I know what you're saying about realistic operation and I value it tremendously. That's why chose my power pack and locomotives the way I did. My railpower 1370 does just fine with my Kato's, Atlas's and broken-in, regeared, and de-peanut-buttered P2K's and my Athearns (which have poorer slow speed operation than the others right out of the box). I can't imagine anybody wanting them to creep any more slowly than what mine do. And I'm sure there are more sophisticated DC systems than mine out there.
For $35 bucks for the railpower and a $60 Atlas from Ebay, the OP will do just fine with slow speed operation.
Now, when I was a kid, my old Tyco power pack and AHM locomotives started at about 30 mph. I tried to make them do wheelies but I never could, even with traction tires.
I'm not disagreeing with you on any specific point, nor am I saying that the OP should not consider DCC. And I'll admit, overall, DCC is a better product because of its numerous features, but its not always necessarily more desireable in every model railroad. IMO, the real advantages to DCC is its ability to control multiple locomotives independently. How much of that is desired varies from modeler to modeler, and those modelers who have DCC for that reason should not assume that that kind of operation is what everyone wants (not that you have done that). In fact, controlling many locomotives at the same time does not ensure greater realism than controlling only one at a time, especially if the modeler has limited space.
But for a lot of model train operators, it is more fun.
I sure didn't want the discussion to get too charged up either. Then a bunch of us would be shouting at each other over who's right, and that's not what this is about. I agree with you that Fazby probably doesn't need to change over, especially since he isn't inclined to. In the end, we each decide if we open the wallet or not. But his perceptions of what could be gained were way short of what they truly are, and his perceptions of the potential problems are way more than what they truly are. Bottom line for anyone thinking of switching: Try it on a friends layout. Join the DCC list and maybe talk to a dealer or two. Make an informed decision. Some modelers have good reason not to switch over, but so many more are just plain scared to change. I know many older modelers with established layouts that have switched over and are glad they did.
OTOH, I'm not trying to sell it. I just want to get the necessary information out there.
