Been in the planning stage for a couple years now, and I’ve pretty much decided on MR’s City of Wauwatoga from MR which just fits the space I have available, comes close to the operational possibilities I’m looking for. That is, with one side and end against basement walls, fits just right in the 10 X 14 space I have, has the capability to have 2 trains running at the same time, with staging for at least 2 more trains in each direction, has a small engine terminal with roundhouse and turntable, looks to be just right for my Atlas TT and RH, and finally has an interesting small industrial switching area. Uses #6 switches, and a minimum mainline radius of 26 inches. Lots of long scratch or cross kitted cars. Only negative is the 3.5% grades, but I don’t have a whole lot of room to avoid the grade.
My question is about powering the layout. I have a large number of straight DC locos, and maybe 6 with multi mode DCC recievers. Being retired and on a fixed income, I’m not about to dump the DC locos and the transistorized power packs and replace them with all DCC, or even outfit the locos with DCC Recievers. Can the two types of control be wired in to operate at the same time, or possibly segments of the layout, like maybe the industrrial area be switchable so I at least have some DCC? I have also considered converting a couple multi-unit diesels to RC, especially with the new small 2.4 GHz radios and high capacity LiPo batteries.
This would be about my 10th layout in 59 years, and probably the last. I kind of got wondering about what used to be called Command Control from an early article in a 1960s MR.
There is no way to mix DC and DCC on the same track without risking burning up the DCC system and/or the decoders.
You can use two isolated loops and run DC on one and DCC on the other. With a double pole double throw switch you can switch between the two, but you would have to remove all the DC locos when running DCC and vice versa or keep them in sidings that can be switched off just as you would for DC anyway.
I put off switching to DCC for several years, (I am also on a fixed income), because I had over 40 DC engines to convert. I finally decided I didn’t have to convert them all at once, I did a few each month and in less than a year, (actually about 6 months) they were all done. I went with NCE fleet decoders (D13 series) @ $12.00 each in four or ten packs, (they’ve gone up a bit to about $15 each). These are high quality non sound decoders. Digitrax and TCS also have their versions of fleet decoders.
Some DCC systems will allow one “channel” to be used for DC locomotives and the Digitrax system even lets you use up to two DC power packs as additional stationary throttles. So there’s lots of options when it comes to converting to DCC. It doesn’t have to be a buy-it-all-at-once situation, you can do it in steps and spread the cost over time. For me the only regret I have, is not doing it sooner. My old dreams of individual control of my engines and trains has come true. It really is cool!
You will burn something out if you try to mix DC and DCC ont he same layout.
Many have tried and complained of burning something out!!!
I am on a fixed income as well and when I got back into the hobby 6 years ago, I went DC {cheaper} after 3 locos and realizing that DCC wiring was FAR less complicated, I opted to go DCC ONLY. I boxed up my DC locos {and will sell someday online} so I WOULD NOT be confused as my DCC controller will run 1 DC loco on it.
I did NOT want to risk frying anything so I use DCC locos ONLY on my DCC only layout. I can fry a toaster just taking it out of the box!
So I would recommend saving your pennies for DCC only equipment and setting up the layout on the DCC plan only.
My opinion, choices, experience, ideas. Others may vary.
I too, would echo his comments with one caveat. Most DCC locomotives have dual mode decoders in them; meaning you can run them in either DCC or DC. If you have DCC with sound, you’ll have SOME of the sound features, but not all.
But to run DC equipment, you’ll have to be able to toggle your track power between the two. NEVER run DC equipment with DCC. 1) the voltage is too high, and 2) most of them use AC instead of DC. The decoder changes it to DC and regulates the voltage. That’s why you must electrically isolate the motor from the track/loco frame. Plus, you can imagine what happens to your 1.5 volt grain of wheat bulbs when you apply 13 volts to it.
David’s right. And my 12-point Ariel font isn’t strong enough to point that out, so I’m glad he did it.
If you don’t have much experience with DCC, there’s something you’ll find out about it. It’s really great. I came back to the hobby about 8 years ago, after a 40 year hiatus. I, too, planned to wire my layout for some sort of dual-mode operation. I plugged along with DC for a while, but a small financial windfall convinced me to get a DCC system a bit ahead of schedule. I read the manuals and installed my first decoder in a professional, workmanlike manner, and then I turned it on. Suddenly, I was an 8-year-old kid again. I stood there and ran that one subway car back and forth on a short stretch of track, not even a loop, for about an hour.
When I grew up again the next day, I took the DC power pack and put it under the table, never to run trains again. Such is the magic of DCC. You’ll find that your DC engines don’t get run, and you only want to run DCC. And in a few years, after you’ve converted most of your older engines, you’ll see a thread very much like this one, and you’ll answer the same way I did.
My test track has both DC and DCC. I just unclip one or the other when using. So here is what I do… I use 3 Atlas 205 connectors, 1 MRC 1370 DC power pack and 1 Bachmann EZ command DCC setup. I just unhook one side of the connector when not in use. So if I am running DC the DCC is completely un hooked and vice versa. The DCC control will allow for 1 dc unit to run but I never do it and some of my DCC locos will also run on DC. it works for now until I get everything converted to DCC, if I ever do.
Yes, it can be done, although not at the same time. Really, though, it’s a headache. Besides, the cost hurdle of getting into DCC is largely imaginary. Yes, I know those of us who’ve been around for a while hate the thought of throwing away anything which still has potential use in it (like a DC power pack).
A couple of years ago, I spent about $100 on a DCC starter set and a decoder, then I spent most of a Saturday installing a DPDT switch and isolating sidings so I could run both DCC and DC locos at different times. 30 minutes on Sunday morning saw the decoder installed (a plug in to a DCC-Ready DC loco), and I decided to try it out. I finally came up for air (and food) about 4 hours later. You know what? I never ran another DC loco ever again. My 12 DC locos were either retired or upgraded to DCC. My LHS will install a decoder for $10 if you buy it from them, meaning that a DCC upgrade set me back about $25 per loco… hardly a budget buster. Yes, some of my locos sat on the sidelines for several months as I saved up enough money to do the conversions (my hobby budget is $50 a month), but it was worth it.
I ran both for a while in DC. It was a problem. I then went to DCC with radio. Best toy in the train room. For a while I ran some DC locos on the DCC. The trick is to have a place to park them when not being run where the current can be turned off. A DPST switch in an isolated block will do it. That worked for a while and I still have a couple a DC locos parked on spurs with no power, though I no longer run any of them. Puttine DCCin old engines can be done, even I have put sound decoders in three brass engines. It is time consuming, but not hard. Learning to solder was the hardest part.