DCC questions for someone who has been there!

[ndbprr]

OK. The 40' x 60' hole in the ground has been purchased and it even has a walk out area with a full garage door in the wall - eat your hearts out! I will be modeling one and 1/2 miles of the PRR mainline from North Philadelphia through Shore Tower in full scale which equates to roughly 90' of track in HO. The layout wil be six tracks and more wide through this area and the potential exists for 6-8 trains to be in on parallel tracks at one time. Yes I know that DCC doesn't require blocks but troubleshooting does and it isn't that much more trouble initially to isolate sections. Here are the questions:
1. Assume a block will be roughly 30-50' long since the ends will have reverse loop staging yards. Any concerns running a 50' long block six tracks wide?
2. I intend to break the railroad into three sections lengthwise each running with its own power source. Should I end feed the two end sections to the bus or center feed the power to the bus assuming that the main unit will be centrally located on the railroad?
3.Would you make the staging yards separate zones? For continuous running the two westbound mains will loop and become the two eastbound mains and vice versa at the other end making the railroad a big dogbone. I figure a minimum of four and possibly six trains could be continuously run while the two outside tracks (ought and five track and Pennsy speak) are switched by crews. This is the standard railroad of the world and train volume was astronomical when I was a kid in Philly. Fortunately modeling the railroad full scale allows me to run a real time clock instead of a fast clock. Choosing the time of day will be critical to maximise freight and passenger trains without overwhelming the operators. The clockers and name trains alone let alone the PRSL and commuter trains could get out of hand very quickly. Then there are the freights mostly heading for DC since the east west ones would take the Trenton cut off most of the time. Any other thoughts appreciated.

[johncolley]

I don't know if you have thought about it yet, but is your staging going to take up the block on either side of your house? Where are all those trains coming from or going to?

[cacole]

For the number of main lines you have planned, I would advise having each main line on its own separate power booster, so if you do have any electrical problems the entire layout will not be shut down. Each booster is usually limited to 3 Amps output, depending on the brand of DCC system in use. This will be enough to operate triple- or quadruple-headed trains if necessary, and perhaps even have a second train running in the same block. A 3 Amp booster would probably not be enough power to run all of the main lines simultaneously, however. I have successfully ran up to 9 Proto 2000 GP9s as a single consist, but I think I was really pushing the envelope on the power booster's output.

[Anonymous]

I agree with putting each main line on a separate power district, you might also want to consider a separate power district for each staging yard, if the yards are large.

[dehusman]

NCE uses a 5 amp booster and some others can go up to 10 amps.

Dave H.

[ndbprr]

So if I read the asnwers correctly make each mainline one continuous loop for the length of the railroad. Any concerns with transmission losses over that length? In regard to the number of trains a four hour operating session would have eight clockers - one each way per hour, some commuter traffic, mostly north south freight traffic - one to three trains per hour and locals switching the 88 industries in that section. Now if I model the four hours around 8PM at night I have all the east west name trains to consider which doesn't seem so smart. But no the staging won't fill the next block. It is going to be 12-16 tracks at either end ranging from 30" radius on the center to 60" radius on the outside. The goal is to replicate something full size instead of compromising on anything. Even the turnouts will be handmade #16-20. Obviously if I am running it alone two trains will be about all I can handle. But operating it could be lots of fun. The staging loops will be just beyond North Philadelphia tower at the west end and Shore tower at the east end so the towermen can handle the staging and handoffs just like the PRR. I am an empty nester in my 50's and this is my chance to try to build one big railroad before retiring. I have some other ideas I want to try on it also like putting the towermen in mock ups of the actual towers and forcing the perspective so they have to view the trains through the tower windows. Also want to make the buildings on the viewing side of clear styrene and scratch the windows and doors into the surface to represent the building and being able to see through it. Maybe some very light coloring to represent brick etc. Tis isn't going to be up and running in 90 days :-).

[cacole]

You will need multiple power feeds on your track for reliable operation, especially with DCC. Power losses due to the length of a line are not as much of a problem as poor rail joints. When I wired a 20 x 40 foot HO-scale club layout, I soldered a power feed at every flex track joint. Every other joint has the power feed wires soldered at the rail joiner, with alternate rail joiners unsoldered to allow for rail expansion/contraction with changes in the weather. At the unsoldered rail joiners, there are still feeder wires, but they are soldered to the rail ahead of the joiner.

Something else to consider -- never solder a turnout. A turnout is the only track item with moving parts, and if anything is ever going to need replacement, it will be a turnout. Removing a soldered turnout can result in having to replace track leading up to it because it's extremely difficult to remove the turnout without cutting rail.

[ndbprr]

Intend to feed every track in the center rather than the joints. Have been buying track on E Bay and drilling holes for some time.