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I think there is some confusion here about the two modes supported by the Aristocraft / Crest Electronics systems. In one system (I think the original system but I'm not sure), there is a largish receiver for each block; in the other system (I think introduced fairly recently), there is a small receiver inside each locomotive. Although I see why some would think that the former system (receiver for each block) is "the worst of both worlds", in fact this does have a couple of advantages. (1) It allows folks with traditionally block-wired DC systems to obtain some of the advantages of DCC without re-wiring their layouts. (2) There is a clear trade-off: how many blocks do you have, versus how many locomotives? For example, my previous layout (dismantled for a house move; now planning the new one) had two large dogbones connected by a shared terminal / staging yard at one end, and a small terminal and reversing track between them in the middle. I chose to operate the whole system treating each dogbone as a single block. The terminals had multipe blocks but only one train was active in each one at a time. I used an "analog" Crest system very effectively, because I cycled my (ridiculously large) collection of locomotives through the layout in sets (i.e. this week we are doing mainline N&W steam, next week N&W branchline, etc.) and thus had the advantages of wireless control without the cost and hassle of installing a decoder or receiver in every engine. If you have a large number of blocks the system quickly becomes costly and cumbersome, especially because of the potential power consumption. On the other hand, personally, I'd be wary of using the Crest "DCC" system because you are talking about a large investment of time and money for a system that has qeustionable commercial staying power.
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