Thanks for the info. The articles look to be the key to understanding DCC. My Google searches did not reveal the design details.

By the way I am aware of the digital age. I started as a design engineer in aerospace when the first digital IC were being introduced in the 1960's. I worked as a digital design engineer for 30+ years before retiring. I saw the whole of the evolution and was deeply involved. One of my digital instruments went to Venus to help map it.

LDBennett

I bought a Bachmann HO Single Truck Birney "DCC ON-BOARD" Trolley to run on my little point to point layout. Since there was no DCC some fifty years ago, the last time I did an HO layout, I do not have a real handle on DCC. My little point to point layout is running non-DCC, just straight variable DC voltage to the rails from the small Bachmann Power Pak.

The instruction sheet shows a Dummy Plug and there was one in the box. The instructions show how to install it but does not say why or when. The trolley runs on the variable DC voltage track but am I damaging the DCC Decoder by not changing to the Dummy plug?

So what is the purpose of the Dummy plug and removal of the Decorder? Should I be replacing the Decoder with the Dummy plug for straight variable voltage DC operation?

Besides the fact that Bachmann is a German company, why are their instruction for their products written in poor English? Is our USA market for their products not large enough to give us USA customers a better translation job and more complete instructions?

LDBennett

The Spectrum Norfolk & Western Class J 4-8-4 Locomotive we purchased recently stopped working after only a couple hours of operation. So we sent it in for repair under warrantee only to get a card back that side it would be repaired within 8 weeks...8 WEEKS. But I was surprised to get a brand new replacement in just a couple of weeks.

Thank you Bachmann/Spectrum. But you should not freakout your customers with projections that are so long.

LDBennett

Well, I built up the three Cornerstone building kits, added the wash to weather them a bit, sprayed them with the dull clear coat, and they look very good. I learned a lot with each kit build. But........

I ordered and received one of the Woodland Scenics ready built buildings and OMG! The detailing is extremely good. I just ordered four more. Thank you for those of you that suggested them.

I may build a couple of more building kits by someone other than Walthers. Kits with glue-in windows makes the painting so much easier that I'll try one of those. Woodland Scenics makes some kits like that too.

Now I have to plan out the point to point and start laying out track, finishing the table top, and placing the buildings. While the trolley should be the focal point, the street scene is very important too.

Thank you for all those that guided me in this HO building effort.

LDBennett

The replies here and other reading convinced me to just buy another power pack from Bachmann. I could not build a solid state throttle for the cost of the power pack.

I was just trying to save a buck. I was in model railroading when in junior high over 50 years ago. In fact I slept under the layout during this years. My grandson wanted a model train so I set him up with a N gage little train layout. He is having fun with the scenery and structure building. I have no idea how far he will take it as he has a space problem. In the process of getting some trains for him I inadvertently order a HO gage Trolley instead of N gage. So I decided to put together a point to point little layout with buildings and urban scenery. I have no idea if once done then this is it. It was supposed to be just for a Xmas display but curiosity of where model railroading has gone to has got the better of me. I have to constantly throttle me and the investment.

Thanks for your inputs. I did consider them. I understand electrics but just wanted to save a buck but have re-considered and ordered the Bachmann power pack. If I ever went to a big layout it most certainly would be DCC controlled. I just want this trolley to go back and forth unaided. I got that figured out in a simple way, I think.

LDBennett

I am building my little layout once and not as a hobby (at least that is the plan). I want realistic buildings and the Woodland Scenics buildings , at least from the pictures, seem to look great. I ordered one to see how they look in real life (often different than the pictures!!). So thank you so far to those that suggested I look at them.

I took the Cornerstone urban three building kit that I built and using a wash of dirty white painted the building and removed the excess. That helped immensely. I am not capable of detail painting the slab of super feature detailed structure so I am not really satisfied. It looks OK but not nearly perfect. I am hanging back on building the other two Cornerstone kits I bought until I see the one Woodlands Sceneics ready built urban structure I just ordered.

Anyway, thanks everyone for the tips.

LDBennett

OK, so I measured the DC resistance and got 12 ohms. That means at full throttle the order of magnitude of the current flowing is about 1 amp.

The big question is what resistance potentiometer should I use to limit the current flow? I'm thinking 1K (??). Anyone got better info? The trolley will be moving on this point to point layout (run automatically with a direction change at each end) at a pretty slow scale speed, like maybe 10% of full throttle operation or even less. Any insights on this?

If no one can help I guess I'll just have to wait until I get some track laid and the control system installed and do some testing with fixed resistors, later to be replaced with a potentiometer. My thoughts are that I'll use the pot as a current limiter and not as a voltage divider (pot not connected across the power supply but in series with the power supply).

LDBennett

I bought the three, three building Cornerstone buildings kits and built one. I was a bit disappointed as they really need paint and I'm terrible with fine painting like that. They are just one hunk of red blob in the one I built. I am considering doing a wash of thin dirty white to give them some contrast and a bit of age. If I had know what they were like then I might have not bought them. The other two three building Cornerstone building kits are in the boxes unopened. i expected some detailed painting pre-done and as I live over 50 miles from the hobby shop I thought I'd buy them all while I was there.

If I can be happy with the wash of thin dirty white followed by dull clear, I'll build the others and do the same. Otherwise I'm not sure if I'll builds the other two at all. Maybe I'll search out some pre-made and painted ones if I can find the 1920's urban buildings I want.

Hey, we live and learn.

LDBennett

What is the current draw at 12VDC or the operating resistance of the motor in the Bachmann HO PCC Trolley. #62931?

I am building a little power supply for it and I need to know its power requirements. I already have a source of 12VDC and it does not make sense to buy yet another power pak when the trolley will only be going back and forth at a constant speed on a straight track of about 8 feet. It is a Xmas display that will have the trolley going from end to end continuously. (And yes there will be a potentiometer to control the speed, in series with the track.)

LDBennett

Anyone here use the Walthers Cornerstone building kits?

How detailed are they?

Do they require any painting?

What are they made of?

Are there better choices for building kits that represent this age?

This question is for HO kits.

I plan a small trolley point to point layout with the collection of these buildings along the route. The trolley will be the Bachmann PCC Los Angeles Railway (this trolley is the trolley I took with my mother back in the late 40's and early 50's to go to downtown LA for shopping.....J car route..Huntington Park to Downtown). The memories are vivid!

Thanks,

LDBennett

Thanks for the info but I made a trip to the Hobby shop this afternoon. It seems the instruction are on the packaging. Since I bought the track set the packing was stripped off everything and loaded into a single foam box without any instructions. I looked at the back of a single turnout package in the store and there were the instructions. I had guessed that was the way but I did not want to short anything out. And it takes a heavy force to engage one controller into the other, I guess, and I did not want to break anything.

This is actually my grandson's train set but I promised to help him get it set up. We were stopped at getting the switches to operate and his bed time (he's 11 years old). We'll hit it Saturday for sure.

The other problem we had with no time to investigate is his little N scale Royal Blue engine was having a hard time getting through the switch (turnout) without derailing. Maybe it is too light?? We have the Rock Island Northern 4-8-4 coming soon and maybe it will be heavy enough to get through the switches without a problem.

I wish I had received your email sooner and I could have avoided going to the Hobby shop. Thank you anyway. What is crazy is that this is a long going problem (no instructions for the track system) as I found all kinds of questions exactly like mine with no answers. Bachmann offered no answer by email, just a promise to mail me something (It must be coming via snail mail).

LDBennett

We just got the N scale track set with four turnouts. We already have the smaller power pack with the AC output (I assume for switches). It came with no instructions on how to wire the turnouts.

Can some one post the instruction for the turnouts or explain in words how these four turnouts are to be wired?

LDBennett