Well i am working on finishing up a design for my first layout. It will be a 4x4 layout with a center divider and tracks for future expansion. SInce i want some operation (although alot is in layout design) i want to use DCC. But my questions are
How hard is it to wire the future expansion?
What books go over those basics?
Its only as hard to wire a future expansion as it is to wire the actual layout.
Its not that hard to do anything in this hobby, most of it is basically self explanatory, however, if you do want something, I would recommend one of these three downloadable articles: The Central New Mexico Railway, The Stony Creek Railroad, or The Turtle Creek Central. These are all project layouts that the MR staff did and cover most everything in some brevity from start to finish. If you want a quick, easy, and somewhat trial by fire way to learn these things, download the above.
If you are looking for books on DCC, go to SHOP on this page, then books. Under wiring they list 4 books on DCC. Read the descriptions and see which one best suits your abilities and needs.
Good luck,
Richard
Here is a good read on getting started in DCC
http://www.tonystrains.com/tonystips/dccprimer/index.htm
ratled
As others have indicated, it is not difficult to expand from a small DCC layout to larger one later. I did it myself on more than one occasion
I have to say that a book on DCC is not really necessary. I began with an 8’ x 12’ layout and gradually expanded to a 22’ x 42’ layout without the use of any books. There is so much information on the Internet, and DCC is fairly self-explanatory, that a beginner’s book on DCC is not really required.
Rich
A 4 by 4 layout really does not require more than just two wires to the track, if you lay your track properly and maybe solder than rail joiners.
I agree to Rich´s statement - a book about DCC is not necessary, if not impossible. Most of the info you need you will find in the user manual of the system of your choice, and a lot of that stuff is also specific to that system.
DCC sounds complicated, but it is not!
With DCC it’s more easy to expand your layout. You don’t have to worry about switching power blocks. Though it’s a good idea to have for a bigger layout with more operators to have power / booster districts. Thus a short will not cut down the whole layout.
Wolfgang
It’s easier to wire for DCC than for DC, in general. You don’t need to worry about “blocks” when using multiple throttles and running multiple trains. For a small layout, this is a big plus, because effectively “blocking” a table-sized layout is difficult, and with very small blocks you’d spend all of your time throwing toggle switches.
That said, it’s just as important, and maybe more so, to follow good procedures with regard to solid tracklaying and providing good power distribution with bus and feeder wires.
As a layout grows, you should consider isolating parts of it and using circuit breakers to protect the different sections. This makes troubleshooting easier, and allows part of your layout to keep running even if there’s a derailment elsewhere. On the other hand, it’s easy to get carried away with boosters and power districts. I’d imagine that many room-sized layouts are equipped with multiple boosters, which is just overkill in most cases.
From Experience with DCC:
The operating part of my layout is a mere 4 by 6 I use 4 wires 2 at each end to feed the layout. With regular maintenance (Ie track cleaning) I have never had an electrical problem on the tracks As ypu expand like the others has said you can divide the layout into power districts.
My Operating sessions are designed for one to three people with two throttels and a yardmaster/dispatcher station for switching (which is done seperately either manually or with analog remote turnouts in a few places where accesability is an issue.