You don’t have to rush into making your decision now. Spend the time, like Dave did, researching and figuring out which DCC system will work best for you. Dave decided on the MRC Prodigy Express, which just came out a month or two ago. It’s a nice all-in-one hand held unit.
Everyone has legitimate reasons for both choosing or not choosing a particular DCC system. It usually comes down to either preference and/or features. The best thing to do is to NOT make a hasty but informed purchase. That way you’ll be less likely to be “sideswiped” by any surprises. And, you reduce the chances of being disappointed with a system that you’ve invested both money and time into getting.
WVHagan, do let us know when you get to that point and what you decide to get. [:)]
You guys are great to talk to. I definately won’t rush into DCC. I need a few more things for my RR first, and I have to wait until summer to have the time to do any big projects. This past summer I got quite a bit done on the pike. Even if I had the time right now, I need to save some money for those Atlas N scale C&O GP 9s. I have wanted those engines for quite literally decades. At train shows, you see them in HO and O. Well now, finally, they are available in N scale. I don’t mind doing a locomotive over in the '67 - '72 paint scheme, but the original paint scheme with the curved stripes…NO. Intermountain is coming out with some C&O and B&O F units. I may be able to live without the B&O units, but not the C&O units. Those are higher on the list of priorities for my RR bucks. That said, I see that DCC is almost a certainty for my railroad…just not quite yet.
I live in Huntington where the big C&O shops (now CSX) are located. Around here, the C&O is just short of being sacred. This is also N&W country, though not quite as strong as C&O. Northern West Virginia is B&O country along with Western Maryland. I grew up during the Chessie era, so everything C&O, B&O and WM, along with Chessie System deisels, are included in my layout. I have some steam, so I am not too terribly strict about time periods. Basically, I model trains from about 1950 - 1980. I’m not a rivet counter or the curator of a museum. I just model what I love most. Actually, if I modeled what I loved, that would include almost anything on rails! What railroad(s) do you prefer to model?
First of all, do you have a first name? I like to address people by their real names, rather than their profile name. Secondly, from your profile I was wonderin’ whether you were from West Virginia or not.
As far as modeling railroads. I currently model the New York Central (NYC). Actually there’s a huge yard about 10 minutes from my house - now owned and run by CSX - but used to be run by the NYC. The old 500-ton, 4-bay coaling tower still stands there today, a regal momument to the great steam age of the 20s - 50s.
The main reason I ended up picking the NYC to model was because that was the RR of my very first locomotive: an Athearn 2-8-2 Mike. If I were to start over, I would probably model the Erie or Erie/Lackawanna RR. Lots of choices, aren’t there?
Actually, my grandfather (sadly, who I never met) worked as a fireman on a RR out in either Missouri or Kansas. If I ever find out which railroad that is, I may try and model that for sentimental reasons.
Actually the PE doesn’t run DC locomotives. Says so in the instructions! Not having decoders yet is actually a good thing as I have actually sat down and read the instructions - which is so not me it isn’t funny! And somehow sooooo un American!
BUMMER!! [tdn] But for the reasons you’ve just stated, indeed, a good thing if it gets you to read the manual. [tup] Now you’ll be another “Mr. Know-it-all DCC guy” around here on the forum. [:)]
Hey, are your decoders going to be drop-in or PNP? Or, are will you have to fiddle with any soldering to install the decoders? Which locomotives will you be “decoderizing”?
Right now I"m looking at two Proto GP7’s and an S1. I have two digitrax 163Lo’s coming in that I hope to use. There is a plug in for the S1 but haven’t ordered one yet. Next could be two Proto SW8’s which should be loads of fun!
If your S1 is the Proto 2000 S1, you’ll HAVE to isolate the motor from the frame. (I know…'cause I have one.) It’s not a bad modification. You’ll need to remove a clip and solder a wire from the bottom of the motor to the decoder to bypass the frame. Actually, Randy Rinker has a VERY handy pictoral of how to isolate the S1 electrically on his web site. Here’s the direct link:
I used a different decoder than Randy did (actually a Z-scale decoder) for my modification but it works just fine. Randy used the DH163LO on his S1. It’s all described on the web site.
I took the decoder recommendation from Bruce Petrarca @ Litchfield Station. The nice thing about the smaller decoder is that it’s small enough to fit under the shell that I don’t have to modify the frame any. This particular decider is not “silent-running” so it “growls” slightly at idle or very low speeds. I was a little put out about the growl at first. But then I thought it made the S1 sound “tougher” - like how a diesel switcher OUGHT to sound, right?
Oh, before I forget, Dave. If you end up installing a decoder in your S1, you should consider switching out the headlight bulb for an golden-white (GW) LED. Boy, does that make a difference in realism. [tup]
Tom
P.S. That Proto 2000 S1 is just one sweet little switcher. [:D] I was running it just this evening on the layout. One of my favorites…[:)]
Tom my first name is Louis. Do you know if the Atlas Classic locomotives have to be hard wired or do they have a circuit board that can be replaced with a decoder? I remember years ago finally making the decision to switch from rapido couplers to Microtrains(Kadee) couplers. I kind of think of switching to DCC as similar but much more difficult. It took me quite a while to even consider switching couplers and it was done gradually, a few cars or a locomotive with each pay check. Maybe the switch to DCC will be similar. I have a lot of reading and research to do before I’m sure I want to cross that line. Time will tell. I remember saying that switching to Microtrains couplers wasn’t going to happen. Of course that was when almost everything came with Rapidos and locomotives weren’t equipped with coupler pockets for quick easy conversion.
I’ve heard that replacing N-scale knuckle couplers is not exactly an enviable task.
I’m not sure about the Atlas Classic locoomotives. How old is the/what type of locoomotive you are referring to? I got on the Atlas site and found this RS-1 listed:
Note the caution at the bottom of the page → “Please note: The N Scale RS-1 will not have DCC ready frames.”
That means that you’ll have to somehow isolate the motor from the frame so that you don’t fry your decoder. As mentioned in the previous post ot Dave Kelly, I had to do that with my Proto 2000 S1 switcher. (LifeLike even claimed that the locomotive was “DCC-ready”. I found out about in on the forum and Tony’s Train Exchange web site.)
The conversion wasn’t a difficult job. All I had to do was remove a clip and solder another wire from the bottom side of the motor to the decoder. But…that was an HO locomotive…
Louis, if you have the model of your Atlas diesel, we might be able to do an “Atlas [model]+DCC-conversion” search on it. There’s a number of dealers who do these sorts of things and sometimes they have pics of how they did it on their web sites and what decoder they ended up using.
Yup, I’ve seen several good websites discussing installation on the S-1 and they are all added to my “favorites.” Should be a fun project to say the least!! Gotta love Randy - he is definately the DCC guru!
Might as well start blushing even more Randy. I was devastated when I realized the 163LO decoders wouldn’t work in my Geeps as they are older models without the plug. What to do? I was really sure I wanted to do the S1 just yet. While I’ve read that you can just go ahead a plug in a decoder, the thought of frying on just didn’t turn me on. I went to several sites that described how to do it, but yours was the best. Very easy to follow and the pics sealed the deal. Well, I took out the soldering iron, wire, the S1 and the 163LO. Finished it up. Put some quicky wires from the PE to the track. And . . . . . it worked!!! Once again - Randy - you da man!