Quote from: Ralph S on May 31, 2024, 02:28:43 PMWow! I know I'm an amateur in train modeling knowing that even with a ball park amount, 50 or more locomotives is way beyond my thought patterns. I'm lucky to have 18 DCC loco's with 6 not by Bachmann. I have 15 DC locos where 11 are not Bachmann, that is, Life-like, Tyco, Mantua, although they still work, they are all discontinued. They are on my museum DC powered track.
There are 7 DC Bachmann's I want to convert to DCC, where 3 are MOW's. This is where I run into a conundrum of either purchasing the Dynamis or purchasing the DCC decoders for the locos. I want to do both, but which to purchase first is where I'm at today.
I'd get the Dynamis and learn how to use it before I started converting locomotives to DCC. On older locomotives like the ones you describe, you'll have to hardwire the decoders, and you may have to completely rewire the locomotive in the process. It sounds like they are all low quality train set locomotives that were marginal performers on DC, and adding DCC isn't going to help them perform better. Locomotives like this have a single power truck, and traction tires on some of the wheels. The diesels will pick up power on only 4 wheels, two for each rail. DCC requires much better electrical contact to avoid problems, and these locomotives will not have it. Can they be converted? Sure. Just about anything can be converted to DCC. There are tutorials on the various DCC manufacturers website and you tube on how to convert almost anything to DCC. Will it be worth it? Only you can decide. To me, converting a Tyco using the existing drive has too many drawbacks. But me being a huge fan of the Alco locomotives I grew up around, I am currently in the process of rebuilding a Tyco C630 with DCC and a Hobbytown chassis. To me, after considering all my options, this seemed to be the one most likely to result in the locomotive I want.