. . .

One or the other.

Which is much less expensive ?   DC unless you go the whole 'do-it-yourself-route'

Marc

The short view is

DC.  The long view is DCC.  Most likely you will at some point taste DCC and like it.

DIY isn't hard

In fact it's really super easy and inexpensive to do DCC++ EX now. Just about plug and play. No more jumpers. It's the cheapest way to give DCC a test run and if you like it, you can either continue on with the Arduino or buy a commercial system.

Easier ... or more fun?

Easier doesn’t begin to tell the whole story with a hobby. With a hobby, what’s more fun should be the main question.

If what’s easier was always the main question, it’s easier to just sit on the couch and watch TV.

What’s more fun?
DCC, by a long stretch, for one locomotive, is definitely more fun. It costs more than DC, but if you’re in a hobby for fun first, sometimes more fun costs more, too.

But as Michael says, DCC+ has made DCC very affordable if you’re willing to tinker a bit. Even that can be fun, and very rewarding, when it’s successful.

Let’s let’s talk about the more fun aspect. I maintain DCC Is far more fun with even just one loco than DC.

First, with DCC you can control all of these aspects of a single locomotive:

• Starting voltage (so the locomotive first moves immediately when you crack the throttle)
• Top voltage (locomotive top speed at max throttle)
• Throttle up rate (how fast the locomotive speeds up when you turn the throttle)
• Ability to crawl (insert kick pulses to smooth out any mechanism stiffness)
• Momentum delay (to simulate the effects of mass both when speeding up and slowing down)
• Compensate for reverse speed difference (apply reverse trim to make speed match both directions)

In short, if you care about having the most fun when you run with one locomotive, having all these abilities to tune and adjust the behavior of the locomotive greatly adds to the fun factor.

With DCC, there’s always more
If after a while, you get a bit bored with a basic DCC loco, there’s more! Next comes adding lights and maybe even sound to the locomotive. Adding those takes a single loco to the next level as to the fun you can have. Add the momentum, braking, and sound features in today’s modern sound DCC decoders and running a single locomotive is game changing, making it almost a whole new hobby.

If you’re talking about a diesel locomotive, add a ProtoThrottle to the mix and that single loco layout will completely captivate you at a level you’ll never even begin to approach with DC. In fact, a small diesel era layout with DCC, sound, and a ProtoThrottle can become so fun and engaging you likely will never see a need for a lot of layout!

. . .

The question was  "  Which is easier to wire for one train operation? DC or DCC ?   "

Since all it takes is a minimum of two wires  to get either  up and running, both are on the same ball park for a loop of track.

Now if this is the beginnings of a Basement Empire, the question needs to be revised. 

Marc

Which is easier to wire for one train operation? DC or DCC?

What do you want to accomplish? Do you just want to run a train around a loop or do you plan to make a more complex layout?  DC for one train  is as simple as it gets, but with a little more complexity DCC will add a lot to the operations....DaveB

Depends on your future

If you have a layout that you ever think signals might come along then add your insulated joints as you build.

Wire the blocks just as you would with DC, knowing its a small change in the future to add block detection and signal control later. HOW you detect each block is another discussion, along with how to do signals.

But for now, if you are beginning your wiring, plan ahead, for the small price of insulated joiners you prevent coming back and cutting rail or adding them later. 

If you never add signals, then there is no harm.

Advice: Pick a color code and stick to it. Use a different color when possible for each block. Label everything. Take your time and do the wiring right the first time. Soldering is not hard.

On a small layout, where you will only have ONE booster, you CAN use common rail. ( Cue the no you cant discussion ). Again, this goes back to your layout size and what you might do in the future.

One last note: Think through everything, and educate yourself before you jump in. I remember years ago a discussion on DCC wiring and some genius said you can not use green wire for DCC. Strange, in my 40+ years of electrical, electronics, computers, radio comm and even teaching electronics, I NEVER knew the electrons could tell the color of wire insulation........ I used green wire LOL.

For a simple oval of track,

For a simple oval of track, such as a 4x8, DC is simple.  And you can switch to DCC as it's small.

Where things change is larger layouts.  Since you need many drops to the rails to provide a more reliable connection to all area's of the layout, that is still a "best practice" for DC as well as DCC.  But DCC is more simple in that you don't need to have lots of power blocks.  You can simplify it to a few power districts, mainly to manage power distribution and trouble shooting for shorts.

Hey Joe

Why did you guys let the Soundtax IR system die? Most everything DCC has with a lot less work and it's wireless besides. I'm using three of them and have no issues.

Michael H

Huh?

I assume I’m the Joe you’re talking to. Do you mean SoundTraxx?

We don’t “let” any product die. The hobby market does that. To suggest a product's success completely depends on MRH gives us way more power than we really have.

I meant to say "simpler"

I get that DCC can certainly be a great deal of fun, but that's not the question I'm asking. 

I'd like to know which type of control would be simpler to wire (for single train ops). That doesn't mean it won't be fun. If I go DC, I'd more than likely build my own controller. I'd find that to be very fun and rewarding. 

Also, I'm at a point in my life where I don't have very much money. I'm sure I can have a great deal of fun regardless. That said, I want to carefully spend the money I do have.

Lastly, I prefer simple, easy to use control systems. If I go DCC, I'd more than likely go with a basic beginner's system. All I want in a DCC system would be speed control, direction control, and horn and bell. I don't need all the bells and whistles, literally!

DC or DCC, I will be having fun.

You described DCC

@J M, 

You just described what is best and easiest to do in DCC, not easily available in DC.  You can buy a new or used entry level system, or for much less you can build your own system with DCC++ EX.  

And the wiring can be as simple as you want, starting with just two wires from the command station to the rails.

Skip the DCC and go to WiFi/Bluetooth

Make it even simpler so the track is only there to provide electrical power not locomotive control.  Either get a proprietary WiFi or Bluetooth receiver and controller or one that will connect on a plug in basis to a current full feature decoder. 

Sometime in the near future you will only need any power in the track to mimic real railroad signaling circuits. Or operate in an era of telegraph communication and paper train orders as real railroads did. 

Wire color and DCC

Use DCC. It's the industry standard, and it's standard across many manufacturers. That way, if you want one company's sound decoder and another's system, or a homebrew system like DCC++EX, you're good to go. The Digitrax Zephyr DCS52 is the most cost effective way to start with a commercial system, DCC++EX is great if you want the homebrew route.

Of course the electrons don't care, but it's bad practice to mis-use colors, like using green for anything other than a "ground" for DCC boosters. 

Just a note....

Automotive wiring in many cases us black for grounds, Low voltage wiring truly has no uniform color standards.

Old GM cars used green for switched 12 volts, so the color is really important  only that you use a consistent color for the a particular circuit, IE if green is used for ground then it should always be ground. 

Just my 2 cents worth, Peace Bill

easy wiring

a 4ft X 8ft table with just a loop around and around 

DC 2 wires and go!

DCC 2 wires and go! that's it 

DO NOT PUT A DC engine on a DCC track unless you like to watch your motor BURN and smoke!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Engines placed on a DCC system must have a Decoder installed to run proper.

But you can put a DCC engine on a DC track and it will run like a DC engine.

Bluetooth and POB not quite there yet

Unfortunately, BlueTooth and Power-on-board (aka battery power) is not to the same level as DCC with sound yet -- it's got a long ways to go. The Bluetooth and POB give you forward, reverse, and basic throttle knob speed control, along with some simple lighting, but that's about it.

I'm sure these newcomers will eventually get there, but I'm guessing that's 5+ years off still. Meanwhile DCC has really matured nicely as to the feature set available when you include sound and motor control (back EMF, for instance). DCC stay alive gives you pretty much all the advantages of POB without the disadvantages.

POB's biggest disadvantage is recharging. Unless you trickle charge through the rails, you will need some way to get that the battery to recharge, and you're looking at recharge rates similar to your cell phone. If you have a railroad with very many locos, the recharge time for each op session adds up fast ... imagine needing to charge 25 cell phones before you could host an op session and you get the idea.

Trickle charging through the rails solves most of the recharge headaches if you assume most of the railroad still has power on the rails (just leave the places where rails cross each other dead to keep the wiring simple). But now you've lost the major advantage of POB, or no track wiring. That's why stay alive with 6+ seconds of run time after losing rail contact pretty much gives you the same result as trickle charge POB and a fully mature DCC feature set to go with it.

Standards

Also, DCC is a standard, dead rail and radio control aren't. DCC's advantage and market penetration is mostly due to it being a standard, creating great competition on the decoder side of things, a good quantity of competition on the system side, even if the systems are still mostly way behind the times, and the virtual guarantee that if one DCC company goes out of business, you can get a new system from another company and it will keep working with your existing decoders.

Both choices are correct

Hi,

this is a question to spark very heated discussions

Having a small layout, I've wired everything for DC track blocks. I did consider switching to DCC, however all my locos are DC and rebuilding or replacing them is not what I want to do.

I've come to think it is more about side conditions (like existing rolling stock) rather than the technical choice. Previously I did state that layout size and capabilities would be a factor and I still think that for a larger layout, DCC is basically a given.

In any case, I would recommend to follow "best practice DCC wiring" for DC also - put in lots of feeders, label everything, bring the wiring to a point where you can access it. There is very little in those best practices that would be "over the top" for DC and it gives you options to switch over later. In fact I have seen some very dodgy DC wiring that would have better been built to a standard...

You can always "fix" the wiring below the layout, but having to pull track just to add feeders is not fun. As such, the wires that go "through the layout" should be done well.

Following that, base your decision on questions like "do I have any equipment that cannot be converted" or "do I want sound".

Have fun and stay healthy

  "In any case, I would

I agree, DC needs the same wiring quality as DCC when it comes to bus wire and feeders. The only real difference is all the switching circuits needed for DC cabs and blocks if one wants to run multiple trains....DaveB