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Is there a glossary of terms or "sticky" posts anywhere?

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  • Member since
    December 2009
  • From: Havertown, PA (Suburban Philadelphia)
  • 16 posts
Is there a glossary of terms or "sticky" posts anywhere?
Posted by PhillyDuke on Tuesday, January 5, 2010 2:14 PM

Hi, all. Thanks again for the warm welcome over the weekend. I was wondering if there was a good "Glossary of Terms" online anywhere for O-Gauge railroading and it's major manufacturers (particularly Lionel), or some "sticky" posts anywhere in the forums here specifically directed at newbies. I'm trying to glean as much from these forums as possible without asking questions that have been asked 100's of times already, and though I know everyone pretty much said "ask away!", I'm a member of several other forums for my other hobbies (craft beer, cigars, photography, etc.) where the prevailing attitude seems to be "search is your friend," so I'd like to exhaust that route first.

That said, I'm not opposed to simply ask for answers, but since my questions are so many, I don't want to bombard the first page of this board with relatively trivial matters. General subjects I'm looking for are:

  • DC vs. AC power
  • Older transformers vs. newer "modular" ones
  • Conventional vs. Command Control
  • TMCC vs. Legacy
  • Rail Sounds vs. Train Sounds
  • Can all modern engines be upgraded?
  • Running multiple trains on the same layout

As I mentioned in my intro post, I'm starting off with some entry-level RTR sets, so I'm trying to make a plan for maximum enjoyment now with a relatively easy upgrade path (as in, I don't want to have to re-buy unnecessarily). Lionel's website has a glossary of railroading terms, but nothing that refers directly to their products. The whole power/transformer issue has me completely flummoxed, as do the different control systems. I'm sure these are basic questions for those of you who have been doing this for awhile, so any guidance you can provide towards some light reading would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

  • Member since
    July 2003
  • From: Wisconsin
  • 2,877 posts
Posted by Bob Keller on Tuesday, January 5, 2010 2:36 PM

 One of the articles on our Toy Train Basics section of the website covers some of the terms. Feel free to poke around the pull-down menus such as "Train Layouts," and "Collecting" above. We have a lot of information located in these areas. Hope this helps.

 

http://www.trains.com/ctt/default.aspx?c=ss&id=15

Bob Keller

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