Ever since the original Empire Builder came out, back in 1998, we've kept track of the questions asked by new users. We used that information to develop the original Empire Builder Hints and Tips book. It is filled with answers to questions asked most often, and dialog concerning things and features that new users didn't understand. Sometimes it's something not well documented in the manual. Other times it concerns a feature that only Digitrax has, and the user simply didn't understand it. Regardless of what caused the confusion, it's covered in this book. The result is that it helps new users get over the learning curve and into the fun.

The original Empire Builder Hints and Tips was written for the Empire Builder with the DT100 throttle. When the DT300 throttle was introduced in 2000, most things changed. So a re-write was done for the DT300 - to make the Empire Builder Hints and Tips book. In doing so, over 75% of it was changed. While many new pages were added, many old pages were eliminated (for three reasons).

First: most things are just flat easier to understand and do with the DT300 than with the DT100. Therefore, it eliminates the need to write about some of them, and takes less dialog to clarify others.

Second: the DT300 does not support aliasing. Since it doesn't support it, the complex process of creating and deleting aliases could be completely eliminated. And since the DT300 can program in decimal and Hexadecimal, there is no need for a conversion chart.

Third: the Empire Builder manual is much better than the original Empire Builder manual. This doesn't mean it's perfect - far from it. There are still some typos, lack of information for some things, and other anomalies. But overall, it's much better than before.

When the DT400 was introduced in 2001, we re-wrote the Hints & Tips again to reflect its operation. The result is the Super Empire Builder Hints and Tips.

When ordering the Empire Builder Hints and Tips, be sure to get the correct one for the throttle you have: H&T-EB for the DT100 throttle, H&T-EBII for the DT300, and H&T-SEB for the DT400 throttle. If you get the wrong book, about 75% of it will be irrelevant for your throttle.