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Post by Traindiesel! on Feb 18, 2024 20:53:24 GMT
I operate my trains with TMCC, Legacy, DCS and conventionally. With command control,
- I don’t have to be tethered to the transformer, I can walk around the layout with a train and be right there in case of derailment or uncoupling.
- I can run locomotives at a crawl and not have to slam into a freight car to couple to an engine. The remote coupler opens and gently couples to the car.
- I can program a locomotive to blow the horn or whistle, slow down and stop at a station, make station announcements, sound the horn, ring the bell and slowly pull out of the station without touching anything. Just sit back and watch.
- I can start, stop and operate sound features from another room if I want.
- I can operate layout accessories and switches with a push of a button on the remote from anywhere near the layout.
- With the remote or a WiFi device I can operate any O gauge locomotive and accessories from any manufacturer.
- I can lash up multiple locomotives to pull long trains running at the same speed.
- Smoke output and sound volume can be set however you like.
- Activate freight sounds or passenger station sounds with the push of a button.
- Prototypical engine sounds and ‘atmospheric’ sounds like the sounds of a steam engine opening its cylinder cocks as the engine is running.
- I can turn all sounds off with the push of a button and just listen to the train clicking over track joints.
And that’s just the things I like to do. Command control has raised my enjoyment of this hobby exponentially.
Don't forget running them thru rain falls and under puddles or did you get your roof fixed finally? Hey wait a minute. You hadn't even laid down track so how are you running anything. Come on Brian stop telling stories. LOL  The roof leak happened on my current layout. I’ve been using command control for over twenty years on my previous layout in Pennsylvania. Try to keep up! LOL
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Post by Country Joe on Feb 18, 2024 22:13:21 GMT
The only reason I used DCS on my old layout was so I could run two or sometimes three trains on one track. I only had two tracks, an upper four by seven and a half foot oval and a large E shaped lower mainline. If I had three or four separate tracks I would have run conventionally.
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Post by curtis on Feb 18, 2024 23:51:38 GMT
I appreciate all the comments here about remote control operation and I'm certainly not against something that is so popular. Its just that if I had it, the features would not be used. Having had the opportunity to see some of the great layouts of our time; the former Roadside America, the Choo Choo Barn, the Museum of Science and Industry (CHI), The Station at Citigroup Center, Pennsylvania Railroaders Memorial Museum,the Carnegie Science Center they all used simple operation. They turned the trains on in the morning and they ran around the layout all day until closing time. I figured if those great layouts used conventional operation as a scenic presentation, mine could also. Take the Choo Choo Barn off that list. The new owner is converting everything to new electronics and command control. I had a real nice talk with his wife and am pretty excited to see how it turns out.
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Post by g3750 on Feb 19, 2024 4:11:43 GMT
Panhandle 1 (2006-2016) used TMCC. I like it very much - it's in the "sweet spot" for me. By that I mean it performs a number of features reliably. I held two "Train Smokers" events at which visitors were given a CAB-1 and 30 seconds of instructions and permitted to run trains (mostly in loops).
Panhandle 2 will also use TMCC for the same reasons. In fact, I've already used it to a limited extent. I expect to have multiple operators running mainline trains and switching in yards. Operations on this layout will be a bit more complicated, but I expect TMCC to handle all of it well.
George
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Post by mrmeep on Feb 20, 2024 6:16:21 GMT
CONVENTIONAL here. Industry Standard since 1900 and still works.
Simple to wire and operate. Easily expandable. Compatible with
everything. Forgiving of spikes and shorts and outages.
Easy to repair. Uses "generic" wires, switches, etc.
Allows actual "hands-on" operation or can be pre-set for "auto-pilot"
and you can sit back and enjoy as a spectator.
Works with all lighting systems and accessories.
Can be set up for either AC or DC.
Inexpensive to buy and add to.
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Post by Traindiesel! on Feb 20, 2024 7:57:24 GMT
This is what’s so great about this hobby. There’s no wrong way to enjoy it!
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Post by redjimmy1955 on Feb 20, 2024 16:35:25 GMT
Im still using the olde TMCC One version. It's simple, extra remotes are STILL available at sorta reasonable prices, and it's well known that one can run a multitude of stuff of different road names..
The KILLER application are the TMCC crane cars......whenever I fire it up, it's a show stopper....well, until the "Moron/Monon" boxcar rolls by. My son-in-law loves it!
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The roof leak happened on my current layout. I’ve been using command control for over twenty years on my previous layout in Pennsylvania. Try to keep up! LOL 
