bigredtrk wrote:building a layout using tortoise sw machines.like best advise hooking them up .either with or w/o stationary decoders.
I personally don't like DCC controlled turnouts, makes running the layout that much more like controlling a video game or DVD than a railroad. Our club just converted from having motoroized turnouts to manual throw.
Unless you intend to eventually have computer control on your layout,I don't see any advantage in powering the turnouts through your handheld throttle (DCC) but that's me.I like to follow my trains so flipping a switch here and there along the layout side does the job very nicely.On the other hand,having to remember an individual adress for each turnout and worse yet,having to dial them in a hurry to correct a wrongly thrown turnout before the loco derails makes digital control of TO's a waste of efforts and money.
DCC is the top for controlling the trains but absolutely not for turnouts,but then,like I said before...that's me.
Jacktal wrote: Unless you intend to eventually have computer control on your layout,I don't see any advantage in powering the turnouts through your handheld throttle (DCC) but that's me.I like to follow my trains so flipping a switch here and there along the layout side does the job very nicely.On the other hand,having to remember an individual adress for each turnout and worse yet,having to dial them in a hurry to correct a wrongly thrown turnout before the loco derails makes digital control of TO's a waste of efforts and money.DCC is the top for controlling the trains but absolutely not for turnouts,but then,like I said before...that's me.
I gota agree with that. I used NCE switch-its as i could hook up for DCC control and have momentary push -to -make buttons on a local pannel. Now i NEVER use the throttle to change a switch. Its a dam sight easier just to hit a button!
I agree with the previous posts, but you might also want to investigate some of the add-ons made for Tortoises, among other things Tortoise, at http://tonystrains.com/technews/tortoise/index.htm
While they're not cheap, you can make all sorts of things happen, including automatically throwing a switch if a train approaches from the "wrong" direction. I don't use them, but you might find them appealing.