RR Clubs.... DCC or DC

[lmackattack]

Just wondering what other clubs are doing lately. I belong to 2 clubs. One is DCC only and is such a breez to run at. The other has both DC and DCC and the DC guys realy remove some of the fun running trains some days, Chasing block panels to set your cab up,running blocks and shorts cause the main issues. When all the members are running DCC its flawless.

just wondering what the other clubs have done now that DCC is becoming the standard and afordable.

 

[Espeefan]

Ours has been DCC since before I joined. We have no DC capability at all, and would not step backwards at this point.

 

[CP9302]

My club runs DCC on both our HO scale layouts. The N scale layouts that are under construction will start off as DC and be switched to DCC later.

One set of DC engines can still be run on the DCC system as address 00, so that helps the new members as they transition to DCC.

 

[ALCOS4EVER]

Almost all clubs are DCC now. The only DC ones are probably made up of older members. I was part of a club that was DC/DCC, it didn't work out well. The DCC guys were always complaining. I can understand why people want DCC I like it too but when you have a large number of locomotives, many of them older it is a very costly proposition to convert them. Choosing certain ones to convert means you can't run the others you like as I don't have a home layout so I only get to run with my club. This isn't even taking into account how some guys feel that if it doesn't have DCC and sound it's junk and should be thrown out. DCC is here to stay and eventually DC will probably die out except for train sets and attics. Time marches on...

 

[Rico]

Our club runs DCC or DC on both the HO and N scale layouts by throwing a switch on the panels.
The O scale layout runs on AC.

 

[tankist]

Trent, which of the clubs keeps DC compatibility ?

 

[Cjcrescent]

...I can understand why people want DCC I like it too but when you have a large number of locomotives, many of them older it is a very costly proposition to convert them...

I run a lot of brass steamers, and the newest one I have is from 1976. It cost me the price of a decoder for each to convert all my older brass models. That's the same price I have paid to convert my newer plastic steamers and few diesels I own as well.

 

[lmackattack]

Trent, which of the clubs keeps DC compatibility ?

The EMRRC is both DC and DCC. I tend to go down on Sat when most if not all the people run DCC for open house. The issues I have with DC down there is when we have open house nights and one guy shows up with DC everyone then has to chase his own blocks. It takes the fun out of it. On days with no guests this would just be a PITA but when we have the 20-30 guests each open house night we cant talk to them much and constantly have to run all over the layout asking guest to move to access the block panels.



as you can tell I cant wait for DC to find its home under the christmas tree

 

[Espeefan]

I run a lot of brass steamers, and the newest one I have is from 1976. It cost me the price of a decoder for each to convert all my older brass models. That's the same price I have paid to convert my newer plastic steamers and few diesels I own as well.

Yeah I don't get the "costly" thing either. You can convert any older loco for less than twenty bucks, a little sweat, screwdriver & soldering iron. Now if you want sound in all of them, yeah, big bucks, but I only do a few with sound. I have a boatload of locomotives too, brass and plastic. How many do I regularly run? Only a fraction of them. A large roster can be converted easily over time. You don't have to do them all at once

 

[ALCOS4EVER]

I said I like DCC and I do, but It isn't the magic bullet everyone thinks it is, and it is costly. You don't need the wiring associated with a DC block control system but you do need a lot of DCC items for multiple power blocks, modular jacks for controllers, etc.. Although the decoders are usable with all systems you can't use one brand of controller with another brand of base unit. So for example if your club is NCE and you have Digitrax at home you can't bring your controller, you have to get an NCE. If you switch clubs same thing could occur. When it comes to decoders the cost is a factor because if I buy one a month times the number of locomotives I have or buy them all at once I still have spent $20.00 to $25.00 per locomotive to get it to do what it will do on DC for no additional cost. DCC is nice and it is the wave of the future but it definitely is a significant additional cost.

 

[Cjcrescent]

Well, yes, DCC can be expense, if you want it to be. But you were just talking about the loco conversions, not the entire layout.

Wiring my current layout for DC would have cost me well over $7000. With most of that being rotary switches. To do the same with DCC its only cost me almost $1000 so far. Except for 1 or 2 decoders, I don't expect to be spending more.

That BTW includes the base unit, controller, extra panels, wire, reversers/power districts and decoders.

Still well below the cost of DC.

 

[Will_annand]

The Muskoka Model Railway Club up here has both.

The permanent HO club layout (12x40) is DCC.

The modular N Scale layout (10x16) is DC.

 

[lmackattack]

I often tell people just getting into the hobby that you likely will spend less (or brake even) going with DCC then going with DC. I have no issues with people wanting to stick with old ways but some things are just for the better when involved with complacated electrical systems. On my home layout it cost me about $150 for a MRC DCC system and then about 10 decoders for older engines. Some are sound but if they were all cheep standard motor decoders it would have been around $200. So if I went cheep the whole way it would have cost me for around $350 in DCC stuff. At that price I could have a layout that I only had to get under once. To do that with block control panels, wire,toggle switches dual DC contorlers. it would all have been the same costs in the end but not as much fun for me and alt more time under the table.

 

[diablo]

I belong to a club in AZ, Sun N Sand and it runs both DC and DCC. There was recently some hot debates on what to do as some wanted to go to DCC only, but most of the members are DC guys like myself, and the cost of going DCC is prohibitive, so we run both, and it seems to work well. Lots of wiring for it' but our Ntrak modules are set up so a guy can switch his assigned track to either. Works for us.
I do agree it would be better to be one or the other, but we have both with our members. Personally, I'd have to sell of most of my 100 loco's and start all over with stuff that was designed for DCC, and I refuse to do that. Seems everyone thinks the only way to go is DCC, and I disagree with that point of view. and yes, I'm an older guy. If I was just starting out I'd probably go with DCC, but I'm not.

 

[RexHea]

diablo: that is one of the reasons my local club can't gain any ground. There are old timers (DC) to newbies (DCC), O scale and HO scale. Now if you don't think all that causes problems.... It is a very old club with some great guys, but I chose not to get involved with the debate and built my own empire. I have several of them over for Op sessions and while they all love DCC operations, no way would they give in to it.

 

[IronBeltKen]

I'm a DCC late-bloomer myself. I held off going to DCC because I thought the decoders would cost too much. Then in the spring of 2007, I saw that decoder prices had come quite a ways down and I finally bit the bullet. First I decodered an old Blue Box GP40-2, figured I wouldn't be risking much if I screwed it up. Amazingly enough it worked, so I did a few more. Over a few months I got decoders into my ~25contemporary locos (1990-era CSX). I still need to convert all my 1970-era B&O models.

Since then I've had op sessions on my layout that would have been very awkward--if not downright impossible--without DCC.

 

[hamltnblue]

You have pics of your layout?

 

[Cjcrescent]

I belong to a club in AZ, Sun N Sand and it runs both DC and DCC. There was recently some hot debates on what to do as some wanted to go to DCC only, but most of the members are DC guys like myself, and the cost of going DCC is prohibitive, so we run both, and it seems to work well. Lots of wiring for it' but our Ntrak modules are set up so a guy can switch his assigned track to either. Works for us.
I do agree it would be better to be one or the other, but we have both with our members. Personally, I'd have to sell of most of my 100 loco's and start all over with stuff that was designed for DCC, and I refuse to do that. Seems everyone thinks the only way to go is DCC, and I disagree with that point of view. and yes, I'm an older guy. If I was just starting out I'd probably go with DCC, but I'm not.

Why would you have to sell off locos? There's not a loco that's been made that can't have a decoder installed into it. (Although there are some that its not worth it to do so.)

So you're an older guy, I am too. That's no big deal. One of our club members who was 87 and recently passed, was 100% DCC. He had over 250 locos. I should know, I installed DCC into them all, and even got sound into about 25.

I still want someone to explain to me how the cost of going DCC is "prohibitive".

 

[diablo]

T his club in Scottsdale, Sun N Sand, has a lot of younger guys who do not own DCC stuff, so ii's not just us older guys. By the way, I helped a friend install DCC on his own HO layout so it's not that I'm afraid to try, I'm just not to interested, is it a crime to make the decision to remain DC? It sounds like it is. The Model Railroader Mag has been pushing DCC for years, but if a poll was taken I'll bet the majority of model RR guys are still DC oriented. I will be running alone anyway, so don't need the DCC equipment. My choice guys. It's been interesting reading all your comments, and you're right in you opinions, DCC is a wonderful thing, just not for me, ............yet.

 

[Espeefan]

I said I like DCC and I do, but It isn't the magic bullet everyone thinks it is, and it is costly. ***

So for example if your club is NCE and you have Digitrax at home you can't bring your controller, you have to get an NCE. If you switch clubs same thing could occur. ***

I have or buy them all at once I still have spent $20.00 to $25.00 per locomotive to get it to do what it will do on DC for no additional cost. DCC is nice and it is the wave of the future but it definitely is a significant additional cost.

Agreed, it's not a magic bullet, but it does do more. Easier running of multiple trains, features, no chasing blocks, autoreversing loops instead of toggle switches, sound and full access to the new loco's features...take it as far as you want.

Our club has it's own throttles, members do not have to buy them. If this situation did arise, then at most you would have to buy is one throttle. Solve this by choosing your club carefully. It is also not really very likely, as most clubs use the top line systems, either Digitrax or NCE, with some Lenz in there.

Your locos will do more on DCC than DC. Turning your lights on or off, momentum, speed matching dissimilar models, sound if you want to spend the money, just to name a few.

You can get basic decoders for as little as 15 bucks each, and installation is not difficult. I hear some of you talking like you'd have to dispose of your entire rosters & start over. Not so! I have 50 year old brass models with DCC installed. The work is no more difficult than the tune up & hard wiring I used to do on my Athearn Blue Boxers. If you're wiring up block control systems you can sure as heck install a decoder!

Cost too high? Sorry don't buy it, especially from guys with 100-250 locos. You managed to buy those didn't you? I have a hundred or so myself. Maybe twenty of those run regularly, and some are still DC awaiting my attention to convert. A largish home layout, like maybe a garage or basement sized one can be fitted with good quality DCC gear for $1000.00 or less depending on how fancy you want to get, and you don't have to spend it all at once. When I hear someone complain about cost and then hear about how many hundred locos they have, it seems to me it's not cost, it's that you'd rather spend the money on...more locos Right? That DCC stuff hides under the benchwork or inside the locos and even though it does important things, out of sight out of mind. You can get a starter system from Digitrax or NCE for about the same money as non sound non DCC releases of some of the new diesels coming out of Walthers or Athearn.

All that being said, if I had a complete layout wired for DC and was comfortable with everything I had on the roster and how it ran, I probably wouldn't want to change anything either. If that's where you are, enjoy, but don't go to anyone's house and operate on anything DCC, or you'll start thinking....

OBTW, I'm an older guy too. Not as old as CJ He's OLD (couldn't resist Paw Paw)