I couldn't agree more!! Thanks for the thoughts shared about DCC, the need for simple is the key word here. More on this in a paragraph or two. BarstowRick, is a nick given to me by a high-school teacher in Victorville, Ca. Barstow, is my home away from home. Also about Cheers the original setting. I think Barstow would of gone over like a lead balloon. Boston, turned out to be the best setting. Considering the characters the actor played. On my DCC history. A group of us in Big Bear Country, got into it and thought this was the missing monkey or cat's meow. The right thing for the group. It failed all of us to the point most of us gave up on it. To complicated was the complaint heard most often. The thing is at my age I don't have the drive, patience, fortitude and/or budget to deal with the same problems, frustrations and let downs others have suffered from. I appreciae the Phd's in electronics take on the subject. I'm not offended by those who can solve the problems and make it work for them. How cool is that. By all means go for it. Just don't expect me to tag along as a DCC cheerleader. Not going to happen.. I can fix anything that goes wrong with analog DC except for my power supplies which are transistorized throttles. Replacement isn't cheap but beats replacing 100 DCC decoders in 100 of my motors/diesels or stoves. Did I already say, Not going to happen? Yeah, yep, I did. Just killed a centipede. I didn't think they had those in Idaho. Going to have to check the inside of my jeans for those critters. Pardon my effrontery and no offense meant by my comments. Lot's of good comments and thanks to all for the kind words and likes.
Centipedes? Heck we have them in Minnesota! Some of them are 2 -3" long. I stepped on one in the dark once and the dang thing bit me. I still say they are of Satan. Doug
I did a lot of that back in the '70s & '80s in Milwaukee. It was all on an O gauge layout. Ya know with three rails. I had N at home. I was good at soldering electronics, so I got elected. In 2007 I tried switching to HO and DCC in a new location. But got stopped.
Here's a raspberry right back at you. Truth is I haven't been under the layout for the last five years. The project has been there that long. I haven't been working on it. Fortitude, drive and will to get it done is lacking. This may not end well for the layout. Assessing to much damage and I hate remodeling. We shall see what happens next. Oh by the way. The guys I know in the hobby up here in Idaho Country who are my age or older. Many of them are tearing down their layouts and operating their trains on club layouts in the area. There has to be a better way.
I guess what I am saying Rick is... a 2 wire DCC 'buss' versus hundreds of wires to wire in DC 'blocks'... NOW.. I will agree DCC may have 'power districts' but they are still only 2 wires per district. THERR has 4 power districts...
That all being said...everyone has their own thoughts on what works best for them. Rule #1 always applies.
I am also DC until they put me in the home or plant me. My only major change has been unitrack and the plug and play system plus Kato's power routing turnout outs. Those power routing turnouts solve the issue of blocks and the Kato plug and play keeps wiring to a minimum plus I just plug in the power connections. Kato has pretty much solved it all for me. And with my disability and other troubles next to no getting under the layout. So unlike Mr. Barstow I will not spend the next 10 years laying under the layout.
Rick my friend... All kidding aside...for now. I remember when I first found TB and I saw your layout (in pics) in your 'Train Shed' in Big Bear. It was impressive ! I always thought. How the heck does he even know which trains are on what track ?? !! LOL. Then the move to your new place and having to decide what will fit in that back room and what you can and can't use had to be heart breaking. . Seeing it in person when we visited was an eye opener. I don't envy you having to put it all back together. Like I told THE WIFE...I wish we lived closer so I could come over and help with rebuild my friend. .
So do I. You have great ideas for ways to fix things. You are so right about heart breaking. That happened as we took the layout down and started loading it on the truck. However, that wasn't the first time. More on this later. I couldn't get across to my helpers how I wanted the layout handled and stored for shipment. Not that we had time. We had exhausted the time available and needed to get on the road. Like it or not. It took approximately 14 hours to get to Nampa, Idaho. Down the hill from Big Bear Country, out to Barstow and then across to Four Corners. Up 395 and then 90 and 80 something to Winimucca and north from there. If you need the exact route I'll get a map out and look it up. George, you saw the damage to the track first hand and it will take hours to repair it. Never mind the wiring. As to a sag in the longer portion of the layout. I installed a L Girder underneath it. It worked. Currently working on installing the final L Girders to support the layout. There was damage done to the overall framing/open grid and fixing it was turning into potential replacement of the layout. I think I've minimized the damage and the last L Girder just went in. A few more screws and we should be good to put the top deck back in place. Tweek here and tweak there. I can get Monday night football. A local station carries it so I'm taking a break to watch the Green Bay Packers and Raiders duke it out. More later.
My current layout is much simplified from past ones in that it's just big ovals on a 4 X 8 with substantial yards but no grades because I didn't want to mess with that anymore. It may not have the interest of a layout with over and under stuff but I'm satisfied with it. I mainly like to make up trains and run them around for awhile, anyway, and then make up new ones and run them around. I guess what I'm hinting at is maybe you could just dismantle the current layout and build a simpler one you could complete, at least train-running-wise. Doug
Thanks for the suggestion. To start with the multiple helixi, within it's interior is still in good shape and won't require much in the way of restoration. It's worth hanging onto. It's on top of the layout where it was exposed to moving boxes and having been hung on the truck wall...is where the damage is. Harrumph, harrumph, grumble and growl. Doug, you aren't the first one to suggest I cut my layout back. My response to you and others who have suggested such. Not going to happen. From my first wind-up, three rail (why three rails?) really tight roundy round. I've looked at them with disdain. This wasn't going to happen again. I'd never be happy with that. Some of us guys like to run 40 and 50 car freight trains with multiple diesel lash-ups, up grades, through coal districts, past engine yards, train stops at stations and those locals that go out and switch various industries on the layout. A flatlander rounder just doesn't get it. High school comes along with various shop classes and mechanical drafting and lastly architectural drafting. I would pick-up good tips from the model railroad wig wags and how to books of the day. Off and running with nary a look back at my flat-lander layouts. It was mountain railroading with plenty of mainline running and activity. Off to run those longer and cooler passenger trains. Well, I thought so anyway. If it comes down to not being able to restore this layout, I will destroy it and call it quits. I'm not a quitter. So, I don't see that happening. Instead I'm likely to contact the model railroad clubs in the area and see it there's anyone who wants to take on this mess. I mean first class model railroad. I'll keep plunking on it until I get it done. Or I'm done-in. Whichever comes first. That's the goal. Not a good day for writing a response. Too many distractions. Thanks for bearing with me.
What worries me most is the question of am I wasting your time with this thread. Considering the time it's taking me to get some of the more difficult things done. I hope not. So, thanks for tuning in, the likes, your comments and encouragement. Appreciated!!
It's no waste of my time! I see it in the same light as the thread John Moore has, long running, in the Cattle Car. I find these topics to be quite interesting, following the lives of my fellow enthusiasts. So, keep it going!
