HO track ?

[wackyracer]

This grandpa hasn't played with trains for 30 yrs. but wants to put something together for the grandkids. What is digital command control, the difference between HO & On30 & are any turnouts manual.
                                                     Thanks! Chuck

[rogertra]

This grandpa hasn't played with trains for 30 yrs. but wants to put something together for the grandkids. What is digital command control, the difference between HO & On30 & are any turnouts manual.
                                                     Thanks! Chuck

All these can be quickly answed on Google, faster than replies here.

[Terry Toenges]

With DCC, power to the track is constant and each loco has it's own decoder and address. The controller sends commands to the decoders allowing each loco to be controlled individually.
HO is 1/87th scale and On30 is 1/48 scale that runs on HO track.
Not sure if Bachmann still sells manual turnouts, but you can check the product information category in the red banner above.

[Doneldon]

wacky-

Speaking grandfather to grandfather and without the perceived but clearly unintended (or real) wasting of my time ...

DCC is an electronic method of controlling model trains which allows the operator(s) to control the speed and direction of more than one loco on the same section of track. This contrasts with DC, or "direct current," in which every motor on a given piece of track MUST go the same direction at the same speed. Well, maybe not the same speed because different wheels and gears could lead to different speeds but the motors will be running at the same speed. With DC, we control track polarity to change loco direction and we vary the current to control speed. With DC, there is a full power square-wave AC on the track all of the time. However, track power must pass through a DCC decoder which can identify an operator's instructions for only that locomotive, and make it run at the speed and in the direction intended by that operator. The DCC decoder can also control lights, sounds and other features, depending on the design of the decoder. DCC constitutes an ever growing part of the model railroading industry, not surprising when you consider how much more realistic and versatile it is, compared to DC. Some folks describe this as the difference between driving the rails and actually driving the locomotives. It has an additional advantage: The NMRA has set specifications for DCC systems such that any NMRA-compliant decoder can be controlled by any NMRA-compliant controller. Power sources, throttles and wireless modes aren't necessarily compatible but the compliance between decoders means that we can pick a decoder which does exactly what we need/want most of the time rather than be restricted to only one manufacturer's merchandise.

HO and On30 are two sizes of model railroads. HO is made to a scale of 87:1. In other words, a real something which is 87 feet long would be one foot long in HO. HO rails are roughly five-eighths of an inch apart. On30 means models which are built in a 48 to one scale (O-scale) but run on track which is only 30 inches apart in the prototype (full-size original). Thirty-inch track in 1:48 scale turns out to be very close to full-size track in 87:1 scale; consequently, 30-inch  O-scale trains will run on regular HO track. In reality, there are too many ties in HO track and they are too close together to be accurate models of O-scale narrow gauge track so many On30 modelers use track which is gauged like HO but has ties of an appropriate size and spacing for the larger scale. (As the ratio of sizes gets larger, the size of the models gets smaller.) Real narrow-gauge equipment is smaller than similar full-gauge equipment so O-scale narrow gauge train models aren't quite as much larger looking than HO equipment, but O-scale scenery is much larger than HO scenery. Some folks prefer On30 once their vision starts to fade and their fingers lose some dexterity. A down side of the larger scale is that it tends to be much more expensive than HO.

You can find both manual and electrically-operated turnouts in several degrees of sharpness in every model scale. You can ever find DCC turnouts which use track current and which respond to the same kind of "coded" or "addressed" messages as DCC locomotives. That simplifies wiring considerably.

Please don't feel put off by the borderline rude responses you might get on this site from time to time. Your questions are ones which are frequently asked by newbies or newly-back-bies and some of us have lost our patience for answering them yet again. No matter. Ask 'em if you have 'em. Welcome back. I'm sure you'll be impressed with the state of the art compared to 30 years ago and that you and your grand will have a good time with your trains.
                                                                                                                                                                                                         -- D

[Johnson Bar Jeff]

--D,

You always do a very nice job explaining things like this. 

JBJ

[blf]

Just a wonderfull response in today's world. Will be 70 this year and have loved HO since I was i2 years old or more. Remember staring at Walthers adds for there 60' pullmans for less than 5.00? Boy have we come a long way. Welcome back. Bill

[Pops]

D-
Thanks for the great (and courteous) response.  People like you make it easy for people like me, (a complete newbie and senior citizen) to become fans of this awesome hobby.

It is greatly appreciated.
Pops

[kpsdjs]

Quote from rogertra...
"All these can be quickly answed on Google, faster than replies here."

   rogertra,  If you wish folks with legitimate questions, however often they are asked, to always go to google, then why are YOU here??
   I love this post place. Mostly I just read them. But I always get smarter with EVERY post!
   "The only stupid question..."
   Wackeyracer...Ask away. I would guess by your handle, that you also love slotcars as much as I do. My favorite layout I have ever made is both extensive slotcar track and trains. Carefull at that track crossing!!

Kelly

[Jim Banner]

All of the information is available in books, in magazines, and on line.  So why am I still teaching classes on building model railroads?  I think people like the personal touch and the feeling that if they don't exactly understand the answer, they can ask again in another way.  Then there is the camaraderie, the being together with other model railroaders.  Many of us get a lot of pleasure helping others enjoy a hobby that we ourselves enjoy.  And finally, for those of us who have retired from an active working life, helping others is a way that we can continue being useful in our world.

I would guess that Doneldon spent over an hour putting together his answer above.  That is an hour he could have spent on other things - watching TV, reading a book, working on his own railroad, or just watching the paint peel off the walls.  But he chose to give that hour to wackracer and to others that may read this thread in the future.  There is a good chance that hour will help Chuck get back into the hobby and enjoy his trains.  I hope that will get his grandchildren interested in trains or other hobbies, knowing that children interested in hobbies often learn to enjoy learning for learning's sake.  And who knows where that learning to learn and learning to like learning will take them or what great things they will do in the future?  Doneldon's gift of an hour now may be a much greater gift to the world than any of us can imagine.

Doneldon, ya done good.  And I for one salute you.

Jim

[rogertra]

Quote from rogertra...
"All these can be quickly answed on Google, faster than replies here."

rogertra,  If you wish folks with legitimate questions, however often they are asked, to always go to google, then why are YOU here??

Frequently, people are too lazy to do the legwork themselves.  Not saying this was the case here but it happens frequently.  Advising people to use Google IS assisting them and provides them with a wealth of information, far more quickly than they can find here.

Why is it too difficult to search Google and then, if you can't find the answer there, ask here?

EVERY question he asked is answered on Google.  Every single one!  So, do the legwork and then, if you get stuck or need clarification, ask here and we will gladly assist but don't expect us to do the legwork for people who are too lazy to do it themselves.

And Doneldon could have saved himself all that work as it's all on Google,  that's why!

BTW, Pops isn't much older than me and I use Google all the time.

[kpsdjs]

rogertra...
   First of all EVERYTHING in the world IS on Google. Why should he wade thru an ocean to get a drink of water.
   YOU ARE RUDE!!
   When I need a new tire for my car, I do not go on Google to find out the history of the circle,...I go to a tire store, where they are focused on my need and are real live people.
   I ask again...Why are YOU here??
   If I am going to learn a new computer program, and sixty people in my office already know the program's ins and outs, I do not wade thru six hundred pages of instructions. I ask a real person and get a quick and meaningful answer.
   I can't wait until YOU have a question.

Kelly

[Doneldon]

Jim-

Thank you for the kind comments. I appreciate it.


rogertra-

I understand your frustration. I experience it myself. But that doesn't give me permission to be dismissive or rude to people who ask questions for which the answers are already available via Google or whatever. And let's face it, coming to this board for information is one of the whatevers. I've asked questions here myself when I maybe would have been able to get the information elsewhere, and I'll bet you have, too. I enjoy this board and the people who use it. So I try to be friendly and helpful when I can. And if I'm tired and cranky about seeing the same questions over and over? Well, I avoid answering when I'm in such a mood.

But there is a little learning here: Maybe we need an FAQ section for newbies. Would that eliminate all of the questions about minimum radii, what is DCC, the value of an old train set or whether wired rail joiners work? No, of course not. But I'll bet it would help. What do you think, Bachmann?

So let's all of us try to have the 60s famous positive mental attitude here. It's easy to be welcoming and helpful, and maybe make our great hobby accessible for others. Being kind is easy and so is being quiet when we don't feel kindly.
                                                                                                                 -- D

[rogertra]

rogertra...

I can't wait until YOU have a question.

Kelly

1)  If you think I'm rude, tough.

2) What possible questions would I ask on this board? 

[kpsdjs]

rogertra...

I can't wait until YOU have a question.

Kelly

1)  If you think I'm rude, tough.

2) What possible questions would I ask on this board? 

But I ask again... WHY ARE YOU HERE??
You have no respect, and you have no friends here... GO AWAY FREA#
k

[the Bach-man]

Dear All,
Let's be nice!
There's a lot of good info in this thread and I'd hate to delete it.
the Bach-man