I concur with the others. The DCC power to the track has NOTHING to do with the turnout control circuits. Just leave them as they have been working in the past.
I have an NCE PRO cab and it has power protection. I believe the Power cab should also.
And finally, no. I don't believe that as few of trains as you are running will require a booster. Well unless perhaps you are running 5 powered units on each . I don't know what size power supply the Power Cab comes with but anything over 3 AMPS should handle your situation.
I agree with MisterBeasley.
However, if you do have a problem with your locomotives slowing down on your layout when you get fartherest away from the Power Cab, you may want to install heavy bus wires (AWG 12 or 14) under your layout and tie all the track into them. Particularly if you are using telephone wire for track power from your old power pack.
What the heavy bus wire does is allow more current to the entire layouts track work without reducing the track voltage. This allows for better DCC operation when using multiple locomotives in the same area. So before you actually rewire anything (unless you ARE using telephone wire) , just keep an eye on what your locomotives are doing.
Elmer.
The above is my opinion, from an active and experienced Model Railroader in N scale and HO since 1961.
(Modeling Freelance, Eastern US, HO scale, in 1962, with NCE DCC for locomotive control and a stand alone LocoNet for block detection and signals.) http://waynes-trains.com/ at home, and N scale at the Club.
You can leave your turnouts exactly the way they are, and they will work fine. Although DCC lets you control turnouts from your throttle, you aren't forced to do that. I run all my turnouts from control panels with toggles, the old fashioned way.
As long as you have good wiring, you should not need a booster, and the circuit breaker in your Power Cab should be adequate. Again, though, dividing your layout into sections and isolating them with separate breakers is an option.
One suggestion, though. Buy or build a Capacitive Discharge unit to power your turnouts. This provides a bigger jolt to flip the switch machines, and then protects them from burning out by limiting power after the first kick. Commercial units like the Snapper from Circuitron cost about $30, or you can Google up a simple circuit and build your own for about $5 in Radio $hack parts.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Hi I have Atlas turnouts and use the snap switches that came with them. But was wondering if I go to DCC can I use them and keep them hooked up to the AC on my DC power pack. Or would I need to get something else for them.Also getting the NCE powercab will this already have short circuit protection. Or will I need something for this and will be running 2 or 3 trains at a time. 2 with sound and on a layout thats in a room about 12 by 10 going around the walls, with spures. will I need a booster for this or what?.
Thanks for your help
KMA