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Yeah, and that's _fun_.
OTOH, DCC control modules for turnouts, signals, etc are available, and interlocking is apparently a breeze. Since each module controls 4, 8,
16, or 32 devices, the overall cost/device isn't that bad. I've not done it myself, but an acquaintnace a hour's drive away had his layout set up that way, and it worked very nicely. He also used a computer as a dispatcher to control the signals, turnouts, and control blocks.Um, lessee, that's about $2 Can. Not exactly cheap, but cheap compared to the 50s/60s when relays cost about 50 cents-$1 (or about $10 in today's money.) I think one would consider the cost/device, not individual component prices, though. Then DCC, while it might still cost more, might not be as out of reach as you appear to imply. I know that in the UK everything electronic costs ourrageously much - a GBP buys about as much as a Can$, which means you pay about twice as much as we do. The side effect of having a currency that other people use for stashing their loot, I suppose. (The Swiss have the same problem, to judge from some comments from my cousin's daughter, who works in Zurich.)
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Hey, it wasn't a joke. It was just my preference - I prefer operating to watching trains, is all. I use smileys as just that: "smiles" - friendly-like, y'know.
I agree that if you want to run, for example, a major modern junction w/ all sorts of trains running through it on very short headways, then automating large parts of it would be necessary. If you want to do that all on your lonesome, there's no other way. If you want to do it with your mates, it will make it smoother for everybody. I think that it would be hard to operate such a layout without interlocked signals/power sections/turnouts, whether automated or controlled by a dispatcher.
What I was referring to are those fully automated layouts where everything runs without human intervention. OK for tech museums, where people stand and watch for a few minutes, but o'wise major boredom.
Dispatcher: person who controls train movements by means of controling signals, turnouts etc, from a central location, and issuing operating instructions ("train orders") to train crews. His word is law. On lightly travelled lines, ATC performs many of the functions of a dispatcher, but all "districts" are under the control and supervision of a dispatcher. In N. America, model railroaders will "model" the dispatcher's job, too. Some people even build a dispatcher's console in another room.