RickO posted:Who's layout is that? I would think that much metal in a layout would potentially wreak hovoc wth a TMCC/Legacy signal.
Based purely on the science, as I don't have any hands on experience with a metal framed layout, there is no reason it should be a problem. As long as the metal frame is connected to earth ground. The benchwork would provide an amazing 'ground plane' for the TMCC signal. The other half of the signal is received directly through the locomotive's wheels from the track, and does not care what material the framing is made of. The one issue is that it would be essential to make sure no track screws reach down into the metal, as this would directly short out the TMCC signal. For a very large layout there may be some signal strength issues, but these issues seem to occur with wood framing anyway.
In effect with a metal benchwork, the benchwork is your antenna so you should have a much stronger signal than with wood. Many folks with traditional wood bench work add metal to it for this purpose. I've seen a number of times where a layer of chicken wire is used between the benchwork and top layer.
JGL
