Hello All! Question for youins: if I run a DCC track next to a DC track and connect the two with an isolated spur they will both work just fine, but my question is if I run an engine with all wheel pick-up across the spur from one to the other will the DC voltage harm anything on the DCC side or vice-versa? I'm new at this guys so bear with me please.~TomKat
Don't do it. Running a loco from DC to DCC or DCC to DC is not habit forming. Current wisdom is that having a layout that is both DC and DCC is a bad idea. If you do you need to keep the block between a powered DCC section and a powered DC section dead.
Gene
Gene is right, don't do it!!!!!
DC is just that DC, DCC uses AC with voltage on the rails at all times. As ANY loco passes from one section to the other it will short out BOTH systems and most likely cause damage to both power supplies and the loco. The decode will become confused and most likely the magic smoke will escape and it will be fried!!!!
Sheldon
I know someone that uses a bar switch that changes the WHOLE layout form DC to DCC. This way visitors can run his r/road without using DCC. He has the two systems on different power supplies with Lighted switches to know which one is "LIVE".. Just a thought...
Since I only change modes occasionally, I don't even bother with switches. Both my DC and DCC are Bachmann with the same track plug. I just unplug one and plug in the other. Then there is no possibility of a mistake.
Bob
Something else a lot of people don't realise. On most DCC setups you can run a DC loco at address 0. Yes it does hum at idle but in the 8 years or so that I have done this I have never damaged the motor in a DC locomotive.
Go back to the original question. Does it hurt to run a locomotive from a DCC powered track to a DC powered track so that the locomotive is on both DC and DCC at the same time. The answer is YES. Yes it is possible to wire a layout for both DC and DCC. That was my original plan in fact. But it's now pure DCC after I read a bit and noticed problems with the CB&W dual DC/DCC layout. Some locomotives won't run for awile until they get converted to DCC.
Gene