He’s right!
To TAMR’s Peter Maurath,
Your article on teen railfans was just the article I had been waiting for. I am 14 and have loved trains most of my life. Despite hardships from peers at school and the inability to talk about my hobby with most of my friends, I firmly believe trains are the greatest machines ever built by man and that model railroading is truly the World’s Greatest Hobby. What is “three yellow engines” to most teens is a trio of Union Pacific SD40-2s to me. I live in Simi Valley, California through which part of the UP Coast Line runs, and I get a nice variety of trains including Pacific Surfliners, Coast Starlights, Metrolink commuter trains, and UP freights. I also have 15 and 12 year-old friends who live in the San Bernardino area and are just as much railfans as I am. How’s that for proving you wrong!
Your teen railfan and proud of it,
Jonathan Schoen
Simi Valley, CA
Thank you for your letter, and for taking this stand. You and your friends are an example to millions of youth across the country. I know what it’s like being a teen railfan, and I give you three a lot of credit for sticking with this hobby. It can be difficult when you’ve got few people to talk to and most look at you as some sort of nut in a striped hat (big fashion mistake my freshman year, but that’s another story). Despite that, you end up the better person by not going with the flow. You enjoy model railroading because you want to do it, not because it’s “popular,” and you don’t care what anybody says. It’s a lesson in life few people ever learn: ignoring peer pressure and being independent. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but thank you for proving me (and I’ll bet many of my readers) wrong. By the way, have you or your friends ever thought of joining the TAMR? We offer a monthly newsletter, yearly conventions (teens, trains, and pizza), and friendships that can last a lifetime. We can even put you in touch with other teen railfans like yourself. From one [former] teen railfan to another, stay strong! — Peter
I have been reading all the correspondence about the UP royalty “problem” and I say, don’t worry. It will all end up on a dead-end siding somewhere and nobody will be paying anything. How come? I understand the need to protect copyright, but UP doesn’t realize how long the model railroad industry has been producing product(s) without paying royalties. I’ll bet Union Pacific probably thought they could lay down the law and big bucks would pour in. Ha! They’ll be lucky if they collect a couple hundred bucks a year.
That tiny amount of money will come from what few manufacturers that are willing to cooperate. Does anyone really know how many manufacturers are out there producing UP product? For some big bucks myself (ten thousand bucks oughta do it), I’d be willing to sell my list of manufacturers to UP, but I’m the only one who will make any money on the deal. I’ll also be selling tickets to the circus that will ensue.
How many manufacturers are going to tell UP how much they gross (or do in UP sales) in a year? No self-respecting, full-time model railroad manufacturer would ever part with that information. Many of the part-time manufacturers are only producing product to “help their fellow model railroaders” and are not into that nasty business “profit-thing.” Others don’t care, some don’t know, and even more would rather submit to terrorist torture then admit how much money they “made” last year.
If UP could, by some miracle identify everyone that produced a UP product, how are they going to get them to pay? Go to all the shows and flea markets? I can sure see that — a squad of three-piece suited lawyers armed with M-69X2 rocket-propelled court injunctions and the Mark 1, Mod 29 cease-and-desist flares waiting to get into a GATS show on a Saturday morning. Then watch ‘em descend on the first guy (or person, I’m sorry) they can find selling UP products. Multiply that by the number of shows in any given weekend times number of lawyers (at a reasonable $150 per hour) required per show, etc. Even if they disguised themselves as normal model railroaders (wooden steam whistle, engineer cap with UP logo), how long do you think it would take for the “word” to get around the show floor they were there? “Ain’t nobody here selling UP junk, buddy.”
I guess the people at UP that are doing this don’t want to admit they are in over their heads. They are afraid of losing “face” when they should be worried about another part of their anatomy. So, they will continue to spend a couple mil a year to collect a couple hundred bucks a year. In the process, they will antagonize a whole industry and hobby. Makes sense to me.
Sincerely,
Frank A. Pearsall
Underground Railway Press
P.S. I don’t sell anything UP. I even went through all my old magazines and cut out UP ads/articles and burned them.
To “Larger View’s” John Sipple:
I agree with all you say about timing trains, except the part about your reflexes. Ignore them as they are probably very constant. About 25 years ago we did a experiment on timing with stopwatches. Everybody’s reflexes are different, but we all got the same time. This was on some servos for aircraft autopilots. I agree with the short distance and going fast; this requires you to be on drugs that are illegal....
I enjoy the loco tests, and it’s about time somebody pulled the lid off. We need to know the specs, not that it looks pretty and runs good.
Bob Burton
via the internet
Several engineers and coaches have told me the same thing. If your sample distance is at least 10 seconds long and your accuracy is within a tenth of a second, then you should be within 1%. So long as people like you enjoy our tests, we’ll keep running them. — John
To “Thinking of DCC’s” John Sipple:
Bravo. I want to congratulate you for your courage and forthrightness in allowing the DCC commentary by Joe Hoffman in the September 2003 issue. It was written responsibly and factually. It provided me, and perhaps others, with information that otherwise seems only shared in whispers at model railroad club meetings. We need more frank, dispassionate, discussions of the factual pros and cons to help improve the already fine products and services offered to us in the hobby. Such discussions will help avoid customer disappointments and product or service loss of credibility. Keep up the good work.
Frank Tepedino
San Diego, CA
To “Thinking of DCC’s” John Sipple:
In the July issue of MRN, there is a statement by Alan Houtz, to which I must take exception. Mr. Houtz states that in order to get ultra low speed operation, you need DCC. In my opinion, that is untrue.
I have a DC HO layout, and for control, I use two handmade walk around throttles. I built them based on an article in Model Railroader magazine called “The Simplest Transistor Throttle” by Peter J. Thorne. I’ve used these throttles for more than 20 years. For ultra slow speed running, I’ll put them against any DCC system on the market. These throttles cost me about $15 to build. I’ve never had the need to do so, but I could repair them myself.
Sincerely,
Ed O’Connell
Eureka, CA
To “Thinking of DCC’s” John Sipple:
As Popeye would say, “I can't stands it no more!” Being a model railroader for 40 years and having a model railroad business (kit and layout building) for over 10 years, I feel that the opposing view of DCC needs to be expressed. I say, “Keep things as simple as possible!” As an example, take our HO layout, the Cadillac & West Michigan Model Railroad. It is 20 x 26 feet, roughly in the shape of the letter Q elongated, with two separate staying yards in another room. The double mains are approximately 90 feet long each and we have a separate yard for the car ferry. Also, there is a branch line with a small yard.
The layout has an industrial capacity of 80 cars and we regularly run 20-25 car trains. The whole layout consists of only 5 electrical blocks. We can feature continuous running or operation. Five trains can be run at the same time and interchange of cars is routine.
All of this action is controlled by wireless handheld radio control by Aristo-Craft. These units are inexpensive and easy to use. No need for DCC chips or programing of DCC units. The operator can follow his train, do switching or interchange cars. Any club member can bring his locomotives to an operating session (we insist on quality runners) and run them immediately. We can locate any short in a matter of minutes because the wiring is as basic as possible.
As an aside, a major model railroad magazine recently featured an article on wiring a 4x5 layout for DCC. Brother! The layout had a very simple track plan. I see no need for DCC in this case!
Well, that’s enough of my ranting and raving. I have read your magazine for years and think it is a very good publication. I even read the articles on DCC and don’t wish to denigrate those who use it if they feel the need. But, I also see where the wireless handheld controls work very well.
Thanks,
Elvin Howland
Manton, MI
To “Thinking of DCC’s” John Sipple:
I agree with your thoughts on selecting DCC and wish I had seen them a few weeks ago. I conducted a DCC clinic at the National Association of S Gaugers Convention and tried to pass on the same wisdom. Your analogy was great, and I will look forward to seeing you at Camp!
Ken Zieska
Plymouth, MN
To “Thinking of DCC’s” John Sipple:
I read your latest column on DCC and thought I would offer some thoughts from a beginner. I too am using the Zephyr system and I really like it. I have known for a long time that I would get involved with DCC, knowing too that it would happen when the time was right. For our February meeting of Division 10 here in Flint Michigan, North Central Region, National Model Railroad Association, I invited Don Mustunis to come up here from the Detroit area and do a clinic on DCC. Don is an authorized dealer in Digitrax, NCE, and Soundtrax. Before Don left that night I purchased his last and only set that he had brought along! His clinic hooked me on DCC!
I chose Digitrax for a number of reasons, primarily for the fact that everyone I know here in this area uses Digitrax. Don has been here to Division 10 before, as well as to the Lapeer Club and the Durand Union Station Model Railroad Engineers. The club layouts are a good place to get the feel for DCC without an investment. I had run DCC on some home layouts as well, so it was obvious to me that DCC would be the way to run my trains. Since I am laying track, now it seemed appropriate to invest in a system.
Having friends using the same system is the best way for a novice to get involved. Any questions that arise can be swiftly answered and folks are always willing to show by example. One fellow I know invested in the Chieftain since his layout was quite large, and he seemed very happy running trains with it. My layout is mainly around the wall in a 12 by 24 foot basement room, not large, but not too small. I felt that the Zephyr system was adequate for my needs and since playing around with it, I still feel the same after six months. It is expandable should the need arise, but I’ll deal with that when the time comes. And I can use my MRC TECH II 2500 power pack on one of the jump ports that you mention in your article. I have several more MRC units that won’t go to waste either. I’m sure that MRC makes a great DCC system, but with everyone I know using Digitrax, it would be foolish to change canoes in midstream. I like the guys from Cabin D.
I just finished installing a Soundtrax decoder in an Athearn Genesis Mikado, and when I pushed the button and the loco sat there chuffing on the tracks, I yelled out loud, “OH YEAH!” That was indeed a thrill. I will use more sound as time goes by. Right now my main focus is laying track and I can say it is a lot simpler to do with DCC. As a kid I watched my dad build a large layout with conventional means, (1950s technology) so I know what it takes to make ‘em run.
One of the clubs I belong to has a three track sectional layout, and within the last year, one track has been converted to run Digitrax. I’ll have to buy or borrow a throttle to run my trains with DCC since the Zephyr unit won’t work as an independent throttle, but that is not really a problem. I plan to get another throttle eventually anyway.
I picked up a copy of the Digitrax Big Book of DCC and read it cover to cover. Now I find myself avidly reading all the columns I can on DCC. It makes model railroading a whole lot more fun! Guaranteed! So let me state again for your readers: choose a system that your friends are using. If you need help paddling the canoe, you won’t have to look far to find someone. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. And if you’ve got a question about Digitrax, maybe I can help.
Don Harbin
Flint, MI
e-mail us at: letters
or send us a letter to:
LETTERS c/o Model Railroad News
P.O. Box 1080 • Merlin, OR 97532-1080
Fax: 541-955-0346