Can I do this with DCC???

[MarcO]

OK - Wife wants Lionel O (we have the Polar Express Set and 60ft of fast track). Son wants HO ( Ill buy some DCC equipped locos), and I want N Gauge (ditto to the HO).

Is there a way to run all three wirelessly, within 20 ft of each other?

I dont see any decoders that will work with Lionel Locos.

Thanks.

 

[pgandw]

You are correct about decoders for Lionel and other 3 rail O. The 3 rail O folks use TMCC (made by Lionel and licensed to others) for command control and/or DCS (made exclusively by and for MTH). The electronics in the locomotives is made to use 16 volt AC, and so is not compatible with the DC motor feed coming from a DCC decoder.

You could run Lionel on DC, but would have to bypass the electronics and associated sounds. The motors themselves all will work just fine on DC. Depending on the actual motor used, the polarity reversal of direction may not be available without additional wiring inside the locomotive (some motors have wound fields instead of permanent magnets).

If I were going to run Lionel on DC (DCC), I would buy the non-command locomotives and start from there. Bypass the reversing unit and sounds, and install an O scale (rated for a couple of amps) DCC decoder. But it's not trivial if you are not familiar with electronics.

hope this helps

 

[MarcO]

Thanks fred, I am good with electronics and soldering, and as luck would have it the Polar Express is non-TMCC (not scale either but thats another peev). Perhaps ill experiment a bit.