DCC to DC

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Hi,

 I know for most people that this is usually the other way round, but a number of years ago I had a small analogue layout and me and my son had a lot of fun with it .

Three or four years ago I decided to give Dcc a try . At first I enjoyed it , the freedom to go wherever I chose without the flicking of isolation switches , but my views changed and I wasn't getting the same enjoyment....but I digress . Let me get to my question .. 

I have a full 12 ft. by 12ft. Spare room which houses my DCC layout .  I have run bus wires around the layout and have droppers to every separate piece of track , which is in excess of 50 pairs of droppers.The layout has a mixture of mostly electro frog points with a few insul. frog ones. Their operation is via a separate power source.

My question , sorry for the preamble. .. I intend to use cab control with a common return and a twin controller . ..can I simply disconnect all the red dropper wires  ( leaving the black connected as the common return ) and then reconnect some of the red wires required as  power feeds to the various sections . I would also like to use some of the red droppers via a switch as isolated sections of track. I also intend to connect the feeds to rotary switches as I will want to increase the number of controllers at a later date.

having re read all of that , what I'm actually asking is , can I utilise my existing wiring or would it be easier to take it all out and start again  ? 

Thanks  for any advise you can offer ..

[ColinB]

Firstly, you cannot do what you are proposing, because when you go backwards the 12 volts polarity is switched, so when you wanted to go backwards all your locos would have to go backwards. The thing I cannot understand DCC is just a means to power a loco, so there is no reason not to have isolating rails, in fact on my layout it is wired as it was when I ran DC. I need the isolating rails so that if the point is in the wrong direction the loco stops. I have a twin track dcc controller, a true one, not like the Elite where you have to toggle between channels. So I can control two locos independantly. I am sure if you look enough you will find a decent dcc controler that has a pc program where you can control more. I don't know if you use dcc to power the points but again you don't have to, again I use the old switch system.

[96RAF]

In addition to breaking your bus into sections you will have to cut matching rail breaks. Each bus section will then feed back to its own section controller.

 

Use of a common return rail system is well explained on Brian Lamberts web site.

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Many thanks gentlemen,

 I see where you are coming from. You hit the nail on the head Colin , it's my dcc controller that I am not happy with . Reverting back to past happiness is not the answer, and replacing all the wiring is not going to happen.          I must admit though Colin I do like the twin nob control of the Elite. At least you can flick from one running loco to another without taking your eyes off the layout to search through a recall list !!

my points are controlled by Dpdt switches through cobalt digital ip motors on a separate power source, I too like the old school switches and levers .

again my thanks for averting what would have been a nightmare..... I will take a closer look at the Elite though, I know it's not everybody's cup of tea , but then again what is ?