John's DC

Hurray, another DC guy.  Glad I'm not the dinosaur I thought I was.  Great article.

Jon's DC

Yes, I prefer DC control too - I run a small garage layout with a single 18 foot mainline, two yards, spurs and 2 hidden staging areas. All this works beautifully using 1 controller and one walkaround throttle. I use Peco isolating switches, so only the aligned track gets power - too easy! I was a software developer before I retired, so I'm fairly tech savvy, but for a small layout I just love the simplicity of DC.

I loved John's characterization of DC

"dependable control"

I also enjoyed his short stories of happenings on the real railroad....DaveB

Keeps the dust off the floor

I like the real railroad stories mixed in with talking about the layout too.  He has a nice turn of phrase - “What I don’t like about this railroad is how it keeps a lot of dust off of my basement floor.”  I look forward to seeing his trackplan.

(BTW, the link to the bonus extras at the end of the article is missing a colon after the https - “https//mrhmag.com/magazine/mrh2020-05/bonus-extras”)

Joe, where is the promised

Joe, where is the promised track plan of this railroad?

I couldn't seem to find it in the May issue or Running Extra? Am I missing something?

Thanks,

Barry

Track plan coming

No problem...no rush. Just

No problem...no rush.

Just thought I might have missed it somewhere.

Thanks, Joe.

Barry

Great Article

John's character and examples of life on a real railroad add a lot to what could have been just another layout article. A fun read, and some time spent on the photos will turn up interesting details such as the two "plank" bridge over the stream in photo 6.

Dependable control

Love the phrase!

More than "dependable"

Also, cheaper. Also, easier to measure v & a. Good solid control on "not so perfect track". But I still like DCC because it "sounds". LOL

Just WOW

John you are my hero. God bless you for saying some of the things I feel. I’m not retired railroader but what you say makes a lot of sense to me. I know Dependable Control, it’s been on every railroad I have built since my first Lionel when I was about five, then on my much beloved Tyco trains when I got a Christmas present when I was seven or eight. News was, Lionel was going out so my Mom got me started on the “next best thing”. I have an NCE DCC set but it is still boxed, it’s a big undertaking and I have read too many stories of “shorts” frying trains and controllers. At least I understand DC!

I’m a big fan of the Rock Island, it ran through my town. I heard that horn many a night, sleeping with windows open in the Summer. I miss them, they were all friendly and waved as they passed. Not like today’s mega corporate systems where they blow through at 70 and never look.

Thank y’all for the memories, you and MRH.