So you want to operate more than one locomotive on your tracks? No problem, as long as you have a digital controller. Bachmann designs a cool digital controller! You aren’t familiar with Bachmann or Bachmann digital controllers? Oh, yeah, I forgot how what a luddite you are. Well let me see if I can give you the low down buddy. Fire away!
What is a Bachmann Digital Controller?
The Bachmann Digital Controller is a gizmo that lets you to control up to 10 different locomotives on the same track at the touch of a button. It just looks like your regular sort of boxy gizmo, kind of like a smallish DVR maybe.
Are they easy to get and operate?
Bachmann is perhaps best known for their starter kits for beginning toy train hobbyists. Most Bachmann starter kits will include a digital controller right with it. It’s just one of the wonderful goodies they include along with their locomotives. And enough track to create a little loop as well. There’s a reason why Bachmann has made a name for itself with these starter kits. Bachmann is always fairly priced. If you’re just beginning and are into HO scale you can’t go wrong with a Bachmann beginner kit.
Are Bachmann locomotives good?
Bachmann model locomotives are perhaps the most popular trains these days for hobbyists who are just beginning. Bachmann does a wonderful job of making simple straight forward starter sets that let you get going with your model train experience in just a matter of minutes and it does all this at reasonable prices. Bachmann is outstanding at responding to fan’s needs and so you will have a good deal of choice as to the type of train that you want and the kind of kit. Bachmann’s just a really cool deal if you’re just starting to indulge your model train fantasies!
Is Bachmann a well known company?
The Bachmann company has been in existence since the 1830’s and the original 19th century families that started Bachmann, the Carlisle’s and the Bachmann’s still have ancestors on the company’s board. Bachmann’s U.S. company, founded in Philadelphia, though it has since transplanted its operations to the Far East around the turn of the millennium. Although they were in existence long before relative new comers like Lionel and American Flyer, Bachmann didn’t inject themselves into the model locomotive making business until after these other 20th century businesses were the well established industry leaders. Bachmann’s m.o. has largely been defined by its attempt to find a niche outside of the immediate sights of what was then the major player in model locomotives, Lionel train (now Lionel LLC). Just as people were looking for a simpler, less space consuming and less expensive alternative to Lionel’s O gauge trains, there was Bachmann with its easy to set up beginner Kits. By tapping into the customers that Lionel alienated Bachmann established themselves as the new kings of the hill in the model train making world. The Bachmann Digital Controller is just the one of the many advances that Bachmann has adopted in order to remain the most popular beginners model trainer makers around.
Can you give me a technical explanation of how the controller functions?
Well to get it you first have to understand the problem that it solved. It used to be the case back in the day that model locomotives moved when you juiced the track. So, you hit the power and every locomotive on the track would move. To create a layout with more than one train you needed individual circuits and power sources or else both the trains would only move at the same time. You can see that this would quickly get out of control in terms of power sources and wiring and circuits as you tried to move on beyond three trains. The computer age allowed Bachmann to use microchip technology to get around this problem. By placing a microchip in each individual train, the train can now differentiate between commands sent to its tiny processor versus those sent to the other trains. Since the train is in control and not the track, you can have as many trains on the same track as you want. The controller communicates when to go. It was an easy computer age solution to an old hardware problem. That clear things up?
If I collect classic locomotives am I just out of luck? Does the Bachmann controller exclusively work with their computer age trains?
No. Lots of model train model trainers install the tiny processor into their older model trains. I’ve never done it myself, but I’m told by more experienced hobbyists that it’s not as big a deal as it sounds. Sometimes it involves some soldering but for an handy guy like yourself this shouldn’t be a big deal. It’s not quite as simple as knowing the difference between a Phillips head and flat head, but it’s not rocket science either.
Anyway, that’s what I [know|can tell you] about the Bachmann Digital Controller. Did that clear up your question? Now, the one with the straight head or the one with the x head?
Here is more information on Bachmann Model Trains. Here is a website with a free mini-course dedicated to Model Trains.
Just getting started huh? Well, it’s probably a great idea to start uncomplicated to start. It’s wonderful to imagine the initial simple circuit design as one of three possible seeds that you are going to develop into a huge more tangled design. Choosing one of them gives you a wonderful starting point from which to expand your model locomotive empire. So which seed to choose? Here are some tips:
Just like in real estate, the main thing to consider in the beginning is “location, location, location”:
Try to pick the biggest most open place available for your track. You basically can’t run your toy train empire out of a shoe box or closet. Your tracks need their elbow room for turns. Too sharp a turn and you will have recurring derailments, so don’t attempt to do too much in too little of a location.
What are the basic area requirements by scale?
Let’s review the minimum requirements real quickly. Some experienced toy trainers may be able to find a couple of ways around these but they will also inform you that they are hardly worth the effort if this is all you have to work with. So here they are: If you own the little guys, N gauge locomotives, you will need at least a 2’ x 4’ location. 4’ x 8’ is the requirement for HO scale. 8’ x 16’ for Lionel’s O gauge. This is also about what you’ll need for those German garden locomotives, but those you should really put in your backyard instead of keeping them cramped up indoors. Also, remember these are minimum requirements not suggestion requirements. If you want more than a fundamental oval then the price is more real estate. Think kernal, not full grown tree or even sapling.
What can you do within these fundamental requirements?
The three fundamental layouts are oval, figure 8, and concentric circles. The primary and most fundamental of all is the oval shape. You leave the inside empty like a donut hole or fill it with a creamy mountain or jelly model city and then just wrap a track around the edges. Think Matterhorn at Disneyland with the Disneyland Monorail snaking around it. It worked pretty well. The second choice is to design a figure 8. It divides the track into four areas, though none really leaves much room to do much. Not into the scenery or model city? You’ve discovered your track. Like the pebble dropped in a pond effect? Then concentric circles is your setup. Most beginners end up making this into a train yard and then expanding outward from this seed.
Any other suggestions for beginners?
My giant suggestion would be that you use what are called domino tables. These 2’ x 4’ tables are tipl for a beginner because they can easily be connected together to help expand or reshape your location. This is a huge help as you start to rethink your track design. They are also lightweight enough where they can be easily carried out of the way when not in use so you won’t have to have your circuit layout interfering with the other daily routines of your household. So you’ll still be able to park your car in the garage.
Just remember the usual cliché; a journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. Most problems that you imagine never really materialize, while the problems you’re not even thinking of can really cripple a locomotive project. Part of the fun of model training is solving these problems, in fact. So what are you waiting for? Away you go!
Here is more information on Model Train Track. Here is a website with a free mini-course dedicated to Model Trains.
