I’ve heard that a DC engine can be run on # 00. My question is: how well does this work? What are the limitations?
Most importantly, can a 00 engine run simultaneously with other (DCC) engines?
Hal
yes you can run a dc loco on dcc by selecting 0 as the address. the loco will make a singing type of high pitched whine but will not damage it. you can mu a dc loco with one with a decoder. the one thing you must not do is leave the dc loco on a dcc powered track if it is not running. the loco could overheat and will creep along the track by itself and the headlights will be very bright and you will not be able to turn them off.
I have a Zephyr system that offers this feature.
First of all you can run a DC loco on 00 at the same time as other DCC locos are running.
A DC loco will generally run slower on 00 than on a DC throttle. If you are in to blasting your trains around the track you won’t like it. If you are after more prototypical speeds then it is fine.
Depending on the motor, you will also get a noticable whine noise that modulates up and down as the loco speeds up and slows down.
There are some that say that a loco can be damaged if left on the track stationary. I have not had any damage personally, but I also don’t leave them sitting there just in case.
I find the feature to be helpful for testing out locos before adding a decoder and for occasionally running locos that are older and that I do not intend to upgrade to DCC.
I run both of my favorite brass engines this way. When I switched over to DCC, I left some of the old DC blocks in place so I have dead tracks to park them on. When I want to run one, I turn the block on, select 00 on one of my throttles and away we go.
If I would have known how easy it was, I would have switched to DCC much sooner.
I have witnessed my own locos start to creep down the track on their own, so I always park the unused DC engines on a track that has a switch to kill the power. I have these isolated sections at my workbench & on each of the tracks around my turntable. I use a DPDT (double pole double throw) switch to isolate these sections & make them capable of being used as programming tracks. I find it very handy to have the programming capability at the round house to change CV settings & to MU units together & apart. I have a UP panel with a throttle bus hookup right by my engine service facility to make it easy to program locos because you must have the throttle plugged in on the Digitrax system in order to be program capable. I sometimes run two DC engines on the same 00 address. I have not tried three although I think the system could handle it. I think it could probably handle five because each loco usually pills one amp when running except for a couple of muy older open frame motors. tweet.
Thanks, guys; I appreciate your answers.
Hal