Technological Gadgets for Model Railroading - where to draw the line?

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

With layout plans underway, it’s tempting to want a lot of things.

Sound would certainly be cool. DCC - all that stuff.

I think I may have to draw the line at DCC with no sound, however.

If I go into Best Buy and see all the electronic gadgets, it’s so overwhelming that it’s easy to say “NO” to everything - no Plasma TV, new digital camera (what’s wrong with my 3.1 MP camera anyway), no super duper stereo system, etc.

But with MRR’ing, it’s harder to figure out where to draw the line.

I’m sure everyone’s line is different, and I have nothing against others who’s lines are in different places than mine.

Where do you draw the line?

For me, it’s looking like the line will be drawn just after DCC and Athearn equipment. I’ll probably live without DCC sound, or maybe install some sort of sound system that’s under the layout with cheap $10 radio shack speakers or something along those lines.

I know this is in-line with Terry’s editorial in MR a month or two ago, but it’s a fascinating topic in my opinion.

For example, if you go all-out on Turnouts, you could buy the turnout, plus a tortoise, plus a Hare for each one. I haven’t added up the total, but that’s not cheap, that’s for sure.

I love our hobby - you could enjoy it in so many different ways. For me, figuring out where to draw the line up front is going to be critical before I buy “just one…” tortoise for example.

2

There’s the ultimate and there’s always “good enough”. Usually, “good enough” is much more affordable. [:D] There is a point of diminishing returns in most things we get involved in. It sounds like you’re on the path to some rewarding model railroading.

3

Do I HAFTA draw a line? :wink:

I’d like to START with DCC and nice turnouts & tortoises.

Later, I’ll get into on-board sound.

After that, computer control of signalling

etc. etc.

Things have been slow for me, but I have several Walthers/Shinohara turnouts, and a bunch of ME track. Nice stuff.

I just have to be patient - and it will all work out.

Where do you draw the line on layout size? 3x6? 4x8? 10x12? or move right into “club size”?

Why not pull a Gorre and Daphetid? Start small, and incorporate that into your next stage.

I guess it comes down to this: I want all the things that I want. I just can’t HAVE them all right away! :slight_smile:

Rob

4

It still breaks down to what you can afford…ask yourself, if you had all the money you possibly could need for this hobby, most people would buy whatever they wanted…right? Well, when you have limited income to spend on this hobby, you have to make choices…remember economics class 101? Guns or Butter?

5

The nice thing about DCC and sound and all that is that you don’t have to go “whole hog” all at once. A good DCC starter set will get the trains rolling, and you can add sound and dcc controlled turnouts and signals at some later time.

Although based on a friends experience, it’s a good thing to at least plan for signalling before scenicking - it saves on redoing the scenery to fit the signals in later.

6

There is a line ???

7

the line is somewhere between what you NEED to build a satisfying model railroad and what bells and whistles you WANT and can afford

when i doubt , lean towards the WANT

8

Only interlockings and yard tracks should be controled by DCC, industry trackage, spurs and the like should be hand thrown, its more fun that way.

9

I don’t like to draw the line. Well sorta. There are three considerations that I look at.

  1. Money- this is a big one for me because i’ma poor college student. What can I find cheaper or find another way to do it. What can I wait to buy and save for what parts are needed for me to continue to work. Right now i know i need track gauges and a good track cutter to move ahead.

2.Time- This is more towards size and complexity. I know I need to pick my battles so that I can fini***he layout.

  1. Sanity- What can i handle so i won’t go crazy and start over. Picking decoders is a big one. To get a decoder with out the Athearn bb harness is cheaper but the harness keep me from going insane.

It changes for each so the line will always be different.
Andrew

10

While there may be a line - I agree with ereimer that it is somewhere between need and want lol.

The cool think about this hobby is that the line is not etched in stone. It can and will move up and down the spectrum as you gain experience and your interests change.

11

I draw the line at where the trains run themselves. Anything else is a tool.

Dave H.

12

If you decide to draw the line at DCC, then get a DCC that has support for full sound, so if you change your mind in the future, you can add a sound loco without having its performance restricted.

13

The secret is to slow down and enjoy the hobby – pull yourself out of the “microwave” generation mentality – you don’t need to have it all NOW.

Just get what you can afford, or save up for a big ticket item you really want. Watch eBay for bargains on older items – they do show up once in a while. Put out feelers to see who else is in your area that’s in the hobby and go run trains on their layout, offer to help them build something on their layout, etc.

I’ve been in the hobby since 1967, and even back in the days of $15 diesels and $2 railcars, I often only owned a couple of locos and a couple dozen cars. And for many years my layout consisted of about 40 square feet in my garage as a test bed shelf layout that was incomplete.

But during that time I experimented with lots of stuff, and worked on club layouts, and on large private layouts – learning still more. Finally in 1991 I started my dream layout, the HO Siskiyou Line, but none of that prior experience was wasted. And I enjoyed the hobby thoroughly for many years and owned next to nothing. So it’s possible, if you are willing to be patient and take your time to learn the hobby well.

14

Who decided dcc is the ultimate "toy’ in the model railroad stable?? next year it will be fc-17, gold plated engines, wireless control visual guidance, pcrr-g, etc etc etc. I guess one has to decide whether to run trains or listen to choo-choo sounds, whatever turns one on.

15

I do like Joe’s recommendation - adding on slowly over time.

The difficulty is what tatans is talking about - things change so fast now.

It’s like I said - you walk into Best Buy, and the amount of electronic gadgets in there is simply overwhelming. It seems as if if this type of rapid technology growth is happening to our hobby too.

I’ve accepted this in my professional life - I simply will HAVE TO buy a new computer every couple years. It’s like what buying paper & pencils must have been like for my parents’ generation.

But I don’t want to do this with my hobby! Once I buy a locomotive, I want that thing to be around for 40 or 50 more years for me to enjoy. But with the way things are going, it seems this may only work if I draw limits.

If I were to try to go all-out and get the newest gadgets in locomotives, they could be facing obsolescence in the future.

I think I could live with having to buy a new DCC system every 5-10 years (the advantages seem pretty clear). But all the gadgets that go along with it seems like it would be too much to keep up with.

And Joe - I do like your “test-bed” approach. I may very well be in that zone for a while. With a baby on the way, hobby time is few and far between. (getting on the forum is easy - it’s easy to get on while working - getting hands on trains is more difficult!).

Part of my “test-bed” layout will be learning to handlay turnouts. I’ve done one so far, and by gosh, it worked!

Next item of business: track plan.

16

Ah, but the pencil didn’t crash or get infected with viruses or overloaded with spam etc etc etc - and are a little cheaper!! [(-D][(-D][(-D][(-D][(-D]

Glad to hear about your success on handlaying turnouts. CONGRATS! I’ve never been able to handlay track so I salute you! [bow][bow][bow] One of the things I love about this hobby is the sense of accomplishment when I try something new - something that I think is a little beyond my capacity - and it works!!

17

Thats what ultimately inspires us to try harder, push our own personal boundaries and reap the subsequent rewards… if it was all easy, everyone could it… well everyone can but there is a sense of accomplishment in reaching ahigher level than where you were before…

18

I have found I don’t need technological gadgets to have fun. I bought a DVD recorder, and that’s about cured me. Most frustrating gizmo I have ever owned. It works, but to do anything I have to drag out the instruction BOOK every time. It’s just too complicated.
In model RR’ing, I have drawn the line at DCC. I have not crossed the line. I don’t need it (or really even want it) for the way I like to do things. (If you like it, great; more power to you) The only reason I ever considered it was for sound, but I don’t want all sound all the time anyway, and it looks as though QSI and/or the legendary albeit non-existant Tsunami may do everything I want in that area down the road without having to have DCC.
I used to think a hand held throttle was an absolute must. I got one. When I broke it, I never replaced it.
Right now I have my eye out for an elevating recliner.
I really think more good running well detailed steamers is what I look forward to most. As of right now there is nothing more available out there that I want. First time I have ever been able to say that. It used to be there was brass out there of some prototype models I really, really wanted, but I didn’t want to spend that much money. Since it became available in plastic, I got it.
I need to work on getting myself together and converting to Code 83 and scenery. I have a slew of engines I need to paint, detail, replace lights in, decal, switch tenders, etc.
But, if someone releases a 4-8-0 or a 2-10-10-2 I may have to jump on that.

19

I draw the line where my tells me I should draw it[(-D]

No seriously my wife supports me in my hobby. But there is some truth to my guffa. Realistically you have to draw the line at what you can afford, without sacrificing the necessities of life. Like someone else noted, Economics 101.

I have plans for a dream layout, all stored on micro-fische in the back of my brain. Those plans include DCC, sound, DCC controlled turnouts et al. But for now, it’s enough of a job to tackle basic scenery on the layout. Upgrades can be planned for and integrated later. I will be assimilated[alien]. But at my own pace.

Trevor[:)]

20

Trevor G,

I see your storage line is different than mine. My dream layout is stored on a hard drive in the back of my brain (my wife would say that it’s a hardheaded drive). Of course I think there is a virus in the drive as it seems to keep misplacing or losing data!

Here’s to super wives!!