What does this cost?

Download some barking dog sounds, BIG barking dog sounds, and see how the kitties like that!  I'm not really advocating being cruel, just suggesting another way to let the kitties know that they aren't welcome on the railroad.

I used to record myself calling my dog and then turn it on, position myself to the other side of her and call her myself.  That poor little sweety.  She didn't know whether to s**t or go blind.  God bless her.  I had her for 17 years and putting her down was one of the most difficult things I ever had to do, so hard that I want a dog now but I'm afraid to get one.

          --D

...or send the thing back to the seller for a refund unless the doodie was sold as is.  BTW, "as is" seems to mean "broken and I can't or don't want to fix it but I don't really want to say that in my listing" on ebay.  At least that's been my experience.

          --D

A less massive tender would also help the appearance.

          --D

Jim is exactly correct but let me point out that EZCommand does allow for up to three other throttles and/or a separate DC throttle which will allow the number ten button on the command station/booster/throttle to function as a tenth DCC throttle and the DC pack itself as a DC throttle.  I believe the total number of possible DCC throttles is four though it is hard to imagine running so many throttles/trains on the EZCommand's meager 1+ amp output.

          --D

You can see by uncbob's overhead shot that it doesn't look terrible on 22" radius, except where the loco and tender almost touch, but 18" would be ridiculous to look at, if the loco would even make it around the curve.  It seems that you have made a good decision to put this purchase off, craig.

          --D

Absolutely.  The center off would function the same as a break before make switch.  There might even be an advantage to a center off switch because it would allow you to manually place and remove rolling stock without potential electrical shorts. 

pd- Thanks for this good suggestion.

          --D

Jonathon-

There are a couple of commercial wheel stops in the Walther's catalog.  I purchased some a while back but I don't recall the brand or price.  You can also free-lance something like a bumper from some timbers or a pile of dirt or stone.  These could be off of the end of your roundhose tracks, thus not limiting the space on those tracks.

1:1 railroads use wheel stops (and derailers) quite a bit, either at the ends of sidings or to keep cars from rolling out of one track onto another.  These are quite small and I think you could fashion something out of materials in your scrap box.  Almost anything which will work has a prototype someplace, you can be sure.  My only suggestion would be to make sure they all look the same.  Or I suppose they could all be different and you could post a small sign explaining that the railroad is testing various types of wheel stops.

          --D

There's no trouble doing this.

          --D

The advice to not mix DD and DCC is very good.  As pd says, you'll need a DPDT switch, but not just any DPDT.  You need one called a "break before make" switch.  That means there will be a brief moment as you change control systems during which you will be connected to neither system.  That will prevent an inadvertant cross connection during the switching process.

          --D

It's easy to cut a gap, as Jm says.  Alternately, you can use insulated rail joiners.  Sawing a gap is probably the easier choice.  I'm not sure why you want to isolate sidings unless you are going to store non-DCC locos there. 

I have three layouts, one real, one odd and one imaginary.

I built the real layout for my grandson.  It's just a 4x8 HO table with a very loose contemporary Wisconsin theme.  So loose, in fact, that it has a mountain with tunnels, some desert, two industrial districts, several passenger "stations," and a large second level city fashioned after the town near where he lives.  The idea is that he can just run trains on the double-track mains or learn about switching and real railroad operations.  His line is the Wisconsin Midland.  It runs wherever a train might go and uses both steam and diesel.  He has his own 60' stainless passenger train and his own lokies and rolling stock, as well as rolling stock from anywhere.  His class act is the Polar Express with a custom painted Berk and a four car train with a baggage/north pole mail car, two hot chocolate cars with music and an obs with just a single passenger.  The cars are all fully lighted and fit with interiors and riders.  The cars have glittery snow and icicles.  Yes, I got carried away but then this little fellow could flawlessly sing both Polar Express songs before he was three years old.

The second layout is a neglected 6x9 large scale layout in the basement.  I need to either finish it or sell it.  It's a quandary.

The last -- my -- layout exists solely in my head.  It will be real soon enough, however.  We are moving to a smaller home in a year or two and I'll have a dedicated train room.  I have an old E-type Jag which I will have to sell and I'll use the money to pay for a custom layout finished to the point of readiness for scenery.  My as yet unnamed railroad will be a connection between the ATSF on a lower level and the DRGW on an upper level, set in August, 1939.  There will be no helix; my railroad will be the connecting link winding around the walls.  It will also have staging which will serve as an interchange with the UP in Cheyenne WY.  The whole thing will obviously have a southwestern theme.  I have tons of structures, locos and rolling stock which constitutes my current model railroading.  I am thinking pretty seriously about joining an HO club, too.

So there you have it, the real and the overheated mind.

    --D

Astro-
The May (I think) Model Railroader has a plan for a wye with a folding leg so it is out of the way unless you are running trains.
     --D

I needed all sorts of special pieces for the layout I built for my grandson and I just rolled my own.  I didn't even bother to cut out middles and glue the ends together; I just cut a piece to the size I needed and soldered the rails, using the glue which holds the EZ track sections to the roadbed hold the ballast together.  This included cutting ends off of turnouts.  It was all very easy and it works just fine.

     --D

Woody-

Thanks for the nostalgia trip.  I enjoyed reading it.

I have a background similar to yours.  My brother and I started with Lionel "O" and then shifted to HO in 1959.  We had Athearn Hi-F drive stock (I still have an RDC) and lots of Athearn and other inexpensive kit cars.  Later, I got into building Ambroid, Silver Streak and others.  Like you, my first loco was a steamer, a MDC Pacific.  Now the rolling stock is mostly r-t-r and even the kits have evolved into "express" kits.  So sad.  But I still find the occasional Ambroid, Silver Streak or Walthers wooden kit on ebay so I'm not wasting all of my life.

Thanks again for your post.

     --D