To wire your layout for DCC is generally easier than wiring a non-DCC layout. In fact, in its simplest form, you could just connect the two track wires coming from your DCC system to the two rails of your layout and start running trains.
No insulators are needed.
This very simple hookup will work but may not be reliable over the long term. One reason is that track joiners are not the best conductors of electricity, and over time they get worse. Track joiners are designed mainly to hold your track in alignment, not to carry electricity. Soldering the joiners improves their electrical conductivity, but you have to be careful to leave some unsoldered joiners to allow for expansion and contraction of the layout due to changes in temperature and humidity.
Because of this many model railroaders run a "bus" of two heavy gauge wires (14 to 18 gauge is typical) around the layout, then connect feeders (18 to 22 gauge wire) to the track at intervals. When you do this, you greatly reduce the chance that corroded rail joiners will create a dead spot on your layout. The diagram below does not show all of the feeders you might want to install but hopefully enough are shown to give you the general idea of how a bus system is wired. Again,
no insulators are used.
There are other possible wiring configurations for DCC. For large layouts, it makes sense to use insulators to break the layout into (electrically) smaller chunks. This can simplify troubleshooting and with the right accessories can prevent an electrical problem on one section of the layout from bringing the whole layout to a halt.
The
Wiring for DCC web site discusses DCC wiring in great detail. It's a lot to wade through, but the site contains lots of great information.
Feel free to ask questions. There are a lot of people with a lot of knowledge in this forum!
- Jeff