I am coming back to model railroading “after a layoff” many years. I have purchased some newer electrical handbooks, but DCC considerations will be new to me.
[1] Is it possible to use more than one brand of DCC products in a layout?
[2] Are some DCC brands sub-contracted and actually using the same DCC circuitry?
My proposed N-scale Conemaugh Road & Traction will be u-shaped in a room roughly 8’ x 9’ circa 1956 for steam and first generation diesel. In the absence of a potential connecting across-the-doorway bridge => There will be two corners and two ends to the layout with good “in between” track planning opportunities using multi-level planning.
The CR&T will actually be two layouts based on prototype inspiration:
1st railroad => The higher thru-traffic mountaintop Pennsy will be built as a double-level dogbone with a spur from Altoona staging to the Horseshoe Curve to Gallitzin & Tunnel Hill. As in the Gallitzin prototype, there will be a reverse loop option for helper units to go back to Altoona, or continue down the west slope into the Conemaugh Valley. The Pennsy will have a quite lengthy continuous-operation option around the layout into its lower level dogbone end.
2nd railroad => The separate freelanced point-to-point Conemaugh Road & Traction will be largely scratchbuilt vignettes using N-Cat standards. The CR&T will operate 25 scale feet lower than the Pennsy’s lowest level which in essence provides a “third level” to the multi-level layout. In the Conemaugh Valley, the Pennsy will only have upper rear access to a common passenger station with the CR&T’s lower front access at that 25 lower scale feet level.
The Pennsy section appears to be a good candidate for DCC wiring and operation. The “lower third-level” CR&T might be better-suited to the more traditional DC wiring, but a separate DCC system is still not out of the question (Yahoo nscaletraction has had some good discussion on this lately).
The answer to the first question is “sometimes.” Decoders are, for the most part, decoders that conform to a standard. While some have more or different features than others and different max. power ratings, a TCS decoder will work in a Digitrax environment, as will an Lenz or NCE and vice versa.
On the system itself, the answer is a qualified “no.” Whatever brand you wind up selecting, count on using their throttles. However, if you are looking at things like decoder programming hardware/software, they do not need to be from the same company (for instance, I think DecoderPro works on anything that will allow a computer to hook into it). There are other “yeses” and “nos” depending on what you are looking at.
As for the second question, some of the entry systems that appear to be “orphans” on the manufacturers product list (such as Atlas) are indeed made by somebody else (Lenz in the Atlas case, I believe). But the big makers (Digitrax, NCE, Lenz, EasyDCC) are their own products.
The real question for you is how many locos you envision operating at the same time on your layout. That will give you an idea of the maximum current draw at any one time, and point you towards which systems you should consider. You may be in the Digitrax Zephyr, NCE Powercab or equal range, or you could be pushing those to their capacity, even in N scale. Or you can start out with one of those and add a booster should your railroad need more “oomph.”
Essentially, all decoders will provide basic functionality with all DCC systems. There may be some additional features a decoder has that may not be supported by another makers DCC system, but I don’t think that’s really much of an issue for most N scale applications.
Throttles and boosters are not interchangeable, except that the Atlas systems are actually rebadged entry level Lenz systems, and EasyDCC is “interchangeable” within the EasyDCC family. Someone else may be able to give you more info.
Aside from the aformentioned Atlas/Lenz connection, there isn’t any subcontracting going on in the North American DCC market to my knowledge.
The primary concern for getting your first DCC system should be upgradeability and ergonomics. Put simply, do you like the throttle, and is the system a dead end (Bachmann, MRC Prodigy), or is it open ended. With the Bachmann system, as an introductory system its actually quite a nice little critter, for the price, but once you outgrow it, it has no value. With Atlas/Lenz, Digitrax, or the new NCE Powercab, their entry level systems can be incorporated into layouts using larger systems.
One suggestion on decoders: for wired decoders, go with a manufacturer that has a decent warranty.
Here’s a good way to put it as far as DCC compatibility goes. In general, anything DOWNSTREAM (on the track side) of the command station/booster is compatible. IE, I have a Digitrax system but use mostly TCS and NCE decoders. Anything UPSTREAM (throttle side) of the command station is generally NOT compatible between brands. IE, NCE throttles do not work on Digitrax.
Thank you to all for the DCC insight. You won’t find these perspectives in most articles. This simplicity you have pointed out in DCC branding compatibility will certainly help as layout planning progresses.