Stupid Guest Tricks

dazyhill wrote:Ok I love model trains but I am not familiar with the lingo. What does DCC mean?

Digital Command and Control, essentially computerized operation.

I suppose I should just call my friend who has an extensive LGB garden layout in his backyard and ask him. (One of the LGB trains he is the LGB model of Ward Kimball's Grizzley Flats-jealous!). He other trains too-but the garden layout is quite impressive.
He also took the toy Disney train that the parks sell and modified with an LGB engine-something I hope to do if I ever get enough space for the set! :(

The LGB trains are beautiful, but I doubt that I'll ever have the space needed to run them.

I have one piece of rolling stock in G (1:20.3) scale: DRG&W Black Cattle Car. Never ran since I don't have a locomotive to pull it! I'm trying to find an inexpensive motive power (preferably steam) for it. I'll most likely just display them, unless I find HUGE room to do a layout.

I heard of a Bachmann 2-4-2 called the "Columbia" that is quite useless in terms of pulling power...but it'll make a great display piece. It even looks a little like the Ernest S. Marsh locomotive! I'd try and purchase a Fort Wilderness Loco...but $595 is just too much for possibly not running. I'm not denying its an AWESOME model...just wouldn't suit my needs/price range. Even a wimpy little 2-4-2T or 0-4-0 Porter would be fine, just need to find an inexpensive loco in 1:20.3 scale. *EDIT* I just found a Porter for $65....I'm really thinking about jumping on it. That's an incredible price versus the other Porters I've seen!

Bought and bought.

I kinda/sorta kick myself, but dude what a deal. Basically, this little loco looks JUST like the Spectrum 0-4-0 Side Tanker that Bachmann sells, but half the price. I'll repaint this ENTIRE loco to resemble my FAVORITE train: Calico Mine Ride #4.


It was MY train. I drove her the most, I knew how to handle her (she had little to no brakes no matter how often the mechanics worked on her...she was the most likely to run a block and I never ran a block with her), and...well it was just MY train. Hee hee a new project approaches!

Ah, Freak. You understand my relationship to Monorail Green. My train, all mine. Called the Widowmaker because so many drivers would overrun 379 on Epcot. I never did.

Oh, and I didn't get any pictures, I will do that tomorrow, but I saw something that made me think of this thread at work. The Ringling Brothers Blue Train is parked right next to where my car sits all afternoon while I am out in a Town Car.

Mine Ride Train 5 pics coming up in a couple minutes...

Mine Ride Train 5. Touched it up a bit. Tried to add more detail to it as well:


So I changed things like blacking out more of the cab and bottom of the cab, adding some red handrails by the cab (not really there on the attraction but it looks good), added a red "base" to the headlamp, painted the sand lines black (we don't have those either, but it looks better), and painted the little step on the side of the tank black, like on the attraction. For now I think #5 is done, though there are some glaring problems. First, the real 5 is a side tanker, this is a saddle tanker. I have no conversion kits, so it'll stay a saddle. The 5 is black on my train, while on the attraction its red with gold outline...I am looking into fixing this at a later date. Probably a fine tip gold sharpie will add that outline and make it look better.

Its funny, Train 5 is actually my least favorite (tied with Train 3). I decided to paint it first since if I botched it, it wouldn't be a train I actually liked that I ruined.

dazyhill wrote:Ok I love model trains but I am not familiar with the lingo. What does DCC mean?

CBeilby wrote:Digital Command and Control, essentially computerized operation.

DCC stands for "Digital Command Control", a registered trademark of the National Model Railroad Association, which created this Standard for communication with locomotives using digital signals through the rails.

While the DCC receiver could be described as a special-purpose computer, I think it's going too far to call it "computerized operation". It is possible to connect a computer with appropriate software to *some* makes and models of DCC command stations, and use that to issue commands to the locomotives, but it would take an extensive detection system, complex programming, and exceptionally reliable equipment to actually permit a computer to operate a model railroad of any non-trivial size and configuration.

DCC is mostly used to permit multiple (handheld) throttles to control multiple locomotives all running on the same set of rails. In addition to speed and direction, common functions often include lights and sound. Some installations include automatic uncoupling, auxiliary animation, or location feedback. DCC can also be used to operate switches and signals, and to detect train location.

Sorry for the lecture. I was the Research Director for the NMRA when this Standard was being developed.

Sorry, Zazu, I guess I did simplify it a bit much.

Zazu wrote:DCC stands for "Digital Command Control", a registered trademark of the National Model Railroad Association, which created this Standard for communication with locomotives using digital signals through the rails.

While the DCC receiver could be described as a special-purpose computer, I think it's going too far to call it "computerized operation". It is possible to connect a computer with appropriate software to *some* makes and models of DCC command stations, and use that to issue commands to the locomotives, but it would take an extensive detection system, complex programming, and exceptionally reliable equipment to actually permit a computer to operate a model railroad of any non-trivial size and configuration.

DCC is mostly used to permit multiple (handheld) throttles to control multiple locomotives all running on the same set of rails. In addition to speed and direction, common functions often include lights and sound. Some installations include automatic uncoupling, auxiliary animation, or location feedback. DCC can also be used to operate switches and signals, and to detect train location.

Sorry for the lecture. I was the Research Director for the NMRA when this Standard was being developed.

Interesting. Do the computer controlled components have MIBs in them? It would be pretty cool to have a web cam(s) on the layout and control everything remotely with something like an iPad.

hobie16 wrote:Interesting. Do the computer controlled components have MIBs in them?

No. We haven't figured out how to shrink Will Smith's ego yet.

It would be pretty cool to have a web cam(s) on the layout and control everything remotely with something like an iPad.

Onboard video was introduced in the 1980s. Color video systems are now on the market.

We had one such locomotive at our model RR club in the late 1980s. Fun to watch people operate with it. They'd look at the monitor and slow down; then look at the layout and speed up; then look at the monitor and slow down....



They are not integrated into the DCC system because of bandwidth limits -- can you imagine the bandwidth needed for 255 locomotives, even at NTSC resolution? Now imagine getting that signal over an unconditioned pair of rails with randomly located feeders, a somewhat parallel power bus, and the occasional track switch!