Sometimes these threads remind me of the letters in old issues of MR where readers threatened to drop their subscriptions if the magazine continued to publish articles about degenerate concepts like weathering (gasp!), or denouncing the use of plastic in models as being the death knell of the hobby. The old "nothing looks like wood except wood" argument still appears from time to time.
Any advocates of automotive batteries as a power source out there? I suspect DCC will go away someday - when self-contained battery units and radio control get small enough and cheap enough to allow units to break free of the rails as a power and control source altogether. There have been examples of this since the 1970's, but usually limited to large units (A-B-A locomotive sets) and fairly short operating times. There are HO scale tractor trailers commercially available with this technology, so it is possible in scales from HO up. Pieter E. Roos --- On Tue, 9/21/10, Bob <[email protected]> wrote: > From: Bob <[email protected]> > Subject: {S-Scale List} Re: DC versus DCC. > To: [email protected] > Date: Tuesday, September 21, 2010, 11:39 AM > For what it's worth, some years ago > (probably close to 10 by now), The Model Railroad Club in > Union, NJ decided that it was time to convert both the N > scale and HO layouts over to DCC. Digitrax was chosen > because: 1) They returned phone calls and 2) They had and > still have the only system that can handle what we were > planning to fill an 11,000 square foot building with (26 > scale miles of mainline track, 100 car train capability, > robust commuter operations on both the main railroad and the > interurban line and around 40-70 trains operating during a > weekly 3 hour operating session). > > When our founder, the late Paul Mallery -- someone who knew > a thing or two about electronics -- saw the DCC demo, he > looked up at us and declared: "DC is dead, let it rest in > peace!" Now while DC is still very much alive and, as > was mentioned in a previous post, probably the preferred > choice for certain applications, I don't think there's any > disputing the advantages that DCC offers (just in saving > miles of wire, if nothing else). If you don't believe > me, come down to the club any Tuesday by 7pm and I'll put a > throttle in your hand. > > There was a learning curve, for sure. Plus we were > doing some beta testing and we intentionally "did things > wrong" as part of that (we also unintentionally did some > things wrong). We still have people who sometimes > complain about the "DCC system" but that is because they > won't sit still long enough to learn how to work it. > We also decided to convert en-masse just before our annual > show--not the best idea we ever had. > > So, when I finally get around to building my home layout (S > scale, of course--traction!!), I'll be selecting Digitrax > DCC. That may not be the DCC system of choice for > everyone, but I'm already familiar with it and own a > throttle, so it makes sense for me. > > Of course DC works fine, too, so if it makes sense for you, > use it--and have fun! > > Bob Nalbone > Editor & Publisher > 1:64 Modeling Guide Magazine > > > > > > > > ------------------------------------ > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > [email protected] > > > ------------------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
