DCC

[celticsteam]

So as I am just getting underway on my trains, should I consider the DCC trains. I have somewhat limited space. For now, I will be using a 4x8 and plan to put two tracks on it.

[Doneldon]

celt-

I just put this on another post. I hope it's helpful.

Your trains almost certainly run on direct current (DC). The transformer for your Lionel equipment puts out alternating current (AC) so don't try to run HO trains with it. DC uses the polarity of the current and the current amplitude (level) to run the motors at different speeds in different directions. With DC, every motor on a given section of track (I mean a length of track which is electrically continuous, not a physical piece of track) will run the same direction and at more or less the same speed, depending on the construction and condition of the different locos on that track section. This isn't much fun so DC modelers break their layout's tracks into electrically-isolated "blocks" which permit more than one cab (power source or pack) to control different engines going different directions at different speeds on the layout. The wiring can get very complex.

DCC is quite different. With DCC, there is always a special form of full-power AC on the track. A command station, analogous to your old power pack in many respects, sends instructions to a special small PCB in each locomotive. That PCB is the decoder. It can tell which instructions are intended for it and which are not. The result is that you can send instructions to several locomotives on the same track and have them move in different directions, if desired, and at different speeds. The wiring for this is far less complex than is wiring a layout with blocks and DC. The trade off is that DCC costs more, quite a bit more. It is certainly the wave of both the present and future. And older locomotives can be updated to DCC, though they are often not worth the time and expense unless they have a particular sentimental value. If you decide to go with DCC at some time, research the available systems which will meet your current and anticipated needs and buy accordingly. Don't make this decision based on cost because the least expensive system will likely not meet your needs over time. There are folks on this board who will take great exception with that statement but they probably won't say anything here because my post is so long. As you go through topics here you'll see that there is a great deal of repetition. That's because lots of folks apparently don't read what others have written. I'm not stating that is true for everybody, but it's obviously true for many.

By the way, you can operate one DC loco on some DCC systems, including Bachmann's EZ Command, but it can be harmful to the loco's health to have a DC loco sitting on a DCC track for very long. Think magic smoke and strange odors.

Finally, think of DC as controlling your rails and DCC as controlling your trains. Hopefull, my descriptions of DC and DCC will help you
to understand that distinction.

                                                -- D