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It's the hottest thing since sliced bread! DCC stands for Digital Command Control. Let's look at the diference: DC: What you had before was DC (direct Current) control, in the form of a power pack. This converted your 110AC wall current into 12V-DC. It controls the loco/s by increasing or decreasing the voltage to the track. At the full-off position, there is no current on the track, and the loco's headlight goes out. The only way you can run multiple trains, is to isolate different sections of the layout into "cabs". This takes miles of wire, rotary and toggle switches galore, and diagrams of which track belongs to each cab. In essence, you are running the track, not the locos. DCC: This is a much more advanced system of control, and although you have to learn a whole new system, it greatly simplifies things also. In DCC, you usually have a separate power supply, and Command Station. The power supply converts the 110V AC to 16V-20V AC. This voltage is on all tracks, all the time (unless you choose to isolate a section for some reason. The locos are controlled by the Command Station sending AC "information packets" to specific locos. Each loco usually has a "decoder" installed in the loco. This is a small circuit chip that only responds to the signals addressed to it. You assign each loco an "address". Some system have only 2-digit addresses such as 10,22,15. (Most assign the last two digits of the road number of the loco) Other systems support 4-digit addresses, like 3240, which can be the entire road number. Let's say you have two locos, loca A is addressed to 10, and loco B is addresses to 11. With your throttle, you can start loco A and let it run on the main, then switch to loco B, and start switching the yard, while A keeps running until it receives new commands. Big deal you say, you can do that with cab control. Yes, but either loco can cross from main to yard and back without interfering with the other. You can also have multiple locos/trains on the same track, and they are all independent of each other. When a train stops, the headlight remains on, in fact, it's on full-intensity, all the time, even when not running, and will switch directions as the loco does the same (directional lighting). With DCC you also have added features on some decoders. By using your throttle, you can turn the lights on or off, turn on your rotary beacon, ditch lights, activate your on-board sound system, and many other added functions. Best bet is to go to your local hobby shop, and ask if there are layouts in the area you can visit to see a system in action. Try it once, and you'll never go back. Happy Railroading!
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