If you made it here from Pt I, and are willing to hear me out a bit more, let’s talk about a few things to avoid. And by ‘things’, I am mainly referring to certain brands that are likely to be mentioned and recommended when someone asks the aforementioned question.
Before I get into the meat of that, let me lay a bit of groundwork. A modern DCC system, even at entry level, should have the following features (over and above the general capability to, well, run trains):
- a dedicated programming track output
- computer connectivity
- at least one usable feedback and extension bus
- built-in short-circuit protection.
A programming track is where you position your trains to make changes to its configuration. This may not be front and centre for a beginner, but it won’t be long until you need to familiarise yourself with this topic. Having a dedicated programming track is useful because it is configured to use lower voltage, and you avoid accidentally writing config to the wrong train. While it is possible to do programming without a dedicated programming track, it comes with its own drawbacks and restrictions. These days, very few command stations (including entry-level offerings) do not have a dedicated programming track output.
Computer connectivity serves a few purposes: firmware or software updates, controlling trains and layouts using external software, or at times providing a more convenient interface for configuring the command central itself. There are very few command stations out there nowadays that don’t have a computer connection, usually via USB but sometimes via a network connection.
A feedback bus becomes relevant when you want to use a computer to control and automate your model railway. Specialised software uses feedbacks to determine where on your layout your trains currently are, and uses that information to control them. Going into in-depth detail would make this piece considerably longer than it already is, so let it suffice to say that if the idea of making your trains run across your layout by themselves appeals to you, a usable feedback bus is something you absolutely need. Common options are LocoNet, XPressNet (sometimes known as X-Bus or R-Bus), S88 or CAN. A wide range of accessories is available for these bus systems.
Short circuit protection is simply a must. Short circuits can seriously damage your trains and digital gear (and worse). It’s not a question of if you will experience a short circuit, but when. All it takes is for a train to derail over a point. So the digital system needs to detect when a short circuit is happening, and turn off the track power immediately.
With that out of the way, let’s talk about a few digital system brands that you should simply put, avoid, even if recommended to you in the most glorifying way. These brands are: Hornby, MRC/Gaugemaster, and NCE.
Hornby produce the Elite controller, a system that actually looks pretty cool with its colour screen and twin control dials. It ticks all the above boxes in theory – but it is badly supported, unstable, and the entire product line appears to be abandoned. Those are enough reasons to skip past it.
Which might take you to MRC and it UK counterpart Gaugemaster, and you might as well keep skipping. The legacy MRC Prodigy system, sold in Europe under the Gaugemaster brand, is an insular solution lacking a feedback bus, and while it has computer connectivity, it is not supported by most of the software you’ll find out there. Gaugemaster have also recently released their own Infinity product line, with the bold claim that it “delivers not what design engineers think you need but what modellers know it needs”. Which is utterly laughable given the fact that it lacks a feedback bus and deliberately omits a computer interface. If all you want is to control trains with a handheld unit, this might suffice, but perish any thought of extensibility or interoperability.
And that takes us to a brand I am going to single out a bit. I am on record for most of the following, and it continues to be a hill I am willing to die on:
As a DCC beginner in 2024, steer clear of NCE.
North Coast Engineering, or NCE, are a US manufacturer of DCC equipment, including command stations, decoders and all manner of accessories. NCE is also one of the most frequently recommended brands when people ask the question that I elaborated on in Pt 1. So I am going to reiterate what I said before: steer clear of this brand. This is not a joke. If you’re a DCC beginner in the year 2024 and beyond, there is zero reason for you to consider a digital system made by NCE. Absolutely none.
The NCE PowerCab, NCE’s entry-level offering since at least 2006, is a particularly egregious case. It is a system stuck on a technical level from 15 years ago, the ecosystem has not seen any significant additions or updates in the same time. By today’s standards it is underpowered and lacks features. Yet you are likely to hear people talk about it as if it were the best thing since sliced bread, and tell you it’ll be the only thing you’ll ever need. Particularly, its fans praise its affordability, ease of use, and extensibility. I am an erstwhile PowerCab user myself, and I can tell you that most of those claims are either vastly exaggerated, or simply bunkum. Fans will also talk about the robustness, reliability and customer support of NCE and its products. You won’t hear me argue that particular point, but long-lived, well supported products are not unique to NCE either.
Ease of use is distinctly a matter of taste personally, I found the PowerCab to be neither particularly intuitive, nor easy or fun to use. It’s a bulky unit that may not feel nice to hold or operate especially one-handed. It has some idiosyncrasies, such as its locomotive recall function (instead of an actual locomotive database), and its unintuitive point control (indicating 1 and 2 for the state of a point), both of which are likely to throw beginners, and frequently made me scratch my head. Controlling points, accessing decoder functions beyond the number 9, or even basic programming actions, are exercises in memorising sequences of button presses. The 2-line display is of low information density, and the majority of handheld controllers available these days has got much better displays.
Now I should throw in here that, in particular, programming is not the forte of almost any hand controller I’ve seen in action. It’s simply too complex a matter to be able to do with what is effectively a number pad with a few extra buttons. Using an app or dedicated software almost always beats using a handheld controller.
As far as extensibility goes, the claim that the PowerCab is easy to expand is simply misleading. It’s no more or less expandable than the majority of systems out there. You can add boosters, throttles, and certain other devices for the Cab Bus. This is par for the course for virtually any system out there, and many of them uses bus systems that are way easier to configure than the Cab Bus. It is not a system that will easily grow with you – at some point you’ll brush up against its limitations, and then it’s a case of either spending a lot of money on effectively turning your PowerCab into a PowerPro – or just buying a better system.
The PowerCab lacks all of the above mentioned features out of the box. Every single one. You have to pay extra to get any of them. You need a separate gadget to get computer connectivity, another one for a programming track output, and yet another one for good short circuit protection.
NCE provide a so-called USB interface which connects to their bus and basically acts like a throttle, but it is not as well implemented as a properly integrated connection could be. To get a programming track, you used to have to jury-rig something yourself or buy the Auto_SW, a since discontinued gadget. Recently, NCE have released a new product called the PowerCab Partner, a device which combines the aforementioned USB interface and a dedicated programming track output. I suppose that some credit is due, but again, where has that been for the last ten years or so?
The PowerCab’s short circuit protection is so hopelessly inadequate it shouldn’t even be called that. When the PowerCab detects a short circuit, it will go into a start/stop cycle until you physically unplug it. There is no clear indication that a short circuit has been detected. So it can take anyone a few seconds to a) realise what’s happening and b) take the appropriate action. This allows for the short circuit to happen repeatedly, increasing the potential for damage. You can buy separate circuit breakers – or go for a system where that isn’t necessary.
Now, the PowerCab does have a feedback bus. But you’re be very restricted as to what, or rather, how much you can do. NCE produces the Auxiliary Input Unit (AIU), with which feedbacks can be implemented on the PowerCab. However, due to restrictions of the PowerCab specifically, you are limited to a maximum of five AIUs, which gives you at most 70 individual feedbacks. This may be enough for a small layout, but with anything larger or more complex, you’re very likely to need more than that. To compare, common feedback bus systems implemented in many other command stations support between 512 and 4096 individual feedbacks.
Lastly, what makes a feedback bus usable is not only its existence, but the availability of feedback modules for it, and in that regard, the Cab Bus is just not up to snuff. Aside from the NCE AIU, no other feedback modules are available for the PowerCab. Meanwhile, if you have a command station with a more widespread bus system, you’re able to get matching accessories from other manufacturers, and in some cases, you can even build them yourself.
Note: the high-end NCE offerings revolving around the PowerPro have most of these features built in. Sadly that does not make them any more up-to-date, it just puts them on par with virtually any other offering at most price levels.
Of course this puts a dent into the affordability. By itself the PowerCab may be cheaper, but by the time you’ve added all of the above, you’re almost always better off opting for a different system.
So to summarise a long read, one more time: if you’re starting out with DCC in 2024 or beyond, you have no reason whatsoever to consider the NCE PowerCab as a command central. It has nothing to offer that you can’t get elsewhere, and most alternatives have better implementations, better software support, or are simply nicer to use. The only reason to go for NCE is if you’re going with your gut and it has tweaked your ‘I bet that’s fun to use’ instinct more than the alternatives.