11-01-2010, 11:23 AM
Whoops - double posted somehow. Anyway, decoder pricing is still a factor for me. They are less costly now than they were before but still I have to save for one so that gives me pause to think about it a while before plunging in with the purchase. I'm glad there are so many firms making good quality DCC products.
I have said elsewhere that DCC didn't really simplify anything, it just moved the wiring from outside the loco to inside the loco. Someone on this thread mentioned 'running the layout'. That's essentially what DC is - DCC is running the train, not the layout. So moving the complexity inside the engine isn't all bad, I guess, from that perspective. I don't like wiring. There's a sense of satisfaction in getting it done and seeing it run, but DC engines provide that satisfaction without any additional work.
And as for slow speed running comparable or better than DC, I think that's an issue of the decoder vs. the DC throttle and of course both depend on a good motor in the loco. DCC won't necessarily make a bad motor run like a good one but it may make a good motor run better.
Galen
I have said elsewhere that DCC didn't really simplify anything, it just moved the wiring from outside the loco to inside the loco. Someone on this thread mentioned 'running the layout'. That's essentially what DC is - DCC is running the train, not the layout. So moving the complexity inside the engine isn't all bad, I guess, from that perspective. I don't like wiring. There's a sense of satisfaction in getting it done and seeing it run, but DC engines provide that satisfaction without any additional work.
And as for slow speed running comparable or better than DC, I think that's an issue of the decoder vs. the DC throttle and of course both depend on a good motor in the loco. DCC won't necessarily make a bad motor run like a good one but it may make a good motor run better.
Galen
I may not be a rivet counter, but I sure do like rivets!