Model Railway Forum

After a very long break from railway modelling, I came back to it about 3 years ago and had to make the same decision. I had a stable of some 30 locos, the vast majority of which were Bachmann split chassis, which are difficult to convert to DCC.

My original intention was to stick with DC as it was what I knew, and all my locos would work with it. However, I noticed that DCC, which was in its absoute infancy when I took my break, had made enormous bounds in its capabilities, which led me to thinking about making the change.

What helped me make my final decision was sitting down and making a list of the pros and cons of each system and use those, and my own particular situation, aims and goals, to determine which system would work best for me going forward.

A similar approach may help you with your own decision. This forum, as with any other, will have advocates for both systems, but what works for them may not necessarily work for you. A pro in one person's book may actually be a con in yours, and vice versa. The forum is a great place to find answers for any questions you may have to help you with making a list of pros and cons, which you can apply to your own aims and hopefully then make an informed choice.

Can dc and dcc run on the same track with just different controls?

NO!

It will result in the release of the magic smoke. To run DCC and DC on the same layout you need complete separation and has the potential for very expensive mistakes so not advisable.

Richard

Tricky Dicky wrote: ↑Tue Feb 04, 2025 1:25 pm NO!

It will result in the release of the magic smoke. To run DCC and DC on the same layout you need complete separation and has the potential for very expensive mistakes so not advisable.

Richard

This is true, although provided one controller is disconnected (either by a switch or unplugging) they can use the same layout. Make sure all of the locos that are analogue are removed to run DCC and all DCC locos removed to run DC.

Essentially they can use the same layout, just not at the same time.

You can run DCC locos on DC although you don’t get all the bells and whistles.

Walkingthedog wrote: ↑Tue Feb 04, 2025 6:54 pm You can run DCC locos on DC although you don’t get all the bells and whistles.

It's not recommended though. More recent, perhaps more delicate, decoders can be harmed by older DC controllers that can cause voltage spikes.
Taking Hornby TXS decoders as an example, it was found early on, that some Gaugemaster and H&M controllers spiked way above the tolerances that the decoders could stand.
You might get away with it or you might not.

Thanks Steve I stand corrected. Another step backwards it would appear.

I believe its called progress.
It caught a lot of people out at the start of HMDCC and even now it catches those that don't read the instructions.

Progress is good, most of the time.