bigben5051

Hello all, Many thanks for all of your replies, as one person has said it seems as though there are many ways to skin a cat and everyone has their own preferences. I will get in contact with DCC Concepts in due course to discuss my needs and take it from there. Many thanks and happy new year to you all! Ben

Hello all, I am getting back into this hobby after a hiatus of around 20 years when I had a layout in my bedroom as a child and young teenager. Back then I had a very simple DC setup, a couple of controllers for a couple of loops... you know the story. I have started to construct a medium-sized depot layout. This also includes two main lines, which whilst mostly useless on the layout at present, will give me an excuse to expand at a later date. I decided early on that I wanted to use DCC, as it seems to give a lot more flexibility and just seems to be the way the hobby has gone in recent years. All I can say is wow! Things really have moved on! After doing a bit of research, on YouTube and elsewhere, I have gained a rough understanding of the best way in which to wire up the track, electro-frogs and point motors (almost!), although I still have a lot of questions regarding the power source, controllers, point and signal control and probably more! Please understand that I am very new to DCC and am mostly useless when it comes to electrics, although I can solder etc. I will probably be using DCC Concepts components where possible. I do hope that this is the correct place to post such questions, please correct me if not and I can move it to the appropriate section! 1. Do I connect the point motors to the same bus as the track? If not, what's the best way to do this? 2. How do I power the layout? Is it simply a case of buying a controller? 3. I understand that I can control points from a handheld controller the same way I would control locos. If I was to start out with this setup is it easy to upgrade to a system that has a mimic panel, individual levers etc, or is it best to start with the system I ultimately want? 4. When I come to extend the layout, can I have multiple mimic and control panels for different areas? I apologise for the rather novice questions, and many thanks for taking the time to read. Best wishes, Ben