Dc or Dcc that is the question

[chris m01]

It has to be whatever suits your needs.
I am extremely happy running DC with the no longer available train engineer controlling both locos and points. I was at an O gauge indoor/outdoor DCC railway last Sunday. Whilst I can see that DCC offers plenty of potential the owner seemed to have to press a lot of buttons to run different trains.
I will be moving some way towards on board batteries and r/c. This is a solution that works well and gives plenty of running time per charge with Bachmann locos. You can just have a box car to hold batteries and receiver with a connection to the loco. This reduces the investment required.

 

[railwayman198]

Is there anywhere closer to me than KGR then? I'm in Thurrock Essex

Or Chalk garden rail in Gravesend

 

[Gizzy]

My main reason for going to DCC (LGB MTS) from DC (ART Crest Train Engineer) was for loco sounds.

I like the sounds of locos idling!

However, lots of other benefits to operation became apparent later, such as PC control, points operation, route setting....

 

[ntpntpntp]

... and the simple benefit of having a constant voltage in the track allows for more reliable running than variable voltage DC.

 

[ge_rik]

I've tried DC, DCC and have now converted to battery RC. Like you, I found track cleaning a bugbear and so experimented with RC and have now been won-over. I think it's worth trying out with one loco to see if it's for you. With DCC you have to invest in a lot of kit up front. With RC you can get started fairly cheaply. I've gone down the Deltang route as it seemed the most cost effective (eg transmitter for £21 (as a kit), combined receiver/ESC another £30, add some batteries and a charger and you're away. A lot less outlay than DCC (eg MTS Starter pack £350, decoder £50) - and no track cleaning.

However, DCC offers a lot more capability - eg points controllers, sound decoders, computer control etc etc if that side interests you. In the end it all depends on what you want from your railway.

Rik