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DC/DCC

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  • Member since
    July 2003
  • From: Sierra Vista, Arizona
  • 13,757 posts
Posted by cacole on Saturday, December 25, 2004 9:27 PM
We have crossovers up the kazoo on the layout, both single and double, and even a double slip switch or three. Use Peco turnouts and crossovers and the only thing you have to do is insulate the rails between the two turnouts, or insulate the rails one one side of the crossover for a double crossover. For crossovers that serve as turn-arounds by allowing trains to reverse their direction of travel around the layout, polarity reversing toggle switches were necessary in order to prevent trouble when running under DC block control.
  • Member since
    January 2013
  • 180 posts
Posted by 2021 on Saturday, December 25, 2004 8:55 PM
cacole, Thanks for the info, but what do you do at crossovers (I'm assuming a double track layout)? Do you just isolate then or have you avoided crossovers altogether?
Ron K
  • Member since
    July 2003
  • From: Sierra Vista, Arizona
  • 13,757 posts
Posted by cacole on Friday, December 24, 2004 7:58 PM
I wired the Cochise & Western Model Railroad Club's 20x40 foot HO scale layout with dual control. For people who do not have decoders in their locomotives, the layout can be operated using DC block control and the Cooler Crawler transistorized throttle system that appeared in a Mainline Modeler magazine February 1995 issue. By flipping a switch on the control panel, the layout can be run using DCC and that system's hand-held walk-around controllers.
  • Member since
    January 2013
  • 180 posts
Posted by 2021 on Thursday, December 23, 2004 10:39 AM
Tom, Thanks for the reply and I am aware of the capability to run at least one DC loco on a DCC system. I was really interested in running more than that and letting my rather active grandson run the DC while I operate the DCC system more inticatly than just doing loops.
Ron K.
Moderator
  • Member since
    June 2003
  • From: Northeast OH
  • 17,249 posts
Posted by tstage on Wednesday, December 22, 2004 10:28 PM
Ron,

I don't know if you are aware but most DCC systems will allow you to run at least one (1) DC (or un-decoded) locomotive on a DCC layout. (The Digitrax Zephyr has two ports.) If you could be happy with that situation then I would go ahead and wire everything up for DCC. Seems to me it would be a much simpler wiring setup and far less of a headache that way - if your scenario is indeed possible.

Hope that's helpful...

Tom

https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling

Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.

  • Member since
    January 2013
  • 180 posts
DC/DCC
Posted by 2021 on Wednesday, December 22, 2004 10:03 PM
I'm in the process of building a double track, 20x15 layout based on the main line of the N&W. I was going to go purely DCC and then got thinking about all the DC Locomotives and gimic trains (e.g. Thomas the Tank) and realized I would not be able to run them on the new layout (I don't intend to put decoders in everything). What I would like to do is run the inside track on DCC only, but run the outside track using a DPDT switch to go back and forth using either DCC or DC. Has anyone done this and how feasible does it sound. I realize I can't use tack crossovers since I don't want to mix signals. Comments?
Thanks, Ron K

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