A couple of weeks ago (maybe 3) I got my DCC system. It's made by NCE and is their base radio system (PH Pro 5 Radio). I got it barely used and got a great deal on it. I also got an additional throttle.
First off, it's great. It has so much potential.
I got off to an interesting start. The problem with DCC is that you can't really run a train on it unless the locomotive has a decoder board installed. My locos did not have them. I knew about this, so the day before I was to receive my system, I took my locos to the train store to get decoders for them. The week before I had even ordered a decoder (with sound!). Two of my locos are old. 12 years or so. Back then DCC was out but not so common. There was a possibility that my locos would pull too much current for a decoder. So, I needed them tested and checked out before they got installed. The folks at the store took my three locos after I described what I wanted for each and then found out that they wouldn't be ready for at least a week. Ouch.
The next day, my wonderful new DCC system arrived. I got it all plugged in and ready to go. Wow, it looked cool. And that was it. That was all I could do. I could just look at it. I read through the manual. I guessed how awesome it would be and I waited.
As it turns out, decoder installation isn't completely easy. The guy installing ran into difficulties. At the sight of my obvious disappointment (which involved some whining), he offered to loan me some of his locos in the interim. So I borrowed two.
They were a pair of Atlas Master series locos. One had sound and one didn't. The sound was very cool. I played with that for a bit. The locomotive seemed to have hardly been used.
I would like to take a moment to point out that it ran very smooth. This was my first hands-on experience with a not cheap locomotive. It ran so quietly! I am not going to settle for less any more. When I got my locos back, it just drove that point home. The cheaper locos grind and they take a bit of throttle just to get started.
So, now I have it. A full 5-amp DCC system with two locos and a medium-sized oval... Total overkill, but I hope to remedy that in the not-to-distant future.
BTW, one loco is still in the shop. An old Atlas switcher. Probably the best loco I own (which has never really been used since I got it. Long story for later). However, it doesn't fit an HO decoder and so we need to find an N decoder that can handle HO current.
Reposted from my other blog. Original post was 5/11/2009.
Friday, May 15, 2009
The 0-Budget Layout
Last year we moved into a new home. The home included a large unfinished basement (a big selling point for me). My wife and I struck a deal. She could have the upstairs office and I could have the basement.
As we were getting ready to close on the house, it occurred to me that I would finally have a place to build a real model train layout.
Since then, I have been somewhat obsessed with trains. Sometimes more than others. In the early time (before we even moved in) certain realities were very clear. Even though I had space, I had no extra cash. All the money was going into the new house. However, I also had some materials left over from fixing up the old house. I even had some old track and trains. I decided to "make do" and my 0-Budget Layout was born!
I made some discoveries along the way. The first is that a budget of $0 has not been achieved, but it is still pretty low. Also, I found that my brain did allow me the purchase of some new trains (mostly cars with a new loco for my birthday). That sort of snowballed into buying things to fix up my old stuff. So, I have spent more than I should, but technically, it wasn't on the layout. ;) (rationalization, I know)
I do continue on my quest to build a layout on recycled materials. However, soon I am going to allow myself 1 exception. I am going to purchase a new power system. For those who know, power is expensive and hard to make do with. Plus, I am changing the type of power I am going to use from DC to DCC. This is a big change and an expensive one. It is also what I will be using on the new layout. Plus it has some pretty good gadget value. So, I am going to upgrade power now which totally blows my 0 budget. But there are still many areas to explore in this endeavor.
This was reposted and edited from my regular blog. Original post was on 4/9/2009
As we were getting ready to close on the house, it occurred to me that I would finally have a place to build a real model train layout.
Since then, I have been somewhat obsessed with trains. Sometimes more than others. In the early time (before we even moved in) certain realities were very clear. Even though I had space, I had no extra cash. All the money was going into the new house. However, I also had some materials left over from fixing up the old house. I even had some old track and trains. I decided to "make do" and my 0-Budget Layout was born!
I made some discoveries along the way. The first is that a budget of $0 has not been achieved, but it is still pretty low. Also, I found that my brain did allow me the purchase of some new trains (mostly cars with a new loco for my birthday). That sort of snowballed into buying things to fix up my old stuff. So, I have spent more than I should, but technically, it wasn't on the layout. ;) (rationalization, I know)
I do continue on my quest to build a layout on recycled materials. However, soon I am going to allow myself 1 exception. I am going to purchase a new power system. For those who know, power is expensive and hard to make do with. Plus, I am changing the type of power I am going to use from DC to DCC. This is a big change and an expensive one. It is also what I will be using on the new layout. Plus it has some pretty good gadget value. So, I am going to upgrade power now which totally blows my 0 budget. But there are still many areas to explore in this endeavor.
This was reposted and edited from my regular blog. Original post was on 4/9/2009
My Model Railroad
I created this blog to track what I do with my model trains. I was putting my train posts in my regular blog at Yevi's World of Me, but I wanted a place that I could link that is just about my railroad. This is not an original idea as I was inspired by some others who are tracking their progress. Also, I am getting help from various sources and here I can show them what I did with their ideas.
I have pictures already and have already described my concept in my other blog. I will transfer some of that here and get the pictures up. As I am a serious procrastinator, it will take a bit, but eventually there may be something here worth looking at.
I have pictures already and have already described my concept in my other blog. I will transfer some of that here and get the pictures up. As I am a serious procrastinator, it will take a bit, but eventually there may be something here worth looking at.
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