Back in August a number of you discussed converting ‘old’ DC locos to DCC and the problems met. A number of the youngsters (40 years plus!!) offered solutions from selling the old DC locos and buying new DCC friendly/fitted locos to changing frames and/or designing a DC/DCC layout to run both - all without brain surgery! One suggestion I came across - but not tried - is fitting a double pole/double throw (DPDT) switch between track and power source so that you can switch between two different power scources a have the best of both worlds. Is this a practical solution?
My situation is similar to the above youngsters. I have DC and am aware of the benefits of DCC but most of my locos are Life-Like and therefore not easily converted - or so I have been told! One of my favourites is my Proto GM&O DL 109 but how on earth can you fit a decoder in that loco unless you extend the decoder’s wires and fit it in the B unit. Again, is this a practical option?
Come on, fellows, teach an old man some new tricks!
Peter
Tell people what they need to know and not what you think they should know!
Yes, the DPDT switch to select the track power source will work with a couple of caveats.
Make sure the switch is the non-shorting type - breaks contacts before making the new ones when being thrown. Easiest way to ensure non-shorting (and probably desirable anyway) is a center off DPDT toggle.
Another way to accomplish the same result if you already have DC block wiring (preferably not common rail) in place is to substitute a DCC system for one of the DC power packs at the control panel. You then select which blocks will be under DCC control. WARNING: Don’t operate both DCC and DC at the same time! Leave one system off or the other. When your metal wheels span the gaps between DCC-controlled blocks and DC-controlled blocks, the electrons rebel at being under control of 2 masters, and may cause the magic smoke to leave a decoder or control system.
Similarly, many DC locos without decoders resent their brethren with decoders. When shown a DCC control signal these discontented DC locos may make unusual noises in protest (sometimes mistakenly termed “singing”) and eventually will get boiling mad, and release the magic smoke.
Finally, some older decoders are not DC compatible (newe
Peter, I felt early that I wanted to get into sound and DCC. A member here offered me an unused and slightly needy Proto 2000 F2 A/B set that was DCC, but not sound. I asked my installer to dummy the B unit and to add a common and inexpensive Soundtraxx DSD100LC, a generic diesel sounding decoder. As you would imagine, I lost some hauling capability, but the result is quite nice otherwise. He did have to run some wires between the units, but I painted them black and then don’t stand out much unless you purposefully look for them.
In retrospect, I would have asked him to mill the weights and leave the motor in the B-unit if at all sensible. But that is hindsight.
When I switched to DCC I just replaced one of my two DC throttles with the DCC unit. Just had to throw a DPDT center-off switch for each block to change from DC to DCC or back. I’ll always keep the option to use DC - if nothing else, I like to do test/break-in runs with new engines on DC. If there are any problems with the engine running right I want to know about it right away, and I make sure it is running up to snuff before opening the engine up and adding a decoder.