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My wife thinks that model railroading is better for me than betting on the ponies, or chasing fast women, two of my other hobbies. You've just got to get her to have a little perspective, that's all.

Any NMRA compliant decoder, basically all the major manufacturers - Lenz, Digitrax, TCS, MRC, Atlas (Lenz), Roco, & NCE, will work. I think there are some limits to the Prodigy's use of the sound functions on Soundtraxx decoders, but the other functions should work. That's the good thing about...

The Zephyr uses universal consisting. The locomotives retain their previously assigned addresses. The "top" locomotive address becomes the consist address. Here's how I do flipping back and forth between locos with a knob throttle. Set Loco 1, then dial in Loco 2. Set Loco 2's speed and...

Atlas plan 19 is a great starting point. I built my East Denver Belt by modifying plan 19. No wye and no switchback for me. I also widened it to twenty-four inches.

Beautiful work Jon!

I have a Spectrum 2-8-0. I rarely pull more than 12 cars and a caboose with it, but it seems to handle that just fine. It goes through my Atlas switches without much hesitation. That's impressive for a loco without dual flywheels. I have not had a chance to run it on a layout with Peco switches...

The intersection and grade crossing are poorly designed. Any traffic engineer can tell you that. There is apparently no coordination between the traffic lights and the crossing gates. However, if this is a set up, and it probably is, all that they proved is the trucker was negligent. One, she...

The MRC Prodigy Advance is built for MRC by Lenz. As such it should perform very well. The throttle is very nice looking and the manual seems to indicate a great deal of thought has gone into making it easy to operate. The throttle looks like a winner. There are power issues that I think have...

The Bachmann EZ-command is considerably cheaper than the Zephyr. I've seen EZ-commands for about $90 or so. It's a very basic system, but it's made by Lenz so everything but the controller is useable when you upgrade. For what you are thinking, a command station and three cabs, the Digitrax...

Digitrax is a favorite of the hobby stores because of their business model. Digitrax has so far refused to upgrade any set. This sends DCC buyers back to the store to buy a new set when new features are rolled out. Lenz (which builds the Prodigy Advance, Bachmann EZ-Command and Atlas Commander...

The Atlas UPC will probably work.

Name of the city or region and "belt". Such as East Denver Belt or Indiana Harbor Belt. (Both actual railroads.) HTH Alan

Your RIP track doesn't really have enough space for repair crews to get to the damaged equiprment. There's no space to unload any cargo other than an end ramp. For a more realistic depiction, I'd cut one track completely, and extend the other with at least a short loading dock. Is that a...

If your DCC budget is in the $150-$200 range, the Zephyr is your best choice. I like the way the UT-4 looks. I haven't seen one for real yet. The UT-1 worked well though. I really disliked the DT400R. Too many key stokes for an engineer's throttle, too much cost, it sucked batteries like an...

The DT400 and especially the DT400R are over priced and over qualified for an engineer's throttle. The Zephyr has all the dispatcher's throttle commands that you'll need. And, it won't be eating batteries or nearly as subject to abuse that the DT. On a smallish layout, I'd go with a Zephyr to...

KADEE makes and under the track uncoupler. It is their product number 308. Walthers number is 380-308.

If you've installed a non-sound decoder you'll have no problem with the MRC decoder. If this is your first install, it is a very easy decoder to work with. The speaker comes wired to the decoder so that's two fewer connections to worry about. It goes in like a non-sound decoder. You must find a...

Good price. Easy to install. They come with a speaker. Sound is generic, diesel or steam. But, they sound good enough. Functions are limited.

Bachmann's EZcommand is built by Lenz. So it's no surprise that any problems get worked out quickly. Personally, I like the Lenz Set 100. But, I prefer the LH90 for operating a locomotive. The LH100 is really the dispatcher's throttle. The Atlas Commander, also built by Lenz, is an...

Got to love those Rio Grande locos! Nice looking layout too.