DCC Advice Would Be Appreciated


J

jimmiejump

New Member
Considering re-entering the hobby after a forty year absence. Right now I'm working on a budget before going any further. I plan on building an N scale industrial complex with it's own private rail road. This will be built on a 24x80 hollow core door. I plan on operating two locomotives on the layout. I need some direction on a DCC system capable of running this size layout but I don't want to buy something that's overkill, no walkaround controllers. I prefer a traditional transformer style. No concerns about future expansion, I'm limited to that amount of space. Any/all advice is appreciated thank you in advance. I'm going to sit back and review replies after which there may be some followup questions. Thanks again.
 
Either NCE Powercab or Digitrax Zephyr would do well for you. Bachmann’s version would work, as well, but would probably be too limited for what little you want to do.
 
Welcome back to the hobby and to here!
I agree with Terry on the systems but I'll throw one more option in.
A friend recently reentered the hobby and did something similar to what you are planning but in HO.
His system of choice was Digitrax as well but he went with the tethered throttle mainly because it has two knobs to control two locos at once.
I believe NCE can do this but doesn't have the separate knobs(?).
Starting off with DCC is a good plan, especially for the option of going with sound later.
 
Your objective might be to use the system that is most common among the modelers that you know so you have support available right away.
Others will chime in about how easy their "Railroad Bob's DCC system" is, but hardly anybody has heard of it let alone know how to use it.
Another tip, don't try to mix systems. Most of the ancillary products claim they integrate seamlessly but when it doesn't work for you particular system its because you don't have the special interface doo dad board or some other lame reason. Been there, tried it, got my money back after hours of useless trouble shooting.
Decide what you long range plans might be then buy the system that will totally support that.
 
Rico said:
Welcome back to the hobby and to here!
I agree with Terry on the systems but I'll throw one more option in.
A friend recently reentered the hobby and did something similar to what you are planning but in HO.
His system of choice was Digitrax as well but he went with the tethered throttle mainly because it has two knobs to control two locos at once.
I believe NCE can do this but doesn't have the separate knobs(?).
Starting off with DCC is a good plan, especially for the option of going with sound later.
Click to expand...
NCE has something similar, two controls in one wired base station.
 
Yup you’re correct Terry, this may be just the ticket!

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Welcome back! Some good advice above about the systems. I would advocate for RailPro, but they're not into N scale yet.

I would agree with Ken (D&J RailRoad) above about getting away from the operator position and going with at least a tethered throttle, if not wireless. Even though your layout won't bee too big, having that little bit of extra flexibility in YOUR position can come in really handy.
 
jimmiejump said:
Considering re-entering the hobby after a forty year absence.
Click to expand...

Thats a long time away! Well, maybe not "away", but stored in the back of your mind for some time. That's how I look at hobbies that sit on the back-burner for a while.

The club in town runs Digitrax and I have seen that in depth and run trains with it before. However, I have a preference for NCE when the time comes to set up DCC on my own layout. I like the layout and design of the cab controller. Moreover, I don't want a wired (plugged in) cab for the same reason @D&J RailRoad and @KB02 state - you can control trains from all around the layout, not just from where you have the cab controller. That may not seem like a big deal off the bat - but it will add another level of enjoyment of your layout. If you don't want to do wireless off the bat - you can upgrade a system with a wireless radio and controller. In the long run it will be more expensive to do it that way, as opposed to starting with it, but that would keep the entry cost down quite a bit up front to go with a non-wireless system.

For the size layout you are considering you do not need much power. Of course, the caveat to wiring the layout for DCC is there in that you need buss wire and feeders. You may end up with a lot of feeders and it may appear you are loading a good amount of track, however the current is going to flow to the decoders and locomotive motors. So if you only want 2 trains (I assume 2 locos at a time for yard switching mainly?) you will not have a whole lot of draw to warrant a higher amp power supply.

The NCE Starter Set is 2 amps - that would be plenty for your layout unless you start adding electronic switches, lights, signals, etc, etc. Then you might want to upgrade the power supply to 5 amps.

NCE DCC Online Store

NCE DCC Online Store
www.ncedcc.com www.ncedcc.com

Best of luck and have fun!
 
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