DC and DCC

[Fog City Cannonball]

I'm about to purchase a Digitrax DCS 51.  None of my locos have DCC decoders yet.  I will convert them one at a time.   I know that I can control one DC loco with the DCS 51.  Will I still be able to control it independently of the converted locos that I will be adding to the layout?

[tstage]

Fog,

Welcome to the forum and to the wonderful world of DCC!  (Okay, had to check to find out which system you were talking about.)  The Digitrax DCS 51 (or Zephyr Xtra) will allow you to operate one (1) DC locomotive on address "00" while simultaneously operating other locomotives.

Enjoy your new acquisition, Fog...

Tom

[simon1966]

May I add my welcome also FCC

I am a long time Zephyr user, the old one DCS50,  and indeed you can run a DC locomotive independently of other DCC equipped locos.   What you do is select address 00 and this gives you control of the DC loco.   However, let me explain a little of what this experience may be like.......

First you will notice an immediate buzz or hum that comes from the DC loco as soon as you power up the track.   As you take control of the loco this buzzing will modulate up and down as you adjust the throttle.   To be honest, I find it a bit annoying.

Second, there is a lot of anecdotal information out there that suggests that this is actually not good for the motors.  Some have said that this can actually burn up a motor if the loco is left on the track for an extended time.   This has not been my personal experience, I have run many locos on 00, but it does not mean that it can't happen.   I do make a point of removing the loco from the track when I have finished running it.

Third, if you have been running the loco on DC before, you won't get the same performance, in terms of top speed, when comparing it running on the 00 of the DCC system.

I am a big fan of the Z, mine is approaching 8 years old now and has been expanded greatly over that time.   I find the 00 feature to be very useful for testing an analog loco prior to conversion to DCC and also use it for a nostalgic run of older models that are not really capable of being converted.   I think it is a useful feature, but not really a good long term solution for running DC locos.