What are the minimum power requirements for 2-Rail.....

[Anonymous]

locomotives with DC or DCC. I am a 3-rail operator that would like to get back into 2-Rail in a larger scale. I made the transition from HO to O, but would like to get into DCC through 2-Rail oscale. I would like to start off with a 2-rail diorama to experiment with DC/DCC operation and move up from there. If I were to want to run 1-2 loco's at a time, what type of power would I need? I will go with manual switches so the power if just for motive power. Any good recomendations for a good starting point for a DCC system? Would the DCC come with it's own power suplly or would I need to add more power? I am a bit confused on this issue....

Thanks,
Michael

[palallin]

A number of Yahoo groups are dedicated to 2-rail O, including Otrains, OSCALEMODELERS, Oscalekings, O_scale_model_railroading, oscalers, oscaletrains, and OSCALEYARDSALE.  You will likely find more answers there than here, for the emphasis here is on 3-rail O, not 2-rail, and other less fussy scales and forms of model railroading.

DCC is certainly viable in O scale, but, as you probably suspect, you cannot translate an HO system directly into O, as the power requirements are much higher (though HO systems can be fairly readily adapted for On30 trains).  Still, some of the more robust HO equipment can by used for light duty in O.  You'll need to think about whether you're planning on running plastic diesels or brass steam, for example. 

Good Luck!

[lionelsoni]

For what it's worth, the DCC standards are the same for HO, S, and O scales:

http://www.nmra.org/standards/DCC/standards_rps/S-91-2004-07.pdf

You might be interested in Dave Vergun's experiment using radio-controlled-airplane equipment to operate O-scale trains on 2 rails.  He has posted a lot of description and pictures on this forum.

[jefelectric]

A lot of O scale guys frequent the Atlas forum, seems to be a very nice crowd.

http://forum.atlasrr.com/

After you click the link, you need to select forums & then O scale.

[phillyreading]

Don't know that much about two rail just that MTH makes the claim that the DCS system can be used for DC electric operation. As most guys mentioned you will need more power than the DC power packs from the HO side of the hobby, most three rail take up to five amps to operate correctly(maybe more than five amps at times) and I would think that will apply to two rail also, so I would think that a G gauge power supply may be helpful for you.

Lee F.

[chuck]

Digitrax makes high current devices for larger scale trains, there are now 20 amp units available.  Some of the components have switches on them to select N, HO, or O/G. 

Most two rail O stuff uses large can motors that don't pull as much current as the older 3 rail open frame units did.   The trains also tend to be lighter and pull less current, more along the lines of G scale.

You can probably get by on a 5 amp "set" for a small set up.  If you want to go with DCC, check with a shop that specializes in two rail, O gauge.  The only one I've run into is P&D in Michigan,


http://www.pdhobbyshop.com/