good morning all. heres my dilemma i really want to convert to dcc but i have too many older engines that i really dont want to get rid of. can any of them be converted? or should i just stay with dc? most are over 20 yrs old. thanks for any suggestions. dave
I’m sure that some can be converted but it takes more work that just plugging in something. I don’t know about all DCC systems but I have Digitrax and you can run one non-DCC engine at a time by using the address of 00. Obviously you don’t have sound but you can run some of the older prized engines as long as you only run one at a time.
i didnt know that everyone tells me i cant run any of them once i convert. that would be great because they still run great and some mean alot to me. thanks for the info dave
Most older engines can be converted to DCC, but the most important thing to determine is whether they run well enough to warrant the cost of a decoder. If the motors in some of them are jerky or require full throttle to even begin moving, and then take off like a jackrabbit, they are not candidates for DCC without upgrading their motors. DCC will not improve running qualities of a locomotive that doesn’t run well under DC control.
I have converted many of my old Athearn (Blue Box) locos to DCC. I would agree that if they do not run well on DC it is a waste of money to convert to DCC. Since these locos just have basic features I have been installing inexpensive decoders in them. They work great.
I have a Digitrax system and you can run a DC locomotive on address “00” and I use this to run some of my locomptives (impulse buys) which do not fit the scheme of my layout. When a non DCC locomotive runs on this address you get a motor hum. If I am going to run the loco on the layout on a regular basis I convert it to DCC.
JIM
thanks jim i have about convinced myself to invest in a digitrax system so i coul just run my older locos on occasion. im gradually investing in some dcc equipped engines. i have two now. the are bachmann. thanks for the info. dave
Dave,
Somehow it seems that most logic looks at the cost of converting ALL of your engines to DCC, and the red money flag goes up! I will take myself as an example:
About 40 engines - only 16 are used on the layout for ‘operation’. You can seewhere I am going here. Those 16 got decoders first. And only 1/2 of them were not DCC Ready. I had to ‘hard-wire’ the decoder.
The rest have gotten decoders as I get around to it. Some will NEVER get a decoder and rest in my display case. At one time I had over 200+ engines. Most were custom painted/detailed Athearn and Atlas engines. Most of the old ‘BB’ Athearn engines got replaced with P2K GP’s and Genesis F units. The older Atlas(RSD5/SD24/GP40…) got replaced with newer Atlas engines over the years. I still have 2 Atlas FP7’s, RS1’s, and a S2(all have decoders). I have a brass SDL39 that still needs a decoder some day…
Jim
good info jim its a hard decision to pick which ones to convert. they all run pretty well on dc. if i could just run them on occasion would be great. i have about 10 or 12 i would like to convert. but other priorities take center stage right now. i first have to purchase the dcc unit itself. thanks dave
If your layout is already wired for DC block control, you can substitute your DCC unit for a power pack. However, most folks recommend not trying to run both types of control at the same time. Use one or the other when it suits you.
Fred Wright
I wanted to switch to DCC but converting (or trying to convert) 200+ locos was the stumbling block. One day I realized I only actually run less than 10 out of the whole bunch on a regular basis. Let’s face it…we all have favorites that get more use than others.
So I decided I’d break down and buy a few new DCC versions of old favorites and keep all the DC locos on shelves or try to get a few pesos selling them.
To date, with 5+ outstanding DCC locos to keep me busy, I have not regretted the decision.
And sometimes you just have to throw away those old 8-tracks tapes, too.
I still have a lot of analog/DC locos that I will not convert to DCC. I purchased a lot of locos to customize to KCS units that were not on the market at the time. Many of these are now available with pluc and play DCC or even DCC/sound. I wasn’t sure want to do with some of them. Joe Fugate suggested putting a dummy loco with a sound decoder in a locomotive consist. Also some of the new locos are great pullers and I want to use helpers on the layout. I decided to pull the motors out of these locos and run them as dummys in a thre unit consist. The dummy ads extra drag to the train. At some point I will add sound to the dummy unit, which will be easy to do as I have the whole inside of the loco to use.
JIM
I agree. DC and DCC on at the same time is not a good idea. The DCC controller does not like it and it’s h**l on the decoders.
thanks for all the good info. guys. that gives me some great ideas. I really want to convert. Had an opportunity to run some locos. on afriends layout with dcc. really liked it. thanks Dave
Many people have been converting locomotives to command control for longer than 20 years. CTC-16 came out big time in what - 1978? This command control stuff isn’t really that new, for that matter DCC isn’t really that new either. I don’t believe there is a locomotive made that cannot be converted, or should I say, I have yet to meet a locomotive that could not be converted.
My personal saga -
I pulled a bunch of my trains out of boxes after 40 years in attics and basements. I had about 10 locomotives. A few wouldn’t even run at all, and a few are still in the same “pile-of-parts” state that I packed them up in when Lyndon Johnson was President. Some, though, ran well enough that I got decoders for them and installed them. Of these, I have one that I run on my layout. I’ve also got another one (again, an Athearn F7) that I got for $12 at a show. It’s newer, and it got a decoder, too.
I had a pair of GP-9’s, one gear-drive, one Athearn Hi-F rubber band drive. I tried decoders in each, and then looked into the cost of upgrading the motors and wheels. Fortunately, I also found brand new Geeps online for less than the cost of the repairs. I pulled the motors out of my Hi-F drive engines, and now I run them as dummies.
So, the answer is, go buy a decoder or two, and try them out. You’ll probably get some of them to work, and if your collection is in better shape than mine was, you might find that you need quite a few of these cheap decoders. At that price, it’s really worth it, if only for the satisfaction of having done it.