Majord732, unfortunately, I have no experience with the NCE PowerCAB system.

Majord732, you may not need to purchase a booster, you may just need to install a 1K-ohm resistor across the rails on the programming track. My Digitrax system had the same issue with recognizing some, not all, Bachmann decoders. Digitrax support told me that they frequently encounter this problem and that the solution is to install a 1K-ohm resistor (I used a 1/2 watt) across the rails on a discrete programming track. They emphasized the need for a completely separate track. Being a little skeptical, I tried it and it worked like a charm. They also said to remove the resistor for other makes of decoders as it could cause unpredictable results. What I did was to take a short alligator clip test cord, cut it in half and solder each half to the resistor, one at each end. This way, when I need to program a Bachmann engine, I just clip the resistor to the rails at one end of the programming track and then remove it when I'm done. Hope this helps.

Saw UP 4014 as it rolled up to the Rochelle Railroad Park this morning. It was an amazing sight. Unfortunately, I had to watch in on Trains cam as I am about 900 miles away. Still, very enjoyable. 

Exactly, Mark. As a seasoned citizen, I originally modeled in N scale. However, over the years, I found that from swimming in water or even just showering, my arms shrank to the point that my eyes could no longer enjoy the fine details of Bachmann N products. Hence, On30! Thanks again, Bachmann.

Bob, you're welcome. If you have any additional questions, please feel free to ask.

Bob, I had the very layout that you're thinking of building. Although mine was not built on a hollow-core door, it was 31 inches deep and 108 inches long. I ran 12.5 inch curves on the outer and 11.25 inch curves on the inner track. I had roughly 3 inches of space along the front of the layout and approximately 1.75 inches of space along the rear of the layout. One thing to keep in mind, and it almost bit me when I was constructing the layout, is that the curve radius is measured to the centerline of the track piece, meaning that a good .5 inch of roadbed is projecting beyond the centerline on both the front and rear of the layout. Anyway, I've now switched to On30 because my arms shrunk to the point my eyes could no longer appreciate the fine detail in Bachmann N scale but, surprisingly, I was able to use the same layout structure with just a little modification. The mod involved adding about 2 inches in depth and that was it. BTW, the N scale layout's been gone at least 4 or 5 years so all of the measurements are from memory and may vary a little. One final suggestion, and this is what I did, is to buy a couple of packages of both 12.5 and 11.25 inch radius track and set up the curves on a card table (the one we have is about 40"x 40"). This will give you a much better idea of how to go about laying out the track. I know it was a big help to me. Hope this helps.

John, instead of a 900+ mile trip, I believe I will thank them right here in the Forum.

THANK YOU, BACHMANN!

Hi Linda! Welcome to the forum. If you get a chance, dig up some of the past On30 Annuals (which year(s) escapes me at the moment) and you will find some excellent articles by Lee.One of my favorites is one describing on how to create an alternate universe for a layout - it really helped me with mine. I think you will find them very interesting.

Lee, it looks great! Let's go for another ten years.
Fred

Lee, your layout ranks among my top favorite layouts, right along-side with David Popp's Olympia, Dave Meek's Thunder Mesa and Garry Beatty's Puerto Borracho. I always enjoy seeing pictures of your layout and it continues to inspire me even after 10 years. Looking forward to seeing more articles.

Theo, a lot of times I use the 1:50 figures available on Amazon and Ebay. I have tried the 1:43 figures but in most cases they are too large for my needs. Since On30 is a "diminutive" O-scale, the 1:50 figures seem to fit in better than the 1:43 versions. Hope this helps.

John, I have the same trolley set with the car barn. Yes, there is a special end-track as you surmised. The trolley will run just fine on regular track using DC power but if you want to use the auto-reverse feature, you will need the special track that's normally part of the set. The special track is marked on the bottom with A and B ends and they have to be matched up, otherwise the trolley won't run. Bachmann used to sell an extension track set for the auto-reverse feature but I have no idea whether or not it contains the special end-track that triggers the auto-reverse. Hope this helps.

Sorry to hear about Al Judy, Terry. I have seen some of Al's work and it was impressive. He will be missed.

BIG Four, DCC in itself is not proprietary. It was actually created as a standard by the NMRA (National Model Railroad Association) and is on their website in all its gory details. That being said, the implementation of DCC by the various manufacturers is proprietary. I did not have a train layout for about 30 years (no room), so when I finally had a little space for my hobbies, I decided to go with an N-scale layout about 15 years ago. I had been keeping up with the hobby by reading Model Railroader and N-Scale magazines so I was aware of the possibilities DCC had to offer. I decided to take the plunge and purchased a Digitrax Zephyr starter system (I think it is model DCS 51). Now, I worked as a computer engineer for most of my life but getting into DCC was like starting all over. It took probably about 3-4 months of trial and error to become comfortable with it. When I say trial and error, I mean mainly in programming my locomotives to do what I wanted. However, after that learning curve, I really began to enjoy using DCC and would not go back to DC.

As an aside, I have since switched scales and now model in On30 because my arms became too short and I had trouble seeing the N-scale details (I'm the same age as you). Also, I like On30 because I like to work with my hands and the 1/48 scale lends itself well to building all kinds of models, which I really enjoy. However, I still use the same DCC system I originally purchased and it works just fine.

Anyway, start with DC but don't give up on DCC.

Hope this helps.

 

BIG Four, what jward means is that, since you need a DCC system capable of programming CVs (Configuration Variables) to turn the "Run on DC" feature off or on, if you purchased a used locomotive in which this feature was turned off by the previous owner, you would not be able to turn this feature on without having a DCC system available, at least one time, in order to re-program the engine. Hope this helps.