| Late night, the few brightest stars break through | | | | operate on your track. Next, isolate the motor |
| the light pollution of the city. The darkness is less | | | | from the train tracks, and then place the mobile |
| than encroaching, as the streetlamps and buildings | | | | decoder in the locomotive. Finally, test the |
| defy the nightscape of nature. The whistling of a | | | | installation with a tester kit that is available at |
| freight train rolling through the night echoes low | | | | your local hobby store. |
| and honestly. It hearkens back to a mysterious | | | | The mobile decoder has a host of features that |
| time, when the American west was a nascent | | | | make the train authentic. Several features control |
| land full of wonder and despair; the juxtaposition | | | | the speed and power given to the locomotive, |
| that has been romanticized in countless films and | | | | making you feel like an actual engineer. A few |
| books. The passing years have diminished the | | | | examples are loco momentum, which simulates a |
| omnipresence of the railroad, but its spirit still | | | | loaded train. A speed table maximizes the engines |
| slices through the ether. In an attempt to | | | | speed and throttle, simultaneously scaling the |
| remember and enjoy the wonder of locomotives, | | | | movement to miles per hour. Mobile decoders also |
| the hobby of model trains was born. A noble | | | | control the lighting and sound effects of the train. |
| attempt to re-create the past through models of | | | | The decoders have become essential for any |
| tiny towns and scaled landscapes, model trains are | | | | enthusiasts, whether an amateur or veteran |
| a passion and a lifestyle. | | | | model engineer. |
| A landscape of the country, the desert and a | | | | Stationary Decoders are necessary to control |
| depot station has been imagined in your mind. You | | | | railway switches, structure lights on the model |
| want to instill the wonders of the American | | | | set, animations in the towns and depots, and |
| frontier or maybe the technological minded early | | | | signaling along the railway. Stationary decoders |
| twentieth century. After research and careful | | | | can be attached directly to the rail power source. |
| planning, you've built a replica of a town below the | | | | However, this is not recommended as it draws |
| mountains. On the other side of the range is an | | | | potential power away from the locomotive. It is |
| open plain spotted with trees and one or two | | | | best to set the stationary decoder underneath |
| frontier houses. You're design for the rail's path is | | | | the model set and attach it to a separate power |
| impeccable. You're model train set is complete. | | | | source. This maximizes the abilities of the train |
| Now you have to pick a train and with that a | | | | set and landscape you've created. |
| Digital Command Controller (DCC). This decoder | | | | It's important to research what type of train you |
| will control every electronic aspect of you're | | | | want and the best correlating DCC. There's |
| model train set. | | | | nothing worse than building your dream and having |
| There are two types of DCC decoders you'll | | | | it fall apart because of improper planning and |
| need to have a working train set. A mobile | | | | execution. DCCs come in many sizes and their |
| decoder is placed in the locomotive of your train. | | | | functions and features vary. But with the right |
| Its installation is quick and easy. First, make sure | | | | knowledge and proper equipment you're model |
| you're decoder is proportionate to your | | | | train set will bring hours of enjoyment for years |
| locomotive and has the required current rating to | | | | to come. |