C-WW Hello everyone I'm happy to be aboard the trainboard.com forums... I have a HO scale set which is about 25ft. long and sticks out about 36in. from the wall. I have a few questions about HO scale train sets. 1-I have a locomotive that is about a year old and I put it on my track and sometimes it will sputter and lose power on different parts of the track...could the track be dirty?? 2-Right now I'm still building the set...I'm at the scenery stage but I want to make the set so it is DCC and not the typical kind, how would I wire that up with my DC power pack??...or can't you do that?? [ March 28, 2006, 03:00 PM: Message edited by: watash ]
Welcome to Train Board! Maybe I can answer your questions... 1). Most likely you're suffering from dirty track or dirty wheels. A Bright Boy will take care of the track, and I've always liked the Kadee #236 wheel cleaner for cleaning locomotive wheels. You didn't mention what make of engine you have, but some of the cheaper brands will sputter down the track without any help at all, like a worn Alco on it's last cylinders. 2). I'm assuming that you want to be able to upgrade to a DCC system later, but build your railroad with that in mind. Unless you want multi-train block operation right now, just drop wires at least every ten feet or so. I think you should use 12 ga. wire for your bus line. If you want to install blocks right now, then things get a little harder. I know you can wire a DCC system into one of your cabs, but I've never done it. Has anyone else tried this? Hope this helps! Pat ------------------ Wishin' I wasn't so far from the railroad...
<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by AKrrnut: like a worn Alco on it's last cylinders. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> <font color="336633">If only the engineers did a proper job of maintaining it....... but anyway Welcome to TrainBorad train_dude11 does sound more like a track problem if it only does it on certian parts of th track. as for converting to DCC later... well thats what i am doing with mine, but i am building a new layout... my Dad (alan in n scale forum) is also going to convert his allready built and wired layout to DCC, but i would ask in the DCC forum, im sure they will be able to help you. keep us informed of your progress with your layout and if you can a few pics?? </font> ------------------ Matthew wheres all the C636's???? stickymonk.com Matts Photo gallery TrainBoard member #257
Thanks for the Info. The train I have is a Union Pacific 1503a but I don't know what brand made it. I have another train it's a Canadian Pacific 785 made by Onnhel(I think) and I put it on the track and it went around fine...but my union didn't...the union's wheeels must be dirty.
I think I answered most of your DCC question in the DCC forum area. As to wiring for DCC, yes you can wire for DC block control now and install DCC later. You merely remove the two track power wires from a power pack and replace them with two wires from the DCC command station. There are some recommended wiring practices that you should be aware of that won't impact DC operation but will greatly improve DCC operation. I would recommend you visit the website http://www.wiringfordcc.com for everything you need to know about wiring for DCC. Some specific items are using large gauge wire (12awg) for the busses, installing track feeder wires frequently (I do it to every piece of track), making turnouts DCC (and DC too) friendly, and lots more. The reason for a lot of these DCC wiring recommendations is that DCC has full power on the track all the time. This can be 2 amps, 5 amps, 8 amps and in some systems 10 amps. Compare this to the 1 amp of most train set power packs. Damage to the DCC equipment as well as locomotives, switches, and other parts of the layout can occur if you don't prepare for it.
