So last night on my way to work I got to thinking about how some manufacturers use two-way decoders to achieve near perfect power balancing between consisted units.  it really is a work of art to see the engines working together on video.

But then I got to thinking: what if all of my units are not equipped with two-way decoders, yet one of them has Advanced consist power balancing.  Does that power balancing HAVE to rely on a "two-way decoder in every locomotive" device?

So this may be a zany Idea - indeed, it probably very well is!  But bear with me for a moment, there may be something here afoot!

I drew it all up in this simple diagram.  One diagram spares a 1000 words - wheeh!!

I have an electrical problem for which I need some advice. The facts are as follows:

I am going to begin operating on my NPBL room sized layout. This is going to be the teaser to get some interest. But more importantly to keep the informational only with the meat of the subject to follow.

The article in the January MRH by Lance Mindheim spurred me to get going having hemmed and hawed long enough.

I worked on the Richlawn RR last night...about have the design done.  Click here to follow along...

http://modelrailroadersnotebook.blogspot.com/2013/01/017-richlawn-rr-v2-...

To bridge the gap across my cubicle entrance, I have used an unconventional lift-up design.  An entire section of the layout lifts up and over.  Not as useful as I would have liked, but a good learning project.

http://www.digitaltrainlab.com/2013/01/lift-up-shelf.html

I asked my friend Matthias Hacker, to draw a sketch for my Ullapool station, for a better visualisation.
Here is the result.

During the tracklaying I missed to drill a hole in one of the throwbars of one turnout.

After months and months and months of doing nothing...some train ran.  Check out the action at Falls Tower.

Falls Tower guards the junction between Penn Lake's Bourbon River and Mountain Subs, and the Delaware and Hudson's Penn Division. The Tower also controls operation into and out of the North Falls Industrial Track and R Nicholas Steel plant.