What's the Upper Limit of # of Locos Powered with DCC?

[Kisatchie]

I was just wondering, just how many locos can you control with DCC?


Hmm... Kiz is just itching
to run out and buy a
thousand engines...

[mmyers]

We had 100 trains running on Sunday at the Derby City Express. Digitrax DCS100 command station will run 120 addresses.
I think NCE will allow more but there is a limit on the number of throttles. I think 64 is their throttle limit  so only 64 people could be actually running. Each could be running more then one train using recall on the throttles. That would be hairy. Maybe more would be possible using JMRI throttles and/or Wi throttles.

So basically, there's a limit but it's up there. some of the European units may handle more. I'm thinking Zimo?

Martin Myers

[Kisatchie]

We had 100 trains running on Sunday at the Derby City Express. Digitrax DCS100 command station will run 120 addresses.
I think NCE will allow more but there is a limit on the number of throttles. I think 64 is their throttle limit  so only 64 people could be actually running....

Thanks for the info. 120 addresses should be sufficient for the layout I'm planning. And I know for certain I'll never have 64 people operating on my dream layout.


Hmm... yeah, Kiz has a
cutoff at 62 people...

[peteski]

You can have almost 10,000 locomotive addresses. If you consisted bunch of them together then I suppose that you could run all of them at the same time (with those 64 throttles)!    Assuming of course that you had enough boosters powering the layout.

[Kisatchie]

...I suppose that you could run all of them at the same time (with those 64 throttles)!    Assuming of course that you had enough boosters powering the layout.

Hmm... Kiz just ordered a
nuclear reactor...

[ryan_wilkerson]

You can have almost 10,000 locomotive addresses. If you consisted bunch of them together then I suppose that you could run all of them at the same time (with those 64 throttles)!    Assuming of course that you had enough boosters powering the layout.

Is there a basic calculation about how many locos can run on one booster? I have a Digitrax system (Super Chief) with the DCS100. I'd like to be able to run 3 trains on my layout (I have 2 sons) and I'd like each consist to have 3 or so units. Is 10 possible with this? If not, what else is needed?

[peteski]

I would conservatively rate each locomotive's current consumption at around 300mA (milliamps) max.  That is the same as 0.3 A (amps) of electric current.  All the modern models use less current but it is good to have a safety margin.

From that, it is a simple calculation. If your booster can continuously supply 3 A then 10 X 0.3 A = 3 A. So you can safely run 10 locos from a booster which can supply 3 A of current.  Again, this includes some safety margin so in real life you could probably run more than 10 locos. That is because in normal operation at medium speed, a loco probably consumes between 100-200 mA (or 0.1-0.2 A).

[jdcolombo]

The DCS100 contains a five-amp booster.  You'll need to make sure the power supply is rated for five amps, but if so, you should easily be able to run 15 engines at the same time using a single DCS100.

One variable is if you use sound.  Sound decoders usually consume more current since they are powering a speaker as well as the motor.  I round to a half amp for a sound-equipped loco.

John C

[ryan_wilkerson]

Thanks Peteski and John. I have a 5A power supply so it sounds like I'm fine for what I want to do. I don't have any sound locos yet but plan to have a few so I'll keep that in mind when the time comes.