The Main Control

The next question was how to control our happy little train. The last time I owned a train it came with a DC power pack. The more you turned the dial on the power converter the faster the train went. But that was yesterday's technology. (Remember how all the lights would go out when the train stopped because there was no electricity to power it?).

Today we have DCC. What this system does is put constant voltage in the track. It never changes. Inside the train you have a DCC control board where the magic happens. It is this control board that releases the power to the train motor. So you can imagine that your train can do much more than go forward and backward.

You can now control everything! From bells to whistles to amazing audio of the steam and crew. And it is all controlled with a highly programmable hand-held controller. And yes, even the lights, that no longer go out, can be programmed.

After reading many reviews, I went with the NCE Power Cab. As it turns out, it turned out to be the right decision for what we were planning!