DCC Wiring Book

Doe's anyone know of a wiring book that covers DCC. I checked with Atlas, and they have not published one as of yet. One for the electronically challenged ie. (Show and Tell) would be wonderful. Any Suggestions???

Planeshavings Ding Ding :confused:
 

Gary Pfeil

Active Member
Digitrax publishes The Big book of DCC, or something close to that title. If you are familiar with block wiring, you are basically all set, just connect output of DCC unit in place of one existing power pack and throw all switches for that supply. If starting from scratch, same basic rules apply. You just won't need as many blocks. Blocks will be for troubleshooting only, not for every spot you would want to be able to leave a loco sitting. If the railroad is small, it could be one block. Then all you need to do is run one pair of feeds from DCC unit to track and you're done. (Turnouts may require attention, but same with DC) One thing to keep in mind is the amperage of DCC is higher than Dc power packs. 5 amp is typical. More current requires larger wire sizes. 14 gauge is good to use for buss wire, 20 gauge for feeders to track. Hope this helps, Gary
 

jland31

New Member
DCC Bible

The referece book that seems to be widely accepted & blessed by NMRA is;
Digital Command Control
By Stan Ames, Rutger Friberg & Ed Loizeaugh
Tony's Trains sells 'em.
I refer to mine frequently.
 

alkcnw

Member
All I had to do with my MRC Command 2000 is hook 2 wires to the track , turn it on, program it and run the trains.:eek:
 

alkcnw

Member
Its a HO scale layout 5' by 9' with a 2' by 8' L extention. I have to confess, I did run feeder wires into the extention!

:eek:
 
Reply To What Size

Hi Andy, The inital layout i'm planning is HO Gauge, It's an Up and Over Dogbone with 9 switch's and a crossover, It takes up two 4 x 6 panels, however I'm building a "U" shaped table with two 4' x 12' tables down the sides and a 4' x 8' connecting them at the back and I'll have a 4' open space down the center.
I will attempt to attach a diagram of my layout Any suggestions will be appreciated. Thanks

planeshavings
 

bobrien

Member
Hey Planeshavings - snap ! Your layout sounds like the same one I'm using (Atlas layout HO12?) - only mine will be L shaped, two benches. First will be 5' x 6' and the second 4' x 8'.
I will be making allowances for an additional extension to the left 4'x6' for a lumber line etxension off the main layout.

I will be very interested to hear how you go with the DCC.
cheers
Bruce
 

alkcnw

Member
dcc

Planeshavings, The MRC Command 2000 unit is fairly easy to use, so is the Atlas unit. It's sort of just basic. I got a good deal on it and it was my first try at dcc so I bought it. I can run 9 trains on command and 1 normally. I also got the walk around hand throttle. I expect when I get further on with the layout I will probably upgrade to a digi- trax unit.:eek:
 

alkcnw

Member
about layout

Planeshavings, Sorry about the double post but there is a thread in general talk Mrgooch started where I explain alittle more about my layout.:eek:
 
Atlas HO-12

Originally posted by bobrien
Hey Planeshavings - snap ! Your layout sounds like the same one I'm using (Atlas layout HO12?) - only mine will be L shaped, two benches. First will be 5' x 6' and the second 4' x 8'.
I will be making allowances for an additional extension to the left 4'x6' for a lumber line etxension off the main layout.

I will be very interested to hear how you go with the DCC.
cheers
Bruce
 
Atlas HO-12

Yep, you got it the Atlas HO-12, I'm still in the building stage of the tables, should be finished in about a week, I sure would like to see pictures of your layout, any chance of posting same???








Originally posted by bobrien
Hey Planeshavings - snap ! Your layout sounds like the same one I'm using (Atlas layout HO12?) - only mine will be L shaped, two benches. First will be 5' x 6' and the second 4' x 8'.
I will be making allowances for an additional extension to the left 4'x6' for a lumber line etxension off the main layout.

I will be very interested to hear how you go with the DCC.
cheers
Bruce
 
Re: dcc

Andy, you mentioned the MRC Command 2000 and the Atlas, Which did you buy, and were wireing instructions with the unit??
planeshavings42






Originally posted by alkcnw
Planeshavings, The MRC Command 2000 unit is fairly easy to use, so is the Atlas unit. It's sort of just basic. I got a good deal on it and it was my first try at dcc so I bought it. I can run 9 trains on command and 1 normally. I also got the walk around hand throttle. I expect when I get further on with the layout I will probably upgrade to a digi- trax unit.:eek:
 

alkcnw

Member
command 2000

Planeshavings, I ended up with the MRC Command 2000. I got it for about half the original price so thats why I chose it. All the wiring instructions come with it and also the programing instructions. It has to be pretty simple to use because I got mine running!!! The wiring is straight forward, you hook it up just like a standard transformer, 1 wire to each track, hence 2 wires, thays it unless you want to run drop wires every couple feet just to keep the current strong and constant. I started using drop wires with my 2nd extention because I was starting to get a bit far from my controling unit. The unit itself is just a programing box with additional hand held if wanted. You can buy the power unit that goes with this separatly or just use your existing power pack.:eek:
 
Command 2000

Yeh, Andy it sounds pretty straight forward, I think that's the way I'll go. I'm not sure if I'll choose the Command 2000 or the Atlas, but from what you've said, it sounds like something I can tackle.
Thanks for the reply, when I get set up, I'll post some pictures, but I don't expect that'll be for a few weeks yet.
Planeshavings.
 

alkcnw

Member
pictures

Planeshavings, Know what you mean about pictures. I've been putting this layout together for about 2 1/2 years now and I don't have one picture, heck Idon't even have a camera. Dos'nt matter much though because even if I did I would'nt have a clue how to get them here!!:eek:
 

bobrien

Member
Planeshavings
Am still completing final layout and yet to lay all track. I will post some pics for you as soon as I get something worthwhile to see.
The layout is structured pretty much the same as the Atlas, but I have added a foot to the width to give more room for track on the widest runs.
I have also added future extension track and more track for yards.
Bruce
 
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