DCC recommendation ?

The NMRA is entirely volunteer organisation. It has no money to spend on development. The development work on DCC and other standards has always been done pro bono, by people most of whom have a day job. If you want NMRA's DCC standards to prevail, do not buy by price, but by conformance warrant. Tell the seller that if it doesn't have a CW, you're not interested.

Please note that the NMRA is a _consumer_ organisation. Model railroading is AFAIK unique in that what standards there are have been consumer driven, not industry driven.

NMRA does have a paid staff to run the headquarters, but there are barely enough of those to keep the membership lists current and to (very slowly) catalogue the Kalmbach Library holdings, which are growing faster than they can be catalogued. (Wanna spend a couple weeks of you vacation helping out?)

If you want the NMRA to "spend some money", it's up to you to provide the money to spend. You could start by becoming a member. :-)

Actually, coupler height depends on car bolster depth and truck bolster height, for which NMRA has specified standards, too. Axle lengths for wheels and truck side-frame spacing, so that any wheels will fit any truck. These two sets of standards and RPs are ignored by many mfrs, unfortunately.

Electrical: isolation of metal couplers from metal frames. Correct electrical connections so that locos will run in the same direction when on the ssame track. Isolation of the motor from metal frame when the engine is equipped with DCC.

And all because back the the late 1930s a few modellers got together, decided that it was important to have standards so they could run their stuff on each other's layouts, and formed the NMRA. Model Railroader, founded by Al Kalmbach in 1934, has always been a strong supporter of the NMRA, BTW.

You will find all Standards and RPs on the NMRA website, nmra.org. They are worth studying. Apart from dimensions, they pretty well follow prototype practice, and for the same reasons: to enable interchange of equipment.

HTH

It's 28 years old.

Snip

The NMRA conformance scheme is a failure as the vast majority of model railway products do not use it. This is because many of the standards and RP's are either unimportant, impractical or plain bad advice.

The fact is manufacturers drive the standards that are in common usage. There are a few exceptions, however other than the DCC standard, the NMRA has failed to convince the majority to manufacturers and the European clubs to use their current standards.

If you use KD couplers (these are not an NMRA standard) then your coupler height is defined by the manufacturer. No H0 RTR turnout manufacturer fully complies with the current NMRA standard. Now if they used the old NMRA standard Walthers track would probably comply.

The NMRA axle length is to long for many H0 prototypes. There are good reasons not to use NMRA standards and RP's.

Their standards were changed, to the current harder to make yet still sloppy standards, and numerous incompatible high rail and fine scale extra standards and RP's. In any case it's all irrelevant if after 72 years most manufacturers still ignore the current NMRA standards.

Then go to my web site and see why their track and wheel standards are second best .

-- Terry Flynn

DC control circuit diagrams

HO scale track standards

Consider me uninformed...can you provide some actual examples of unimportant, impractical and just bad advise that the NMRA has standardied...or attempted to do so?

I have neither a pro or con position on this and am asking so as to better understand the overall current situation regarding NMRA standards.

Cheers and Thanks in advance, Bill S.

::nothing I care to read::

Ah, yet ANOTHER new email address you're posting from...

::PLONK::

It's Terry Flynn... just ignore him.

You're very unlikely to achieve a better understanding of *anything* by listening to Flynn. He's had an axe to grind about the NMRA for many years now.

Cheers,

Mark.

All the NMRA H0 track and wheel standards uses a larger check gauge compared to RTR H0 wheels and track. That makes them unimportant for the majority of H0 modellers. If you use the NMRA check gauge on RTR track you get at best bumpy operation, at worst a derailment. The tight tolerances required for the NMRA proto87 standard is impractical if building complex track work. The NMRA RP on car weight results in trains that are to heavy, and it is impractical to weight many models to this RP. It is also bad advice as the formula they use does not result in consistent weight per length of car, which is the best result if you want to run long trains. The NMRA RP results in maximum length trains up to 40% shorter. Se my web page for superior H0 alternatives. Some RP's from the past the NMRA would like to forget, the X2F coupler comes to mind. There current coupler and coupler box RP is unimportant, because Kadee provide a better solution. One NMRA RP I like is about minimum radius.

Terry Flynn

DC control circuit diagrams

HO scale track and wheel standards

Any scale track standard and wheel spread sheet

A reply from an Expert who does not use NMRA track standards and has never scratch built turnouts.

Terry Flynn

DC control circuit diagrams

HO scale track and wheel standards

Any scale track standard and wheel spread sheet

You're absolutely certain about that?

You're telling lies *yet again*, d*****ad.

Awaiting the spin...

You're absolutely certain about that?

And while we're at it, pay close attention to the weathering...

How about providing a URL that works expert. Sounds like you have been shamed into building track and weathering some models to cover up your lack of hands on experience on the weathering and turnout construction. 6 months experience, of course your an expert.

Terry Flynn

DC control circuit diagrams

HO scale track and wheel standards

Any scale track standard and wheel spread sheet

Nice try, knobjockey, but the URL works fine.

Ah, the sound of spin. If I've built track and weathered models, I

Sounds like you've been shamed, and shown to be a pathological liar, once again.

No, 30 years experience, so yes, I *am* an expert, You want to learn anything, just ask me.

Oz, Gossip and Bitching Capital of the SouthWestern World

Don't worry terry is a knob jockey end of story.Nice modeling Mark, they URL worked first go for me too.

Ive seen his watefall layout what garbage.

Nathan

Nothing but a small diorama, posted recently, simply shows your claims in the past were lies. So you have now something to show that includes

Get a reality check, wood does not weather to a brown colour expert.

Still not one picture of a weathered locomotive expert

And you think you are an expert after being shamed into building a turnout or 2. A couple of months experience, yep, your an expert, especially if you a stupid enough to choose the sloppy NMRA standard to work to. What sort of track gauge did you use? probably the NMRA check gauge.

Yet you don't know how to do a realistic colour for weathered wood, can't show us a weathered locomotive and have recently built 2 turnouts scratch built to sloppy dimensions. These turnout are clearly for show, no evidence of anything running over them, no scratched paint on the wing rails. Your the last person I will ask unless I'm interested in building a dolls house on a flat board with a removable roof or a dunny on a locomotive tender.

Terry Flynn

DC control circuit diagrams

HO scale track and wheel standards

Any scale track standard and wheel spread sheet

Do you have a problem with comprehension??? Of course Ring used a guage.

You truly are one nasty piece of work. Here you are, you accuse other people of being spitefull and nasty but yet so seem to be quite an expert at it. I often wondered have you been approached to perfom your humiliation act at hellfire.