I was big into model railroading in the early 1980’s and for a few years off and on during the 90’s. I was away for many years and it amazes me how things have changed. It seems that back then to be a model railroader you needed to be a mechanical genius and know something about electronics to get your layout wired and to run right. Since I have gotten back into model railroading, since about December of 2012, it has changed from having to be a mechanical genius to having to be an electrical wizard to build and run a layout. Although the advances and technology are great and make running your layout/model railroad more realistic, IE: DCC, sound etc., it just all seems so complicated. Perhaps it is just me and need to learn more about it and I would like to.
I would be interested to know how many modelers still run plain old DC as I am doing, or is that just living in the past because that is what we know. So far my layout runs well and is fun for me to operate. I do have an interest in DCC and would perhaps one day like to switch over to be able to run more realistically, but for now DC serves my purpose. I suppose that what they say is true, that if you are having fun, you are doing it right.
I guess I am just looking for opinions and trying to provoke thoughts on the subject.
Does anyone else feel the way I do about the mechanical vs electrical genius idea?
Actually in some key ways DCC can be easier (and some argue, cheaper) than DC block cab control wiring. What can be daunting is trying to make older equipment DCC equipped, and a strong incentive exists to start over with locomotives if you go to the DCC route.
If a person was just starting the hobby, it is actually astounding how many steps that we long took for granted have been eliminated and streamlined if they buy the right stuff. Don’t lose hope!
I’m in the same boat, and the prospect of changing to DCC is intimidating to this old-timer. During all my working life I’ve collected equipment and planned for a layout. Now that I’ve retired, I’ve begun building it and will soon have to address the need to decide on a system, equip my locos to operate on it, and learn how to run it.
Fortunately, I have a number of friends who understand it a lot better than I do, and I expect to be leaning on them for help and advice. One of the great things about this hobby is the great number of helpful and generous friends we meet. You and I will be at their mercy, but I trust them to see us through it.
Despite having been a mainframe computer programmer before I retired, I’m at an age where learning new technologies can make my head spin. However, I’ve discovered that basic DCC operation is fairly simple and there is plently of new equipment that already has the DCC decoders installed. Most of the ones that don’t are DCC ready which means you simply unplug one board and plug in a decoder. Wiring a DCC layout is simpler than old DC layouts. I haven’t begun to work with the advanced DCC functions such as modifying CV settings. I’ve found I really don’t need to. I can operate my layout just fine without bothering with them. Someday when I’m feeling up to it, I might decide to take a crack and seeing what I can do with the advanced features of DCC. If Someday never comes, that’s OK too.
I think if anything model railroading is actually simpler than it was back in the 1980s. There is so much RTR equipment and prebuilt structures that it’s possible to get a layout up and running in relatively short amount of time if that’s the way you want to go. There are new scenery techniques but the old ones still work fine.
if you were staring out and bought DCC equipped locomotives, DCC could actually be much simpler than DC because you wouldn’t need blocks. You would have to wire a reverser if you have reversing sections but dealing with a DC reversing section isn’t that straight forward either. And you would get all the benefits of DCC allowing multiple locomotives to run on the same track.
I can’t be sure, but I would guess that somewhere near half of those who post here at least once a week are still DC users, and I am very happy they offer their wisdom and experience to us relatively new to the hobby.
There is nothing wrong with DC. It works. It works simply in a simple layout, and it is very reliable. I expect that DCC is more finnicky, and that if offers more frustration if track pickup is a bit iffy. I don’t recall having dropout issues when I got my Marklin train set long ago when I was only 11 or so. That thing ran and ran and ran.
DCC offers more realism for those who can’t, or who won’t, craft it using DC principles. We pay for that gee-whiz experience, too. In my case, I fell in love with momentum/inertia settings, a bell and whistle I could ring, and being able to tell the decoder via paddle inputs to move while the loco beside it in the same powered module remained idle. I was sold.
As it always is, it’s strictly a choice. As long as it makes you happy, and offers doable challenges, I would recommend you stick with what you know. Later, if you decide to switch to DCC, simply leave any selectors closed and add decoders and a DCC system. You may have to fight some live frogs now and then, maybe not. Learn as you go. You’ll still be having fun.
I also was on and off in the hobby from 1992 till about 4 years ago when I began building my current layout. But throughout those years I tried to keep up with things as much as possible, at least academically. When I cleared the living area of my house in December 2010 and dug up all I could find of the ‘earlier years’ in the hobby, I found that I had about 80% of what was needed to build my current layout. There was no DCC equipment or high end electronics…not even close. I built the layout as I learned to build a layout 25+ years ago. Power packs, a panel with block controls, twin coil switch machines, and reed switches and relays to run signals. There are some basic electronics in place. Most of my locomotives are older Athearn BB…some of other brands…some new. Same with rolling stock.
I think the beauty of model railroading is that it encourages you to learn mechanics, electrical and electronics, carpentry, landscaping, and so on and so forth. I was just fortunate to have a fairly stong background in electrical.
It also forces lower income persons like me to learn to take a more thrifty approach to things.
I fully understand DCC and and how it works (surprisingly…very similar to coded cab signals on real trains). But as with other technologies we have these days I’ve simply chosen not to use DCC. Cost is a factor…considering decoders for 105 locomotives and remotoring some, a throttle system, and booster. And even though I have some formal training with computer systems…I just don’t want to deal with any kind of programming.
But more so than anything, as more and more in the hobby are going with technological advancements. I want to continue being the old fuddy duddy and show a high tech world what the hobby was like 30 or more years.
Being an old time DC wiring expert type person, I find DCC is much more simple. No complicated block wiring with toggle or rotary switches that really required people to be electrical geniuses. DCC is two wires to the track and run the trains (plural). What could be easier than that? It only gets complicated if you want it to (and even then it has nothing to do with electronics but with computers).
I don’t understand the mechanical genius part either. I never felt there was any mechanical mystery with the older locos. If anything, today’s precision units require a much finer “touch” and more mechanical knowledge to work on then they used to.
I see a lot here are like myself. Been in and out of the hobby over many years. I came back strictly due to DCC and R-T-R narrow gauge stuff and love it. I would hate to have to go back to wiring up all that block control stuff now. (I wired up over 5 block control layouts between 1960 and 1995) I am glad all that tedious work is gone.
I think that what I meant about the mechanical genuis part was really in the old days when modelers really had no choice but to scratch build just about everything they needed to have a running layout. et al Locomotives and rolling stock.
My layout is set up both ways. I have a DC power pack sitting beside a Digitrax DCC base station. I connect to the layout through a DPDT switch so I can select one or the other. This is because I have not had time to convert all my locos to DCC - always seems to be another project getting in the way with decoders, plus many of my locos are pre DCC manufacture, so they need to be hard wired and the Athearns and some others need the motor pulled to isolate it from the frame.
I think that DCC has lots to offer and am not intimidated by it, but I find that DC does everything I want or need, and it’s simpler and cheaper.
If you want sound and plan on having multiple operators, I think that DCC would be a better choice.
I don’t look at it as “Old School vs New School” that seems to make it: “Us against Them”, for some people. I see it as two legitimate ways to be involved in the hobby. I do see the hobby as far more complex than it used to be and at the same time, it can also be far easier, too. In the not too distant future it would seem there is going to be a third method of controlling your model railroad through onboard battery powered Radio Control. With this system, the rails will only be used for guiding your trains to their destination. The always tenuous electrical connection of the rail to the wheel will be eliminated. I know enough about battery and R/C technology to consider this system can’t be too far off.
I understand that what I just said to you hasn’t made your choice any easier, sorry!
Ken,I have a MRC Tech 6 so I can use my DCC/Sound locomotives or DC since the majority of my locomotives is DC.A simple push of a button is all it takes.
As far as “old school” well,that’s how I model. [swg]
I guess I’m an old school guy. My current layout is traditional DC block control. Maybe I’m alone in this but wiring for DC block control seems simple to me and one of my favorite tasks involved in building a layout. Yes, I actually enjoy wiring!
I never really considered DCC mainly because of the initial cost of entry. Not that I can’t afford it, I probably could, I just can’t justify that sort of expense for a hobby. It’s just not a high enough priority in the overall picture. I have to keep things in perspective.
Now, having said that, I will also say that I was never that impressed with the sound capabilities of DCC locomotives until I saw some operating in person. They sound so much better, so much more realistic, live than they do on any of the videos I had seen that now I really would like to have sound on my layout. But once again, I don’t really need any of the other features of DCC so the expense just to get that sound just doesn’t make economic sense for me at this time.
I just don’t buy comments about DCC being that much more expensive. $169.99 for a Digitrax Zephyr and less than $20.00 for DH126D decoder isn’t that expensive. An average DC power pack is close to $70.00. I guess if your a locomotive collector then yes, adding decoders to all of them will cost you some real money!
Lets get real about this! It is all about being involved in the hobby the way you want to do it. If you want to do DC, have at’r! Others will spend a little extra $$ and do DCC, it’s a personal choice, nothing else!
I have 44 DC engines and at a conservative $25.00 for a decoder that’s right around $1100.00.
There is a workable solution…Add decoders to your favorire engines or those you use the most.I’m adding decoders to my favorite DCC ready Atlas and Athearn RTR locomotives. My older locomotives will never see a decoder and will be used at the club or by my T-6 DC mode.
A NEC Power cab can be had around $130-140.00 street price.My MRC Tech 6 with handheld throttle cost me around $130.00 in two steps.First the T-6 then the throttle.The throttle allows 6 train operation.
For very basic multi train operation Bachmann’s E-Z DCC system will get the job done for around $89.00 street.