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Beginner looking for advice
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<P>This is just opinion mick. You have asked some loaded questions but your layout sounds similar to mine. In six months these are the decisions I made to answer your questions:</P> <OL> <LI>For DCC, it's not so much the track BUT rather the turnouts (switches) that you must consider for easy wiring to DCC.</LI> <LI>All easy tracks (snap track) are not equal. In fact, I, like you, was going to use Atlas or Peco code 83 with cork roadbed. After checking out the track in person and much soul searching, I settled on Kato Unitrack for a number of reasons. First, the roadbed looks realistic and tha rail is code 83 - while unitrack is more expensive than flextrack, my calculations concluded that after buying cork and the time to install it, the Kato track is actually a deal. Secondly, the switch motors for Kato turnouts are all well concealed inside the switch itself. Kato #6 switches can be chnaged from "power routing" to "non-power routing" with just 2 jumper switches. I will still ballast and weather my track and I'll bet most would be hard pressed to tell it is "easy track" as you put it.</LI> <LI>All DCC systems are supposed to be compatible by NMRA standards. That said, I decided on the Digitrax Zephyr system which comes self contained as booster, throttle, and power supply and is readily expandable with all Digitrax products.</LI> <LI>Again, this is just one person's opinion, but I hate cork. I worked extensively with it on my first layout 15 years ago and hated it. This time I am using foam and I LOVE it. You can pile up the foam and carve your landscape right out of it with a steak knife. If you use a 2" foambed, you can carve roads right under your rails.</LI></OL> <P>Here are a couple of pics of my layout under construction. This will give you an idea of the mthods I chose:</P> <P>[img]http://mysite.verizon.net/surfstud31/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/track_lay1.jpg[/img]</P> <P>[img]http://mysite.verizon.net/surfstud31/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/track_lay2.jpg[/img]</P> <P>You will get alot of advice here and it will all be good. In the end, you will have to decide for yourself and go with it. The important thing to remember is to have fun!</P> <P> </P>
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