@davidbross posted:Also can someone comment on this that I gleaned from another post:
1. You cannot run conventional engine (engine without a dcc board) on a track connected to a DCC system. If you do this, the motor in the conventional engine will make a high pitched him and eventually die. Therefore, take into account that EVERY engine that you want to run on DCC tracks has to have a DCC board in it.
I believe this statement is true most of the time. There may be some HO locomotives that can handle it. When running a conventional locomotive on the DCC system, the DCC system will vary the tops and bottoms of the square wave so that the locomotive will go forward or backward but it is true that most motors don't like the high frequency square wave the DCC system puts out. For me personally I would not do it.
You can get a NCE DCC decoder for $52 that will work in O scale but you will not have any sound. I would rather install that instead of running a conventional locomotive. I am a big proponent of DCC but as I always say there are pros and cons to every system. One of the cons of DCC is the system itself is expensive but one of the pros is you do have more options for decoders than you do with TMCC or DCS.
I watched your first video. Pretty cool and you have a nice layout. I am sure you know you won't be able to run DCC in the same block as TMCC,DCS, and Blue Rail unless it is a battery powered DCC decoder. I thought the sound in the Blue Rail unit was definitely better than the conventional engine.
