E-Z Command Controller: Run Both HO & N-Scale Locos. Simultaneously?

[Moose]

Greetings!  My brother would like to run both an HO scale locomotive and an N scale locomotive simultaneously using his new E-Z Command Controller. Is there any technical reason why he should not do so? Thank you in advance!

[railroadfun]

I Wouldnt Do It. Too Much Power Draw (depending on the number of locos). Then You Would Have To Make A Split and I Dnt Think The Ez Command Could Handle That. Your Best Bet Would Be To Have Two Seprate Systems.(in My Opinion) Now If You Have Already Figured Something Out Of How PossiblyTo Do It Then......well......... idk i would cunsult with a near by hobby shop and litteraly show them what you go and take their word for it. Or call an Expert.

[richg]

One HO loco and one N loco will not be a problem. The total current will be less than one amp.

Rich

[NarrowMinded]

I run two G-scale 0-4-0's with sound with a EZ-command and have no issues, (about 45' of track.

I also have run 1 on30 sound equipped with 2 non-sound on30 at the same time,

I also have run 7 N scale locos at one time with the Ez-command (57' of track)

and have run 3 HO scale with the Ez-command the n and HO don't have sound
you should be fine the only time I have had an issue is when track connections were poor.

NM-Jeff

[Doneldon]

Moose-

Your brother's EZ Command can easily handle one HO loco and one
N loco at the same time. I must admit to being more than a little
puzzled about why he would want to do this but it won't present a
problem.

                   -- D

[jward]

rrfun,

please refrain from posting things that you have no experience with or understanding of. in this case the advice wouldn't have hurt anybody. in a different situation, misinformation could cause somebody to destroy a rather expensive locomotive or command station.

as to the original poster, to answer the question:

dcc systems do not recognize the scale of the locomotive the decoder is in. to them it is just another decoder to control. this is why you can use z or n scale decoders in ho locomotives. so, as long as the current capacity of the ez command is not exceeded you can run locomotives of different scales at the same time. since the ez command uses plug in wiring, you will have to modify the connection between the ez command and the track. what i would do is cut the cable from the ez command and connect it to a terminal strip, then run individual connections to both tracks from this terminal strip.

[Moose]

Many thanks to all of you for your replies.

Mr. Ward, thank you very much for the explanation and advice. I have passed it on to my brother, and he will be quite pleased!

Mr D., my apologies for the puzzlement ... It would be difficult to explain my brother's layout predicaments, but sufficed to say, he has a very limited space in which to run trains, and, at this point in time, the trains are more for the enjoyment of the family in watching trains run than for modeling, performing railroad operations, etc. He has just enough space to have an N dog-bone within an HO oval.

[Joe323]

I do not see a problem My EZ command runs 2 sound equipped locos with 2 non sound locos idling (Even a Stationary loco draws a small amount of current).

[mf5117]

For the record .And I think I posted this before , I have ran 7 HO Locomotives at one time with my EZ command . An inner and outter dog bone with a switching yard and an incline to a pulp wood yard . I then wanted to do something a little different and put a seperate upper level loop and ran another extention cord I believe it was one of the red ones Bachmann sells off a terminal railer to a terminal railer on the upper level loop and worked well . Again I still use my EZ command to its full exstent . I will admit I did have an over current once , just had to much going on at one time . I had 3 gp-40's a 70 tonner sd45-2 and an FT-AB set running and a long string on the SD45-2 . The longer your strings and the bigger heavier the Loco the greater current draw you will have . Also if you have any setting idle make sure the throttle is set at 0 "zero" for that adressed Loco . they can sit at idle and have a little throttle and you wont know it . then all the sudden the magic smoke comes out and you smoke your decoder .

But running 2 HO's and an N you should be fine . Oh and watch how you plug the other track in as it will short make sure the polarity is the same and also make sure and read about plugging in your wall plug to your EZ command and then the connection to your track .... Have fun

[NarrowMinded]

Moose-

Your brother's EZ Command can easily handle one HO loco and one
N loco at the same time. I must admit to being more than a little
puzzled about why he would want to do this but it won't present a
problem.

                   -- D

Hey Donaldon,

Near where I live in Torrance there is a small live steam club 7-1/2", there is an active freight line that goes right past it, I have often thought of modeling  the clubs "layout" with a the line going past it, not sure if that part of his idea but theres a prototype...

[Doneldon]

Narrow-

Yes, I know. A friend has an N-scale train running around
a park on his O-gauge layout. It's pretty credible. He even
has open top cars with 1:48 figures riding them.

                                                                             -- D