A short answer? Sure...
The problem with a short answer it assumes there is only one right answer. How many people when someone asks which command control system to buy, immediately say (in short form) "MTH!" or "Lionel". Or when someone asks to diagnose a problem, there can be a ton of reasons why it doesn't work. People love to share their knowledge, and honestly, if someone has trouble reading a detailed response, they can ignore it, given that with any post there will be a lot of responses, find the one that makes sense to you *shrug*. One of the things to note is that the OP isn't the only one 'using' the thread, it helps a lot of people at various levels.
Oh my. This thread about keeping responses simple HAS become hilarious.
I'm for simple answers initially. Then if the OP needs more, expand on it. 
To truly get down to the correct answer, we must ask the following of both the person asking the original question and the individual respondees:
- Which control method do they use, conventional or command or LionChief or dead rail?
- Which brand of O gauge train do they prefer? Lionel? MTH? Atlas? Weaver? K-Line? Williams? Williams by Bachmann? Other?
- How do they feel about S gauge?
- Do they have a permanent layout or a temporary carpet layout?
- If they have a permanent layout, do they use Mianne benchwork?
- How big is their layout?
- Is it a pike or point-to-point?
- Are they an electrical engineer?
- Do they have real-world experience in the railroad industry? If so, how much? If none, are they a foamer?
- How well do they follow grammatical rules?
- How well can they write?
- How intelligent are they?
- How emotionally intellgient are they?
- Do they have street smarts?
- What is their political affiliation?
- Did they sleep at a Holiday Inn Express last night?
Once the OP and the individual respondees have submitted their answers, they should be posted on as many other train forums—we shall not mention names—as possible. A poll then should be created on a separate thread to determine which is the best solution and another poll should be created on yet another thread to opine on the answers to the above questions. The move of toy and model train production from the U.S.A. to Asian markets shall be lamented by no fewer than four posters. A fifth shall make the point that globalization was inevitable. The original thread shall then be reviewed by the OGR editorial staff and, pending the finding of no legitimate reason, locked, and the ninth poster banned from participation on these forums. The remainder of the conversation shall then be resumed on the afore mentioned, but not named, other forums. Oblique references to the original thread shall be made on the OGR forum no sooner than three-and-one-third years later.
OK....as some said above, you don't have to read long responses. If the response from someone is longer than YOU think it should be, then either post a shorter and more direct response or move on. I can tell you that in my past profession, one had to be VERY thorough which caused a tendency to go into more detail than might be necessary. This sometimes made the receiving party frustrated because they wanted me to just get to the point. Regardless, here at this forum, we want folks to feel they can ask a question without someone telling them to go to Google or chastising someone for going into more detail than it seems they needed to. If you don't like an answer than offer your own. Personally, I would rather have more information than not enough but if one's answer to a question is more than what you can handle, then there are thousands of other topics you can spend your time on. I think this topic has made its point....time to close it.
