I do occasionally look in here and admire the various HO pieces. (I get my hands-on fix with continental - mainly Dutch - relatives who
have a fair number of rail enthusiasts among them. In one cousin's home we sit on old locomotive buffers as stools from which to
operate the layout. He needed a specially strengthened floor, I need to pay attention to avoid serious bruises to knees and toes.)
I am very happy that RTR OO has acquired so much from HO technique now that production is in China. It was a long time coming, but
very welcome now it is available. Still lagging well behind the maximum refinement that HO can offer, but so much better than what we
had just 20 years ago, on which:
QUOTE (Allegheny1600 @ 25 Mar 2019, 13:56) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Isn't it amazing that with a Lokprogrammer and a suitable decoder, you can download whichever sounds you wish for a vast array of
different locos?
All except British ones, of course!
This REALLY annoys me - that EU, US, World loco sounds are available freely yet British ones are not...
It's a function of a less mature market for this product. DCC didn't 'take off' in the UK until circa 2005 by my estimation. Until then it
was strictly individual enthusiasts finding their own way. Then came general provision of decoder sockets, decoder fitted and DCC sound
fitted locos. The business is squeezing every penny out of DCC sound while the good times last. What it needs is enthusiasts for sound
to start creating projects and making them available. (Actually I am happy they are not, give me the sound of metal wheels on rails, and
I can generate the other sounds in my head.) Well, that's my opinion anyway.
QUOTE (Allegheny1600 @ 30 Apr 2019, 12:48) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>DCC:
Improved electrical pick-up, especially at very slow speeds.
Simplified wiring (I am an electrical numpty!).
Control of lighting on locos & vehicles.
Ability to double head locos with perfect control.
Control the whole layout from a single moveable position.
Control multiple locos very simply.
DCC is something that I've gradually adopted over the last 15 years or so and I've not converted everything yet but I find it gives great
pleasure especially on a small layout. If I had a large roundy-roundy where trains only circulate at high speed, it may not add that much
but for me, it's great.
Same here, and over a similar period. I feel that lights are hardly worth bothering with for UK operation, and sound, meh! It's grossly
inadequate with my high fidelity sound reproduction hat on, positively painful to listen to.
But the control aspect with DCC, wonderful, per the list Allegheny1600 put up. And there's more. I really like being able to speed and
acceleration/deceleration match the locos in groups, and the easy way you can put locos 'on shed' with no need for isolating sections.
My layout is large, with about four scale miles of the eventual planned sixteen now operable, and DCC plays well to this too. Slow speed
refinement and control benefits for shunting moves, the high reliability for trains operating out of sight, starting and stopping very gently:
full automation thereby a realistic future element of the layout.
have a fair number of rail enthusiasts among them. In one cousin's home we sit on old locomotive buffers as stools from which to
operate the layout. He needed a specially strengthened floor, I need to pay attention to avoid serious bruises to knees and toes.)
I am very happy that RTR OO has acquired so much from HO technique now that production is in China. It was a long time coming, but
very welcome now it is available. Still lagging well behind the maximum refinement that HO can offer, but so much better than what we
had just 20 years ago, on which:
QUOTE (Allegheny1600 @ 25 Mar 2019, 13:56) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Isn't it amazing that with a Lokprogrammer and a suitable decoder, you can download whichever sounds you wish for a vast array of
different locos?
All except British ones, of course!
This REALLY annoys me - that EU, US, World loco sounds are available freely yet British ones are not...
It's a function of a less mature market for this product. DCC didn't 'take off' in the UK until circa 2005 by my estimation. Until then it
was strictly individual enthusiasts finding their own way. Then came general provision of decoder sockets, decoder fitted and DCC sound
fitted locos. The business is squeezing every penny out of DCC sound while the good times last. What it needs is enthusiasts for sound
to start creating projects and making them available. (Actually I am happy they are not, give me the sound of metal wheels on rails, and
I can generate the other sounds in my head.) Well, that's my opinion anyway.
QUOTE (Allegheny1600 @ 30 Apr 2019, 12:48) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>DCC:
Improved electrical pick-up, especially at very slow speeds.
Simplified wiring (I am an electrical numpty!).
Control of lighting on locos & vehicles.
Ability to double head locos with perfect control.
Control the whole layout from a single moveable position.
Control multiple locos very simply.
DCC is something that I've gradually adopted over the last 15 years or so and I've not converted everything yet but I find it gives great
pleasure especially on a small layout. If I had a large roundy-roundy where trains only circulate at high speed, it may not add that much
but for me, it's great.
Same here, and over a similar period. I feel that lights are hardly worth bothering with for UK operation, and sound, meh! It's grossly
inadequate with my high fidelity sound reproduction hat on, positively painful to listen to.
But the control aspect with DCC, wonderful, per the list Allegheny1600 put up. And there's more. I really like being able to speed and
acceleration/deceleration match the locos in groups, and the easy way you can put locos 'on shed' with no need for isolating sections.
My layout is large, with about four scale miles of the eventual planned sixteen now operable, and DCC plays well to this too. Slow speed
refinement and control benefits for shunting moves, the high reliability for trains operating out of sight, starting and stopping very gently:
full automation thereby a realistic future element of the layout.