Well first off I want to say howmuch I appreciate the info you guys give on these forums!!!
I am still going back and forth with the DCC and DC systems. Now I know I will be able to run all the trains I will ever need with my 4X8 layout but will the DCC be able to light the all of the houses or will I have to get something else to help out for that. LMK Joseph
DCC is just for running trains. Lighted passenger cars come under that heading, but for structure lighting you will need another power source.
Use your old DC power pack for that. A really good idea is to hook the lights (assuming you are using 12-14 volt bulbs to light your structures) to the variable output that used to drive the trains, and run it at about half throttle. The bulbs will look better and last a lot longer when running on less than their rated voltage.
Another great trick I used on an old N scale layout I had, that was powered with an ordinary power pack (this was before DCC), was to use a rectifier diode on the AC output of the power pack to run my structure lights. The light bulbs used were ordinary 12v types, but by using the single rectifier diode (available at Radio Shack), it cut the voltage by nearly 50% and made the bulbs glow with a nice glow rather than a harsh glare. I used a 1 amp diode and had about a dozen lamps connected, the 1 amp rating of the diode was more than enough because the tiny power pack I had for that layout wouldn’t have been able to put out 1 amp anyway.
–Randy
Randy, DCC can run all, and i mean all, aspects of a layout. wether it be trains or ligthed accesories. I agree it’s over kill, but some people do in fact wire their structure lights into stationary decoders connected to the DCC system and control the streelights and building lights and other details via a DCC throttle.
Please don’t tell people DCC is just for Trains, it’s for the entire layout, everything can be controlled by it.
True, but as you say, complete overkill. For the money I’d have to spend on stationary decoders to control all the structure lights, I can buy a dozen regular power supples and light not only my layout but all of the clubs in the area as well. Additional DCC boosters cost a lot more than a simple AC transformer with a power switch and fuse.
I mean, if you want to go nuts, you can set it all up so you flip a switch and a computer runs all you trains, you just stand back and watch. Heck, there are animated display layouts like Roadside America and Choo Choo Barn that have been doing this long before computers and DCC. But when it comes to my trains, I want to control them.
–Randy
Thanks for the info
So if I just go ahaead and buy a DC when I do get to the point when I am ready for DCC I can still use it for my scenery… DO they make DC that can run more tha one train or do I need to buy one for each
Let me be an expert on something I know very little about, but before I go further, I will say I have been running the Digi- Chief for about 6 years now.
DCC is a systems of communications. It is easy to get the command station, et. al. mixed up with running “stuff” on your layout even though the “stuff” may be run using DCC communications protocol. If I were going to get “fancy” and run lighting and lets say animation using DCC protocol, I would probably be looking at some kind of computer program to run the shebangs but most of the shebangs would need individual (cheap) decoders to identify themselves to the computer program. Here is where the waters get murky for me. I don’t know if a program like Railroad & Co (right name?) could handle this - I suspect it can - or another cheaper program, but if it can’t I suspect cheaper programs will come along that will allow it.
DCC is just a communications protocol so your questions really is this: can lighting be run in a DCC communications protocol? And the answer is yes.
Why are people so touchy about DCC? A man asks a simple question and you all go ape . He wanted to know facts and get a lot of trash for answers. DCC can be used for layout lighting but cuts the number of engines you can run . Would be better to light layout with old dc power pack.
DCC is as SIMPLE or COMPLICATED as you want it to be. I had the first Prodigy system and I loved it. I set it up out of the box in 10 minutes without reading the directions, and had my Broadway running in half an hour.