Model Train Wiring - Why You Should Know About the DCC
I don't think I have to tell you how important the wiring is when it comes to talking about model trains.
And I'm sure that if you have read a thing or two about it, you've come across the term DCC and why it has revolutionized the world of Model Trains.
Digital Command Control -- must, of necessity, start with the days of the hobby prior to DCC.
It's the only way to truly under this awesome leap.
Prior to the creation of DCC, both the speed and direction of the model train had been controlled by adjusting the voltage and polarity on the rails.
The higher the voltage, naturally the faster your train scooted around the tracks.
The lower the voltages, then the slower the locomotive moved.
If the right rail has a positive charge with respect to the left one, the locomotive moves forward.
If the right rail though has a negative charge, it moves backwards.
And that's just fine.
If you're only controlling a single train.
There's a bunch of us die-hard hobbyists though that need to control more than one at a time.
Throughout the years, the more ingenious railroaders among us have devised all sorts of tactics to be able to do just that.
But every one of those methods revolved around what's called block wiring.
In this technique, the railroad layout is divided up into separate electrical blocks, each of which controls only one locomotive.
Called cab control, a cab -- or throttle -- is then used to control each individual train.
Arrays of various selector switches then connect each block.
Without a doubt the best form of this method is called progressive cab control.
In this one the train runs on the layout, while the connection between the cab and the block is automatically changed from one block to the next using relays.
The first block is then free for another train to use.
This worked great -- if you only have one or two trains.
For layouts with more than two trains, the task of wiring this becomes a bit overwhelming.
But hobbyists solved this problem in stride.
The creation of command control came into being.
This is a method of controlling the individual locomotives at the same time on the same rails.
Now we're talkin'! First developed by General Electric in 1964, it created quite a stir throughout the hobby.
But, as it should happen, the popularity of model railroading grew right about the same time the largest strides in electronics were occurring in the toy industry.
And our hobby was lucky enough to reap some of these rewards.
Soon, two commercial systems were developed that actually used audio tone to control the individual trains.
Again, this was a marvelous step, but still left the hobbyist limited in the number of trains that could be run at one time (are you beginning to see that model railroaders are never satisfied running just two or even three trains?)
And I'm sure that if you have read a thing or two about it, you've come across the term DCC and why it has revolutionized the world of Model Trains.
Digital Command Control -- must, of necessity, start with the days of the hobby prior to DCC.
It's the only way to truly under this awesome leap.
Prior to the creation of DCC, both the speed and direction of the model train had been controlled by adjusting the voltage and polarity on the rails.
The higher the voltage, naturally the faster your train scooted around the tracks.
The lower the voltages, then the slower the locomotive moved.
If the right rail has a positive charge with respect to the left one, the locomotive moves forward.
If the right rail though has a negative charge, it moves backwards.
And that's just fine.
If you're only controlling a single train.
There's a bunch of us die-hard hobbyists though that need to control more than one at a time.
Throughout the years, the more ingenious railroaders among us have devised all sorts of tactics to be able to do just that.
But every one of those methods revolved around what's called block wiring.
In this technique, the railroad layout is divided up into separate electrical blocks, each of which controls only one locomotive.
Called cab control, a cab -- or throttle -- is then used to control each individual train.
Arrays of various selector switches then connect each block.
Without a doubt the best form of this method is called progressive cab control.
In this one the train runs on the layout, while the connection between the cab and the block is automatically changed from one block to the next using relays.
The first block is then free for another train to use.
This worked great -- if you only have one or two trains.
For layouts with more than two trains, the task of wiring this becomes a bit overwhelming.
But hobbyists solved this problem in stride.
The creation of command control came into being.
This is a method of controlling the individual locomotives at the same time on the same rails.
Now we're talkin'! First developed by General Electric in 1964, it created quite a stir throughout the hobby.
But, as it should happen, the popularity of model railroading grew right about the same time the largest strides in electronics were occurring in the toy industry.
And our hobby was lucky enough to reap some of these rewards.
Soon, two commercial systems were developed that actually used audio tone to control the individual trains.
Again, this was a marvelous step, but still left the hobbyist limited in the number of trains that could be run at one time (are you beginning to see that model railroaders are never satisfied running just two or even three trains?)
Source...