What has anyone here used to fasten track down on their layout??? I seem to be having truoble finding spikes small enough to go thru the tiny hole already drilled in the ties. If the spikes are too big then they split the plastic ties and it looks bad. Or are you using a different method altogether to hold the track down?? I will be using cork roadbed under the track.

Hello Group.

I have a rather strange problem with my Blackstone K-27s.

First, the particulars.

I have a Digitrax DCS50 (Zephyr) command station.  I use the PR3 in standalone mode for programming.  I have a two foot test track that I connect to the PR3 and I use a Bachrus test stand.

Here is what I have done for K-27 #462 but I get the same results with all four of my K-27s..

I'm a long way from building a layout. But I have a couple of engines I want to convert to DCC. With that in mind, I want to set up my laptop and a programming/testing track. What would you suggest for driving DCC on the track? It doesn't have to power much, so even a DCC starter set seems a bit overkill. I was looking at some DCC systems on the web, and discovered decoder testers. But those don't seem to be able to drive a track to test a decoder installation. is there a solution for both jobs, or do I really need to get both a decoder tester and DCC starter set?

Many thanks,