DC to DCC

[Action11]

I need to know what is needed purchase to switch my HO scale GP38-2 train to run on DCC setup. I have the New England Central engine.

[rich1998]

Make sure you know what the motor current is at 12 vdc. Most decoders are one amp limit.
Make sure the two motor leads do not contact the pickups, frame halves. You may have to disconnect them after measuring the motor current. I had to when I did the Plymouth 0-6-0. I used a Digitrax DZ125 decoder. Now replaced by the DZ126. It is for hard wiring. Soldering. Nice and small.
Is the loco DCC ready? Does it have a 8 pin socket on a PC board.?
The definition of DCC ready can be iffy as some will note.
You gave us very little info. Brand and model and maybe a photo of loco with no shell could help.
Assuming Bachmann loco.
Sound decoder or no sound?

Rich

[jward]

Converting a loco from DC to DCC should be fairly easy if you have some basic electrical knowledge and experience with a soldering iron. Many locomotives do not have a DCC socket built in, so you'd have to hard wire them. On most installations, I suspect your loco is one, you will not need to do any frame modifications, though you'll have to take the loco apart.

Adding sound is another matter. Most likely, this will require some modification of the frame in order to place a speaker.

[Action11]

Thanks. I am just a beginner. I may just go all DC and send back my DCC engine and get another DC engine to go with the one I have.

[RAM]

Ok don"t send it back.  If you have a Bachmann locomotive with a bachmann decoder, it will run on DC.  What you would need to run on DCC would be a DCC controller.

What people were thinking was that you had a DC locomotive and you were wanting to change it to DCC.  If they have a dummy plug, you could pull the DDC decoder plug and replace it with the dummy plug and it would only run on DC.

[Action11]

What I have is a DC controlled engine and I ended up buying a DCC sound value engine. Found out I can't run them together without converting the DC one over or just run the DCC on the DC controller and not get the full effect. So I have to choose which way to go. Spend more money or trade back for two more DC engine to run together. Bottom line is , I wanted two to three engine to run tandem on the same oval track and get sound.

[rich1998]

Get a quality DCC controller that can program the different CV values for full DCC control and run at least three sound locos but it cab be loud at times.
My NCE Power Cab easily can do that but there are other sets available. I am right at the limit.
Check the specs first.

Rich