John back in the very early 2000s, I researched the idea of installing a high amp Zimo/Lenz DCC decoder in a postwar Hudson. The stumbling block wasn't the current draw or the wound-field motor. (As it turns out, it's not hard to make a universal motor "look" and behave like a permag DC motor, electrically.) The challenges were: (1) the motor had to be insulated from chassis ground. (2) The Zimo MX64 decoder I was planning to use made use of back-EMF speed control. Even though I had been pretty impressed with the Hudson's Pullmor motor for conventional operation, the dealer warned me that the speed control algorithms were set up for multi-pole DC motors and wouldn't give satisfactory performance.
The other stumbling block was the sheer economics. Buying a DCC base, 8-amp booster, hand-held, etc., would have been a big investment for just one loco. The proposition of converting to DCC is like Lay's potato chips. You can't have just one! That's why I've been advocating some of the "direct R/C" options. As long as the input voltage is properly conditioned, any of these should run right alongside existing TMCC, Legacy, and DCS locos. And maybe better on large club layouts where wiring and signal strength create challenges for the OEM systems, as long as the engineer is willing to walk with his train.
