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Other than all the benefits of DCC over DC mentioned by everyone thus far, what is tipping me 'off the fence' into DCC is my wife who said that " being able to operate a locomotive (as opposed to controlling a layout throwing toggles, not being able to operate helpers realistically or switching yards, etc.,) would get her involved in 'working on the railroad' with me and not just a spectator when I dragged her down to the basement to watch the trains go around. . .I've been away from the hobby for approx 10 yrs and have been without a layout for much longer than that. Now I understand just how Rip Van Winkle felt when he woke up from his 20 yr nap. Boy has the hobby evolved! I am in the planning stages now (already started framing RR room in basement) for a 24 X 32 point to point , single track main bridge route w/ a branch line and quarries as online industry set in the late '40s. I plan on having at least one hidden staging yard and two interchanges. I don't care at this point about sound, although that is more a matter of finances. Probably only 2 or 3 trains will be operated at same time, though helpers and double heading will be common practice. Hopefully DCC will follow the trends of most consumer electronics in that as capability increases, prices decrease. It's good that there seems to be a fairly well defined industry standard supported by the NMRA. I for one do not need or want a super sophisticated DCC system and am hoping that in a year or so when I'm at the stage where I'll be able to run some trains, there will be some basic, but capable systems that meet my needs, or even some low mileage pre-owned systems available for sale (or barter, since I have a woodworking business and make hardwood display cases, model railroad benchwork and just about anything else out of wood - sorry about the 'shameless' plug). Any recommendations on a particular system that would meet my needs, as well as a decent book that "de-mistifies" DCC for non-techies types, would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance.
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