ITG

Always worth a call to DCC Concepts. I’ve always found them very helpful, not just with their own products, but also how they interact with other brands.

Ask DCC Concepts - I have found them extremely helpful on any number of queries.

my layout is DCC, and has a reversing loop across a lift-out bridge, which crosses the operating well. I remove it when working on the layout for easier access to whole layout. The power is taken from the main track bus at one side of where the bridge connects to the layout, through the auto reversing loop module (Although of course if not required that could be omitted) and then connects to the bridge track through inline phono plugs/sockets which hang below the baseboard adjacent to the bridge. There are then similar connections (again phonos) running from each end of the bridge track back to the isolated track section (approx 15”) either side of the bridge All connections to track on bridge are via droppers with wire stuck to underside of bridge. Obviously when bridge is removed, phonos are not connected - hence no power to track either side.

What type of drill bit did you use to drill? I ask because when I drilled mine I got tiny burrs on the upper surface of some holes, which inhibited the bezel fitting flush, which in turn meant the Alpha D LED buttons didn’t sit right below the bezel, ie a fraction too far below the bezel surface level, resulting in finger pressure not connecting fully. Why I got this on some holes and not others, I don’t know. As luck would have it, the printer of my panel accidentally printed two copies, so only charged me for one. So I can have another go, but want to be sure I don’t get these burrs second time round. Any suggestions or thoughts?

@Glob-AllyI haven’t finally decided yet but I’m leaning towards DCC, fairly strongly so should I decide to go with the reversing loop option (btw do you or others know with a DCC reversing loop module do you still have to stop the loco on the reversing section or can you drive it straight through non-stop?) no, you do not have to stop the loco at all. It is completely seamless. @Glob-AllyFunctionality wise I prefer DCC. The argument for DC would be on cost grounds Understood..... but be careful that as you have no historical allegiance or commitment to DC, the added easy-to-access goodies of sound, lights, etc do not later tempt you. That could lead to a cost-of-change. Providing you buy DCC-ready locos at the onset, adding decoders would at least mean you could still use the pre-existing locos. Although the power and control systems would need changing.

Im not going to class myself as an expert, but you may get better responses by retitling the topic, as it’s not track types you are talking about - it’s types of power supply. FWIW, I’m not sure you’re correct about transposing the two types of locos on the respective systems, but others more qualified will comment.

As you are limited to set track, by definition you will be using dead frog points - so one key decision made. What about DCC v DC? Although either is viable, the former maybe simpler for the reverse loop (auto reverse module), and if you plan to continue /expand when back in UK it may make sense to make the DCC v DC decision now, or at least ensure you build flexibility for change later. Maybe the key difference now for your lad, is the choice around isolating spare locos using D.C., or selecting loco number on controller using DCC.

Not quite the same issue, but when inserting short lengths of track over baseboard joints, I trimmed off the chairs sufficiently so that rail joiners could slide right back to not protrude beyond the end of the rail; dropped the track in place, then with fine pliers, slid the rail joiners to link to the track either side. Could you try similar, maybe cutting through the existing rail joiners to release the point in question? Trim the chairs on the new point. Obviously not quite so simple with Insulating joiners, where I guess you’d need to insert a small piece of plastic to give the break. May not answer all your challenges but could be worth pondering.

I don’t use my garage for my layout, but when we bought the house 3 years ago, the previous owner had laid carpet completely across the double garage floor. Obviously, ‘old’ carpet, but not threadbare at all. I’ve been doing a lot of layout building (baseboards, track laying, wiring etc) in there recently, before moving boards into indoor railway room, and there’s very little dust. It also makes for a more comfortable surface to be kneeling on whilst working. When car is in garage, we park it on said carpet. Seems to stand up well to a few drips of rain off car.

With the lower boards track laid, wired and tested, my attention turns to the upper board (3.5m x 0.6m) which will house the upper terminus station. I’ve opened to use aluminium square section tubing for support, based on belief that the strength v (25mm) profile will work for me. I wanted a low profile framework under the board, to give max clearance for tracks and access below. All the tubing was ordered precut to an array of sizes, to ensure support legs avoided tracks etc below. i will actually construct the boards, lay /wire track etc in the garage, in two sections, and then move into the railway room before connecting . The 12mm marine ply will be screwed to the tubing.. here both parts are being tested for fit in the railway room..... one thing I didn’t foresee, was that connecting the two parts in situ would be impossible as originally thought, because the slot together tubes and junctions need about 2” space to slide in, and as the Full length fits the room exactly, that 2” leeway doesn’t exist. So I’ll cut off the joining lugs (3) and cut the upper board in such a position that the join is exactly on a aluminium crosspiece, and thus just space to screw both parts onto the crosspiece.

Thanks saxokid, food for thought. I’m not yet at the stage of construction but am trying to maintain that multi-focal vision of what I’m doing now (about to start laying the upper board track in next week or so) versus thinking ahead for how will it all fit (the Road bridge exit from upper station forecourt twisting across above the lower level station)..... I think! Is there any hobby which requires such a multi level, multi strand, multi task and multi skill application as this one? And they call it retirement!

Maybe an extra consideration going forward. The one thing irritates me on my Prodigy Advance 2 (Both locos and points are DCC controlled) is the fact that one has to move back and forth between loco control and accessory control. Switch a point, and the loco you were driving disappears from the (small) screen. Return to the loco screen, drive the loco forward To park, and you probably want to go back to the accessory screen to close the point. Talking to retailers they seem to say most systems are like this. so I’m currently moving all points over to a DCC panel with combined switches and LEDs, so that I won’t need to change control views on the handheld throttle unit. With the added bonus of an illuminated route map. that is a classic example of only by using it do you find what you like and don’t like. others may not be bothered by the screen switching, but I doubt if I could have anticipated this without the practice of operating.

I started first layout for 50 years, with DCC. It’s not rocket science, at least not at the level you need to know to start. I learnt at lot as I went, and from this forum. i echo the comments about buying off-the-shelf items (at least to start with) because a quick plug’n’play will mean you’ll quickly grasp the basics. From there, you can opt for next steps, be they building your own, ancillary software, mimic panels etc.

I like these Wago connectors, they come in various different sizes (ie numbers of wires capacity) and are readily available from screwfix or Amazon, to name but two. The wires simply clip into place by the orange triggers, and these connectors can be reused and opened/closed many times. They also can take wires of multiple sizes.

Is there any way of turning the operating well round by 90 degrees, so as to allow better access to that top right corner. I realise that the layout too would have to similarly rotate, but that may make access easier for all of initial tracklaying/construction, ‘playing’ and dealing with inevitable derailments etc.

Assuming the board pretty much fills the room, the top right hand corner area looks a long reach for an adult, but especially so for a 10 year old.

My late dad’s name was Bill Gray, so having discovered the Bachmann B1 model no 31-711 Sir William Gray existed, it has a sentimental attraction. But I run DCC. Every model (pre-owned) version I’ve seen for sale doesn’t mention DC or DCC, so I assume the former. As DCC Ready is not mentioned, am I right in assuming this is an earlier model with no DCC socket? If so, how much work/cost might it be to add a decent quality chip to it? Is it possible? I probably wouldn’t do it myself, but if anyone has experience of changing this model (or I guess a different loco of same class and production model) over to DCC, I’d be keen to hear about the task and results, as obviously wouldn’t want to buy one without being confident I could get the result I’m after.

I suspect you may get a better response in the DCC section, rather than DCC sound, as your issue isn’t really sound related.

Yes, settrack and streamline 100 are entirely interchangeable.

A few general points. 1. it would be helpful if your plans gave some indication of board size within the room space, as although you quote access from outside the board area, some parts (eg bottom right corner) still look a long reach across the diagonal. 2. given your questions about DCC elsewhere, and the complexity of the proposed layout, there is an awful lot to consider as you build and wire up. Maybe you should consider a simpler (even if temporary) layout to get the hang of the various DCC facilities and computer control, before embarking on this? 3. are any of the sidings areas Intended to be fiddle yard space? If so, are they accessible to fiddle? If not, and you don’t wish to fiddle, why not consider a storage yard with through loops, even if instead of one through station. Otherwise, all your stock will be in view all the time, and can’t be seen to have gone anywhere. 4. Just a thought, on my (smaller) layout, I too wished to include a reverse loop, and I sited it across the centre operating well, as a removable girder bridge. That means when working on the layout, I have unfettered access, but obviosuly when running, it’s in place. It links to the inner circuit on one side, under the high level terminus.

Robin, I cannot claim to have all the answers, as I consider myself a relative novice, having restarted modelling 18 months ago, and plunging straight into DCC. Overall, for me, it is a total game changer compared to how I recall my DC modelling. Answers below are from my own novice experience, which might be helpful as you’re just starting in DCC. It seems I have a similar layout, with a continuous twin mainline, with a reversing loop, and a terminus on a branch. I have a mix of insulfrog and live frog points, and as with DC, I’d say the key thing is accurate track laying - level, flat, and of course clean. For insulfrogs, I’ve added point clips, and for live frogs, I use frog juicers to auto change polarity. All powered by Gaugemaster PM10Ds. I have what I would say is generally trouble free running, but not without effort and perseverance with track laying quality. Nothing to do with what type of point, or DCC generally. As I understand it, pretty much any device (point motor, signal, lights, level crossing gates) can be controlled with DCC; you just need a decoder linked to an appropriate device (LED, servo, solenoid,etc) I use a Gaugemaster reverse loop module, works perfectly. Trains run through it without any hiccup, and no change at all in communication between controller and loco. To some degree, you can set routes in some DCC control systems, (eg in my Prodigy) by grouping points together as a route. But this wouldn’t extend to automatically stopping the train. I have briefly dabbled with JMRI which may help with your PC automation ambitions. Others will tell more. hope that’s useful as a starter for 10!

As a caravanner as well as a modeller, I can tell you that many UK caravan manufacturers have either gone out of business over the years, or been consumed into larger groups, although some of the old brand names have resurfaced under the new ownership. What I can say is that if that is an accurate model, it isn’t based on a British prototype. If it was, the door would be on the left of the caravan, ie the side facing the camera in your photo. So that makes it harder for UK enthusiasts to identify. The big European brands (as it most likely is European) are Knauss, Hobby, Adria, Dethleff etc. More than that I cannot say. Incidentally, I have a couple of caravans on my layout, different to your photo, and I have no idea what they are either.

Track is laid at a small through statIon, with a passing loop and a single siding, which I fancy to be serving a line side factory. Been musing as to what industry this could be, but I lean towards pandering to the family’s/friends’ stereotyping of me, or more accurately, of one of my other interests.... that of (drinking) beer/ale! Now, with my layout set somewhere in the 60s-80s, I know that real ale was non-existent at that point in history, but I can afford to stretch the truth a little... a brewery is a brewery! So what traffic by rail might I see at a brewery? Grain .... in bulk hoppers? Vans .... for barrels? or, if I opted for a different industry, what is interesting? With varied traffic of an identifiable type? ideas most welcome, as scenery hasn’t started yet.

Although I do have modular baseboards (as from White Rose), the layout is a permanent site in a spare room. The Woodland Scenics riser and incline section joins are not joints, in that I laid the Single track climbing Branch in situ, on the riser/incline straight across a baseboard join. Whereas the twin main line and storage yard sections were laid on each board in my garage where I’d got more room to turn things upside down etc. For joints across these baseboards, I simply trimmed the rail chairs off, and inserted a short length of track over the join, then slid the rail joiners at each end to link the tracks. The inserted section also has a power feed. if I ever did need to move the boards (house move maybe in years to come), I guess I would have to cut through the riser track, and then rejoin in the above manner. Maybe that’s how you could lay it in the first place, cutting the foam riser accordingly?

Mine came from White Rose, and at the time, (about 3-4 months ago) they couldn’t entertain custom boards, but this may have been related to lockdown throughout issues. That said, they do so many standard sizes (including triangles for corners etc), worth contacting them , as they do more variety than those advertised for drop down selection on their website.