Here's a long shot view of the tracks.

If you want to watch live trains all day, this is a busy spot. This is a live feed from Tower 26 in Houston, Texas. I've been watching it for a couple of days.
It seems like at least a couple of trains an hour pass through.
Sometimes there is an operator in the tower who pans and zoom the camera. I saw him do that earlier when there was a train going through the "S' that is out of view camera now. Maybe it is done remotely. I don't know.
The view is looking West and slightly North.

Thanks for the help.

It might be helpful if you said what loco you have in mind. Perhaps someone here has already done it. It is a diesel or steam?

You can move the gaps further away from the switch if you want. I prefer having them closer to the switch.

Len

When I first went DCC I did a cost/benefit analysis of existing systems at the time (2004.) EZ Command at the time came with a locomotive and was around $100, half the cost of the Digitrax Zephyr I ended up purchasing. It has since gone up in price to be only slightly cheaper than a new Zephyr. Dynamis seemed to me to be significantly more expensive than the other systems, which is why I didn't get one. At the time, I bought a DCC OnBOard locomotive for my son to run. I was impressed enough with it to take a second look at the rest of Bachmann's offerings. I was pleasantly surprised to find that they were at least as good as the Athearns I already had, and much easier to convert to DCC. While I don't have an exact number, I now own approximately 50 Bachmann locomotives.

Quote from: trainman203 on May 24, 2024, 09:52:57 AMPutting the iron through a plastic shell was basically a joke.

But. Fill me in.  I've not been very aware of availability of separate DCC only Decoders without sound, and a separate sound only decoder. If that's the case, can one piggyback a sound only decoder onto an existing Silent DCC Decoder.  Please elaborate on this for my enlightenment.

WHile I was specifically referring to the added complexity of adding a speaker and the associated hassle of finding a location, which may require a complete disassembly of the locomotive and milling of the chassis in some cases, yes there are separate add on "decoders" which can add sound to a non sound decoder. Digitrax calls them Sound Bugs, and they can be added to any decoder that is set up to accommodate them.

Mine is a DCC ON BOARD factory installed. Bu I want to add sound.  I have been able to change some functions but I would love to have sound. CAN IT BE DONE?  We do not have  anyone here. The man who did our. Work passed and some can do a little

QuoteI bought the E-Z Command Plus and went back to my standard E-Z Command. I didn't like the "infinite" throttle. I didn't care for the additional function stuff because I just like the simplicity.

This is good info.  I didn't know that the EZ plus uses an "infinite" type throttle.

QuoteEZ Command vs Dynamis should not be an either/or decision.

I agree wholeheartedly.  I'm still on the fence as to whether to purchase the Dynamis.  Mainly cause there isn't much of a review on this system from US users.  The European hobbyist seem to like the Dynamis from my research, but I'm not going to go into their likes or dislikes. 

When I moved to the EZ command it was a no brainer.  I being, what I call an "intermediate modeler", that is, not obsessed with functionality, but a stickler when it comes to layout details and having the obsession to change the layout on the fly unlike the more experienced modelers who do not make massive changes in their layouts.  The EZ command thus far, has been easy to make layout adjustments without a hassle. 
As Dr McCoy stated in Star Trek, "I know engineers, they're always changing things".  That's me, in a nutshell.  Having a fancier DCC controller where I'd only use its basic operations would, in my case, be overkill.  It would be like owning a Corvette, Porsche, or Ferrari and only driving it in rush-hour traffic.

Lastly, I thank all for your comments, keep'em coming.  This forum is still the best of the forums I read.

Interesting!
 I agree, some folks want a shorter loop track.  My loop isn't as circular as your diagram shows.  My track is more squarish or rectangular.  I have to admit that I use the coupler insulators instead of the gapped track that Bachmann provides.

You've got me thinking!  How close does the gap (or gap track) need to be to the connection switch?    That is, couldn't you have the gap further into the curve and still have the loop function?