Track and electrical/DCC
Kato Unitrack problem
Hello All
I am building my first layout, an HO Kato Unitrack "Black River Junction" 4 by 8 layout. The layout plan is here;
MRC 6200 needs circuit protection
The club has an old MRC 6200 DC cab and the throttle doesn't work - engines run full speed. The cab I found out doesn't have any overload protection and what I read is the D1230 diode(s) have been shorted out. When I change these diodes out is there a way I can protect this from happening again?
Reversing section help
Can someone please clear up the confusion I have regarding length of a reversing section? Some have said it should be at least as long as the longest train. Others have said it only has to be as long as the length of locos/cars with power pickup. Does it have to be the full length of the train if metal wheels are used on all the cars? Getting ready to design and lay the track in this section. Thanks.
Shhhh.. Making an old decoder quieter?
I put an older SoundTraxx decoder into a cheap Bachmann F7 recently. Aside from running backwards (%^&$#! Bachmann wiring practices....) it runs fine. It is, however, a bit on the noisy side. I've been told by another modeler who has a number of these that his are all nice and quiet, and on reflection it seems that the noise is coming from the PWM motor drive.
Need to decide for Club Layout: Keep existing Digitrax System or replace with NCE..
My personal experience with Digitrax systems started in the late 1990s on a friends layout and I have never been terribly impressed with it. The hardware such as the throttles constantly broke and it seemed every other year we had to send back command stations or boosters to be replaced.
Since I took a hiatus for a few years at the turn of the Century for several years, I have not kept up to date with how well Digitrax systems have either stayed the same, gotten worse, or improved over time.
Athern / Digitrax decoder installation problem
Hello all,
I have been having problems with with a Digitrax decoder in an older Athern HO SW-9.
The decoder I installed was a DH123D rated for 1.5 amps with a maximum of 2 amps short term.
Looking for O Scale "Trolley" Track
Is there any manufacturer that makes O Scale "Trolley Track"? Or will my only option to have such track is to take rail and turn it 90 degrees and solder it together?
Thanks.
Ken L.
Timesaver - event counter rather than timer
I'm building a John Allen Timesaver layout, using DC, for a friend recovering from an illness. I'm looking for an inexpensive (buy or build) electronic counter that is resettable and will increment each time the loco changes direction, as an alternative to the stopwatch. Many decades ago I built Heath Kits, so a list of Radio Shack components and simple "non-engineer" instructions/pictures should work for me. Planning&nbs
Old School
So this might shock a few people, but I'm going old school DC block control on my new NScale layout. I don't have the cash to invest nor do I want to try and convert all my locomotives to DCC. I kind of like flipping the switches on a dual cab setup anyway.
Momentum idea
I mentioned this in another forum and got a less than enthusiastic response, but I think there might be a couple folks here who might like it, so here goes..
Momentum is a great way to simulate the weight of a train. It makes operation more challenging and thus more fun. However, it's not realistic or fun to try to switch a yard or industry with a lot of momentum. The problem is that there's no way to vary the amount of momentum used based on the train or location.
Or is there? Maybe DCC makes it possible.
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