I would invest in a system like the Digitrax Zephyr. It is expandable to accept more throttles and wireless controllers. Using a DPDT toggle switch you can also retain the ability to run straight DC on one or both of your mains. Using a decoder motor output to control trains is not a good idea. A quick short circuit would destroy the decoder. My club has the ability to run both DC and DCC on seperate mains. When a mistake is made allowing a DCC loco to move into a DC ares no damage was done to the decoder or the DCC system (Digitrax Super Chief 8 amp). It may trip the command stations circuit breaker. Amplifying the sound output of a decoder to a room sized sound system may be doable as long as you don't overload the decoders output
Murphy lives in that small gap between your main lines, where you insulate the crossover track so that you keep DC on one side and DCC on the other. Sooner or later, an engine or metal-wheeled car will bridge the gap, and something will be toast. The most likely candidate is your DCC system.
I'd evaluate all of those DC engines. How well do they run? How many of them do you actually still run? If it's more of a nostalgia thing, there are DCC systems that support DC operation, although it's a poor substitute. On my Lenz system, I can dial up "Engine Zero" and DC engines will run, and I can increase and decrease the speed, and switch direction. They generally run slower than on true DC, and they make an annoying buzzing sound, but they will run.
As I acquired a few sound engines, I quickly discovered that my non-sound engines spent all their time in the roundhouse, or parked on a siding. So, I began upgrading from "plain DCC" to sound. I suspect that you may already be heading down this path. Good-running DC engines can be converted relatively easily, and adding sound isn't out of the question, either.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
That won't work because every DC engine that is on a live track would be running at the same time -- you'd be no better off than you are now with straght DC control. Get a complete DCC system or continue with what you have now.
I was in the same situation as you years ago when we converted our large HO scale club layout so it could run either DC or DCC, in that I had many older locomotives that needed decoders.
Over the years, I converted those that I used regularly and put the rest away or into a railway museum setting because I realized that there were many that I didn't run enough to justify the cost and effort required to convert them to DCC.
By the way, it's interesting to note that many club members were resistant to DCC when it was first installed on the club layout. Today no one runs DC locomotives except to test them when first purchased at a train show, and then they ask me to install a decoder. I never purchase anything today that is not "DCC Ready" or has DCC/Sound factory installed. My older Tyco, Mantua, and Model Die Casting locomotives are never ran.
Hello all. I'm new to this forum. Here's an idea I'd like some feedback on. I have not seen anything mentioned about it in the past, anywhere. I currently have a small layout, with two mainlines. But someday it will grow! I now have 11 locomotives with sound - 10 with QSI and now 1 with Paragon2. And more P2 locomotives are on the way... And I have over 50 other DC locomotives that I occasionally run. I've been very happy with my QSI locomotives and running only DC, but the new P2 locomotive suggests I should upgrade to DCC soon. I don't have the same control over it that QSI does. I'm certainly intrigued by MRC's new dual-mode Tech6 controller with 6 amps, especially with it's remote-control capability. But before I buy one, I suspect it might be better to just invest in the real-deal - going to full DCC. I know that once I go DCC I may "never look back" but I can't seem to commit to the idea of converting all my other locos, some of which are quite old. I also am very interested in "wireless" remote control of my locomotives, which does not appear to be readily available for DC. So here is my question/idea:
Would taking a large-scale decoder, (I model in HO) and hard wiring it in-line between a DCC system's output, and then taking it's DC output and sending that to track - work? I figure a large-scale decoder could handle the amps of a 2-3 train DC consist. And I could use a wireless remote controller set to the decoder's address - to control any DC locomotive(s) on the track. I would get the benefit of wireless remote control of my DC locomotives, without having to re-wire them all and spend the $$ on decoders. I would of course use center-off DPDT switches to switch the decoder in and out of one or both of the mainlines. (Might need to do some really fancy wiring though with a rotary switch, as I know I don't want the cross any of the AC with the DC from the opposing mainlines). If so - would one DCC system or decoder be best to work with? I also was thinking - it could be fun to send the sound output of that decoder to a room sound system - so all my DC locos could then have sound too?
Bill Olsen