DCC for reversing (streetcar) track?

[gmhtrains]

Will the reversing (streetcar) trackage still reverse if powered by DCC? I don't believe that the streetcar is DCC-ready, but I will be using a Plymouth gas-mechanical locomotive instead in an industrial setting.

[JohnR]

In DCC, the direction of travel is determined by the decoder; not by the polarity on the rails.   In other words, no.  The reversing ability of the track is tied to DC power.

-John

[railtwister]

Tricky question. If your Plymouth is equipped with a dual mode decoder, like most of the 'DCC on-board' Bachmann locos are, then it will probably work on the DC reversing system used in the streetcar set, but it will be running as a DC locomotive, not DCC. If it's not a dual mode decoder, it probably won't run at all on DC. If you try hooking up a DCC power system to the streetcar set (and there's really no good reason to do this), even if the loco runs, it won't reverse, because the reversing action in the streetcar set comes from switching the polarity on the rails rather than using a DCC signal.

Bill

[gmhtrains]

Thanks for the input. Looks like I will use one source for DC power to the reversing shuttle track, and make the first use of my E-Z Command DCC system for the rest of the 3'x3' micro layout. The entire scene is enclosed within tall, brick manufacturing buildings. One-car trains will shuttle among seven loading spurs and a backstage storage yard. The layout will have one Atlas HO turntable in front, and a sector plate and traverser behind the backdrop. In fact, the entire staging yard will be on the traverser. The reversing track on an upper level will keep something moving when the ground level train is backstage preparing for its next appearance. The layout, with a 1"x2" lip around the bottom edge, is designed to fit over a standard card table. Current drafts call for 8" radius curves. If that doesn't work, I'll switch to shorter cars.

Gil