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  • Ultimate Digital Train Set
  • From "Radio Control Hobbies"
    episode RCH-112
    advertisement

    Click here to view a larger image.

    Figure A

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    Figure B

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    Figure C

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    Figure D

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    Figure E

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    Figure F

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    According to Ray Russell president of Union, New Jersey's Model Railroad Club Inc., the building that houses the massive train set was designed specifically to house this train set. Construction on the set started in 1974.

    In this segment, Chris Chianelli visits the ultimate digital train set -- one of the largest HO-scale train layouts in the world (figure A).



    Ultimate Digital Train Set



    • This HO train set is digitally operated, and takes up about 2000 square feet. It incorporates nearly a half mile of HO track. It was built and is operated by the Model Railroad Club Inc., in Union, New Jersey -- a town that is given reference in one of the miniature buildings contained in the set (figure B).




    • Multiple locomotives operate simultaneously and in carefully orchestrated unison, and are controlled by DCC technology (figure C).




    • Painstaking detail work gives each vignette included in this elaborate set the kind of realism one might expect in a Norman Rockwell scene (figure D).




    • Classic and lifelike elements such as churches, cemeteries and even dilapidated buildings (figure E) provide the kind of unexpected details that make this set so strikingly real.




    • The digital system allows the set-up to operate up to 120 trains at one time.




    • The electronic and digital controls that allow this elaborate setup to operate are all concealed beneath the floor of the structure (figure F). The layout is actually raised above the building's floor, allowing stand-up access to the controls underneath.






    RESOURCES :
    The Large-Scale Model Railroading Handbook
    Model: 0801982294
    Author: Robert Schleicher:

    Scenery for Model Railroads, Miniatures and Dioramas
    Model: 0873417097
    Author: Robert Schleicher

    303 Tips for Detailing Model Railroad Scenery and Structures
    Model: 0890242437
    Author: Dave Frary

    To order this title from Amazon, click here.


    How to Build Realistic Model Railroad Scenery
    Model: 0890241244
    Author: Dave Frary

    Scenery for Your Model Railroad: From Backdrop to Tabletop
    Model: 0890243239
    Kalmbach Publishing Company

  • ALSO IN THIS EPISODE: