After reading many of the threads here, I made the plunge and purchased an NCE Power Cab system from Litchfield Station
http://www.litchfieldstation.com/. Talk about getting your order fast - took about 2 days to receive it and that was via USPS! And darn good prices too.
After staring at the box for the past few days, I bit the bullet this morning and hooked it up to a 6 foot test track - put one of my Bachmann GE 45 ton locos on it and I'M HOOKED!!!
Even though the Bachmann dual mode decoder is very simple and all I can do is turn the headlight on and off, the slow speed operation was unreal! After playing around with it for a little while, I started the little rascal at one end of the test track at about 1 smph - went upstairs - went to the potty - grabbed another cup of coffee and when I go back downstairs, the little rascal had covered only about 4 feet of the track! Thought that loco operated really great on just plain DC, but this is tooooooooooooooo good! Actually, the start up speed is much slower than a prototype 45 tonner. Those little beasts can accelerate pretty fast.
I experimented between 28 and 128 speed steps and although the 28 speed steps gives me a more realistic start up speed, there seems to be a jump in speed at about 10 smph in that mode. Not sure if that is the decoder or just caused by the fewer speed steps. Based on my testing this morning, I can't imagine using a DCC system or decoder that only has 8 speed steps.
Also, is it normal for the loco to make a slight chattering noise when operating at very slow speed? Doesn't do it when operating on straight DC, but I figure it's caused by the fact that the motor is getting rapid full voltage spikes all the time - am I right on that one?
Does look like I may need to see if I can find a longer cable for the NCE throttle (a 6-wire telephone type cable) - the 7 foot cable is not going to allow me to cover the length of my proposed shelf layout plan. Other than that I am VERY PLEASED. I know that I can get throttles from NCE that can be unplugged and moved to another location, but right now, I'm trying to hold back on spending a lot more on the DCC system, until I get off my butt and start building the layout.
Now I need to unload some of my surplus locos to support my new addiction! Looks like I may have to invest in a loco with a sound decoder at some point or look into installing a sound decoder in one of my 45 tonners. Anyone recommend a good small 4 axle loco that is sound equipped and won't require me to take out a loan at the bank?
