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"The first transition era - wood to steel!"
QUOTE: Uh! I'll skip the black smoke if you don't mind - my basement is murky enough.
Chip
Building the Rock Ridge Railroad with the slowest construction crew west of the Pecos.
QUOTE: Originally posted by rripperger ....in the next generation of models? I ask this question because our discussion in the "prices" thread made me think for a moment on how far the "state of the art" had advanced since my parents gave me my first HO scale set in 1976. I would never have imagined onboard sound in BLI quality, or television camera transmission from a model engine cab. So what sort of features can we only imagine, but would love to have? Here are some of my pet crazy ideas (note to any potential manufacturers who are reading this: I SURRENDER ALL COPYRIGHT ON THESE IDEAS.......SO KNOCK YOURSELVES OUT) - Realistic black smoke, and steam emitted from some obvious places: cylinders on starting, boiler blowdown, safety valves, and whistles - Realistic braking action, perhaps controlled by locomotives (independent brake) and cabooses (train brake, for realistic slack action) - perhaps with a brakestand that would allow you to make realistic application decisions (you may laugh at this, but there was an MR article on how to do it in the 1960s) - Out-of-the-box DCC helper control for steam locomotives (no programming required) - More realistic DC and DCC locomotive control: if we can already get momentum control and braking on a DCC throttle, then why not a slight "rollback" on a grade as the throttle is opened? - A ready-for-programming computer interlocking interface system, that could plug in existing signals and switch machines - A CTC machine similar to the above, that allowed you to plug components into an existing control board - changeable marker and classification lights (my PSC 4-8-0 has classification lamps, but they're always green: so I can run it only scheduled trains, and only if there's a subsequent section!)
QUOTE: Originally posted by Bikerdad IronRooster, Why would you want a remote controller keyed to a single locomotive? Aside from the obvious drawback (what if you're at a club run and you have the same loco as somebody else?), there's the old "horde of remotes" problem, which is why manufacturers of consumer electronics have come up with learning remotes and universal remotes. 2 way communication between the locos and the control. "network" connections between passenger car sets that allow a single decoder to control the lighting for the entire set.
QUOTE: Originally posted by SpaceMouse Independent, automated car uncoupling.