A DCC controller is basically a miniature version!

Basically that's what we do in effect with our handheld controllers.  I understand the idea of having an actual controller for realism but most layouts isle widths wont allow it.  I know mine wont!  Good concept though and would add to realism a bit.

Aisle Width

Yeah, I figured aisle width might be a problem. I know it would be on my layout too. When I said room wouldn't be a problem, I meant room inside the belt pack for the electronics as our model railroad handheld controllers are much smaller than the belt pack.

George

Belt Pack Comments

I recall that there was a Belt Pack unit that operated a computer simulation for training purposes, but this would probably not link to a model railroad.

Belt Pack was rejected by the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers (BLE) but accepted by the United Transportation Union (UTU) on the basis that the Belt Pack was the same as signaling the engineer of a manned locomotive.  Belt Pack controls are, therefore, not the same as conventional locomotive controls.  None of these controls would match any DCC decoder.  UTU Belt Pack operators are not FRA certified engineers.

There are remote systems available that are based on conventional controls.  These systems are operated by FRA certified engineers and allow full operation of air brake systems.  Again, there are no DCC decoders available that match conventional locomotive controls.  Specifically, the throttle can not be worked against the train brakes.

MRC does make a drop in decoder (item #0001750) for the Walthers GP-15.  This decoder will also fit other locomotives.  The decoder comes with a little radio control wireless remote that will operate on DC power.  I have been bench testing this system with the Powerex Imedion 9.6 volt radio battery.  This system could serve to simulate a handy Remote Control unit that can also switch over to conventional DCC for road service.  The little 9 button wireless remote is much more handy and intuitive to a model railroader.

There are a few innovative

There are a few innovative fellas around who are actually using RADIO control like the fly-guys use, but it's still too big for HO and smaller scales, as I recall. 

Not engineers

Just a little prototype note - as Rick commented above, RCOs (Remote Control Operators) are NOT engineers.  As an engineer, they are a slap in the face and a threat to my craft and my employment.  I have seen first hand the difference between a remote control locomotive and one with an engineer, and they are definitely not equivalent - regardless of what the UTU and the FRA like to claim.

Anybody bringing a model RC locomotive or a beltpack to my layout will be politely asked to leave.

In real life, I can

In real life, I can understand the sentiment Ken. That guy can't see spit down on the ground. God forbid, if there were someone on the other side of that loco who was to walk out in front of it from the blind side, he'd be killed. 

From the model side of things though, wouldn't R/C be simpler for control of model locos? You could have loops or wyes without special wiring needed in both DC and DCC.

Opening a can of worms

Well, now you've gone and done it!  This thread will likely go the way of several others, arguing the finer points of DC, DCC, RC, batteries, and who knows what else!

In all seriousness, yes, I agree.  However, without an onboard power supply, there will always be shorting issues as long as the rails are used to supply power.  The challenge for some is to treat control and power separately - something we have never had to do in the past, but which is realistically possible now.

Radio Control for HO

As noted above, MRC does make a little DCC decoder with a wireless remote that will control sound and motion on DC or Battery power.

MRC also makes the DC/DCC decoders that are built into some Athearn HO steam locomotives.  Again, the wireless remote included will operate the locomotive on battery power.  As "ThatAppyGuy" suggests, the wireless remote and battery power allow the locomotive to run through wyes, return loops, DC, DCC, or unpowered track.  In these cases, track is what you might call "guidelines".

And I have used R/C equipment that was made for model race cars.  The old 75 MHz stuff is unreliable, but the new 2.4 GHz spread spectrum radios are really solid and easier to use.  The electronic speed controls and radio receivers are small enough to fit HO car bodies.  There is also a variety of rechargeable batteries available.

There are also the infra-red Rail-Lynx and the R/C LOCOLINC systems available for HO.  Recently, the NWSL S-CAB has been offered to provide direct radio/control of  DCC decoders.  A rechargeable battery power system is also part of the NWSL system, so it should be possible to run DCC locomotives on battery power. 

Easy, Ken, no model railroad systems have train brakes.

Your Digitrax Zephyr might have an independent brake lever, but this is no more than a Belt Pack has.  The division between Belt Pack and engineer cab operation seems to be the use of train brakes.  Until train brakes, or a reasonable simulation of same, are available in HO, we really are not dealing with the skills that make being an engineer a fine craft.  It has been a long campaign to make the hobby aware of the fun of realistic train control.  It is that good feeling of setting the air and releasing it at just the right moment to make the train sit down for a restriction.  This is something that was being worked out with the development of the True Action Throttle (TAT) in the 1960s, but DCC systems do not allow the throttle to be worked against the train brakes... even as a simulation like the TAT.

One of our BNSF engineers retired yesterday, and he mentioned that stretch braking was something that he missed about mainline operations.  BNSF has been weaning us all away from stretch braking since the cabooses are gone.

"God forbid, if there were

"God forbid, if there were someone on the other side of that loco who was to walk out in front of it from the blind side, he'd be killed."

Unfortunately, there exists at least one case of a UP ground driver running HIMSELF over with a locomotive - he believed a yard locomotive was on a parallel track, and made the serious mistake of walking on the tracks, not realizing that, as he directed the locomotive forward, it was on the same track he was.  After losing radio contact with him, yard personnel investigated and found he had been killed when struck from behind, with the belt pack  controller destroyed and strewn along the tracks.

However, as a model railroad interface controller?  Sounds like fun!  Would we have to wear safety vests and hard hats??

RC

Ken I have been disabled 21 yrs now but I worked a 6 day local and ran the engine many times. I started modeling again a few years ago after about 20 yrs. I went DCC but really miss the old DC controls that simulated dynamic braking with a brake button to use like the independent or train train line brakes. Why can't DCC simulate an independent brake.

Ed

...

"God forbid, if there were someone on the other side of that loco who was to walk out in front of it from the blind side, he'd be killed."

Sounds to me like a prime place to remove people altogether... 

Ugh, sounds nasty.   

Ugh, sounds nasty. 

RC GP15?????

hmmm.... interesting, any more information??