Comments on: DCC – Where trains will do as they are told!

By: Andre Augusto da Fonseca

Andre Augusto da Fonseca — Thu, 28 Jan 2016 15:31:09 +0000

Thank you, Roger! Very useful and easy to understand.

By: ron simunic

ron simunic — Tue, 19 Jan 2016 14:47:30 +0000

Pretty well sums up the advantages of DCC. I was content to watch the trains go round. Two different railroads intersecting two separate areas. My 18 year old says “lets DCC a section”. I now have two different railroads intersecting two separate areas, with DCC. The sounds and action are much closer to real railroading. He did the wiring I am enjoying the fruits of his work. When he comes home from college, we play trains together. Not sure if he would still be as interested if the trains just went round and round. The results, priceless.

By: Keith

Keith — Tue, 19 Jan 2016 14:13:28 +0000

Roger. Your explanation of DCC was well put. But I would like to add that there can be no breaks in the track which includes points / switches. They have to be Electro frog, this allows the signal to be uninterrupted . This I found out too late and it became a costly fix. Keith

By: nyc guy

nyc guy — Tue, 19 Jan 2016 13:32:10 +0000

DCC is simply a way of making each device addressable in sort of the same way that our cable boxes have unique identifiers making them addressable. Model railroading is a great hobby. But it’s growth is hampered by the expensive nature of all the equipment required. A locomotive for the same price as an HDTV is absurd. All this stuff is now made in China and even when you figure in the costs of shipping to the US/UK/EU it’s way overpriced.

By: J.Oscar

J.Oscar — Tue, 19 Jan 2016 08:22:12 +0000

Every new technology when it is introduced in a given environment, it takes some time to be fully understood by all and there is always a portion of people who do not accept it until some time later no other option, but to conform and start to use it, even if it still retains its taste for the old way of doing the thing.
Writers still use typewriters instead of computers, music enthusiasts, still maintain your vinyl record collection, even if they already have an equivalent collection of CDs and DVDs.
The same thing happens with the DCC. We are in the acceptance and Discovery phase, but no return. Soon the factories no longer make models without DCC.
Today we have the issue of cost, which is still high, but it has been much higher and decreases gradually, while innovations are being added.

J.Oscar

By: skip

skip — Tue, 19 Jan 2016 06:00:10 +0000

You don’t have to worry about the kids do the electronic thing there already doing note pads, cell phones and other devices. The problem is to try to get them interested in trains.

The other problem is keeping the kids outside so they don’t disturb there grandmother or mother they get frustated when kids are in mom’s way.

By: Derek

Derek — Tue, 19 Jan 2016 04:14:56 +0000

Well put Roger. I think that explains things nicely.
Too many people want to get technical (although they don’t always know what they are saying) and that only cofuses.
I quite often use the likeness to email (for the modern folk) we each have seperate addresses and the message has to be sent to the address concerned.

Cheers Derek.