Model Railroading

Why get involved in Model Railroading?

A wide variety of people have been drawn to the hobby of model railroading. It really has something for everyone. When I was a child, my mom had a plywood sheet she would set up on the kitchen table, some HO scale track sections, builds, trees, cars, and people. She loved all things "crafty", the train just happened to be the catalyst of the miniature world she had built.

A person might start out by reading websites, watching YouTube videos, and purchasing books or magazines that have articles on the various topics. From there, what others have done often inspires newcomers of what is possible. Building a model railroad has the awesome benefit of being able to recreate a miniature version of memories from your past. Maybe a past relative worked for the railroad, and you remember once seeing them waving from the cab of a locomotive. Or, last week you were sitting at a railroad crossing and the sights and sounds of a passing SD70ACe pulling a long string of loaded coal hoppers and it left you in awe.

The process of building a model railroad usually involves building a wood frame, called benchwork, to support the track and scenery. Identifying where the track will go, calculating the inclines of grades, the sharpness of curves, and adjacent landforms involves civil engineering. Once the track is laid, it will need wire connections between it and the control system, either a DCC command station or DC power pack. Additionally, wires would need installed for any accessories, such as lights inside buildings or switch machines. To give the layout a realistic appearance, foam or plaster landforms are shaped, painted, and covered with simulated grass, weeds, bushes, and trees. After analyzing photos or videos from the real world and observing what little details can be seen, then the layout can be populated with cars, people, animals, trash cans and mailboxes, or anything else to give the layout life. Finally, researching why the real railroad does what is does, and how some of that can be emulated on your miniature version will give your model railroad a sense of purpose.

So, you can see, carpentry, electrical, civil engineering and design, art, and research are all skills that come into play when building a model railroad. “I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it” is a famous quote by artist Pablo Picasso. Some of these skills you may already possess. But, through the personal desire to obtain a model railroad which you were previously inspired by, the skills you lack in most cases can be learned.

What is DCC?

DCC stands for Digital Command Control. It's a protocol for sending commands to mobile and stationary decoders used on a model railroad.

The original way of operating model trains through most of the 20th century was a DC transformer that varied the voltage being sent to the rails. All the powered locomotives on the rails energized by that transformer would respond to the speed and direction of that transformer. If people wanted to run more than one train at a time, they had to wire electrical "blocks" with the use of a series of toggle switches. The switches would allow a given section of track to select which transformer would control that section.

With the miniaturization of the microchip, DCC was developed to enhance the ability to operate more trains on a layout at one time. Decoders small enough to fit inside the body of a locomotive are programmed (by the user) with a numerical address between 1-9999. The DCC command station (the brains of the whole system) supplies electrical power to the rails continuously. The decoders inside the locomotives sitting on these powered rails will only respond to digital commands they receive over the rails, from the command station.

From there, the decoder actually varies the voltage to the motor, changing its speed and direction with the change of digital bits of information. These commands are often sent by the operator using a DCC throttle. These throttles are handheld remote controls, usually with a display, row of buttons, and knobs for adjusting the speed. An operator with a throttle will "call up" or select the address of the locomotive they wish to operate. From that point on, the person with that throttle will drive that train, regardless of what track they, or anyone else is currently using.

Advantages and Disadvantages?

Well, with DCC wiring is much easier. For a basic set-up, you only need 2 wires connecting the command station to the track. Then you can have many individual locomotives and operators moving simultaneously without worrying about over-running into the wrong block. The decoders have lighting outputs which can be connected to very small LED lights. These could be beacons, headlights, ditchlights, firebox lights, etc. It would allow each of those lights to be controlled by the operator from the throttle.

The drawback is the added cost and complexity of the technology overall. Unless you're a computer or electronics guru, if something fails with the circuitry, it will require a trip to be repaired. Also, every locomotive will need a mobile decoder installed for independent control. Thankfully, more newer models come from the factory with either a decoder pre-installed, or easily plugged in by the modeler.