Hah, enjoy the commentary about son-in-laws. I have one joining the family as our 26 y/o teacher is getting married next June (if Covid cooperates). He was over yesterday and showed some interest in Basement Layout 2.0, so I have hope that I'll have some heirs to keep the hobby going. I have my grandfather's old postwar sets, accessories, and gear. Some of the classics like the UP 2033 FAs , Seaboard 5250 NW-2, 4-4-0 General, 2046 4-6-4, 1656 0-4-0, and 1666 2-6-2-. Good amount of rolling stock. Using everything except the 27" curves.
@DoubleDAZ - I got all the track laid. Ready to start wiring next weekend which will be my first time with the Star approach since I'm adding DCS for the first time (great timing in adding MTH technology, huh?). I have one DCS switcher and two TMCC switchers that will be rotated for yard duty. I forgot to ask three questions on yard operations if you don't mind offering a little more free advice.
1. Where would you coupling/uncoupling track? Assuming all engines going in, out, or working in the yard have eletrocouplers. I was thinking of puttng two on the red tracks (one toward the left-most switch and one toward the right-most switch), two on the green tracks (also one near the left most switch and one near the right) and then two on the purple track (one near the left switch, one in the center). Don't think I need any one the blue track since it's engine and caboose storage, right?
2. My prior yards were mainly storage sidings, so I ran power to them through switches so I could turn each siding off/on separately. I'm thinking of doing the same thing here. I could imagine having a train arrive on the red, but not need power at that point on purple, blue, or green. Make sense to have the entire yard connected to a single power source (likely a TIU channel) but with off/on toggles for each track?
3. Should the storage spurs such as the 4 off the green be switched independently? How about leads/spurs off the blue and purple? Should they be able to be switched off/on separately from the best of the blue and purple? Seems like overkill, but thought I'd ask.
