For a couple of years I've debated about installing a DC walk-around control system. gjslsfan and I have discussed it and he told me what controllers he uses. A month or two ago he told me that there were some Aristocraft Train Engineers for sale on ebay. I bid and won them. Electronics are not my forte. So after two or three discussions with gjslsfan and a couple of conversations with another model railroader who is excellent with electrical things, I dived in yesterday and got the thing installed. It worked right the first time!! Amazing!!! That is probably a first for me. Now I can walk around with the train and enjoy the west Texas scenery; use the handheld to operate the staging yard which is in a different room; etc. Modeling is still my area of interest--I'm not real gung ho on operations--but this does make running trains much more fun. Sorry about the lousy cell phone photos, but I was too lazy to use the real camera. The two holes on the control panel are for the final two toggle switches for the staging yard blocks. It's easier to solder wires to switches when the switch isn't attached to the control panel. Once the final two tracks are laid I will install those two toggle switches.
I still have a preference for DC as well. I bought and tried two HO steamers with DCC and couldn't get them to work. With N and O I've always used DC.
Serious thread drift here on my part...My HO layout is a 32" wide shelf around a 20' X 20' room. There's a 6' X 12' peninsula with a 28" X 13' staging yard in an adjoining closet. It's not quite large enough for O, which I'd love to model, but it would make an amazing n scale layout. But at almost 69 years of age I can't see n scale very well anymore. Your tagline mentions a possible return to n scale. Can you see it well enough to make it worth it? I've sold off most of my HOn3 because it had become too difficult to get on the track.
For me DC is still the way to go. It's something I'm familiar with and it's simple: if there's electricity in the track, the train is supposed to move. I like your control console - the wood adds a nice, warm touch to it.
Our club still officially is DC and we use Aristo train engineers. They've served us well, although they get enough use that they are slowly starting to die. We keep them going by stealing parts from the REALLY dead ones. Since we're an NTRAK club, all the tracks are isolated, and a lot of members bring in their own DCC systems, which takes a little strain off the Aristos.......sometimes only one or two of the 4 lines are using them . At home, I have an MRC DCC system, which I run with the standard tethered controller, a Wireless controller, and an MRC wifi module with 2 older (smaller) tablets. I found the Wifi option was much cheaper than the the MRC wireless throttle OR additional plug ins, and since the layout is 42 ft long, I can't run from the base unit..........I can't even see N scale locos at the other end of the room. And Train Engineer (the app the Wifi uses) gives me 2 sets of controls on each device.
Thank you. I'm pretty old school and will continue with DC. Nearly everyone in my circle of model railroad friends still operates DC. Two of them are excellent modelers with large layouts (both something like 30' X 50'). They run long trains and operate with DC. All of my steam locomotives and quite a few of my diesels are older brass models. Converting them to DCC would be expensive and difficult, and not anything I want to do or pay for. I only own four locomotives that are newer than 20 years old, so even my plastic diesels aren't DCC ready. The wood thing was something I wanted to incorporate into the railroad room. The layout room is a tribute to west central Texas and to the industry and agriculture that built this part of the nation. Considering that and the fact that I model the 1940's and '50's, wood seemed more appropriate than some modern or high tech material. Thanks!!!!
Our club uses the Aristo system and we have had to replace the throttles with new ones. You can still get replacements from Naitram Shievdayl but they are not cheap. crestelectronics at yahoo. com He also does repairs. Rick Jesionowski
Thanks for the info. Fortunately, the ebay listing I won included four complete sets--four receivers and four handheld units.
I have always been an HO scale guy. The train under the Christmas tree was Lionel, but our first permanent layout that my Dad and I built in the basement was HO. But when I was in college, Dad asked me if he could store my stuff and use the "train table" for a new N-scale layout. Of course, I said yes since I wasn't going to be there, and Dad had paid for all the lumber and hardware anyway. And, when Mom and Dad retired and moved into their new home, the first room that was finished was Dad's new train room. I was surprised that he would switch from HO to N because Dad was 6'3" and had big hands and never much liked working with fiddly little things. But he did. He packed a LOT of railroad into that space, and it was a lot more than we would have ever been able to do in HO without using the entire basement. Dad kept it up and worked on his N-scale empire regularly until his health began to fail and his knees wouldn't let him get down to the basement any longer, but by that time he was well into his eighties. Among Dad's stuff (much of which is now moving into my house) were several magnifying devices and lots of tools from Micro-Mark and others that made it easier to work on those tiny fiddly bits. Oh, and at dedicated points around the layout were N-scale re-railer ramps so that one was always just a step or two away.
I had O from mid 70s until 2000. After '90 when I bought a lake house it only ran outside. I had N also at that time. They ran around my salvaged computers and electronics. In 07' I sold all but one engine AB in N but tried to switch over to HO DCC in my new house in Town of Neenah. In '11 I was forced into a city apartment were I went back to N and DC. As far a seeing, I am 73. I am loosing site in the right eye, retina failure. But I can still see N and still have all the HO/DCC that I bought. I would still like to build a switching layout for the HO along the walls and a 4x8 on a table for N in the middle of the room. This is the main bedroom. I use the little one. Best luck with yours.
Fascinating stuff, had to google what referring to, do you mean THIS 'Revolution' SYSTEM HERE? Anyone here use BERRETT HILL'S 'Snap Action Base', 'Relays' and 'Touch Toggles' for DC control in lieu of Atlas switch machines & cab selectors? Also, am assuming my higher 24v DC direct from batts (as opposed to AC) should work just fine using his 'DC Terminal Power Adapter'? The Atlas machines are short-prone, just don't last, are more trouble than they're worth.
I take it yours doesn't plug into "the locomotive's circuit board" (like DCC does) rather it allows you to control throttle(s) thru the same wired insulated blocks only via a remote? You say have three units is one required "per cab"? I'm running 2 HO cabs on a LED lit 4'X8' space which is totally maxed out so find myself constantly rewiring "the tangled mess" and am looking for efficiencies wherever can find them. Given a turntable, 3 roundhouses, 16 turnouts plus 2 slip switches the aim is to add another 4'X8' "L" extension but IT'S the CONTROL PANEL layout that's really in need of updating. Will post current track time permitting. CHEERS!
We were still using those throttles on the Wharf and Shortline tracks until recently when we went to the Crest replacements for the entire layout. We still have those in reserve in case one of the Crest throttles goes belly up or has to be sent in for repairs. Rick Jesionowski
Have you tried a rerailing ramp? If you want to try N scale, get a Kato starter set. Play around with it; try rerailing cars and disassemble the locomotive to see how easy or difficult maintenance will be. If you don't like it, you can keep the set for holiday displays or re-gift it to a family member without making a large investment in the scale. In terms of scale change, I think it comes down to your layout goals. If you like switching and operation, sticking with HO is probably better. I can see N scale derailing easily, especially with manual uncoupling tools. If you want to build scenery or run longer trains, then maybe N scale is fine. Have you considered On30? That would fit on your existing HO tracks, and with smaller narrow gauge trains, you can probably keep the same turn radius and space constraints. At the same time, working on rolling stock or building kits is easier with the larger scale.
The favorite parts of the hobby for me are actually modeling. Running trains isn't anything I do with any regularity. The n scale thing is due to the scale of scenery you could put into a given area. It can be much more realistic regarding depth, height, etc. But HO affords much more in the way of scratch building--which I do a lot of--and detailing. So HO is probably what I will stick with. I already have to use an optivisor for lots of the detail work I do, and in n it would be even worse.
I can relate to that. The first reason why I went back into the hobby in HO is that I already had an engine from my youthful days in that scale. But ever since my cataract surgery seven years ago - which also corrected my nearsightedness, I have discovered the joys of reading road signs a quarter mile away, and of... reading glasses. I've been already using a magnifying visor for a while, in my job (try soldering an electronic part the size of a small sesame seed without magnification!), which has spilled over into my hobby. Detailing and painting locos and rolling stock is one of the most fun parts of the hobby, but in N or smaller, it would be very difficult, not just for the eyes, but the fingers too. It's like building a layout - it's as enjoyable as running trains, if not more so. The layout is a showcase for what I have accomplished with my other hobby activities. It's where I can be proud of what I did. Of course, I need to see what I did before I can feel that pride.
That's nice having soldering skills like that. Mine have grown due to all the soldering that has to be done on a layout with 400' of track, but it's still not what I'd call a strength.
Major thread drift, but since I started the thread...Now that we're discussing detailing, here's the latest small project I completed. Well, it's almost complete. Needs a little more weathering. There's a tiny community just north of where I live that everyone calls Muleyville. It's not really a town, but a highway intersection where a particular family has settled and has several family members, each living in their own abode. The old Orient line ran adjacent to the north south highway about 100' from the little settlement. The area is seriously rundown, and several of the mobile homes are no longer inhabitable. Muleyville is on our railroad. It's a somewhat run industry siding that now has a flag stop (whistle stop) on the mainline in case someone wants to catch the train. There's a small scratch built lean-to stay out of the weather while awaiting the train. The lean to has a bench to sit on made out of a 2 X 12. The walls are old, somewhat rusty corrugated metal. To access the whistle stop there's a path down the slope from the industry's dirt parking lot. Out in the field is a rusting hulk of an old automobile and some cattle grazing. The photo with the Frisco F units was taken before installing the flat stop. Something about the lighting in the railroad room makes the backdrop look bright blue. It's not that color at all, but I haven't been able to figure out a white balance in the camera to make it look correct. Oh well...
Made a little addition to the flagstop / whistlestop called Muleyville. It now has an outhouse. This one isn't paper but made out of popsicle sticks. They are scribed and carved to resemble the individual planks. The door hinges and handle were made from tiny pieces of solder. It has a piece of rusty corrugated metal for the roof. After taking photos, it obviously needs a little more weathering, but it's getting there.
