"Streets" were the big hit

Glad to hear that your Super Streets were a big hit with your company this weekend. One of my train buddies in the Chicago area has a large portion of his layout dedicated to Super Streets. He has several intersections all controlled with traffic lights and stop and go action, so no collisions. Lots of fun to watch.

Paul - Are you operating the TMCC controllable vehicles or using conventional control through the DCS handhelds?

The fellow that Brian mentioned doesn't have any TMCC controllable ones, but his layout is a big hit with everyone.  After he installed traffic lights at his major intersection it was even better.  But his current issue is that his cars run at different speeds and one is always running into the back on the one in front.  We told he needs operating police cars to enforce that.   

Love to see pictures of your layout or a video would be even better.

Art

Brian and Art,

Your friend's layout sounds awesome with Streets operation. I would love to be able to do that but I suspect it'd involve relays and maybe other circuits that is beyond my electric-challenged brain.

The vehicles I am using are all by K-Line/Lionel or Bachmann conventional type. So, each DCS handheld controls voltage to one "street" loop only. The intersections have a common ground so the transformers need to be in phase. I tried putting multiple cars on one "street" loop but like your friend one seems to always be faster than another (even the same exact model).

The cat's meow of "Streets" would be command control vehicles, especially cross-linked with route control for the streets themselves (e.g., throwing a switch and sending a car into a parking spot, making turns, etc). I have the K-Line/Lionel Command van and it works nice (with one "Street" set to fixed (command control) and one conventional although I noticed some good arcing sparks when going through the intersections, probably because of the higher voltage in the command "Street." This van can go backwards as well, and has headlights. I don't know why the heck Bachmann didn't put headlights in their sedans, it's a no-brainer, and given the cost of these things I would have thought it would be fair to the customer.

I have been installing HO/N scale decoders in my streets vehicles and using an MRC Prodigy Advance DCC system to control them.  This allows individual control of vehicles on the same "street".  I use TCS (Train Control Systems) decoders intended for trolleys as they have a brake light feature.  I have used Digitrax sound decoders in a fire engine and military truck in order to add sound.  Digitrax decoders incorporate a transponder which when used with a Digitrax DCC system interfaced with software and a computer allows determining location and routes.  This is something that I hope to pursue in the future.  Photos and videos of my conversion are here.  Looking forward to WBB's new D21 E-Z Streets Turnouts.

Larry