Model railroad operating series. 4 hour marathon ops session (1 hour video) on Sammy Carlile's Santa Fe Hereford Sub HO scale layout. Follows a local crew but shows most of the mainline trains that ran in the session as well.
Love to see some Texas layouts get high view numbers on RU-vid this state has soooo many good layouts that never get top algorithm feeding. Beautiful layout awesome detailed ops information only thing enjoyable to look at in the panhandle is the railroads 👍
Oh wow! Another great production from my favorite mad scientist, Steve Davis! Thank you sir for taking the time to put all of this together to share with this great audience!
I will second that and the only thing missing was Hoover stuck in a siding on an empty BN coal train!! Thanks for producing this Steve and I hope we can make it down to operate on both soon!!
That DCC programming made things so much cooler in model railroading. I'm new to it so have no clue how they got the sound prior to DCC but I have been told DCC has been around since the mid 90's. Nice set up. Love it.
If you were a model railroader (or even just ran trains) years ago using DC, you'll find that DCC is MUCH easier. When I was in my pre-teens and my early teens, my dad and I built an HO scale RR with DC. To run more than one train required two (or more) "transformers" (that supply power to the tracks), separation of the track into isolated electrical blocks, and LOTS of toggle switches (to assign each section of track, also known as a "block", to the desired power pack. Lots of work and wiring. With DCC, the motto is "run your trains not your track." So ALL of the track can be connected to the same DCC "command station" (supplies the power to the trains). Then a separate throttle (can be wired or wireless) is needed for each person who will simultaneously run their own train on the layout. The way it all works in a nutshell is, the same voltage goes to all the track (as opposed to DC where the voltage is varied to control the speed of the locomotive(s)). It is always full voltage (usually around 14-18 volts but varies by scale and other factors) goes to the track all the time. Then, a small circuit called a "Decoder" is installed in each locomotive. That chip can have sound capability (more $$) or just control the train motion and lights (can be under $20). The circuit is programmed to the locomotive's address. So you "call up" any address (usually the locomotive number) and then when you twist the throttle only that locomotive will move. It you can are comfortable doing a little wiring work, you can add decoders to existing locomotives. Some require soldering, but there are also "plug and play" decoders which you need only plug in to an existing board/connector in the loco. But if you don't feel comfortable with that, you can buy locomotives with decoders already installed - with sound or without, depending on your preference and budget. I am not affiliated with any manufacturer. However, if you know absolutely nothing about DCC, Digitrax (which is what this layout owner, my friend Sammy Carlile and I both use), they publish a book called "the big red book of DCC." Whether you actually use Digitrax or any of the many other alternatives, that book does a great job of covering all of the basics in good detail - can be as detailed as you like/need but there are plenty of illustrations and examples. I might recommend you google that book (it's been in and out of print but can be found, perhaps on EBay). Model Railroading has been a great hobby for us and you may find you enjoy it too. Good luck! -Steve Davis
Sure can tell the old head Rails running the XAMAM1 by the way they are talking with the DS, car counts, and slang of "hanging" cars. Looks like a great layout to run and operate. Keep up the great videos!
That is a great layout, nicely explained ops, and wonderful dispatch. The screen shot are great and it looks like quite the intricate system. Very well done.
This run looks like the same loads I watched pass by my house growing up in the 90's. Tell me I'm lying....Awesome in many ways. This is all I'll be watching in between paychecks when I'm not working on my layout.
Loved this video! Thanks so much for sharing it with us. It's quite a bit of work to make it all happen, but the results are fantastic! Look forward to future videos like this.
Hallo Steve, ein fantastisches Video, 👍👍, super wie hier gefahren wird und sehr realistisch der Bahnbetrieb und die tolle zusammenarbeit der Teams, enfach super, Gruß Rainer aus Erfurt in Germany, weiterhin viel Spaß und freude bei euren Zusammenkünften
Fair enough. There are other videos we made of this same RR (ATSF Hereford Sub) that don't show the DS or at least not as much. We tried to use that as a device to provide an overview of what was going on. Thanks for watching and posting a comment!
It's a shame that model railroading went from a kids hobby to only a hobby of the rich who can afford it now. Back in the day locos for $20 to $40 each. Now most are at least $100 to $200 each.
I agree it would be great if we could get more kids and younger people into the hobby and costs are a hurdle. However, don’t forget to adjust for inflation. $20 in 1970 is worth $157.27 in 2023. $20 in 1980 is worth $74.06 today. I think it may have more to do with the parents, their interest and level of support. When I was young, I used my allowance to add models, rolling stock and even the occasional locomotive, but thankfully my dad helped and especially built the benchwork and bought the wood, which I was definitely too young to do. Many parents will buy their kids a $400 PlayStation or XBox without batting an eye. Something to think about….
