Modellers, rivet counters and DCC

This weekend I met a fellow train modeller who exhibited none of the traits I worry keen modellers might have. Let me use the term rivet counters to separate the ones I worry about from the modellers who do have social skills, are not obsessive over details, and do not make one uncomfortable after more than five minutes in their company.

This modeller is a member of a train modelling club in my vicinity who runs DCC and knows other who do the same. This raises some interesting questions. Given an invitation to visit the club, am I willing to subject my modelling skills (or lack thereof), modelling philosophy, railway knowledge and perhaps most importantly the family budget to being part of such a group? Will they all be as sociable and personable as my initial contact? Will there be rivet counters who will deride my 15" radii in HO scale, my not complete vale gear on my 0-4-0 dockside, the TYCO(c) trains from my childhood that now enjoy Kadee(c) couplers and metal wheel sets but still have the original crummy detail? Stay tuned, the evening of the first Wednesday of every month may become booked up in my calendar, if I am brave enough!

The other big question that comes to mind is of course, to DCC or not to DCC? Cons: cost, difficulty of fitting decoders in N scale locos, cost, poor soldering skills, cost, fitting sound decoders plus speakers and cost to name the big ones. Pros: the possibility of sound! (huffing and puffing when starting, screeching loudly when stopping and Westinghouse(c) air pump wheezing away when idle, the mind boggles and the ears tingle: samples of Tsunami(c) brand decoder sounds here) carriage and locomotive lights acting independently of whether the locomotive is moving while still being consistent with direction of travel, low speed control even better than pulse control, and the big win: independent control of multiple locomotives on the same piece of track (no more twin cab control that attempts to emulate this but relies on each train being on an isolated section.) This is the dream of those who wish to follow prototype operational practice: double heading, helper locomotives only for the hill run, trains dancing a full ballet as the system moves goods and people from place to place...

Currently the answer is not to DCC, yet. While work proceeds on getting the current N-scale shelf layout more scenicked and up and running again, re-tracking and scenicking the N-scale Christmas project (when the track arrives...), scenicking the HO 4' by 3', setting up an Auto Distribution Facility diorama, planning the larger HO hole in the middle layout plus there is that thing called living that also seems to take up so much modelling time. Funding those projects and real life are also the current priority. Speaking of real life, that's it here till next time folks!

P.S. A picture of what is definitely one of the smallest decoders, courtesy of those clever Germans at ESU/LokSound

And for those with a ruler, it is 13.5mm x 9.0mm x 3.5 mm. For the Australians in the audience, it is slightly thicker than a $2 coin BUT in length and breadth fits inside the coin in the picture which looks dimensionally similar to an old Australian 1 cent piece!