Looking for any comments on my first layout... still in the construction phase. 3 lines (2 main/passenger and 1 mountain/cargo) with multiple levels. See my webpage for **PICS** http://www.geocities.com/nscale_lover/mytrain1.html Thinking DCC but not 100% sure - any pros/cons would be helpful This is an N scale layout - and the land management bureau (wife) only alloted me space if it was mobile, so I couldnt go big - 'sigh' [ 18. August 2003, 17:29: Message edited by: nscale_lover ]
Looks like this should keep you busy, while working on possible future land grants! As a non-DCCer, were I at the same stage as you are presently, I'd sure go with DCC. I don't have DCC. But have used a couple of systems. It's very, very nice! Boxcab E50
cool, I'll start the research on DCCs to find the one I need - I figured it made the most sense since I haven't started the wiring at all thanks
N Scale, The wiring for dcc is simpler than dcc. First some definitions. 1) Block - a Block of track is really its own little layout. For example, if you have on piece of flex track, joined with "insulated" joiners (plastic joiners that don't pass electricity), then that piece of track is its own block. So an engine could run up and down that flex track. You could have two flex tracks connected by a metal rail joiners, but each end connected to the rest of the layout with plastic joiners ("insulated joiners"). So the six feet of track would be one block. 2) Power bus - a bus is wire in the dcc world. So you would have two wires running the length of your layout. Generally these are thicker wires than your "feeders." There are two power bus wires, lets say red and green. 3) Feeders - feeder wires connect your track to your power bus. Feeder wires are in pairs, so feeder A goes to Bus green and feeder B goes to bus red. That holds true all away around the layout. It is recommended to have some blocks so that if you experience electrical problems you can isolate the problem somewhat rather than having to suspect the entire layout. More blocks is better than less blocks. Engines on DCC can run from block to block without problems. With dcc it is recommended that your run feeders every three feet. This concept was in a recent (less than 6 months ago) MR in the DCC section, and the reason why. The basic premise is signal integrity; you can't have too many feeders, but you can have too few.
Thanks, from my online research, that's about what I've figured too. I'm looking forward to my DCC layout
