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Lars, Gregg did a fantastic job of answering your questions in as few words as possible. I would like to contribute the following: ACC is glue as Gregg said, but there are AC power systems. I think Marklin runs on AC power but I know it is not compatible with regular American stuff. Lionel runs on AC power as well and is three rail. It is a shame, but all other HO scale stuff I can think of is compatible, you just have to select a coupler you want to use and everything else will be fine. (BTW, I model in HO scale so I will be a bit biased) As for N vs HO scale: You make it sound like space is not a problem. In my opinion, if you have the space then go with HO because of price, availability and opportunity to appreciate well detailed models. If you consider yourself to be tight on space, or you love a 100 car unit train winding its way through the countryside, then I would recommend you consider N scale. As for other 'High Tech' stuff, you should put a trackside signal system and on-board sound on your list of things to look into later on. As for DCC, if you want to operate two or more trains independently (at the same time) then you have two alternatives (excluding a functioning catenary system) DCC or two-rail wiring. With DCC, the wiring is a piece of cake because you just hook up the track power, but you will probably have to fool around with the DCC receivers and stuff until you are comfortable (It may not be as hard as I perceive it though). The other method, two rail wiring, requires that you insulate sections of track (usually from six to twelve feet long sections) from one another and provide power feeder wires to each section. Then a switch at a control panel will connect each section of track to a specific power supply. One train operator can then connect a few sections of the layout to his power pack and run his train independently from the remainder of the layout. A more complete discussion of two-rail wiring should be taken up as a separate discussion (thread) if you are interested. I hope this helps. Good Luck. - Ed
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