Try reading the decoder address from either the program track or main. This should tell you pretty quick if the command station is working properly. Is there a possibility that either loco is set up in a consist? 

Thanks. Meant to mention that in the original post. Nope! Unable to read any of the loco's addresses. And also nope. No consist set up.

George J

Last time I had problems with my Prodigy I called the company's service phone. Got good information. "Good" means accurate, not necessarily that I liked it.

I'd prefer talking with the guy who's paid to know the system instead of hoping from wisdom on this site.

DrJolS

Yeah, I'll probably end up calling them. I was just wondered if it was something simple that had an easy fix.

This is the second DCC system that has gone south on me (the first was Digitrax). I only run one or two locos at a time so I'm not (or shouldn't be) taxing the system that much. I don't see how people with scores of locomotives and hundreds of feet of mainline manage it!

I am seriously thinking about going back to straight DC!

George J

Have you tried resetting the handheld controller? This is the procedure:

Turn the system on; press and hold the Delete button until only one locomotive address remains in the display; press the Recall button to ensure that a single address is stored; now press Loco and enter the address of one of your engines that previously worked; unplug the cable from the bottom of the handheld; observe that SVDA flashes briefly; plug the cable back in and try to operate the locomotive. If this works, repeat it for any other handhelds that you use.

If this fails, with a single loco on the layout or programming track, enter programming mode and attempt to reset the decoder to its factory default values. The procedure for doing this varies by decoder. Try to operate the loco.

If this fails, contact MRC at 732-225-6360. The preceding two steps are what they will ask if you have tried, when you first call.

UPS - Uninterruptible Power Supply. If you live anywhere that power is uncertain (and you'd be amazed at how much the voltage on your lines can change during the day, just due to local usage), you should be investing in UPS'es. I have them for my computers, I have them for my DishTV box that has a hard drive in it. And I have one protecting (because they also make pretty good surge protectors) the DCC components on my railroad.

Fluctuating power, even if you can't see it, will destroy electronics over time. I work for a phone company and I'm pretty sure that it's responsible for our having to replace DSL modems in more than a few locations frequently.

Thanks for all the help and suggestions. I've tried them all to no avail. Guess I'll be giving MRC a call.

Again, thanks!

George J

Well, I called MRC and they were very helpful. The last thing they suggested, however, was that I test my locomotives on a different layout with a known operational system, or take them to a hobby shop that could test them. If it was just one locomotive, that would have made sense, but I had the same problem with three different locomotives with decoders from 3 different manufactures. The odds of all three of them going bad at the same time are, as Mr Spock would say, astronomical.

So, since I was going to have to either pay to have my Prodigy repaired (I bought it second hand, no warranty) or replaced I decided on the latter. I bought a new Digitrax Zephyr. The reason being, I had used a Zephyr before, was familiar with its operation and still had a walk around throttle for it and some other hardware. Also, most of the clubs in the local area use Digitrax.

The Zephyr arrived yesterday. It only took a few minutes to hook it up and trains were, once again running! The problem wasn't the locomotives, it was the Prodigy. Just as I had suspected.

Thanks, again to all who have helped!

George J