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wiring

Modeler's Moment - One reason to switch to DCC

A complex control panel

There are many reasons to choose one control system over another, but this picture shows one of the primary reasons that I'm building my own model railroad with DCC. The control panel shown here has one DPST switch for each 10-inch segment of track in the layout's engine facility. Just moving a single engine out of the engine house on this layout could require the operator to turn on as many as ten separate power blocks as well as aligning four or five track turnouts. Using DCC removes the need for the separate power blocks as you simply select the locomotive (or multiple unit lashup) that you want to control; and if you've got stationary decoders on the turnouts, you can also align the route automatically with your controller by selecting just the route.

Modeler's Moment - Tip: soldering rail joints

Okay, I need to make more updates here. Well, starting today, I'll be posting (nearly) daily updates called "Modeler's Moments". It's like the various "... Of The Day" features that you're already familiar with, but here the Modeler's Moment will combine a little bit of everything. Some days it will be a website link, others it will be a model photo or a model building tip, still other days it will be something about the prototype railroads or their history. Whatever it is, it'll be a way to get more model railroad information out to both of this website's readers, but in small enough chunks that it won't be too overwhelming.

So, let's start off with a model building tip that has to do with tracklaying....

When you're soldering rail joints, put the tip of your soldering iron against the inside of the rail and apply the solder on the outside of the rail where the two rail pieces and the rail joiner meet. If you're soldering flex track joints, solder the joint before you bend the track into a curve to prevent a permanent kink in the rail.

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