My kind of layout.

How are you getting photographs to post?  I have a ton of stuff I'd like to show.

Jeffrey I don't understand any of that stuff. That's why we have you here.

😂😂😂

The 127 limit is a holdover from the earliest days of DCC back in the Digital Jurassic Of low chip capacity in every dimension. It's so embedded in everything, though, it can't be gotten rid of.

Never had any problems with NCE.

Yes, those engines are beauties.  But they have no train set value.  Train sets and associated RTR extra cars are where the money lies with Model trains. Geared engines are fairly limited In their sales appeal only to specialized advanced model railroaders and will only sell so many before the market is saturated. That's probably what happened with the Shay.

 I remember when the climax came out and they sat forever at the discount houses until they finally practically gave the last few away to get them out of there.

I'll bet That that those units are professionally re-shrink-wrapped dogs that have been run into the ground.

Running a DCC locomotive on DC is possible, but really not the best way to operate.  Like going cross country on a tricycle. Or getting off a two story roof by jumping. You can do get it done, but there are far better ways.

There are so many advantages to
DCC operation.  Aside from expense, which is a real issue and I'm not belittling it, I've never understood why people hold onto DC forever but buy DCC locomotives and try to get them to run on a DC layout.  It's literally forcing a square peg into a round hole, it was never really truly meant to be.

if your locomotive is a DCC locomotive, you need to try it out on a DCC layout to see for once and for all if the problem is your DC power source.

Use a small drill bit in a pin vise to drill holes at each end of each track section. Drill through a crosstie.

Secure the track to the table with appropriate screws.  You probably will have to drill a hole for each screw in the table top.  Paint the screw head flat black to match the tie.  Use screws District with a small and flat ahead as possible for minimally intrusive appearance.

I watched about half that video and it was enough.  I'm not denying that it was a masterpiece of all masterpieces, it just is not my kind of layout.  It very much was the old spaghetti bowl track plan concept very popular about 40 or 50 years ago where you twisted as much track as you could into your space.  I could never figure out his track plan and how operated but a lot of people did and he had lots of realistic concepts in place, unlike so many spaghetti bowl layouts where the trains zipped around in and out of tunnels and over trestles and came out of a tunnel you didn't expect it to, but always ended up at the same place. Maybe it was just the photography at the time, but the whole layout and room in general was too dark for me, a natural light fanatic who can't get enough light, not unlike a plant.  Which probably comes from working 10 years in a  windowless office.

It filled his basement.  Track plans are online. Google.

Quote from: trainbuf on March 08, 2024, 02:59:12 AMCan anyone tell me which DCC decoder was used on the 50 ton Climax please   loco runs fine on DC  but converting whole layout to DCC and want sound as well.
Similar with the three truck shay..... what decoder gives me the correct sound.

Lou A Hocken
Blenheim  NZ.

I answered this in another post.

Walthers has many 36 inch wheels if you can't get them from the Bach Man.

The ones I am talking about have 90 whistles, DDE, EQ, over 20 bells, at least 10 chuffs including geared engines, choice of sounds of coal fired vs oil vs wood, cylinder cocks, wheel slipping, choice of coupler crash.  And each controllable by the operator.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. I've done everything but name the company, which I don't feel right doing on someone else's forum. You ought to be able to figure it out.

Convert your layout to DCC ASAP.  Trying to run DCC engines on a DC layout is really awkward, literally a square peg and round hole kind of thing, possible, but not truly intended.  Not unlike going coast to coast on a tricycle. It's not possible to fully utilize all of the wonderful features that DCC brings to the table. 

About the sounds for geared locomotives.... My favorite company's newest decoder has complete options for every geared engine under the sun and nearly 100 whistles you can choose from.  But I'm not going to name them in someone else's house.  Contact the various vendors and you'll find out who I'm talking about.  It won't take long.  They have great customer service and  can tell you not only exactly which decoder will fit in your engine but can also provide you with detailed and extensive information about installation.

Advice from someone who's been down the wrong road:  Have your decoder installed professionally.

You can call any of the decoder vendors and get a much better and completely updated decoder then the ones that were used in that engine when it was made back in the digital Jurassic.  I have a feeling that you probably cannot even get an identical direct replacement item anymore, except on the used market.

Unlike wine, decoder technology does not age well but is regularly superseded with better.  Much better.

All of us that choose to operate with DCC have our favorite brand of decoder.  I don't think that the Bach Man's house is the place to discuss pros and cons of the various products currently offered.