Newbie

[Brooklynzoo]

Hello all I'm new to the hobby an I will have tons of questions. So I hope y'all ready I will be using the bachmann EZ track with the DCC commander. My only question so far is when I get mt track up an running whats the best way for me to switch tracks using the controller ?

[Jerrys HO]

Brook
If you are going to operate the turnout's with your controller you will have to purchase the turnout's that are DCC ready, meaning they are decoder equipped.
Hope you don't have to many turnout's as it could get confusing trying to remember which address is the correct turnout.

Jerry

[Brooklynzoo]

Hey Jerry thanks for the help, I was in my local hobby store today an the turn outs I will be using are for DCC. The layout that I will be going with I think I am going to have like 8 turnouts, I wish there was a way I could show you the pic to help you better understand, but I think you have an idea of what I am going to do, also am I going to be able to run them off the EZ commander or will I need another power source and if so what do you suggest ?

[Doneldon]

Hey, Brooklyn. Welcome to the hobby and this board. I know you'll find lots of things to do and learn. I've been a model rail for nearly 60 years and I still learn new things and I still find it fascinating.

EZTrack can get a bit pricey for a large layout but it sure does go together nice and it saves lots of time versus other techniques. Just make sure that the feet on the bottoms of your rails are inside of their rail joiners rather than on top of them. And don't be afraid to cut pieces if you need a custom size. Cut square and file the ends to restore the original shape and your custom piece will fit and work as well as the stuff straight from the factory.

Be sure to stick with numbered turnouts (e.g., #6) when you buy your turnouts. The ones without a number aren't made as well and don't function as well. Use the largest turnout that will do the job. The rule is, the larger the number the easier for trains to get through. The same rule applies to curves; broader curves work better than tight curves.

                                                                                                                                -- D

[jbrock27]

I have read, here and elsewhere, so much about using numbered switches over "Snap Switches".  Snap Switches being referenced as "toy train" switches bc they are meant to have the same radius as 18R curves.  While I agree, they may not be made as well as numbered switches, I do not agree with the blanket statement they do not function well.  And the only reason I say that, is yes, I have replaced some Snap Switches that have been around for 30+ years bc they started to fail.  I guess I should expect more from them
I use both #4 and Snap Switches on a current layout and plan to give a couple of #6s a try on the next one.  I do not use EZ track but traditional sectional/snap track.
Brooklyn(and I am from Bay Ridge originally), what you use for switches, will be determimed by what space you have to work with for your layout and what you want for a layout.  Also, what size locos and cars will you run?
If you doubt what I am saying about the use of Snap Switches, go to You Tube and look for a video from a guy from PA, who uses Snap Switches with traditional clunky switch machines (another "no no").  His name is "spear913".  The title is "HO Scale Model Railroad Cheap Homemade Features and Systems".  If you ask me, this guy is no dork and has done a hell of a job, using a lot of things that others would state to never use.  Among his other "no nos" is using brass track (like I do), and running DC as opposed to DCC. 
Another "no no" is running 6 axle locos on 18R curves.  I don't know if "spear 913" runs them on his layout, but I do.
Hopefully, you won't be as frustrated as keesu currently is with his Bachmann EZ turnouts that he recently purchased.  That is something else, I have also read here, as well as other places- how many feel the Bachmann EZ turnouts have their problems.  Of course, some folk site no or few problems with them at all and others, well... 

[Jerrys HO]

Brook

Yes you will be able to run them from your EZ Command. Just follow the instructions for programming them. I have one crossover that is DCC and the rest are thrown by the switch controller's I have mounted on a board.
For posting pics you need to set up an account with photobucket or one similar.
Check out what other's  have done with their layout's.
http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/board/index.php/topic,20416.0.html

jb27 - OP was not questioning the brands of turnouts, he wanted to know how he could operate them using his controller.

I use both #4 and Snap Switches on a current layout and plan to give a couple of #6s a try on the next one.

#6 is the way to go if the space allows. I have changed out a few of my #5's for #6's for smoother and no derails (yes I said no derails) right out the box.

Welcome to the forum.
Jerry

[jbrock27]

I understand that Jerry.  Please see I wasn't giving recommendations on brand.  I was remarking on comments that I have seen in this post as well as other posts that include the use of Snap Switches and Bachmann EZ turnouts.  My point about the available space influencing the kinds of turnouts used, applies, as I can see you agree with.

[Jerrys HO]

I was remarking on comments that I have seen in this post as well as other posts that include the use of Snap Switches and Bachmann EZ turnouts.

I agree with you jb, just don't see anywhere in this post about snap switches or did I miss it?

Jerry

[Brooklynzoo]

Thanks to both of you guys for the info, as I understand both points of view, JERRY  you have already taught me something .... If I'm correct I will need crossovers on the sections of my track that have the straight away an turnouts on other sections if we can exchange emails that would be easier for me to send you photos of what I want to do an what I have done so far so how can I send you my email address without posting it on the board thanks again guys I'm loving the place already

[jbrock27]

My apologies for not being clear Jerry.
When I refer to a Snap Switch, I am referring to a non numbered turnout.  See my above description of a turnout that is meant to have the same radius as an 18R curve piece of track.  Since I don't know of any other name for non numbered turnouts, and these are equal to what Snap Switches are, I am calling them one and the same.  Kinda of like if A=B and B=C, then A and C must also be equal.
You would know better than I, but I believe there are Bachmann EZ track turnouts that are made that are also non numbered, that with the attachment curve will equal an 18R curve.  Correct?  This was what I was talking about, as opposed to having to use numbered turnouts.

[Jerrys HO]

jb
I was not trying to pick you as I usualy have fun doing as you do me, just trying to make sure you were not trying to persuade someone on another product when we are on the BACHMANN forum. Bachmann just calls them standard turnouts (18r).

Brook
No problem I will PM you with that info.

Jerry

[jbrock27]

Nope, no pickin going on here at all Jerry my friend.  I wasn't and never assumed you were either.   Contrary to what may have become popular belief, which may be reinforced by your comments unfortunately, that is not always my intention (to "pick" at someone).
I can understand, coming from O gauge, how "Snap Switch" may not readily be in your lexicon.
My purpose was to speak out against another "absolute" that I had seen in Doc's(Doneldon) post prior to mine and that was about the use of non numbered turnouts versus numbered ones.
I made no "product/manufacturer" recommendations in my posts, so I don't know how or where you would draw concern that I was, here on the Bachmann Forum.  That said, I don't view myself as a shill for strictly Bachmann products as I have stated before.  I guess some, perhaps yourself, based on your postings, have elected yourself to do so as well as to sort of appoint yourself as a "monitor".  That's your choice and this is America after all, not Russia.
Thank you for the reminder this is a Bachmann site, I thought I was lost for a second
I need to add, that as I give all of this further thought, I have to laugh at past references to "standard/snap switch/non numbered turnouts" as being "toy like" because I hardly ever see people make that reference to what Bachmann EZ track looks like, as to me, the plastic road bed, gray or black, looks very toy like, to me.  But again, this isn't Russia, as Larry the Cable guy would say.  People are free to make their choices, just as people are free to go where they want to learn of their choices.

[Jerrys HO]

Awe snap!
You wrote all that for me?
Hey just to let you know, once the EZ track is lightly ballasted, it doesn't look toy like anymore. The rails are the same as any other code 100 rail so I could never see where some say it is toy like. The only minor downfall is it definitely does not give you the flexibility of others.

Brook I got your email

Jerry

[Doneldon]

To clarify, and because I may have been the one who brewed this teapot tempest, I was explicitly NOT recommending any other manufacturers' turnouts or saying that non-numbered (e.g., snap switches) should never be used. I was merely pointing out that Bachmann's numbered turnouts seem to me to be built a little better than "regular switches," and that, functionally, they seem a little less likely to lead to ess-curve problems. It's not that regular switches don't work (i.e., switch the tracks back and forth) as well as numbered turnouts, they do. But I also think ess-curve situations are worse with the non-numbered items. And I appreciate the convenience of switches with 18" curved diverging tracks, especially in yard ladders. But I do have problems with their use on mainlines and branch lines.

                                                                                                      -- D

[jbrock27]

Yes I did Jerry.  I am glad you can appreciate the time I took to do that.  Of course, if not for some of the things you said, it could have been a lot shorter.
The reason you could never see where some say it is toy like, is because you are not looking in the right places or asking enough people.
But, hey some people like to get their news from FOX, some CNN-I believe in balanced reporting my friend.