Hello,

If I'm not mistaken, some digital locos won't run under analogue layouts. This because it is not the voltage, but the decoder giving the "go" order to the locos.

Yannis,

you have to give us more information to be a able to help you to understand the ins and outs how it all works.

a.) what type of transformers are you using (year of production, colour or even better a catalogue number
b.) how many locos are you running on each circuit
c.) are there any interior lights
d.) what type of digital loco are we talking about
e.) what type of decoder is installed in these digital locos.

the voltage as Danilo pointed out is not the culprit, digital motors as a rule use less voltage than analogue motors.
your question about speed is something we may all have a different understanding, what is prototypical speed and what is called racing. In my younger days speed was everything and the faster a loco was running the happier this chap was and of course there was the experimental modeller who increased the tension of the reversing switch and than turned the knob to reverse which in turn speeded up the loco even more but I think we've gone past this stage.

as a rule blue transformers are a no no for digital locos as the reversing pulse sends a 24 volt voltage through the decoder and it can't cope with it and this would be the end of the decoder until your repair man repairs the decoder, quite expensive when you talk a bout a sound decoder.

voltage consumption on your track is the main point, one can estimate what and how many locos and carriages can be used, for instance I had a Roco SBB Ae 8/14 with 2 motors and a Lenz digital decoder, it would not start on my earlier Mobile station (1.2 AMP) but worked alright on the latter MS with 1.9 AMP.

A digital decoder has many functions which can be activated and it depends which or what type of decoder is in your digital loco(s). If you bought it second hand there may be functions activated or the decoder has been programmed to run slowly or the decoder is set to half speed and these settings could be still activated.
your Märklin decoder 60901 onwards you also had 2 perimeters you could change, one for the braking and acceleration delay and the other for speed.

as you can see it is not as simple as you think it is from a decoder point of view.

further more an ESU sound decoder could be installed into your loco and producing sounds, braking and acceleration options and of course other functions which can be programmed into the decoder such as short horn noise when the loco is starting to get power, station announcements while the loco is idle, squealing brakes when the loco comes to a halt and other pre set sound noises while the loco is in operation.

and the type of decoder we need is a multiprotocol decoder which can automatically recognize the system you are using, AC, DC, AC digital, AC analogue, DCC etc etc.

Are you contemplating to be more flexible by introducing digital locos, is your hard core analogue stand coming to an end eventually or is your inner gut feeling telling you you are missing out on both worlds, locos with new technology, slower speeds and more capabilities to run more than 2 locos on the same track.

but you always can air your sins on this forum (confession) if you think you are loosing the purity of analogue or your insanity tells you there are more influential elements out there you haven't thought of before, not including your wife and there are other dangers just beneath the surface, divorcing yourself from a known environment to an unknown environment, it always causes emotional stress

regards.,

John

Thank you all for the replies, and especially John for the very extensive analysis.

Basically, I have no intention of converting the entire layout to digital. My design and operation accomplishes exactly what I need this layout to be and do, namely, a parade of trains illustrating the evolution of German and few other European railways.

The oldest items of my collection are just about 50 years old and still running fine. I have been adding to it over the years, and it's only in the last 7-8 years that I acquired three digital locos from eBay (BR41, BR50, and a BR86 retrofitted to digi).

The operating speed of all my trains is very close to scale. I have even devised a progressive voltage drop through a series of resistors over 8 track (5100) sections in the stations, that cause the trains to progressively (and realistically) decelerate/accelerate as they enter/depart the station (for a minuscule fraction of what one decoder costs). The three digital locos barely move when track voltage is below 12V. However, at 15-17V and up they run fine. The reason I do not want to increase the max track voltage above constant 11.5V is because my analogue locos begin to run much faster than the desired scale speed I want on the main line.

The station shunting, branch line, and service area operations are controlled manually through one transformer. In this circuit I can do whatever I want with the transformer and have no issues analogue vs. digital. I do realize the voltage spikes may harm the decoder, but thus far, I have never had any mishap. It is very rare that the three digital locos run in this circuit.

As far as sound is concerned, I have recorded over one hour of real German locomotives sounds from Youtube (which I have spliced into a logical continuous sound loop with a sound editor) and broadcast through a set of HiFi stereo speakers under the layout. Grant you, the sound is not synchronized to each loco and train, but when 15 trains are running around, the surround sound effect is beyond realistic! Real train sounds instead of the "fake-sounding" tsou-tsou sounds of the miniature speakers. Although, I have to admit the only realistic sound I have heard from these decoders is that of diesel engines.

So having read all your replies, unless there is a setting I can change on the decoders (or bypass them) to increase the output voltage to the motors and make it run faster at 11.4V, I will try to find some discarded reversing relays and replace the decoders. Anyone has any available for me? ;)

Thanks again for all your responses.

Yannis

Hi all,
37XXX loks should have no problem running analog ,I use to 'break-in' the motors using M-track and a transfo from a starter set(from 1968). Most decoders should be universal and recognize which mode they are running in.Even a first generation LokSound installed in a 3696 did this back in 1996(!)
On digital layouts the voltage is always -on-,this is why things like headlights/fuctions when the digtal address is used can be on without them moving.

Dr D

Hi Kevin,

In general:

30xx = analogue
31xx = analogue
33xx = analogue with electronic reverser or Delta
34xx = Delta, but some early ones are analogue with electronic reverser
34xxx as for 34xx
35xx = analogue with 5 star high efficiency propulsion
36xx = digital 6080
36xxx = digital FX (Hobby) decoder
37xx = digital 6090
37xxx = digital 60902 or later
38xx = DC
39xxx = digital c-sine (recent models as for 37xxx)

This is only a rough guide as there are many exceptions.