Comment by dhosek

15 days ago

Yeah, apparently the whole controlling the train by the voltage¹ and polarity of the electricity in the rails has been replaced with little digital chips in the locomotives that let you control each locomotive independently and not have to have them in separate zones on the layout. I have a bunch of stuff in the basement from when I was thinking of getting back into the hobby around 2001 and then, well, 2001 happened and put that all on hold. Maybe sometime in the future or maybe I’ll just sell it all off.

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1. Or is it current? I have no idea,

6 comments

dhosek

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TacticalCoder  15 days ago

> Yeah, apparently the whole controlling the train by the voltage¹ and polarity of the electricity in the rails has been replaced with little digital chips in the locomotives that let you control each locomotive independently and not have to have them in separate zones on the layout.

Can I reuse the tracks (not the locomotives, just the track) from my Marklin HO and switch to digital trains? Sounds cool.

  • nic547  14 days ago

    Assuming you have the yellowish, metal tracks (M-Track) it should work more or less.

    Electrically the tracks with the connectors for power might have capacitors for radio interference reasons, they're unnecessary for and cause problems with the digital signals.

    With regards to the wheel-track geometry, Märklin hasn't changed that much and most modern rolling stock compatible with the "Märklin system" (commonly referred to as "3L"/"AC") should work on M-track. Only the small "industrial radius" tracks might be a bit problematic in general and longer cars can hit turnout signals (mostly a problem with long passenger cars that aren't shortened to 1/100 or 1/93.5 scale). Some manufacturers have created "universal" wheelsets, those might be prone to derailments.

    Digital trains need clean rails for proper operation, m-track is more vulnerable to rust and really needs proper rust removal, especially after not being used for a while.|

    AFAIK it's not that rare to use m-track for storage yards and "non-visible" track rather than throwing it away.

  • dhosek  15 days ago

    Yep. And you can simplify your wiring since you only need to put in insulators where there would be a potential short (e.g., a Y loop) and not split the layout into zones for operation.

    • dhosek  15 days ago

      Also adding the chip to a locomotive is a pretty simple thing so you can retrofit older locomotives (it’s also possible to mix non-digital locomotives with digital locomotives).

    • nic547  14 days ago

      GP mentioned Märklin H0, so Y-Loops aren't a Problem anyway because both wheels have the same potential, it's a modified 3rail system with a bunch of studs in the middle as a 3rd rail.