never decipher the lingo for programming.
The first one was reasonably easy, as the owner was more than capable for doing the programming.
Here’s a couple of photos…
…with all-wheel pick-up…
The second one was done for the friend who had supplied the loco (gratis) for the first guy.
I was somewhat taken aback when he announced that it was to be for dead-rail operations (battery powered).
I managed to do the installations, but again was mystified by programming (as was the owner). However, he knows somebody who will do the programming.
A couple of photos…
…simple access to the controls…
…with easy operating instructions for the owner (who is in his eighties)…
OP wrote: “i see the next iteration involving virtual reality to run controls from a real engine while looking out the cab window of the model. That shouldn’t cost more then four figures. That would be the ultimate in my opinion but I doubt I will still be here if and when it happens.”
Check out the Roco z21 app. It can do that, right now – providing you have one of the Roco locomotives equipped with an internal camera. You actually move the controls inside the cab of the engine to run the train.
You’ll need either an Android tablet or iPad (iOS). You can download the Roco app (it’s free) from either google play or the App Store. Search for “roco z21”. There are actually TWO control apps – an older one (red engine on blue background) and the newer one (letters “z21” on a dark grey background).
You don’t need the Roco dcc hardware to try these in demo mode. What you’re thinking about is already available in the here-and-now.
I would be happy to skip the voice control part…
I have used DCC on the layouts of others for the better part of 20 years now. And I have helped design, build and wire a few of those layouts.
Nothing about DCC had yet to motivate me to use it on my own layout.
That said, I have long suggested that the next advancement would be a direct radio system where control signals go directly from a wireless controller to the locomotive.
Well it has been available for a while now, does not seem
As others have pointed out, it is doubtful any statistically accurate numbers can be quoted.
In my personal knowledge of nearby people with home layouts:
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About half use DCC.
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All large layouts that host operating sessions use DCC.
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A lower percentage of N scale layouts use DCC.
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All people are satisfied with their personal choice about DCC.
-Kevin
Sheldon brings up some good points and at the same time demonstrates that there are proud holdouts for traditional ways. There are club members that still run pizza cutters and horn hook couplers on DC. Slow to change? Yes and no. Some don’t want to change because it works, have way too much that it’s not economic, and some tradition. I’ve also seen people seemingly change overnight. Buying new equipment and building a new layout in very short order. I call it the KD coupler syndrome. KDs work and somewhat looks better than the horn hook couplers. But if Seargent couplers came out thirty years earlier, they may be the defacto coupler today. If I didn’t have to buy and change out about a thousand of them. I’ll stay with the KD. Change is slow for a multitude of reasons.
Pete.
i chose DCC because it minimized wiring.
i think that’s quite a leap. more realistic diesel and steam throttles are possible for those interested in micro operation. sound can be improved with mechanical sounds when drifting and giving more control to throttles
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