Click on the date in front of any entry to go to that column or article.

In October, 2011, Bruce became the DCC Columnist for Model Railroad Hobbyist Magazine. This online publication has grown to be have the second largest readership of any model railroad oriented magazine in the world.

Subscribing consists of adding your eMail address to the list. It is only used for a reminder eMail about every two weeks. No spam or other advertising.

Now there is an advanced version of the magazine, called Running Extra. It contains all of the free magazine content and a bunch of more detailed articles. It costs about the same as a cup of coffee in a restaurant per month. Well worth it, in my opinion.

To subscribe, CLICK HERE. If you aren’t a subscriber, it will let you sign up. If you are a subscriber, it will take you to your landing page.

In addition to the DCC Impulses, column, I’ve done articles for MRH, too. Click the article date to go to the page on the MRH site. Alas, recent renovations on the MRH website have made many of the links inoperable. I just (July 2022) added links to videos mentioned in the articles. At least you can find those.

Articles

Dec-12 Slow Orders - Dangerous Track Ahead!

This article about contingency planning for model railroaders was co-authored with my wife, Linda. More information is on this website - CLICK HERE.

Jun-16 My Model Railroad Journey

An elaboration about the path from non-modeler to Master Model Railroader #574 over two decades. This story augments my bio in the June 2016 NMRA Magazine.

Oct-16 Railfanning the Great Lakes Western

The view of the PebbleCreek Model Railroad Club’s HO scale GLW layout from the viewpoint of an operator or railfan.

Columns

Here is a list of my columns by date, with the main topic and any (sidebar topics) listed. Click on the column date to go to the MRH site and see the column My last column for MRH was in August 2018.

Older articles are no longer directly accessible on the MRH website. However, you can download the entire magazine and find the article in the table of contents. I've updated some of the links below to the downloader for the specific issue. Others may require you to search for the issue on:
https://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/
and download the issue and then look it up in the table of contents. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Oct-11 Back to Basics
Nov-11 More of the Basics
Dec-11 Layout Wiring
Jan-12 Wired Installation #1

Feb-12 Wired Installation #2 (HO Athearn Blue Box Installation)
Mar-12 LED Lighting

Apr-12 N Installations (DB150 Mode Switch & OpSw)
May-12 Anatomy of a System (Lenz LH90 Cab)
Jun-12 HO Diesel Installations (NCE PowerCab Connection)
Jul-12 Enhancing Your System (Dual Decoder Installations)
Aug-12 How Do I Get The Sound Out? (Multiple Speakers)
Sep-12 System Comparison #1 (NCE booster to Digitrax command station)
Oct-12 System Comparison #2 (NCE radio base mounting)
Nov-12 How Do I Get An Installation Done? (HO U-boat sound)\
Dec-12 Basic Electronics for DCC (Alumina Thermal Adhesive)
Jan-13 HO Kato NW2 Sound Installation (PowerCab software 1.65 release)
There is a video accompanying this column. It gives you the option to look literally over my shoulder as a walk through every step on how to install sound in this difficult locomotive. Everybody who watches it says they learned at least one trick. To purchase it CLICK HERE. Here are some samples from YouTube:
Feb-13 Anatomy of a DCC Decoder (One Loco with Two Decoders)
Mar-13 Stayin' Alive (The Best DCC Tester - probe)
Apr-13 Ready, set, go! (DCC ready?) (Adding a NEM-652 to a JST decoder)
May-13 Using Ohm's Law (Another DCC Tester - LED dome light)
Jun-13 17 DCC Tips
Aug-13 Locating Your Train (Model Railroading Rules to Live By)
Sep-13 Passenger Car Lighting (Digitrax OpSw setting recommendations)
Oct-13 How Do They Get the Sound IN? (Relay wiring)
Nov-13 Solo DCC Operations (Make your small layout run bigger)

Dec-13 Tips for DCC Motor Control (Speed Steps in Perspective)
Jan-14 How to safely connect multiple speakers (Speaker Specifications)
Feb-14 Unraveling DCC addresses (A short guide to Consists)
Mar-14 A Dozen DCC Myths
Apr-14 Signaling Your DCC Pike (DCC Compatibility Between Systems)
May-14 DCC Programming Track Tips (Isolating the Programming Track on Your Layout)
Jul-14 More getting the sound out
Aug-14 HO DCC Sound Installation Tips (Sidebars: Tools; Supplies)




Sep-14 SoundTraxx SoundCar DCC decoder (SoundCar Installation)
Oct-14 MRC DCC System Test Drive
Nov-14 DCC Circuit Protection
Dec-14 ESU LokSound Decoders
Jan-15 DCC Reversing Loops
Feb-15 Brass Steam Loco DCC Installation Tips
Mar-15 JMRI is more than Decoder Pro #1

Apr-15 JMRI is more than Decoder Pro #2
Jun-15 DCC Stationary Decoders
Jul-15 DCC Garden Wiring Tips
Aug-15 Getting Started in DCC
Sep-15 DCC Throttles (First Look: SoundTraxx Econami decoder)
Oct-15 SoundTraxx Econami DCC decoder (My ideal throttle)
Nov-15 What’s Up With LCC?
Dec-15 Details of DCC Consisting
Jan-16 Econami decoder + RS3 sound installation (Sidebars: Tools; Supplies; Parts)
Feb-16 A Dozen more DCC Myths
Mar-16 Is DCC dead?
Apr-16 DCC for Operations (Tsunami adjustments for braking)
May-16 Demystifying CV 29
Jun-16 Getting power to my DCC system
Jul-16 My favorite iPhone apps for DCC
Aug-16 Loading sound into DCC decoders
Sep-16 Traveling with DCC
Oct-16 Five years of DCC Impulses columns
Dec-16 First look at the Digitrax Evolution DCC system
Feb-17 Thinking through a DCC decoder installation
Mar-17 Wireless DCC, part 1, the radio side
Apr-17 Wireless DCC, part 2, battery power
May-17 Wireless DCC, part 3, bringing it all together
Jun-17 Digitrax duplex radio hints (Hints for Digitrax cab batteries)
Jul-17 I’m Retiring!
Aug-17 The truth about capacitors in DCC
Oct-17 RailPro makes things easy
Nov-17 Novice view of Narrow Gauge convention
Dec-17 Not quite a chainsaw layout
Feb-18 Adjust your DCC decoder’s personality easily
Mar-18 A dozen DCC questions
Apr-18 DCC layouts and locomotives
Jun-18 Exploring the SoundTraxx Tsunami2
Aug-18 Speakers for DCC sound installs

Information on this site represents Bruce’s experiences and opinions. It is presented without warranty as an example of ways to utilize DCC products. The user is solely responsible for any use made of this data.