I have no experience with DCC and have not run model trains in many years. Recently, I find myself intrigued by the potential of Z scale, and with the possibility of unearthing my old N gauge locos. In reading about technological changes since I put my N gauge away, I see DCC has made an appearance and offers some useful advantages over DC. As best I can ascertain, the NCE Power Cab appears to offer a good value proposition for someone starting out with DCC. That said, I have the impression that the Power Cab is not able to properly power DC locos, in any scale, which have not yet been fitted with a DCC decoder or which cannot accept a decoder at all? If so, how does one address the situation where one has a non-DCC loco? Do you disconnect your DCC Power Cab or other DCC system from your layout and operate using a separate DC power pack? I had hoped to be able to run a single DC loco using the same DCC power source as I would use when running several locos simultaneously, but that doesn't appear feasible? Thanks in advance for any guidance the community can offer this novice potential re-entrant to the hobby!
NO NCE will not run a DC loco . However if you add a DPDT switch to your layout power leads you can wire the NCE output to one side of the switch and a standard DC power pack to the other side . Then you just switch between the different systems .
The Digitrax Zephyr (DCS51) can run a single DC loco on address 0. However, do not leave the loco on the track if not actually running it.
And running a DC loco with address 0 is NOT pure DC, but a nasty pulsating modification of the DCC waveform, meaning extra heat and noise. This is why most manufacturers are abandoning this mode. Greg
With DCC, the AC component will cause the motor armature to vibrate at the DCC frequency even when the loco is stopped and the DCC is still on the rails. Some years ago I did measurements with an infra red temperature scanner on open from and can motors. Two spots where the brushes contact the armature where hotter with the loco stopped than when the armature is spinning. I use to run a 4-4-0 DCC equipped with an 0-8-0 DC only as a pusher. At the top of the hill, I would back the pusher to a siding and turn off the siding power. I had a MRC2K with five throttles. Throttle one could be DCC or DC. The below link will show you what is happening. https://sites.google.com/site/markgurries/home/technical-discussions/dc-loco-on-dcc Rich
