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Greetings! As you can tell, I looking to return to this hobby after a 16 year hiatus. I put trains on the back burner because I moved from AZ to FL and I found a new and more interesting hobby: girls (I was 12 when I stopped). Soo, obviously the latter is still more interesting but I still want to return to the hobby. Of course, like everyone, I have a "dream layout" that has been occupying my thoughts of late. Like most folks I suppose my dream is probably on the far side of realistic in terms of finding a large enough room/basement: Growing up in AZ I loved when my grandparents made their annual cross country track in their motor home to stay in flagstaff for a couple of weeks. My dad and grandfather used to take me to see the trains all the time. I remember we'd have to wait usually around an hour to see one. You can imagine my shock when I had the opportiunity visit AZ again (in almost 10 years) and when I visited Flagstaff, there was literally a train every 10-15 minutes NON-STOP!! This rekindled my interest and when I made the cross-counrty drive to Ohio to start my training for my new job (from Vegas) I purposely went through Flagstaff to head east, I'm glad I did. So cutting to the chase I want to model ATSF's Seligman sub. during the twilight of Santa Fe's years (mid 90s). So my questions are: 1.) where can I obtain track plans and or industries of this subdivision (contemporary wouldn't be a probelm since it didn't appear to change much in the last 15+years) 2.)where can I obtain traffic information (train types, schedules etc.) and if possible the road units assigned to this division (if they were actually permanently assigned, I plead ignorance here) I have been reading MR and some other publications to get a feel of the hobby as it is now. My desire is to stick w/ HO, but I've been eyeing N as well. My goal would be to run as near to prototypical trains as possible (me and everyone else) but I realise this is much easier said than done. A big problem that I see is that most of the traffic through the Seligman is double stack and pig trains, typically 75 or so loads. In HO, this train alone would be over 75 feet long. There are ways to compromise, 40 or 50 cars would still have that realistic look and take a while to cross. What kind of practical considerations on top of NMRA's recommendations are there? I'm guessing that for HO, I'd need a minimum of 40 feet of length for the layout to allow for any room for the train to "stretch out" and not return to the same point right away. Another alternative is N scale. The detail is much better than before, but I have to admit I've been swooned by adding nice features such as sound decoding, is that possible in N scale? I see that there is more motive power/rolling stock than when I left but how about scenery products? Finally, about DCC. I have a fairly basic understanding about DCC and I am truly intrigued about the possibilities. One question that I haven't seen an answer to: Do any DCC systems have a computer interface that allows either the computer or maybe the DCC itself track the location of the decoder equipped loco/car? I'm curious about this as I'm wondering if its possible to use DCC to tricking grade crossings, signals etc. Thanks for any answers. I should say that I'm not going to jump right in and start building a large layout, I simply don't have the skills. I plan on joining a local club (I did this when I was in it the first time, the HO layout in Scottsdale's McCormick Ranch RR Park) and study/plan and possibly collect for the layout as I learn new skills. Of course, I will be buying my new house with this hobby in mind! Regards, BDFischer
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