Wordsmith

So, I was working through this list of questions, and I focused on the above one. https://www.locgeek.com/2012/10/railcom-railcom-plus-what-are-these/ So, it looks as if Railcom/RailcomPlus provides feedback for an DCC controller/computer controlled layout, but what is the actual benefit for a computer controlled layout? A little bit of further research suggests that Railcom ties in with breaking up the track into sections and using a feedback module to determine whether a section is occupied or vacant. Railcom then enables block control and more, plus scripting of locomotive movements. Have I got that right? I presume Railcom ties me in with a sub set of manufacturers - not all DCC equipment manufacturers support Railcom. So , if I want to use Railcom, I have to use a compatible controller? Finally, is there a decent book available on computer control for model railways? I had a look on Amazon, but there wasn't a stand out choice. I found books on many aspects of railway modelling, but not computer control. Cheers, Wordsmith

Thanks all - I have obviously got quite a bit of reading and thinking to do. This looks a more complex problem than I anticipated.

And thanks all for the other replies - this isn't going to be as simple as I thought...

A newbie question… Some background – I’m under four years off retirement and wanted to take up railway modelling as a hobby again when I do retire. I last did it as a spotty teenage fifty odd years ago, so I’m well out of touch. I’m planning to model in N gauge as I can get a reasonable layout into a 12 ft x 3 ft space. I started buying £50 or £75 a month of track, rolling stock and so on at the start of the year and have built a 4 ft x 2 ft baseboard for test purposes. I quite enjoyed building the actual layout in the dim and distant, so don’t think that will have changed. But manually running the layout doesn’t appeal – I like the idea of computer control for the bulk of it with a fiddle yard along the back of the layout and (if possible) trains starting/running/stopping under DCC/computer control. The intent of the test baseboard is to put in a simple oval of track with a passing loop, head shunt and a couple of sidings to find out how DCC/computer control works. I was originally going to buy a Gaugemaster Prodigy "Advance 2" starter DCC controller package but that’s been out of stock for months – a quick scan of the form suggests supply problems in China. So, if I was going to buy a DCC controller and computer program that would let me both experiment and then eventually run a full-size layout, what would people recommend? [Links to pertinent threads are fine if people don’t want to (re)answer what might be an oft answered question]. Thanks in advance, Wordsmith