I do not yet have DCC capabilities but have recently purchased a used engine equiped with a Digitrax Decoder on Ebay. It does not operate at all. Is that normal since I am not set up for DCC or can I assume the engine is defective?
Most decoders can be set so they will not run on a DC layout by changing one of the bits in Configuration Variable 29, and yours may have been programmed that way. Without a DCC system to test it on, there will be no way to know if you have a good locomotive or not. The only thing that might work on DC is the headlight.
You might be able to take the loco to a LHS or club and ask them to reprogram it for you to use DC.
BC