A Few Questions About G Scale DC and DCC

[peahrens]

I'm an HO DCC guy, but know nothing about G scale.  My nephew has a DC G scale LGB oval that he has installed above door height around the wall of their family room.  I presume the track is LGB.  I'm guessing the room is about 14' x 20' or so.  He called me to bounce off some basic questions since he is not a long time train hobbyist.  He is generally extremely handy.  Any insight to these questions would be a good start.

1.  He was wondering about whether he should connect his DC power to the track at more than one spot.  I presume the main issue, with DC, is the risk of good continuity at rail joints, just as in HO.  How reliable are the LGB track rail joints?  Or would simply adding a 2nd power connection a the opposite side of the loop suffice for DC?  If not, would wire rail jumpers be a good idea, rather than soldering rail joints (as in HO) on this large track? Is the track brass and can it be soldered?

2.  He wonders whether to go with DCC for the fun of sounds, lighting control.  Is it easy enough to convert a LGB loco with decoder, speaker, lights?  Are the most popular U.S. DCC systems for this scale similar to HO; i.e., NCE, DigiTrax, other?  I did advise that a 5A NCE system ran in the $600 range.

3.  He has lighted passenger cars that work with DC.  If he converted to DCC, would the car lighting require a decoder, etc?  

4.  If he converted to DCC, what are the issues for wiring, additional to what he might include just for reliable DC operation?  Just a bus of appropriate size for the amps & wire run, plus feeders?

5.  If he converted to DCC, would track cleanliness with the LGB track be a nuisance? 

I presume it is ok to inquire on G scale here, though I don't recall seeing such items here.  If you suggest a better place, you can let me know by PM please. 

Thanks for any preliminary insight that I can pass on.

[gregc]

peahrens

1.  He was wondering about whether he should connect his DC power to the track at more than one spot.

it's always a good idea to have multiple connections to track.   I believe HO nickle-silver track has the equivalent resistance of 26g wire.

while using rail joiners is a good idea to deal with expansion, soldering every other or every few and attaching a feeder to that segment of rails improves reliablity.

peahrens

3.  If he converted to DCC, would the car lighting require a decoder, etc?

no.   one of the benefits of DCC is that there is always track power.

peahrens

5.  If he converted to DCC, would track cleanliness with the LGB track be a nuisance?

while with DC the mechanical momentum of the more and train can push the loco across dead spots.   A DCC decoder may reset if it loses power and may not resume moving until it see the next speed command across the rails.

[rrinker]

 G scale track is rather large, equivalent to a fairly large wire size. Of course the locos also draw more current, usually. Brass is common - it is a much better condustor than nickel silver, it's just the oxide must be cleaned off to maintain contact (often not a problem witht he heavier G scale trains). There are track clamps that are used on each rail at joints to make suecure mechanical connections, those can help. 

 Depending on the room size, an extra set of feeders can't hurt. Maybe one set on each wall. Depending on how you can run the wires.

Something to consider for G scale is battery operation, charged fromt he track - so you just keep a steady DC voltage on the rails, the speed and sounds are controlled by a remote control. There's plenty of room in most G scale locos to fit the electronics, a speaker, and even batteries. The batteries are optional, more common for outdoor use where maintaining good electrical conductivity in the rails can be difficult. With the size of G scale, I'd skip the DCC and use something with direct control like Airwire from CVP. 

                                              --Randy

[peahrens]

Thanks, guys.  I'll pass this info along to my nephew.  I did come across a forum for that scale and will make him aware of that more specific venue for any questions he might have.

[RR_Mel]

I piddled around with a garden G scale railroad about 15 years ago and the only problems I had were varmints.  I used USA track and the track and rail joiners were brass.  Each joiner had a 2mm screw in each rail for very good conduction.  I had about 200 feet of track and a half dozen turnouts.  I never had any electrical problems and I only had one feeder connection to the rails.

 

 

 

For an indoor layout he shouldn’t have any problems with G scale.

 

What I didn’t expect was the varmint problems.  Ants used the rails as freeways, birds doing their thing is another very bad thing.  My grandson’s Lab liked to chew up the buried wiring.  Spiders were everywhere.  I even found a dead frog in one of my stations that somehow got in and couldn’t find his way out.

 

I had to run a rail cleaning car ($200+) in front of a locomotive before attempting to operate my garden railroad to clear the rails of ants.  When ants are crushed by the wheels the ant juices have a large acid content and will eat the brass rails.

 

Bad knees and garden railroading do not go over very well so my very nice G scale railroad only lasted three summers.  Between my knees and ants it’s a goner.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mel

 

 

 

My Model Railroad   

http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/

 

Bakersfield, California

 

I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.

 

 

[rrinker]

 I've thought about it. My yard slopes up fromt he patio to the pool, so if I have the track go around the pool level witht he pool deck, it would be comfotrable stand up height crossing the patio - meaning it would be great to load some drinks on a train and run it over to people in the pool.

But I'm sure the two male dogs would use the track as a target, not to mention the squirrels and other critters around here. And while cleaning off the track that's at typical layout height wouldn't be a problem, my knees won't let me crawl around on the pool deck cleaning the ground level track either.

                                        --Randy

 

[wvg_ca]

you should also rememer that DCC decoder are based [among other things] on current handling capacity, a standard HO decoder may not be enough .. and greater current decoders also cost more money ..

[richg1998]

He could start by a Google search for G Scale DCC. I just did. There is a lot out there including a magazine.

SoundTraxx has higher amp decoders. Isolating the motor could be an issue.

No idea, steam oe diesel. Interesting project.

I go to a local diner that has a G scale running around the upper wall, non sound though.

Yankee Candle has a couple running up on a wall in a Chrismas room last I knew.

Rich