14 calculators
Fourteen calculators for the numbers that decide a layout: minimum radius, grade and clearance, turnout geometry, scale conversion, DCC power budget, bus wire gauge, NMRA car weight, benchwork lumber, ballast volume and staging capacity. Every one shows its formula and its sources on the page.
Every calculator runs in your browser, sends nothing anywhere and shows the arithmetic it used. Where a figure is a hobby rule of thumb rather than a published NMRA standard, the page says so, because a manufacturer stated minimum always takes priority over a general rule.
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The flagship, with four independently controlled outputs and enough capacity for a large O gauge layout. It costs more than most complete starter layouts, and almost nobody needs it.
Best for: a large multi-train O gauge layout, and very little else
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A touchscreen WiFi throttle and a 7 amp command station from the company that makes LokSound decoders. The interface is the most modern of any system here, and the price reflects it.
Best for: somebody who wants a touchscreen throttle and runs ESU decoders
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The best selling O gauge set there is, with LionChief Bluetooth control so it runs from a phone or the supplied remote rather than needing a separate transformer.
Best for: a family set that will come out every year
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A modern high speed passenger set, which is the one thing a freight-heavy catalogue is usually short of. Note that the long cars want more radius than the oval in the box suggests.
Best for: a modern passenger themed first layout
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