Old engines running on new track (electrical question)


str8edgRxRguy

str8edgRxRguy

Member
So, sorry for the barrage of "noob" questions, but:

I just inherited my grandfathers train stuff from the 20's-70's.

Will the engines from that era run "safely" on modern powered track? Have the electrical elements of running trains changed? When I get things running, I want to use his old stock as well as anything new I buy.
 
It would help us if we knew..
what scale are you asking about
what brands of train stuff
what 'new' thing are you going to buy

Have the electrical elements of running trains changed?
For both HO and O, the answer is yes.
 
oops...sorry

the old stock is HO...mostly Athearn, Atlas stuff as far as I know now...still digging through

current model engines is the "new" stuff. Will also plan to run my Athearn and Tyco stuff from the 70's

and I figured it has changed...when I was doing trains as a kid, my dad - being an electrician - did all fo the electrical stuff, so I never payed attention to that side of things...I am going to have to learn that from scratch
 
If it is Athearn and Atlas HO stuff from the 50's and later, the answer is yes. They all run on variable voltage DC. Most but not all can be converted to DCC if wanted. Isolation of the motors will be the main alteration.
 
santafewillie said:
If it is Athearn and Atlas HO stuff from the 50's and later, the answer is yes. They all run on variable voltage DC. Most but not all can be converted to DCC if wanted. Isolation of the motors will be the main alteration.
Click to expand...

cool...after doing some research in the past few days, I also might not be jumping right in to DCC...might just get some stuff going, and then see if I want to do DCC...
 
🌂 Only since you are a noob, you need to know that converting analog DC locos to DCC will cost in the vicinity of $45 per, finding the best space to mount the circuit board, securing it in place, then wiring it all in, is no cake walk. `And if you want sound, mounting the speaker is yet another tough hurdle.., not to mention that early open-frame DC motors are not that great for DCC.
Next: Do you want to have operating knuckle couplers such as Kadee or McHenry ? Because I sense many of your cars have the old, archaic 'horn hook's on them; do you plan to replace them with knuckle types ? If so, that's another huge hurdle..
Next: Many older loco issues have deep flanges on their wheels. If yours do they will likely hit the simulated spike heads on code 83 rail..
This is not necessarily the views of all non-noobs. But when considering all that, personally I would mothball most the engines and cars and start anew with one good, modern DCC/'sound on board' loco and a few new cars, using code 83 or code 70 track, and put my energy into the best construction method for my benchwork..Far as a controller goes, I have an NCE PowerCab and very happy with it ($150 ish)...
Please do realise I'm not berating you for your wishes. I'm just giving you a heads up on what you could be getting involved with...M
 
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MHinLA said:
🌂 Only since you are a noob, you need to know that converting analog DC locos to DCC will cost in the vicinity of $45 per, finding the best space to mount the circuit board, securing it in place, then wiring it all in, is no cake walk. `And if you want sound, mounting the speaker is yet another tough hurdle.., not to mention that early open-frame DC motors are not that great for DCC.
Next: Do you want to have operating knuckle couplers such as Kadee or McHenry ? Because I sense many of your cars have the old, archaic 'horn hook's on them; do you plan to replace them with knuckle types ? If so, that's another huge hurdle..
Next: Many older loco issues have deep flanges on their wheels. If yours do they will likely hit the simulated spike heads on code 83 rail..
This is not necessarily the views of all non-noobs. But when considering all that, personally I would mothball most the engines and cars and start anew with one good, modern DCC/'sound on board' loco and a few new cars, using code 83 or code 70 track, and put my energy into the best construction method for my benchwork..Far as a controller goes, I have an NCE PowerCab and very happy with it ($150 ish)...
Please do realise I'm not berating you for your wishes. I'm just giving you a heads up on what you could be getting involved with...M
Click to expand...

all good things to think about, and I especially like the points about the track and the wheel flanges. I would not have known that. I definitely would not have the patience, or know how, to rewire those old loco's

So, if I have HO track from the 40's - 80's, it is closer to code 100 track?

What it looks like I might do in the end is run 2 separate systems...run my old stuff as it is, and "surround" it with new stuff as I get back into it. Make it so the systems run on separate tracks, but coexist on the same layout
 
Well, instead of surrounding the old with the new types, why not think outside the box (literally !) and build a RR where you can have the AC but right up against the DC track, face to face, isolated from their own RR track by about 8", and un-powered so that there's no chance of an AC engine contacting DC track and vice versa, and deem it a division point in the RR. OR, they both terminate here, but alongside one another about a train's length as an interchange, platform/team track in between for the transfer of goods from one RR to the other. They then can run in reverse back to their own shops/yard.. (reverse running is perfectly proto on certain short lines and branch lines where a wye, turntable or loop is not necessary due to their relatively short distances) + running in reverse adds some spice to the running session..
All this is so it appears as if these two AC/DC powered lines are all part of a larger system...And my very personal advice is to not put a loop within a loop.. This gets tired real quick...Think of ways to make the layout exciting to run..To me, that's the ticket....M
 
MHinLA said:
Well, instead of surrounding the old with the new types, why not think outside the box (literally !) and build a RR where you can have the AC but right up against the DC track, face to face, isolated from their own RR track by about 8", and un-powered so that there's no chance of an AC engine contacting DC track and vice versa, and deem it a division point in the RR. OR, they both terminate here, but alongside one another about a train's length as an interchange, platform/team track in between for the transfer of goods from one RR to the other. They then can run in reverse back to their own shops/yard.. (reverse running is perfectly proto on certain short lines and branch lines where a wye, turntable or loop is not necessary due to their relatively short distances) + running in reverse adds some spice to the running session..
All this is so it appears as if these two AC/DC powered lines are all part of a larger system...And my very personal advice is to not put a loop within a loop.. This gets tired real quick...Think of ways to make the layout exciting to run..To me, that's the ticket....M
Click to expand...

I will keep that in mind...a lot of it will be determined by my final allowance of space...

and I was not thinking of a loop within a loop for those reasons, but was thinking of something more twisty and turny, with bridges etc...was also thinking of keeping the older track specifically for the older stock...almost like it was a different gauge RR that was left running as the "new world" systems came in....

it all has to fit into the imaginary world I am creating based on the old logging town in upper middle Ontario, CAnada that our cabin used to be in
 
One quick way of testing the type of motors is to take a 9-volt battery, buy a snap-on connector with a couple of wires about 9-inches or so long. (You'd need the wires for testing steam locomotives; most of the diesel models, you can just hold the two terminals against each side of one truck.) If the motor turns, you have a DC model. Most of the ones from the 1950's on will be DC. The older models from the 1920's through the end of WWII probably are AC. Running them will require an AC source (available for use will accessories on most DC power packs. But you would need a rheostat to vary the voltage for speed control. You could probably re-motor the AC models, but it probably isn't worth it, and you might want to either put them on a display shelf, or sell/trade them to a collector. I have a plethora of DC models dating from when I converted to HO scale from S scale American Flyer, in the mid-1950's. It was only when my wife insisted that my steam locomotives didn't go "Choo-choo" that I went to DCC. My layout is set up to run either, but NOT at the same time. Most of my engines remain DC. Yes, some of the older models have "pizza cutter" flanges. Those are mostly AHM/Rivarrosi, and they will work much better on Code 100 track. I don't have any of those, but still have stuck with Code 100 for reliability of operation. I grant the point that Code 100 is a little higher than the prototype used, but I've never had anyone complain to me. Best of luck!
 
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