I forgot to add, the reason you need chips to control the head/tail lighting if you go DCC is quite simple.
Normal analog control is DC current, so you have a switch that decides which rail is + or - polarity, this in turn determines if the car lights the forward or reverse lights.
Digital control (DCC) on the other hand uses AC current, so the head/tail directional lighting units fitted without a chip will always both be on (because the +/- is constantly switching under AC current). Adding a DCC chip it can control the polarity of the voltage going to the directional lights so you get your forward/backward lighting back again
Normal analog control is DC current, so you have a switch that decides which rail is + or - polarity, this in turn determines if the car lights the forward or reverse lights.
Digital control (DCC) on the other hand uses AC current, so the head/tail directional lighting units fitted without a chip will always both be on (because the +/- is constantly switching under AC current). Adding a DCC chip it can control the polarity of the voltage going to the directional lights so you get your forward/backward lighting back again
Happily collecting things all my life... 
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