trying to get back into the hobby

[Anonymous]

I had a eight foot by 16 foot ho scale rr and then my parents split and lost everything but I am going to start over now and I have no idea what dcc is and am trying to research it but am only getting bits and pieces? The only thing I have is two power packs a tech two railpower 1400 and a tech two loco-motion 1500 with momentum and brake control I was planning on using one for train control and one for accesories what I have been reading is scaring me that I will not have enough power to do anything with

[Big_Boy_4005]

Don't worry about power. Your power needs are determined by your layout size, and the number of trains you will be running at the same time. Worry about designing and building a layout first. As for DCC, it stands for Digital Command Control, and is a cool innovation that allows more than one train to operate in an electrical block with independent controls. Using DCC makes wiring your layout easier.

[Anonymous]

Recommended Reading:

Digital Command Control by Stan Ames, Rutger Frigerg, and Ed Loizeaux
Authored by members of the NMRA DCC working group the established today's DCC Standards. A very comprehensive book that covers all the basics in detail and then some. The book is a little dated due to rapid advances in technology, but still a very good DCC book.

The Digitrax Big Book of DCC by Digitrax
Obviously oriented toward Digitrax products, but the DCC concepts presented are applicable to any DCC system. Good reading, easy for beginners to understand DCC concepts. Comprehensive.

DCC Made Easy by Lionel Strang
Good beginners book. This book is very good at presenting the basics of DCC.


These books can be found at your Local Hobby Shop, or the LHS can order them for you. They can also be obtained from Walthers (www.walthers.com). The DCC Made Easy book can be ordered from Kalmbach / Model Railroader from a link on the Trains.com website.

Happy Railroading,

Dale B.

[Anonymous]

thank you for your replies