I want to have a yard with 4 trains in it. I will be running n scale trains. WIl I be better off runnging dc or dcc. I will have a main track with switches off that to smaller towns. I am just starting out and want to make the choice of what to go with before i get to far into it. There will only be one person at a time right now running the train. I would like to run 2 or 3 trains at a time.
What are my options ?
Your last sentence is the key to answering your question. When you say you want to be able to run 2 or 3 trains at a time, do you really mean you want to be able to have that many trains out on the main line or switching in the yard simultaneously? You'd be hard pressed to do that with DC control.
What I am thinking is 3 trains on running and they have to all leave the yard. trains a and b use main line to get to other locations. trains c keeps running main line.
I guess i am getting at if train A leave yard can I switch to train B then to control it or do I have to stop train A then control B. I am having a hard time figuring it all out. I don't want to just run A stop it put it back drive train B.
I hope this is clear....
You won't be able to do that with DC unless you have two or three separate power packs and all of your track wired into blocks and a control panel full of toggle switches, so setting the speed and direction of one train does not change the others.
With DCC you can change control from one locomotive to another using only one controller, and all of the other engines will continue to run at the speed and direction to which they were last set, using a 'recall' feature to scroll between the choices of locomotive numbers.
An NCE ProCab radio throttle, for example, can store 6 locomotive or consist numbers in its recall stack and when you switch from one to another they will all keep running at their last setting.
Perhaps a common saying about DCC will help you decide: With DC control you're running the track (continually varying the voltage and polarity on the rail); with DCC you're running the locomotives because each one has a microchip receiver with a unique address in it.
Wiring a layout for DCC operation is also much simpler and cheaper because you won't need a control panel full of toggle switches. The only panel you may need would be a small one for your powered turnout pushbuttons.
As noted with DCC it's as easy as a pair of wires. With DC it's a lot of work and time and you still never have it exactly the way you want it.
Springfield PA
I am really leaning to the dcc... The more i read the more i wonder why people dont want to change over.
Each situation is different. Some people have used DC for many years and have over a hundred loco's. They're also happy with the layout they have. Some run a small layout and don't need anything else. Whatever the reason in the end there are many more DC users than DCC.