What is a blanking plate?

A blanking plate is a little circuit board that can be plugged into a DCC model railway locomotive. Its function is to by-pass all of the circuitry that DCC models use therefore turning a DCC model into a regular analogue (DC) model. This alteration is by no means permanent and the decoder can be reinstated at any time. DCC models that are sold brand new with a blanking plate installed are referred to as DCC ready.

DCC models are manufactured to accommodate specific sizes of decoder, some are big and some are small to accommodate different functions or space restrictions within a locomotive's body. To this end, the blanking plates also come in many shapes and sizes, so it's important that if you're planning to purchase a blanking plate to convert your model from DCC to DC that you first check which type and size it is that you require.