HO trains from 90s and DCC of today

JonEMDfan Nov 28, 2020

  1. JonEMDfan

    JonEMDfan TrainBoard Member

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    My son has an old train set from the mid to late 90s Bachman. He wants to buy some new road switchers for it. What can he use, I know there are DCC ones today but what does he want for his old set up.....definitrely not analog. Thanks-John
     
  2. acptulsa

    acptulsa TrainBoard Member

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    What's the matter with old school DC? How many trains can he run at once?

    Does he has one main line, and can he run but one train? If so, suppose he goes to the considerable trouble and expense to set up DCC. What does he gain, besides the ability to run a second locomotive which has no place to go? That would be like letting the salesman sell you multi-zone air conditioning for your one room lake cabin.
     
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  3. JonEMDfan

    JonEMDfan TrainBoard Member

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    Or an ice box to an Eskimo? He has a train he puts up and takes down. One train at a time. So he wants Dc and not DCC. Thanks-John
     
  4. dalebaker

    dalebaker TrainBoard Member

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    Depends on the era his set is. Steam? Early diesel? With Early diesel, a Bachman S4 with sound value would be fun. It will operate with sound on both DC and DCC systems and be fun to run. You can search around on line and find them at pretty decent prices.
     
  5. Point353

    Point353 TrainBoard Member

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    Look for locos that are described as either 'DC' or 'DCC-ready'.
    DCC-ready locos have a socket so that a decoder can be installed to make them run on a DCC system, but out of the box they will run on DC.

    Some DCC locos have a so-called 'dual-mode' decoder that is supposed to work on either DC or DCC.
    However, some dual-mode decoders can be fussy about the particular DC power supply unit being used, so it's best to avoid them.

    If you go to site sponsor Trainworld, you can search for DCC-ready HO diesel locos.
    It looks like they have over 500 to choose from.
    https://www.trainworld.com/
     
    Last edited: Nov 28, 2020
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  6. JonEMDfan

    JonEMDfan TrainBoard Member

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    Thanks, I have not put a train on a track since late in the 60s. This is all new to me. I build static displays from old Blue Box unpowered and undecorated units. I like trains but have no real space or money or interest in doing layouts. To each his own I guess. Thanks for enlightening me though so I can pass on this info to my son.-John
     

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