Lately there have been a lot of discussions on this forum on the use of DCC in Large Scale.

For those going to the ECLSTS this weekend in York PA, I will be presenting a seminar on Hybrid Drive to include operating a DCC locomotive with back up battery power:  using track power, using track signal or using Direct Radio Control.  The seminar will be from 6PM to 7PM on Friday evening.

A lot of the large scale manufacturers will be in attendance at the show including Bachmann.

I believe The Bachmann will also be there for the show.

Stan Ames

Over the past month it seems that the Direct Radio Control fans and the DCC fans seem to be working against each other.  Some see these two different methods as being very different.  Actually  they are not so far apart.

Manufacturers are increasingly integrating DCC within their locomotives.  This can be a real advantage to both the users and the manufacturers.  Unfortunately the Direct Radio Control folks have often faced the need to rip and replace.

It does not need to be this way.

I have written a proposal for the DCC working group on how to merge or accommodate both approaches.  This will allow any Direct Radio Control manufacturer to build products that can integrate with the decoders which will preserve the investments of all.

The proposal is linked from my Large Scale site and will be updated as we move forward with more details as necessary.

http://www.tttrains.com/largescale/

Stan Ames

Over the past few weeks I have been putting together a site on Fn3 that includes the Bachmann new 1:20.3 cars.  Thanks to all who have helped contribute to the prototype info on the cars.

http://www.tttrains.com/largescale/

This is a work in progress and I intend to add more information as time permits.  One might imagine from the site that I really like the new Bachmann 1:20 cars and clearly hope more are to come.  Now if only the snow would stop, the crews could get more trains out to service the industries on the railroad.

Suggestions for what additional information should be included or other corrections are greatly appreciated.

Stan Ames

Since the other EZ Command for large scale thread seems to have digressed into  another radio vrs DCC debate I thought I would start a new thread to answer the question of what one might expect in using the EZ Command with 5 amp booster for large Scale.

Today I shoveled off a section of the layout to try it out.

I ran out of locomotives at the low addresses before I ran out of power.

I had three trains running.

On the plow train I had a Heisler, a 3 truck Shay with DCC Sound on Board, and  2 truck Shay.  The second train had a unconverted 45 ton loco and the third was a 4-4-0 passenger train.  The grade was 2%.  That's 10 motors.

Using a Tonys meter the amp draw  was around 6.7 and the voltage dropped from 18 to around 13.

To increase the amperage draw I reversed the direction of the three truck shay and ran all the locos at full speed.  This caused wheel slippage. The practical limit for this system is the voltage drop which under such a high load is a little low for Large Scale.

Stan Ames