Beginner's Guide to Model Railroading

What Is a Stater Kit?

Starter kits are a great way to start your model railroading hobby. A typical starter kit includes a locomotive, some rolling stock (two or three freight or passenger cars), and an ample amount of straight and curved tracks for a small oval or figure-8 layout. A power pack (and associated wiring) is also included.

These are great train sets for starting your model railroading hobby. Eventually, you will have to add more tracks for building a larger railroad layout. The starter kit illustrated above includes two locomotives that can be individually controlled at the same time and at different speeds on the same tracks. These kinds of locomotives contain electronic units called Digital Command Control (DCC) decoders. Analog control systems (DC and AC) only allows one locomotive to be operated on the same tracks. Because digital decoders add to the price of a locomotive, DCC operated locomotives cost more than analog operated locomotives.

Continue with this Railroading Workshop by clicking on the link below:

What Is Analog Control?

Run Multiple Trains

You will learn more about DCC control in this workshop. Basically, would you like to run two or three trains on the same tracks with each train running independently of the others? You can by using a DCC operating system. You can run two trains while stopping the other or run a single train with the others on a side track, or run all three together and at different speeds. DCC operated trains are truly the model railroader's delight.