Well, this is a discussion forum so maybe it's only me but I appreciate the exchange of ALL ideas as a part-and-parcel aspect of the hobby.
For example, I've always meant to look further into the use of audio amplifiers as a low-cost source of clean AC track power. The invention of the "triac" AC transformer controller and its chopped-ugly sinewave might have been the worst "invention" for our hobby! From the home-theater amplifiers available today, you get hundreds of Watts of clean variable sinusoidal 60 Hz track power at a fraction of what you pay for a typical chopped train transformer. It was this about lamp brightness in turnouts that led the Jtrains to brainstorm the idea!
So back to the matter at hand, I nevertheless think all-DC would be the way to go. For example, I'd look into a 50 cent FET (transistor) power switch that instantaneously turns on to boost voltage when >2 Amps (i.e., something more than the steady-state 1 Amp DC lamp-current is detected.
But if staying with AC power, I suppose if high power audio amp were available, it would have a volume-control potentiometer (variable resistor). A FET power switch would then command a higher "volume" by shorting some fraction of the potentiometer resistance when the solenoid coil current is detected. This would boost the volume (voltage) of the AC output.
