Been awhile since I last post, so a quick recap is a must.
Been working on my Chicago Central & Illinois Railroad up until last November when a friend gave me a great idea.
My friend (who works in the teamster union and who doesn’t want his name known) suggested that we buy cheap land in a western state to build a vacation compound which will also include a large model railroad building that will house a large N scale layout.
With the Digitrax Zephyr being the prefer controller and with an estimate 100+ or so DCC equipped locomotives that will be operated on the layout, if I choose to use the say 3 or 5 DCS200 8 amp boosters around the layout, would that be enough to operate the entire layout locomotive collection?
My friend list of locos consist of
GG-1s
T-1s
Other PRR diesel locomotives
Mine consist of:
(2) 0-6-0s
(1) 0-8-0
(2) 4-8-4s
(2 each) 4-10-2 and 4-10-4 (Custom made)
(1) C420HH
(2) 8-40B
(2) 9-44CW
(2) E7As
(2) E8/9As
(1) GP7
(1) GP9
(1) GP18
(1) GP18HH
(1) GP20
(1) GP20HH (get body modified)
(2) MP-15
(4) NW2s
(1) RS-11
(2) S-2
(2) S-4
(1) SD26
(1) SD35
(1) SD35HH
(1) SD38
(2) SD38-2
(4) SD40-2
(2) SD45
(2) 2-8-8-4
(1) SW8
(1) SW9/12
I also want to add the CNW, IC, RI, SP, and Wabash All-time diesel locomotives to the layout.
So my question is, if i get the Digitrax Zephyr and the 8 amp booster pack, would we be able to run the layout with enough power to use all the locomotives?
Probably way more than enough. But why use 8 amp boosters in N scale? I can already see locos melting into little pools of plastic and metal in the event of a short.
Generally, you’ll be better off sticking to 5 amp boosters. All of those locos will never be in the same power district at once, I trust. If you think there will be places where more locos could be at once, then simply make the districts smaller and use extra 5 amp boosters to accommodate.
IF the layout is wired properly then the circuit breaker in the Command Station or Booster will trip instantly!
BUT !
As most Layout Owners on the Forums over the years want to CUT CORNERS on the wiring and then this is how ONE person has had this happen to them (melthing down of a piece of equipment)!
SO NOW everyone will have this happen!
And while there is always a chance of things happening even with a 5 amp power or even 3 amps!
And WHERE is the person/Operator at during this Derailed engines???
Standing around BSing instead of watching his equipment!
If the engines melts down then the person that was supposed to be watching the engine should be replacing the engine as it was his fault for not seeing the derailments in the first palce!
Why do we have to build things to cover the lowest common demonator!
In the 12 plus years I have been having OPs Sessions and have over 90 engines on the layout and 20 plus Operators we have never had this SO CALLED Melting down of an engine!
Although the entire layout is wired with #12 or better wire and the track is sectioned into fairly small blocks each protected by its own circuit breakers might just have something to do with it!
Every time someone takes a short cut is when ol’ Murphy is standing right there ready to cause havoc!
Mr. LMD,
We have to clear some stuff up with your nomenclature.
The $225 Digitrax Zephyr (DCS50) is a command station & 3 amp booster with a built in throttle. It can have the command station turned off and used only as a booster & throttle. This runs up to 22 addresses at one time.
The $305 DCS200 is the 8 amp version of the Digitrax Chief system “brain”, and is a command station & booster. You never have more than one command station online at any time. This runs up to 120 addresses at one time.
If you want boosters, then you need the $180 DB150 (5 amp) or $200 DB200 (8 amp) boosters. The DB150 is also a command station & booster (used on the Digitrax Empire Builder starter set), while the DB200 is only a booster.
Most people prefer walk around throttles instead of stationary ones like on the Zephyr. Digitrax currently makes two types: the UT4 and the DT402. Both throttles are available in tethered, simplex radio (R) or duplex radio (D).
With your list of engines, do you plan on running all these engines at once? You really only have to have enough power to run all the engines you plan on running at the same time. Non-sound engines on sitting on the track consume little or no power.
mlehman,
Have you ever seen an engine melt? I actually have. It was protected by a 3 amp breaker. The engineer running it ran into a switch thrown against him, but didn’t know it. He left the throttle up and sat there for 15-20 min. waiting for someone to fix the short. After that long, the wires from the decoder to the motor heated up from the constant re-setting of the circuit breaker and put a pencil-sized hole right in the side of an Atlas GP38.
And this was just a 3 amp breaker. If an engine is going to melt, 5 or 8 amps makes no difference.
@mlehman Thank you. I read the 8amp specs and I figure I would need the 8 amp to be allow to use all the locos my friend and myself are planning on using.
We do not plan on having them all run at once, but we also do not want to store them away which might cause us to forget about them. The layout will have four national or whatever regions: West, south, east, and central. My friend loves the PRR so his locos and equipment will be based in on the eastern shores while I love the central where the Illinois falling flags Railroads used to run and operate. His son will operate the western region to ensure we all have fun on the layout.
Thank you for clearing up my confusion as I was only wondering if I should buy the 8amp or another product from Digitrax. I want to be able to have all the locos on the layout in various locations and to answer your question, we do not intent on having them all run at the same time because that would be suicide and a mess.
We want to be able to have locos DCC installed (or equipped) and have them say in a roundhouse or sitting in a yard to give the appeareance of a busy railroad. I know I worded it weird or wrong in my post, but I really just wanna know which booster to use so my friend and I can buy the correct product and have all the locos on the layout so when one of us wanna use another loco we can just click to the desired one and use it.
To the three modelers who commented, thank you for your advice and words. I was just wondering which product I should get to ensure my friend and myself as well as his son can have all our loco collection on the layout without taking them out of storage. Have a great modeling or railfanning.
It’s one of those places you go when you win the all-inclusive vacation contest. This particular resort is called Grandiose and is located in Delusional, Colorado.
No, I haven’t seen an engine melt, have heard about it. Have had a truck melt and that was with just 5 amps available. I’d bet your buddy might have smelled that GP38 and shut things down sooner if the layout was running 8 amps instead of 3. Same results, I’d bet, though.
There’s just no reason to melt faster – or to invest in extra amperage – when you’d be better served by a more robust install, when there actually is no need for the extra amperage. Certainly, if you plan on running 8 amps, then you should upgrade the bus wiring, etc. But DCC installs for large layout are much better done with more boosters, rather than fewer ginormous ones. YMMV
8 amps has its place, but it’s usually O scale or bigger – and not even really needed in many cases there.
Myth? I don’t think so, Bob. Paul related one case. I’ve heard of others. And you then proceed to point out the real myth – which is that the protective feature in the command station or other methods mean nothing bad can happen. Wiring is the key. Sure, if it’s right, then no melthing locos likely. But how many of us, particularly on a large layout, can claim to have tested every foot of track?
Yeah, in a perfect DCC world, no locos would ever melt. But that’s some other planet.
zstripe I call it a vacation home, my friend call it our future home location lol.
We call it whatever we feel funny at the time. Me and him are going to be working union jobs around the country so we won’t be able to sit down and operate the layout until we self finance everything.
Actually Maxman, it’s a title my friend and myself labled our future home so if anyone is looking to bother us we just tell them that and no it’s not in Colorado.
Why don’t You and Your friend invest in this ‘‘vacation compound’’. I believe it may still be available. Then You could invite all us gooda friends at MRR to play with trains and relax.
Yeahhh I don’t know about that. Too many attention seekers, morons, and know it all on the site. Every post I make there’s a couple if not more of those types of people trying to look cool even when everyone else is on track and keeping the conversation strictly on topic and not belittling.
What I do know is we’re buying 10-40 acres with the layout houses on an acre large enough to model the entire united states in miniature hence the reason why i posted the question i did. the only railroads we are using is the fictional Boston & Eastern Pennsylvania (the name i gave for my friend’s railroad), the chicago central & illinois railroad (mine), many regional and short line railroads I created from defunct railroads cities using wikipedia.
I didn’t say any such thing. There’s nothing about “will” melt down. There is a bit of florid imagery. My apologies if using an image in my mind had you thinking a power supply would literally melt your loco when it hit the rails. Now, who would start rumors like that, I haven’t the faintest???
Besides, how would you advertize such a monster?
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