My dad has some old engines he had as a kid (mid 70’s). I was wondering if you can put a decoder in them or if you need a DCC plug. I’m new to DCC and am trying to estimate the cost to upgrade.
Thanks for answering my ?'s
mtb2005
Yes, you can put a decoder into practically any engine, but the big question is, do they run well enough to justify the cost and trouble of installation.
I have several engines from back as far as the early 1960’s through the early 1980’s that don’t run well enough to justify the cost of a decoder. DCC will not improve the running qualities of a poorly built motor one bit.
I’ve been trying to do that with some old Athearns from the 60’s. I’ve gotten a couple of them to “run,” but not well at all. I also am new to DCC, by the way. I’ve installed decoders in a couple of modern engines as well. The actual decoder installation wasn’t much harder in the old boys than the new ones. No, you don’t need a plug.
With some old engines, there is the extra problem of the frame-grounded motors. You need to isolate the motor completely from the frame so there is no electrical contact, except through the decoder. I’ve done a few of these, too. It’s no big deal, but you should use a meter to make sure the motor is isolated before you hook up the decoder.
Even after completely dismantling the motors, trucks and gearboxes, cleaning, lubricating and re-assembling, these engines just don’t perform well anymore. To bring them up to modern standards would take at least new motors and trucks, and then I’d have a cheap blue-box shell on top of a patchwork mechanism, at a cost that would exceed a much nicer new engine! I will keep trying to resurrect these ancient locomotives, but I’ve already gone out and bought a modern, reliable switch engine that runs smoothly and slowly. I’m concentrating on track right now, but I’m sure that I’ll be in the market for a road engine pretty soon, too.
Maybe your locomotives run more smoothly than mine, which were cheap to begin with, and have spent the last 30 years in boxes in basements and attics. I hope that’s the case. Good luck.
Alternate plan “B” Can you run BOTH D.C. and DCC on you layout? I designed an OLD ENGINE route that is Both so I can run some from as far back a 1950’.s.
Just my $.02
George P.
You can’t run DC and DCC through the same tracks, but just about all the DCC systems have ‘address 00’ capabilities, where you use loco address 00 to run a DC engine. You can only run one at a time, though, and some DC engines tend to buzz/hum while they’re idling due to the alternating current DCC uses.