LAMRS Equipment

• LAMRS
• The Process
• Reliability
• Locomotive Status Summary
• Bad Order Equipment Details
• Club Decoders
• Personal Parts Usage
• Tips for Dual Decoder Usage
• Speed Matching Issues for 28 Step Decoders
• Rolling Stock Status

In September 2009 I joined a local model railroad club, the LAMRS (Los Angeles Model Railroad Society) that has a large HO layout located in Hawthorne, CA.

This club has been around for quite a while and had developed quite a roster of club owned equipment for members to use on run nights or during the scheduled operating sessions. Inevitably, some of this equipment becomes damaged either through accidents or handling. Some of it manages to die on it's own. Equipment deemed unsuitable for use on the railroad gets a "bad order" tag and is segregated into storage boxes. It would seem that the bad order equipment accumulates faster than the shops can fix it, hence the boxes have quite a bit of equipment in them.

The club has, in the last few years, converted the whole layout to DCC, but some of the equipment was not converted with the layout for a variety of reasons. This stuff finds it's way into the bad order boxes too.

In order to either return this equipment to service or to determine that it is unserviceable, somebody has to examine each piece and triage it. The club has inventoried all it's stuff and is making an effort to farm this work out to the member's own shops to get the work done. I've started on that task too.

The reason for this page to exist is to provide some sort of documentation on the equipment that I've worked on for the benefit of myself (I suffer from CRS) and other club members.

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I follow a process to determine what state a loco is in and what to do about it. The process sort of follows the practice of medical triage. The object of the triage (or sorting) is to determine what resources might be necessary to bring a loco back into serviceable condition. The resource that is most important is money. Time is "free" because this is all volunteer work. The club has lots of equipment but a limited budget. If a piece is deemed to be too expensive to return to service, then it is scrapped (kept for parts, sold, given away or actually trashed). There is no point in keeping useless stuff around except as a source for hard to get parts for other old stuff.

The most important characteristic that I look for is the potential for reliability. The LAMRS club layout is large and supports high traffic densities on a single main line. One bad runner can totally mess up the works, especially if it decides to stall in a tunnel or on hidden track under the layout. The club has enough hanger queens already. A good looking loco that won't run reliably is not of much value to the club.

Running noise is a problem, but not a serious one as long as the noise is not too loud. Noise is often and indication of an unreliable loco, but not always.

All of the equipment that I get is assumed to have some kind of problem and probably has not been converted to DCC (although some has). The issue is to determine what the problem(s) is(are) and to determine what it would cost to fix it. Then an estimate must be made to determine if the equipment would even be useful if it worked perfectly.

If the cost is not large and the equipment would be useful and reliable, then it is worth fixing. If not, it goes to the dead line. The cost of a decoder is deemed acceptable for any loco that would be useful after a DCC conversion. Couplers take a lot of abuse and are not expensive, so coupler repair is also reasonable for any loco that would be useful. Major repairs (motors, gears, major body damage) is subject for immediate transfer to the dead line. Sometimes the problem can be fixed by simple wheel cleaning, dressing the brushes, lubrication, or adjustments.

Dead line locos are a good source for parts for repairing other locos where those parts would be hard to get. Better to get one running loco from two junkers than to junk two of them.

My process typically follows steps like these, but the actual flow may change depending on what I find. Each loco also gets routine maintenance and adjustments in the case it isn't obviously beyond recovery.

1. Visual inspection for obvious damage
2. Test on a DCC programming track to see if there is a responding decoder
3. Test run on DCC or DC depending on the presence or absence of a decoder
4. If the loco is new or appears to have little use, it gets a few minutes of breakin running at a variety of speeds in both directions.
5. Immediate mechanical repairs if they are both cheap and easy and can help determine the loco's status
6. Wheel cleaning
7. Power pickup check for all wheels
8. Complete lubrication (if possible)
9. Coupler adjustments (as required)
10. Minor cosmetic damage repair (as required)
11. Final test on a running track
    • If it has a decoder installed, it should be tested on the club track too
12. Data summary so that the information just collected is not lost or forgotten

By the time I'm through this list, I've usually determined if the loco is worth saving or not.

I normally don't care much about the ease of installation of a decoder in a loco. If the loco has some kind of standard connector, all the better. If not, then no big deal either. I have yet to come across a loco, either in HO or large scale, that I could not get a decoder into somehow. If the loco runs well enough to use, then it runs well enough to convert to DCC. The LAMRS runs DCC exclusively so that a good loco without DCC has the same utility as a broken one.

After I had gone through about 30 locos, I found that it was sometimes difficult to get a clear direction as to what to do about any given loco so I've made up some rules. I think that this is fair because the club's general philosophy about members providing "free" labor is that the member pretty much gets to choose what he is going to do provided that it doesn't cost anything.

However, there are times that the club needs to intervene in the process because it involves expending some club financial resources. This flow diagram is the way that it has been working out but the flow is subject to change.

The club has a stock of decoders, but most of them are old and of lower capability of current production decoders. There are a bunch of generic 28 step decoders, a few small MRC decoders and a few older Digitrax decoders. I assume that any really nice decoders that the club held in stock have been used already.

I have no problem using the older decoders up in older locos as they have been sitting around for years already anyway, nobody else wants to use them. Further, each of these older locos may or may not be a "really useful locomotive" depending on how well it runs over the long haul, how reliable it proves to be in extended use and whether or not it fits into the general operating scheme of the club. Over a period of time, if any given loco proves to be popular AND that the decoder capability is holding it back, then the club may consider investing some money in that loco for a better decoder. If the loco just sits, then it can be sold "DCC equipped" or converted back to DC and sold. The decoder can be recovered to go into some other high milage loco.

The club divides operating sessions into time periods. According to the club web site they go like this:

• Period 1 is everything before 1945. The club doesn't seem to have much club owned equipment in this period. This period is mostly steam, there was very little diesel (except for "E" units or equivalent and some F3's) or distillate equipment in this period.

• Period 2 covers the time of late steam and early freight diesel from 1945 though 1959.

• Period 3 generally covers 2nd generation diesel equipment through about 1980.

• Period 4 or the modern period, covers 1980 to the present including all the really high horsepower and AC equipment, stack trains and most of Amtrak.

In choosing which loco to upgrade, I've followed a sort of a process too. It goes like this:

• If the loco clearly fits into an operating scheme and the club has little equipment in that scheme, I convert it. Amtrak locos seem to fit into that bin because there is a fair amount of Amtrak rolling stock and few Amtrak locos.

• If one of the senior members has indicated a particular preference for a particular loco, it gets converted.

• If the loco is a Period 2 type, it tends to get converted earlier because that is one of my favorite periods. Period 1 is my favorite but everything we had from that period did not appear to run well enough to convert.

• If the loco is particularly good looking and runs particularly well, it gets converted earlier.

• If I don't have an appropriate decoder for a particular loco (usually size or connector constraints), it will wait for club approval and acquisition of an appropriate decoder.

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With the emphasis on cost and reliability, I thought that I ought to describe what I look for in determining if a loco will be reliable in the future. The future is always hard to predict, but there are some things observable in the present that that can be indicators of a possible or likely future outcome.

My background is in spacecraft electronics design, manufacture and troubleshooting. In space, there is often little chance for repair so that reliability is the single most important characteristic. The equipment can be made in such as way as to be not likely to fail, usually at some significant cost and guided by a ton of experience with stuff that did fail. Then this highly reliable equipment is made redundant with identical equipment that can be substituted remotely to cover for equipment that fails anyway.

On a model locomotive, I look for features that my experience shows are inherently reliable (and those that are not) and how redundancy is implemented.

Now to the details of what is specifically important to look for.

• Power Pick Up. Track powered model railroads use redundancy with good results in the process of collecting power from the track. What is typically redundant is the power pickup. A single wheel contacting the rail is not very reliable for a lot or reasons. There are usually many wheels contacting the track and the more the better. This is observation #1. How many are there? Observation #2 is to determine what the wheels are made of, if possible. Wheel material has a lot to due with the reliability of any given wheel's contact. Observation #3 is the type of connection made between the rotating wheel and the fixed structure of the locomotive. Observation #4 is the current drawn by the locomotive. Observation #5 is the presence or absence of flywheels. Headlight flickering is #6. All of these are important as indicators of how reliably a locomotive will run.

  • Number of wheels. Many older HO locos, especially brass ones, do not pick up power from every wheel. This is a problem. Since the reliability of a given wheel contact is often marginal to poor, many are required to assure that at least one wheel on each side is making contact at any given time. 8 working wheels is good, more is better, 6 is marginal and 4 is poor.

  • Wheel Material. It is not often easy to determine exactly what a wheel is made of, but sometimes it is obvious. Copper is bad. This includes brass, bronze and any other copper alloys including nickel silver (which has no silver but is loaded with copper). High melting point materials are good, pure nickel, good nickel plate and stainless steel melt 500°C higher than copper. Copper is bad because it melts at lower temperatures and it oxidizes easily, especially when heated to incandescence. Arcing at the wheels makes enough heat to micro-pit wheels and then the material that was just excavated by the arc instantly oxidizes in the heated air and redeposits non conductive oxides back into and around the pits. See the link to micro-pitting for more details.

  • Contact Type. HO models sometimes use some kind of wiper against the back side of a wheel for contact. These things are often flakey and they do wear out. A better method is via a bushing at the axle. Both methods require maintenance. A very small amount of "conductive" oil on each contact area once in a while can help. Conductive oil isn't actually conductive, it is formulated to aid in conduction of electro-mechanical joints by excluding oxygen and reducing corrosion. It also tends to provide a little cooling and in the case of a micro-arc, it can help exclude the oxygen that results in oxidation.

  • Current. The amount of current drawn by a locomotive is actually quite important. When the condition occurs that only one wheel on one side is making contact, ALL of the current drawn by the locomotive will be going through that one wheel. The current density at that instant at that one wheel will be highest and cause the most likelihood of a resistance initiated arc and therefore a possible pit. Less current means less available heat and less likelihood that sufficient temperature will be reached to actually evaporate wheel or rail material.

  • Flywheels. Flywheels are good for two reasons. The first is that the provide mechanical momentum that allows a loco that is having power pickup difficulty to run past the bad spots. Second is that the continued rotation of the motor helps keep it's BEMF (Back Electromotive Force) higher so that when a wheel makes contact again, there is less of a tendency to draw a spike of partial stall current. This keeps the current density down.

  • Headlight Flickering. Headlight flickering is an indicator of intermittent power pickup and a demonstration that the loco has low reliability. This is hard on the wheels because the flickering demonstrates that at some times NONE of the wheels are picking up power and it is likely that at other times only one on a given side is working. This means that the current density in some of the wheels is high some of the time and those wheels will pit and eventually, the loco will run poorly enough to require heavy wheel cleaning. An alcohol wipe will not clean up wheel oxidation.

• Motors

  • Motor Type and Condition. The type and condition of a model locomotive motor is very important. Older open frame motors can run reliably, but they tend to be poorer than newer enclosed can motors. This is not so much due to the open construction but to the fact that over the years, the motor manufacturers have learned how to make more reliable motors. In the process, they have also learned how to make less expensive motors by using can motor construction. These two learning processes tended to run in parallel so that the less expensive can motors tend to be more reliable, not because of any inherent superiority of a can but because that is they way that most modern motors (the ones with the learning curve built in) are made. Can motors, however, are not designed to be serviced. They are too inexpensive for that, they are designed to be replaced when the fail. Except for brush replacement even open frame motors should be replaced if they misbehave.

  • Motor Current. I bring up motor current again, but this time in the context of motor reliability. High current implies high stress on the brushes and high overall heating of the motor. Heat kills motors. I pay most attention to motor current when the loco is running light. If the light current is high, this is a problem. Typically, HO locos have safe motor current running in the range of 100 to 500 mA. Motor current that is higher than "normal" is typically caused by two things.

    • High Loads. Motors draw higher current when they are loaded. This causes them to sag in speed which reduces the BEMF that they generate. Then the motor draws more current. The main problem here is the heat generated by the higher current. Heat is bad.

      • Friction or Binding. A motor can be loaded running light by friction or binding in the mechanism therefore causing an increase in current from what it should be, even for a healthy motor.

      • Overload. An overloaded motor could be the result of a poor motor or gearing selection by the manufacturer or simply because the locomotive's load is too high. However, running light, a motor should not be overloaded so high current indicates other problems.

    • Weak Magnets. Another possible cause of high running current is a degraded magnet. Weak magnets result in reduced magnetic field strength in the motor. This causes the motor to sag in speed more easily and results in the same issues as an overloaded motor.

    • Short Circuits. Some motors develop intermittent short circuits due to commutation problems. These motors can draw huge current (many amps) at particular times or rotational positions. Motors like these are really hard on DCC decoders, often killing them on the spot. These motors should be declared scrap immediately.

      Intermittent motor shorts are not easy to detect on a loco running on DC as the short circuits occur for only very short periods of time. They can look like bad power pickup by causing the headlights to flicker. However, if your power pack has meters look for unstable current. If the current tends to spike upwards (or the track voltage spikes downwards) then suspect a motor with serious problems.

      A better way to check for motor issues is to monitor the locomotive current on an oscilloscope with a current shunt while a loco is running unloaded on the bench with power supplied to the loco via clip leads so that any issues with power pickup from the wheels do not have any impact on the measurement. Many motors will draw spikes of an amp or so for a few microseconds, this is not usually a serious problem. If the spike is larger or longer, then it is a serious problem. A small resistor (3 to 5 ohms) wired in series with such a motor can protect a decoder at the cost of reduced top speed.

      If the the loco has already been converted to DCC and it hasn't eaten the decoder, then it is probably ok. However, with an oscilloscope, the DCC running current can be checked as well.

    • Open Circuits. Especially with older motors, there can be open circuits at the brush to commutator connection. This can cause an immediate motor stall if the motor is running at low speed. If the headlights are still on and the loco just stops, suspect this problem. Commutator stalls can be confirmed by slightly tweaking the motor shaft in the suspected condition. If the motor picks up and runs again, a brush or commutator problem is probably at fault. A commutator can be dressed or cleaned by gently rubbing it while it is running with the end of a wooden toothpick. This will knock off burnt lubricant and allow the brushes to work better without serious sparking. A very small application of conductive oil can also loosen dried on crud on the commutator, but it should be brushed off again with a toothpick. Do not use anything that will shred on a commutator, the shredded material will pack up under the brushes and really mess up the works.

• Drive Train.

  • Type. Most modern HO diesel locomotives use the "central motor/flywheel/U-joint/gear tower" construction. Athearn (I believe) first introduced this combination and it was good. Others have copied it because it is modular, inexpensive and reliable. There are many other drive train configurations out there, none as good. Steam locos typically don't lend themselves to this kind of construction but can contain some of these features.

  • Slow Speed Performance. The ability of locomotive to crawl very slowly is a good indicator of the overall health of the drive train. Locos that won't run slowly either need service or they are dying. A good loco will run slowly enough so that you actually have to look at the wheels to see that they really are turning.

  • Current. The current drawn by a loco running light, even better on the bench under no load at all, is an indicator of the health of the motor and drive train. A good HO loco will draw less than 150 mA at running voltages. Ones that draw much more, 0.5 amp or more, are likely having problems, either with friction load in the drive train or with a weak motor magnetic field. A loco that draws higher current may indeed run for a long time but it will run hotter when it does run and heat kills all things electrical and electronic. The cause for the higher current should be investigated to see if can be mitigated or not.

  • Slop. Slop is an indication of wear. If there is lots of slop, either the drive train has worn badly or it was never manufactured well in the first place. Locos with more gears in cascade tend to have more slop. Slop can be a leading indicator of impending failure.

  • Noise. Noise tends to be a leading indicator of impending failure. Noise can an indication of very bad wear or it could be normal for any given loco. It is the TYPE of noise that is important. A loco that needs lubrication probably was run without sufficient lubrication for some period of time and it's mechanical wear has probably increased significantly.

    • Screech or Howl. Dry or bad bearings tend to screech or howl. The shaft, usually a motor shaft or worm shaft at the head of a gear tower, wobbles around in the bearing beating it into a non-circular shape after awhile. These need IMMEDIATE attention or the bearing can be ruined permanently. Unless the bearing is badly worn, some oil can usually "fix" it for awhile.

    • Grinding Noises. Dry gears tend to make a grinding sound. If the gears are not too badly worn, gear grease will help.

    • Loud Gear Noise. Straight cut gears normally whine some when they run but if it is really loud, the problem is more serious. Gears that have badly worn teeth can slip. This most often occurs on a gear driven by a worm. If the motor mount is not secure, the thrusts under load will try to lift the worm and cause it to skip over teeth on the driven gear producing a popping sound. Each time the worm rides over a gear tooth, it wears a little off the tooth. Eventually, the teeth will wear down and the worm will start to slip. Slipping is indicated by a loud buzz.

    • Clunking Sound. Gears with missing teeth or cracks tend to make a repeating clunking sound or actually jam. A common problem with Athearn, Life-Like and Bachmann locos that use half axles and a plastic axle gear is that the gear splits on the axle. The loco will tend to clunk at it runs, but NOT ALWAYS. Sometimes, the pressure of the weight on the loco will keep the axles in place and the clunking noise will not be obvious. However, if you hold the loco up so that the wheels drop by the force of gravity, any tendency to clunk will often become much more obvious. Either lift each end of the loco off the track, one end at a time, or use clip leads or a Kadee brush to apply power to the loco while it is hanging in the air, wheels down.

      Athearn and Life-Like locos use nearly identical truck assemblies, the wheelsets are identical. When the axle gear cracks, which happens quite often, the tooth spacing changes a little causing a poor mesh and a once-per-revolution clunk. The split gear will also not hold the wheels in gauge and they can move closer together and short INSIDE the gear. A split gear is easy to locate, just use your thumbs to rotate each wheel set against the gearing. If the wheel turns, the gear is split.

    • Binding. Very old locos can have dried grease embedded between the gear teeth that can sound like bad gears or cause binding. This can be picked out, but the simple fact that the grease was dry is not a good thing.

    • Acoustic Impacts. Some locos amplify their natural noise via acoustic coupling to the shell. This is a cosmetic problem that can usually be fixed, either by finding the coupling mechanism or by reattaching loose parts that vibrate. If a loco makes more noise with the shell on than it does with the shell off, then it's time to look for acoustic issues.

    • Internal Drag. Another source of noise is when wires drag on the mechanism, usually a flywheel. The sound can vary, but it is generally a mixture of a hissing and whining sound. This materially increases the load on the loco, slows it down, increases its current, will eventually cause the insulation of the wire to fail and is generally a bad deal. This usually occurs in new DCC installations were the new and repositioned wires are pushed around during reattachment of the shell. Sometimes structures have to be added to the loco to hold wiring off the flywheels.

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The following table is the quick and dirty summary of the current status of each loco in work. More details about each loco can be found in the narrative below. The notation "Test Convert" means to convert the loco with a temporary decoder and then test at LAMRS. If the loco tests well, then replace the test decoder with a better decoder if needed.

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This section is a diary of the things that I found about and did to each loco.

Amtrak 346

7 Dec 09

The first one I tried was a Bachmann Spectrum FP40PH as Amtrak 396. The prototype was last known to be in Los Angeles MetroLink service. The loco buzzed with DCC on the track so it was clear that it had not been converted to DCC, but it ran. The couplers were Kadee's but they were nearly non-functional due to kludged coupler boxes, somebody had done an inadequate coupler conversion. After I opened it up and lubed it, it ran pretty well although it was fairly noisy.

9 Dec 09

This loco was deemed worth fixing but I needed a decoder. The N scale decoder from UP x1614 (which was already on the dead line) went into the Amtrack FP40PH. This Bachmann loco was not designed to accept DCC. It was built from two large weights halves that mostly filled the shell. These halves form the structure and electrical distribution system for the loco. The loco also had an analog lighting board attached inside the top of the shell that drove the strobe lights on the top of the cab.

I first tested the motor for commutator shorts and found it free of problems so that I deemed it safe to install the decoder in it.

The loco came apart (easily) and I cut the spring tabs that connected each motor contact to a weight. I then soldered and insulated wires to stubs of the motor contacts and then reassembled the loco. After a check that the power pickups still worked and that the motor worked and it was now isolated from everything else, I installed the DN142 decoder. The loco ran under DCC.

The lighting board was mostly scrapped. I retained the ends of the board because they held the front and rear incandescent headlight bulbs in their proper position but the rest was cut out. I wired the headlights (no series resistor needed) back to the decoder. I then rewired the two incandescent "strobe" lights in series with a 120 ohm resistor to the green (F1) function wire of the decoder and fired it up. All the lights worked. The strobes, however, had a MARS light attribute assigned to them. A quick reprogram with DecoderPro turned them back into strobes. Then the loco was reassembled and tested.

The couplers themselves were ok, but the centering springs were ruined. I replaced those with new Kadee springs using Kadee #5 boxes.

21 Dec 09

Based on my experience with Amtrak 227, I pulled Amtrak 346 back and lubed two spots that I had missed. The residual noise went away. Steve had also certified the loco in the meantime so it is back in service.

28 Feb 10

Since Amtrak 227 was being scrapped, I pulled the handrails off the rear of 227 and put them on 346.

B&O 6516

7 Dec 09

The Life-Like RDC (Baltimore and Ohio 6516) was also clearly not converted to DCC. It ran on DC pretty well, but it made a terrible buzzing racket in the higher speed ranges. It needed lubrication. It's couplers were not Kadee's and were clearly non-functional.

9 Dec 09

After opening the RDC, I found that would be fairly easy to convert to DCC but it would take a wired decoder, there is no socket or connector. After a lube job, I worked on the buzz. This resulted from an imbalance in the flywheel that was transmitted to the motor and from there through the motor's electrical connection tabs to a plastic box that enclosed the motor. The box acted like a sounding board and made the buzz really loud. After adding some padding (folded piece of paper towel) and securing the box better, the buzz went away. So far, so good. It ran smoothly, but not real fast but it would be ok.

Then I ran a test on the motor by monitoring the motor current on a scope. What I found was disturbing. This motor behaved identically to the one in my USRA 0-6-0 in that it would draw indicated intermittent current spikes of more than 20 amps on my bench power supply. This behavior tends to be hard on decoders, I blew one up in the 0-6-0. Good motors don't do this. After running the motor for awhile, the spikes did not go away. Further, the hack of adding resistance in series with the motor to isolate it would just slow the thing down. I deemed it unsuitable for conversion to DCC and set it aside. I may get back to it later to see if a resistor would actually work in this unit but it draws about twice as much current as the 0-6-0 (about 200 mA) so that it may not work well enough with a resistor in place.

10 Dec 09

I wasn't ready to give up on the RDC so I took it apart again and ran more tests. This photo shows it connected to a bench supply with the motor being run in to see if I can get most of the spikes to go away.

I think that the very large current spikes I was seeing before were due to an interaction between the autoranging on my scopemeter and inductive kick backs from the motor. When I added a 5.6Ω resistor in series with the motor and ran it from 6 volts, the worst spike I should be able to get would be about 1 amp. The huge ones went away but I would still occasionally see spikes exceeding 2 amps. Good motors will not do this with the same test rig so that this motor still has some difficulties. However, it runs ok with 5.6Ω resistor in series so if I convert it, it will get a current limiting resistor just provide a maximum possible current limit to the decoder of about 3 amps. The motor running by itself averages about 150 mA. The stall resistance of this motor is about 15Ω which would result in a normal stall current of less than an amp at the club's track voltage (14 volts).

The PWB is wired rather oddly. The headlights are 2.5 volt 50 mA bulbs with the voltage controlled by diode stacks. The two stacks have 3 diodes wired one way to provide a little less than 2 volts for the bulb and one diode wired the other way to provide directionality and to allow bidirectional current flow for the motor. The two stacks are wired in series with the motor to give the headlights a head start. This takes about 3 volts away from the motor which one reason that it ran so slowly.

This is the motor mount. The white thing is a double layer of paper towel that mechanically damps the connection between the motor tabs (on top of the motor) and the plastic housing. The RDC is driven only by the front truck which is fine because it only has to haul itself, and maybe one trailer car, around and it doesn't need a lot of traction.

It also appears that I can salvage the couplers from the UP FA to put Kadee couplers on the RDC.

The PWB is marked in 3 places to cut for DCC. These didn't make sense to me until I had traced out the board and determined the wiring. I took this photo because it was easier for me to visually verify that the traces were cut in the photo instead of by eyeball at 1x. Growing old is a bitch. The 7 terminals are the ones that would be used on a standard 8 pin DCC socket. There is a 300Ω resistor on the board that isn't used for DC operation. It ends up in series with the decoder blue wire to provide current limiting for the headlights. The diode stacks still limit the bulb voltage such that the headlights run fairly dim.

I wired a 9 PIN JST socket to the terminals on the board, plugged in a used DH123 and it worked.

I used a resistor in series with the orange wire to the motor. The bands indicate that it is 2.7Ω, but it is an old 20% part and actually measures 3.5Ω.

The RDC runs, still slowly, and the lights were fairly dim. I lifted lift one of the stack diodes and decreased the resistor in the blue wire to 220Ω to brighten them. It turns out that headlight is wired across only two of the stack of 3 diodes so it's voltage was limited to 1.3 volts. Now they get 2.2 volts or so at the club voltage and at least they burn white in color but they are still not overly bright.

I also removed the 3.5Ω resistor in the orange motor lead to try to speed it up a little at the risk of maybe toasting a cheap decoder. It ran a little faster, but it is still slow and my track voltage is a little higher than the club voltage.

Then it occurred to me what was going on. This wasn't a new decoder. The decoder probably came out of a rubber drive Athearn F7B and CV2 had probably been set to keep it from running at warp 6. CV2 was indeed set at 150. Resetting it allowed the loco to run fast enough at the club track voltage even with the 3.5Ω resistor reinstalled. This is the way that it will stay. The decoder itself is placed to fit in the radiator blister on the top of the shell.

I took the couplers and pockets off the Life-Like FA and put them on the Life-Like RDC, adjusted the trip pin height and it's done.

15 Dec 09

I had installed one of my own decoders in the RDC. I got a DH140 from the club to substitute in for a my DH123. This is an older style decoder that uses a low PWM frequency, but it worked fine in the RDC with audible but not objectionable motor growl. The RDC started to make more high frequency motor buzz again so I need to get back in there AGAIN to work on that some more.

17 Dec 09

I worked over the acoustic buzz again and suppressed some of it but the rest may be there until the whole side of the motor box is cut out. The buzz is not a mechanical problem but it is annoying.

18 Dec 09

Every time I thought that I had the buzzing under control, it came back. This is probably why the thing had never been converted to DCC. I hacked off the motor cover box everywhere the motor touched it and then the chassis itself ran with only gear whine left. When I put the shell back on, the buzzing came back. There were still two sources, a loose window segment on the left side near the motor was buzzing against the shell. Some CA took care of that as it was not attached well. Then the shell itself was buzzing against the frame. The folded paper towel, no longer needed at the motor, help damp that. It still makes some noise do the vibration of the motor, but it's not nearly as bad as it was.

20 Dec 09

The RDC and the dummy were run at the LAMRS Christmas Open House and did just fine. The couplers on the dummy still need work to be fully in spec but the pair ran. I'll submit 6516 for certification at the next meeting and hopefully pick up some couplers.

UP x1614

7 Dec 09

The Life-Like UP FA (x1614) didn't buzz on the track. It had a DCC address on a label on the bottom, but it did not respond to that address. It sort of responded on the DCC programming track, but the command station indicated that all the CVs I tried contained 255. This indicates a problem because many CVs, like the 2 digit address, don't allow values exceeding 127. There was a 4 digit address reported, but it wasn't the one on the loco label.

9 Dec 09

After opening the loco I found that it had a DN142 decoder in it. I first substituted a DH123 for the DN142 and it's response on the programming track did not change. Clearly there was something wrong in the loco. I connected an 8 pin DCC jumper plug to the socket in the loco to convert it back to DC and put it on the track. It was a dead short.

Then I attached some test wires to the DCC jumper plug so that it would be easy to inject DC into the loco on the bench and it drew 10 amps with only a few volts on it. This was not good. I manually turned the motor with very low voltage on it and the motor turned a little more by itself but it stalled again in less than half a turn. The current draw bounced all over, but it was always very high and I couldn't get more than a few turns from the motor before it would stall again at very high current. Then I noticed that a wire had broken out of the motor windings and was flopping around. The motor was clearly toast. I was not going to get much further with this loco. I did plug the decoder into an HO SD45 (which was already open) and the decoder worked.

After consulting with some club members, I elected to declare the FA1 as scrap and sent it to the dead line but not before recovering the decoder and couplers. The club wanted me to try to fix it so I'll swap the guts from UP 1642 with this dead one.

I've done a guts swap with UP 1642, an FB1. I needed to move the headlight assy, engineer, fireman and panel from the old FA1 chassis to the chassis from the FB1. Otherwise, the chassis are identical. Now x1614 needs a decoder and couplers as the FB1 didn't have couplers either.

19 Jan 10

It also needs a new front truck which I can get from the remains of UP 1642. I have an MRC AD350 decoder for it. I'll use this one instead of a Wangrow decoder because the MRC has a Mars light simulation. The matching B unit (1614b) also has an MRC AD350. The AD350 is not the greatest decoder, but it is current production. A PDF file of the manual is at the link.

21 Jan 10

I installed the MRC AD350 decoder and set up the special functions. F0 operates normally following Rule 17. The number boards are actually wired to the ditch light function but both are wired in parallel so that there is no flashing. A double click on F1 turns them on or off or if they are off F5 toggles them. There are actually two bulbs in the upper headlight position, the other bulb has been configured as a MARS light. F4 turns it on or off.

The loco needs a Kadee #6 long shank coupler for the front. The rear coupler is a Kadee #5.

11 Feb 10

Steve and I tried to certify this loco at the club a few days ago and it didn't run so I brought it home again. For some reason, CV29 was set for 2 digit addressing, I reset it to 4 digit and it ran. However, during test I smelled some plastic burning. Then I noticed that the headlight was showing through the top of the hood. It was running too bright on my higher track voltage and melting the shell.

The shell damage was not severe. I increased the resistance in series with the headlights from 39 to 51 ohms and things looked better. I then painted the side of the bulb engine black and painted the inside of the shell next to the headlight engine black as well to prevent the light from shining through the damaged plastic.

23 Feb 10

This one failed certification tonight. It has one undergauge wheelset. I will get a part from the basket case UP 1642. It also would not speed match so we elected to pull the MRC decoder and replace it with a better one for further evaluation.

24 Feb 10

I pulled a DH121 from SP 4823 (going to the scrapper) and installed it in x1614. This is a two function decoder so I could not test the numberboard or MARS lights but the headlight works and I wired those missing functions to the 9 pin JST socket so that a 4 function decoder could drive them.

The front coupler was easier to deal with than I thought it was going to be. The frames for these locos are set up as a B unit. The old A unit frame (which I recovered last night) had a plastic extension piece screwed to the frame. This extension was just right to install a Kadee #5 at the front, done.

One wheelset was under gauge last night. By the time I got to it, it was over gauge. Something was amiss. The plastic gear on that axle was cracked so it wasn't holding the half axle firmly. I rummaged through the remains of UP 1642 and also recovered a single wheelset that wasn't cracked and installed it. That fixed that problem. Then the thing started to derail. On this loco, the square axle bushings tend to fall out of the slot in the metal frame of the truck. Unless they are carefully held in place with the bottom cover of the truck is snapped on, they will fall out of the frame and the axle will not be positioned in the right spot. The cover spaces them properly IF they are in the right place to begin with.

Eventually, this one will need a better decoder. I don't know why this one would not speed match while it's matching B unit did but we should probably pull the MRC decoder out of UP 1614 (the B unit) and replace it with a better decoder.

26 Feb 10

Before the OPS session today I had a chance to test UP x1614 on the club layout. It failed with flakey power pickup. This is odd because it was stable on my own layout just before I boxed it up.

I put it back on my track and the headlight doesn't even flicker. The wheels are clean and they all work individually. It'll have to go back to the club for more testing there.

3 Mar 10

Yesterday, it went back on the club layout and ran fine. The problem must have been a dirty stretch of track.

It got the DH121 pulled and a TCS T4X installed so that the extra lights will work. It also got power jumpers, using SIP connectors, to cross-connect power to it's B unit, UP 1614b.

21 Apr 10

UP x1614 actually got certified along with UP 1614b. However in later running, it developed a problem. From the sound, it appears that an axle gear has cracked. This is not a big deal as Athearn gears will fit this loco BUT I don't have any. It'll wait until I purchase some replacement gears.

24 Apr 10

I stopped by Milepost 38 and picked up two bags of Athearn #60024 axle gears ($4.98 per package of 6). The 2nd axle of UP x1614 had a split gear and made a clunking sound. This fixed it.

26 May 10

Last week I noticed that x1614 was clunking again. Last night, Steve and I tested it and it was indeed clunking. This time, the lead axle on the front truck was cracked. It got fixed again.

FART 65

15 Dec 09

This is the Ford Area Rapid Transit (FART) car. I believe that this is the car that ran on the trolly line in the town of Ford over a decade ago. It is a die cast model with a very odd power truck. The motor is vertically mounted and drives a worm, pointed down, that then drives skew cut gears to drive the axles.

Initially, this car didn't run, but looking through the windows revealed a wire hanging loose. I took it apart and indeed the power pickup wire from the rear truck was broken. I soldered it back on the very old motor and the car tried to run. The wheels are brass and were totally packed with crud, I took that off with a brass wire wheel in a Dremel tool. Then after some lubrication it ran fairly well but it makes some noise. I need to spend more time with this car to see if will be worth investing a decoder in. The motor draws about half an amp while running but an inexpensive decoder should work in it. I am suspicious that the brass wheels will be an operational problem and the car may require more wheel cleaning than it is worth. Also, due to a small clearance between the wheels and the metal frame, it tends to short out when derailed.

The car is missing it's trolly pole.

16 Dec 09

I messed with FART 65 more today and finally gave up on it. The biggest problem is that it tends to spit fire from beneath the power truck at times and it has only 4 wheel power pickup. This car will not be a reliable runner.

Traction Work Car 45

15 Dec 09

This traction work car was also in the pile. Number 45 ran poorly drawing about 300 mA, but it sputtered a lot. The motor is up in the body and drives the truck via two spring belts. Worms in the truck then drive the axles. It also has brass wheels and they needed cleaning badly. It picks up power from two wheels on one side of the rear truck and the other side of the power truck. I suspect that the power pickup will be too poor for reliable operation.

The car appears to be a scratch built model. The body is wood and cardboard totally unlike the description on the box it came in. This car may not be worth recovering but some traction guy may want it. I think that this one is evilBay fodder.

Santa Fe 5036

15 Dec 09

ATSF SD40 5036 sort of ran but it made awful gear noise and drew a lot of current, about an amp on DC. It needs some mechanical work before I can determine if it is worth salvaging.

16 Dec 09

I worked on this one some and it is pretty clear that this loco has been used up. The whole gear train was completely dry but lubrication didn't help it. The motor was virtually stalled when taken out of the unit. The commutator is worn but I faced it a little and it ran better but the other motor bearing is bad and vibrates badly.

The loco derails constantly on tight radius track

It's a pity because the loco looks pretty good but sadly, I must recommend to sell on this one.

Undecorated Dummy RDC

15 Dec 09

This undecorated RDC dummy was a little easier to deal with. It needs coupler work but otherwise seems fit for service. I tested it with the powered RDC and it handled my 18" radius curves fine so I suspect that it will run on the LAMRS layout without difficulty.

22 Dec 09

I replaced the centering springs on both couplers, adjusted their height and glued the loose trip pin on one of them. This one should be ready for service. While I was there working on the couplers, it was obvious that a powered version of this RDC would be a rubber drive unit.

BN 248

15 Dec 09

BN 248 is an SW12 made by Life-Like. This one has not been converted to DCC, but it should be. It runs really sweetly.

This MAY be a privately owned loco. There is a label on the bottom that says "Totten."

16 Dec 09

There is precious little room inside the SW12 and it's not set up to take DCC. If the low voltage lighting board is removed, there is probably room for a very thin, N or Z scale decoder. The lights themselves are attached to the shell and connect with spring contacts to the board. The front headlight does not work anyway. It should be possible to mount a new front headlight on the front of the weight. The rear headlight would be more of a problem, it would probably have to be wired to the decoder with an appropriate current limiting resistor for a 1.5 volt 120 mA bulb. The cab area could be difficult to get into.

21 Jan 10

I was told that John Totten has donated this loco to the club and Lloyd gave me an N scale MRC AD332 decoder to install in it. The headlights were 1.5 volt bulbs and the front one had failed anyway so I pulled both of them out and replaced them with warm white LEDs. The GOW bulbs drew nearly 150 mA which was just too much anyway. As of today, the headlights are replaced (no easy task to get the cab apart) and the decoder will go in shortly.

22 Jan 10

This one is finished and it runs really well. The shell is a little loose, but it won't come off because the coupler pockets hold it in place.

23 Feb 10

This one did not want to speed match the standard loco, the MRC decoder just doesn't have the programmability. It will get the DZ143 from Amtrak 227.

24 Feb 10

I took the decoder from Amtrak 227 and installed directly into BN248. There were no problems, it ran fine.

28 Feb 10

I left this one at the club this morning for certification.

ATSF 2790

15 Dec 09

ATSF 2790 is a GP7 or GP9. The model does not run on DC nor does it respond to the DCC programming track.

16 Dec 09

The problem was there there was nothing in the jumper plug. Apparently, somebody had taken decoders OUT of some locos that didn't run all that well and didn't reinstall the jumper plugs.

Once I put a plug in, it ran, but made a lot of noise. I lubed as much as I could get to and after a minute or so to get the grease spread around inside, it quieted right down. I plugged in a test decoder and it ran fine. A small HO decoder will barely fit over the motor, an N scale one would be an easier install.

This loco is worth saving.

23 Feb 10

This loco was tested at LAMRS tonight and passed. It will get the test decoder pulled and a TCS T4X decoder installed as soon as the new decoders arrive.

19 May 10

ATSF 2790 was bad ordered for a clunking sound. Sure enough, the wheels on the rear axle would rotate with respect to each other indicating that the axle gear had split and was not holding fast to the half axles. I replaced that gear with a new one and tested it again, it still clunked, but from the other end. The 2nd axle gear was partially split. Only one wheel would turn. I replaced that one too and all the clunking is gone for now anyway. These gears die of old age and need occasional replacement.

24 Dec 09

I had some troubles with ATSF 2790. When I connected one of club's Wangrow decoders, the decoder would become non-responsive. After some careful examination of the wiring, I found two problems. Somebody had jumped around the plug to connect the lighting outputs back to the track. This confused the decoder. Further, the PWB itself jumps pins 3 and 7 which does not conform to the NMRA RP 9.1.1. Pin 3 is supposed to be left NC or used for a function, commonly the green wire. With the jumper on the socket, a function output is directly connected to the blue wire. If you put the loco on the track that way and turn on the function... poof. The club's decoders wire the violet wire to pin 3.

Further, the plugs on the club's decoders are so tall that if the plug is used, the shell won't fit back on. There are two ways around this, 1) use a decoder with a flush plug (which most of the newer ones are) or, 2) throw the little PWB overboard and hard wire the decoder. I am taking the 2nd route.

The decoder went in without difficulty and doesn't make a lot of PWM hum either. The loco didn't have any lights so I installed a couple of 5 mm warm white LEDs with 560Ω current limiting resistors. The LEDs fit nicely in the slots in the weights that were intended for them. The number boards are lettered and illuminate nicely. The front headlight is on F0 and is not directional. The rear headlight is on F1.

10 Feb 10

2790 got tested at LAMRS last night and didn't do so well. The bad order card says "no go." I ran it this morning on my layout and it ran like crap, nothing like what it was when I worked on it last month. It had two problems, one was obviously poor power pickup, but the other problem was similar to other locos that were tested with the Wangrow decoders. The lights would continue to burn and the motor would cut out or not run at all. My track current was all over the place while it was misbehaving and the motor buzz tracked the motor movement. Either this motor is intermittent (possible) or the decoder is behaving oddly (likely). After a few minutes of running on the bench, the loco smoothed out and then it ran fine. I did a minor handrail repair and put it back in the box for more test. Maybe the source of the problem will become apparent as I test other locos that had similar difficulties.

18 Feb 10

The club supplied a DH121 decoder for this loco. It was an easy 7 wire cut and splice job to install it. The loco runs fine and doesn't make a lot of noise.

23 Feb 10

The loco got retested at the club and it ran fine and passed muster. It is now waiting for the delivery of it's final decoder, a TCS T4X.

3 Mar 10

The TCS T4X went in without difficulty. I did reglue the shell to the walkways but that was all it needed.

Harbor & Western 2500

15 Dec 09

Harbor & Western 2500 is a brass ten wheeler (4-6-0) that runs pretty well drawing about 700 mA. However, it requires the tender for power pickup and may or may not be reliable enough for the club layout. It is a nice looking loco that is in good physical condition.

17 Dec 09

After a tuneup, this loco is not making the grade. It's power pickup is marginal at best on track that other locos run on without hesitation. The current draw of the motor is without a load which implies that the motor will get quite hot. This is a shame because this is a well proportioned and detailed model of an attractive prototype. It is sturdy and heavy. This loco would be better suited to somebody's DC layout for light duty service.

UP 1614b

15 Dec 09

UP FB1 1614b is a Life-Like model that is part of the set with the UP FA1 that has the shorted motor. It has been converted to DCC but it runs slowly at the club track voltage. It does run smoothly, just not real fast.

23 Dec 09

I pulled the DH163 that was in UP 1614b and replaced it with a Wangrow 8 pin decoder. Then I could use the JST connected DH163 in Amtrak 809.

21 Jan 10

I got a couple of MRC AD350 decoders from the club. This is a basic decoder, but it does have some lighting functions that were suitable for the matching FA so I put the other one in the FB so at least the locos would be using the same decoder.

3 Mar 10

The MRC decoder got ripped out for being too different and messing with Steve's process. It got a TCS T4X.

25 Apr 10

UP x1614 and 1614b ran as a consist all day today at the OP session. At the very end of the session, it started to howl indicating a dry bearing. I brought it home opened up and ran it slowly on it's side on the bench. It was howling. I hit the 4 of the 6 potential bearings starting with the motor. When I got to the forward gear tower bearing, the noise immediately stopped. The other two gear tower bearings are under a weight and are hard to get to so I skipped those.

UP 1642

15 Dec 09

UP FB1 1642 is the third loco in the set. It was marked "bad motor." It did not run. I took off the shell and found that it was missing the jumper plug. I put a jumper in and then it ran on DC, but not very fast. I plugged in a DH123 and it ran about the same as 1614.

If the speed of 1614 is acceptable to the club, then I think that I should swap shells and make the one that is now 1642 into FA1 x1614. That one will need some couplers and a decoder as I salvaged those parts to get the RDC and Amtrak 346 going. Then I should convert the frame that was in the FA1 to a dummy and put the FB1 1642 shell on it.

16 Dec 09

I've done the shell swap with UP x1614 so now UP 1642 has the bad motor. I looked at converting it to a dummy, but the trucks will have to be completely disassembled to remove some gears. This is not worth the effort. This loco should be retained for parts to fix the other two when needed.

21 Dec 09

The hulk that was 1642 has surrendered a truck to WM 81, but the truck was not much good either. This loco now resides in a bag, it is truly a basket case.

21 Jan 10

I've also pulled the front truck to use on UP x1614 as the one that was on 1642 and got transplanted into x1614 had a bad gear.

Amtrak 227

15 Dec 09

Amtrak 227 is another FP40PH that is pretty much identical to Amtrak 346. It does not run and also does not respond to the programming track. It also needs coupler work.

16 Dec 09

The loco has been fixed, it had a corroded motor contact and it needed lubrication. It still makes some bearing noise once in a while. While I was in there fixing the motor contacts to the frame halves I cut them off and wired them with orange and gray wires (polarity is right, I think) and then soldered the wires back to the frame halves where a decoder's red and black wires will eventually go. I need an N-scale 2 function decoder to put in it. The lighting is identical to Amtrak 346 and can be modified the same way.

The loco had Kadee couplers but they did not work. Both would not center and one needed a knuckle spring. I installed new parts from my stock and hacked up some new covers to fit so that now the couplers work properly.

27 Dec 09

I test ran this one this morning to measure the slipping current and it started to howl again. I took it apart and found the problem, it needed more oil at both shafts of the worms on both trucks. Now, no howl but the current is a little high, 600 mA running light (with lights) and 1 amp slipping. The clubs MRC332 N scale decoders are rated at 750 mA, they won't do.

18 Feb 10

The club came up with a Digitrax DZ143 decoder for this loco. It will fit and has the current capacity so I installed it in the same fashion as Amtrak 346. It ran fine.

I did notice one odd thing that may come back to bite us. The right front wheel is 7 mils smaller than the rest of them so that the front truck doesn't sit exactly flat on the track. We'll need to watch this one for derailments. This hasn't been a problem on my layout.

23 Feb 10

Amtrak 227 got a road test at LAMRS tonight, but it tended to derail the front truck which is the one with the small wheel. We don't have another similar loco to recover parts and getting parts from Bachmann is currently nearly impossible. The club elected to scrap it so I'll pull the decoder and put it in BN 248 in place of the MRC decoder.

24 Feb 10

I pulled the Z scale decoder for use in BN 248 and rewired the engine to run on DC but I did not reconnect the headlights. The DCC color coded wiring is there, the next owner can figure it out.

20 Dec 09

After I made an initial pass at the first batch of locos, the club loaded me up with another box full. At that point, I had only triaged most of the first batch.

Southern Pacific 2286

20 Dec 09

This one has serious motor problems. It draws 1.5 amps at only 6 volts and increases in current rapidly at increasing voltages. This indicates weak motor magnets. To recover this one, it will require a new motor.

Sometime in the following weeks, the club elected to scrap this one.

Conrail 8276

20 Dec 09

This one runs poorly on DC out of the bad order box. It needs more investigation.

Upon opening the loco revealed that it was a straight up Athearn "Classic" loco. I ran it on the bench and the commutator was having difficulties, it was spitting fire. Further, it would go dead short at times. After picking some conductive crud from between the commutator segments, lubricating it with conductive oil and then cleaning off the black crud, it settled down to run well enough. It draws about 300 ma running light with some current spiking. The wheels are pretty throughly pitted but after cleaning, the loco had good power pickup and ran smoothly.

25 Feb 10

It had been awhile since I last ran this loco and I was looking for something I could make progress on so I rechecked this one. Initially, it seemed to run fine. After a minute or so of running, the current meter on my power pack pegged and the loco intermittently stalled, then picked up again. This shorting continued a few times before I pulled it off the track for inspection. I found that the commutator segments were packed with crud and there COULD be shorting across the segments from one brush to the other. I used a knife blade to break up the bridging between segments and cleaned the commutator. It seemed to be better as I saw no more shorts on the bench. However, a track test indicated that it was NOT fixed. It still shorts out. There appears to be nothing else in the loco that could be shorting, I wiggled whatever was left and there were no shorts.

I looked at the commutator again and the gaps between the segments were packed up again, not as badly, but there was more stuff in there. I cleaned it out again and I apparently turned up some edges on the commutator as the motor drag and noise increased, but it didn't short again.

I don't trust this one so I recommend that it goes to scrap.

Western Maryland 81

20 Dec 09

WM 81 runs pretty well on DC as received. It needs wheel cleaning and lubrication for further evaluation.

When I got the Life-Like model apart, it looked pretty much the same inside as an Athearn "Classic" loco. However, all was not well. There is a gearing problem in the upper part of the rear gear tower and when it will hang up and stall the whole loco. This one is going to need some mechanical parts, perhaps from another Life-Like loco.

21 Dec 09

I went ahead and robbed the rear truck from the now dead UP FB1 1642 and put it on the BL2. It was close enough to fit. The stalling in the rear truck is gone now but there may be other minor gearing issues. It does run but not well. The replaced truck has problems too. Further after some run in, the front truck is having difficulties AND the motor tended to short at times. I think that this one is scrap.

Southern Pacific 4823

20 Dec 09

This one runs ok on DC out of the bad order box. It is an Athearn "Classic" loco with a mechanism virtually identical to Conrail 8276. The current is a bit high, but not a lot higher than 8276. This one may be privately owned by Danny McKeever. It obviously has seen lots of miles as the wheels are heavily pitted, but it runs ok and appears to have stable power pickup.

19 Jan 10

I put a System One decoder into this straight up Athearn loco. The first decoder ran for awhile and then failed with melted shrinkwrap. A replacement decoder worked fine although it was hard to get the shell back on without wires dragging on the flywheels. This loco has no lights and I didn't install any. It would be well suited to helper or secondary unit service where lights are not needed.

I cleaned the wheels as best I could. I also found that some of the square bushings that the wheels ride in don't always ride in the metal collars so that sometimes a wheel or two doesn't pick up power. This is a high milage loco but it looks good and runs well enough for Period 3 or Modern service.

18 Feb 10

I put a club supplied Digitrax DH121 into 4823 but I did not install lights yet. I want to see if the noise level is acceptable to the club.

23 Feb 10

SP 4823 didn't perform up to expectation at the club tonight so the club elected to scrap it. I'll pull the DH121 and transplant it into another loco that needs road testing.

MoPac 2016

20 Dec 09

This is yet another Athearn "Classic" GP-38. The couplers need work. It runs at marginally high current on DC but it is nearly identical to the other two Athearn GP38's. It doesn't make quite as much gear noise as SP 4823.

25 Feb 10

I test ran this one on DC and while it didn't short like Conrail 8276 it is obviously having commutation issues as there is a lot of sparking at the brushes and the motor is making lots of current transients. It also tends to derail when running in reverse.

This one is going to the scrapper too.

Milwaukee 365

20 Dec 09

Milwaukee 365 draws about 800 mA on DC even after lubrication. Besides that, it is virtually identical to the other three Athearn GP38's.

Based on the current draw, the club elected to scrap this one.

10 Apr 10

This one was sold to a member of the public at the swap meet today.

Southern Pacific 7415

20 Dec 09

SP 7415 does not run at all and the couplers are mounted about 1/8" too high.

After opening it, I find that a decoder has been hard wired to the 8 pin socket, effectively ruining the socket. There is also a JST 9 pin socket in there. The decoder appears to be a Tsunami. This is probably why it doesn't respond to my programming track.

This is one of three Life-Like locos in this batch (including GN 3022 and a Milwaukee loco without a number) that had DCC installed, probably by the same person because the installations look pretty much the same. None of the locos work in any fashion.

I'll did find my SPROG and reinstalled the software to drive it on my iMac. The SPROG is a decoder programmer that I bought so that I could talk to a Tsunami decoder that is installed in a large scale USAT Speeder. I did get it to work. The Speeder responds. It was also able to see Digitrax decoders installed a couple of HO locos so that I know that my HO programming track works. However, the SPROG does not detect any of the three LAMRS locos with Tsunami-looking decoders in them. Without being able to read back the decoders, I cannot get an idea of what they might be, or what their addresses are. Without knowing what the decoder is, I can't actually reset it either because I don't know what to stuff into CV8.

If worse comes to worse, I can desolder the decoders from the 8 pin socket. I can then find replacement sockets and install those. THEN I can plug in an 8 pin jumper plug to see if the locos will actually run on DC. I can also test the decoders outside the locos, provided that I can find a way to program them, to see if the decoders are actually any good.

23 Dec 09

The decoders that I thought might have been early Tsunami's were really something much more generic. They were ones supplied by Wangrow as part of their System One. I don't know who manufactured them. The only documentation that I have access to is in this PDF data sheet.

SP 7415 had one of these in it. I thought that the wires had been soldered directly to an 8 pin socket in the loco. It turns out that the 8 pin plug that came with the decoder had been soldered to holes for socket contacts on the loco's PWB. Since the loco acted like a DC loco on the DCC programming track (buzz while trying to read anything) I assume that the decoder is toast, probably shorted motor drivers, and the motor was seeing the programming track more or less directly. I desolderd the plug (it came apart in the process) and used the 9 pin JST jumper plug from Amtrak P42 to plug into the 9 pin JST DCC decoder connector that was installed in the loco. Then the loco ran on DC and it ran quite well, drawing less than 200 mA and making only light noise. I'll test this decoder later. However, for now, it looks like what we want is some cheap 9 pin JST decoder like a DH123 or DH163 and this loco would be good to go after the couplers get mounted properly.

18 Feb 09

I put a DH121 in this loco and things got a little weird until I figured out that the shell was on backwards. 3 of the 4 GOW headlight bulbs had fallen out too so I reattached the wires to the shell with CA. They will stay in place now.

The loco reacts badly to the low PRF of the DH121 making some serious buzz at low speeds, but it smooths out at higher speeds. This one clearly needs a newer "silent" decoder such as a T4X or a DH163.

23 Feb 10

This loco was tested at LAMRS tonight and passed. It will get the test decoder pulled and a TCS T4X decoder installed as soon as the new decoders arrive.

3 Mar 10

This was the easiest upgrade of the bunch. All I had to do was pull off the dynamic break pod, unplug the JST socket from the Digitrax test decoder and plug in the TCS T4X.

30 Apr 10

Apparently, I never fixed the coupler mounting height and nobody else did either. This loco caused some problems with inadvertent uncoupling during a recent open house and was bad ordered. Dave got some low set couplers for it and I have the couplers, but not the loco. Next time I get to the club I'll recover the loco from where ever it is stashed and replace the couplers to get the mounting height correct.

12 May 10

I think that when I delivered this loco back to LAMRS, I hadn't fixed the coupler height because I didn't have any couplers for it. The ones that were on it were plastic. Somebody had changed them out to Kadee couplers with whiskers but they were still a full half knuckle height too high and this was causing serious unintended uncoupling problems.

Last night, I recovered the loco and installed the Kadee #42 low set couplers on the loco in place of the center set ones that were there. This brought the height right down to where it was supposed to be.

GL&W 56

20 Dec 09

This GE 70 ton switcher sort of runs on DC but it has obvious mechanical problems as some of the wheels are not being driven. The couplers are mounted too high and some of the external detail is not in the best shape.

I was a little surprised when I opened this loco. It has a small motor on each truck. Each motor is connected to the pickups within it's own truck. One motor does not run. Further, some wheels on BOTH trucks freewheel. Since this is such an odd puppy and one motor probably has bad brushes, I think that this one is a candidate for the scrap heap.

23 Dec 09

The club wanted me to take another crack at fixing this one because it is only one of two lettered and painted for the Great Lakes and Western, the namesake road for the club's railroad. I got some truck parts from another similarly built dead loco to try to use for parts.

GL&W 56 has several problems. One motor does not run, but this is probably due to a bad spring contact between the power pickup contact and the motor. It also has two wheels, one on each truck, that free spin. This photo shows why. The drive gear that separates the half axles is split on both trucks. Bachmann axles gears often fail this way in large scale locos. Over a period of time, the plastic that the gear is molded from shrinks as it outgasses and eventually the hard axle inside splits it. In large scale, this is usually the end of the gear because even if it is glued back together, the teeth won't mesh properly. In this loco, there is quite a bit of slop in the gears so that a slightly wider space between a couple of teeth simply isn't noticed. I dropped some CA into the crack in the hopes that it would find it's way to the axle and bind the axle back to the gear. Once the CA has set, I'll disassemble the truck with the bad motor and try to determine if the motor is bad or it's just the contact. If it's a bad motor, I have two working spares.

The CA patch worked on both the axles BUT the rear truck had other problems. The motor itself was bad, it got replaced. Then the rear truck would stall. After disassembling it again, I found that the other axle gear was cracked and split in such a way as to make the CA patch not practical.

It was then time to resurrect one of the other spare trucks. One of them was complete except for sideframes and it ran. However, when I went to install it into the loco, it didn't fit. Bachmann had made a change in the mounting configuration and the truck would not rotate. Both the weights and the truck top frames were indeed different between this loco and the one that surrendered the parts. Both trucks would fit the other weight but the other weight wouldn't fit into the shell, the mounting points had moved. I could not just swap the upper truck frames because Bachmann had also moved the fasteners that hold the trucks together so 56's upper truck frame would not fit on the replacement truck. Out came the Dremel tool and I shaved some plastic off the replacement truck's mounting ring until it fit over the pedestal on the 56's weight.

In the process, I had removed both trucks from the loco so I ran each on the HO layout. The replacement truck ran faster but not so much faster that it would be a problem. Both needed lubrication and run in, which they got. However, one of them was running the wrong direction. I guessed that it was the replacement truck because I had had it apart. I disassembled it again and flipped over the motor and then it ran in correct direction with respect to the other one.

Then I had to deal with the sideframes. The replacement truck didn't have any and the ones on the original truck were very firmly fixed to the truck. I just pried it off hoping that the studs that stuck out from the original truck would just break off, which they did. I then drilled out the remainder of the studs by hand to 0.060", the diameter of the mounting studs on the new trucks. They fit but are loose, I'll eventually glue them back on.

I reassembled the loco so that it would run on DC and FINALLY it works. It draws about 200 mA with the headlight on and runs smoothly and quietly enough to actually use. I reattached some handrails and adjusted the couplers. The front one is a tad high, but it is close enough.

DCC conversion will be somewhat involved. The trucks will have to come back off the loco and disassembled again so that the spring contacts to the motors can be cut off. Orange and gray wires will be wired back to the motors and brought up top to reach a decoder. The only space for a decoder is in the cab. An HO sized one won't fit well, this loco should use a Z scale decoder.

The headlights are incandescent and run directly from track voltage so that they can be wired directly to the decoder after the PWB is cut up a little. The are really bright at 10 VDC drawing about 30 mA. A 100Ω resistor would about right to dim them so that they will last.

24 Dec 09

I got a DZ123 from the club and it was about a big a decoder as would easily fit. I took the trucks apart again and isolated the motors. As much as I tried to keep everything straight, I reversed the orange/gray wires to the rear truck. I also had to improvise a little on the wire routing as the smallest wire I had was too stiff to route along with the power pickup wires without interfering with the truck rotation. In any event, the installation went without major hassle and now the little loco runs on DCC.

Sometime later, the club certified this loco. It is now in service on the Sierra Pacific logging line.

8 Jun 10

GL&W 56 had been used a lot at the club on the logging line but it had become flakey with power pickup issues. I figured that the contact wipers were not reaching all the way to one or more wheels when they were pushed all the way to the side. This is what I found on FOUR wheels, all on the same side. Further two more are loose in the axle gear and actually spin. This one will require complete disassembly to repin the half axles with CA and to form the contact wipers enough so that they will touch the wheels all the time.

20 Jun 10

I've been messing with GL&W 56 for a couple of weeks and it isn't responding to treatment. The original problem with poor contact is easy to solve, pull out the wheelsets, bend the wiper a little and reinsert the wheelsets. However, all of the axle gears are cracked and the gears don't hold the wheels tightly. They were sort of glued in place, but getting them to stick again has been a problem. This loco is going to need new axle gears and I doubt that Bachmann has them. I have an email into them to ask, but I don't expect results soon.

13 Jul 10

This loco may be down for the count. Bachmann does not appear to have parts. I've moved it back to the "in work" status until something changes. In the meantime, I removed the decoder to use it in Shay #11.

Great Northern 3022

20 Dec 09

GN 3022 may have a decoder installed but it does not run. It also needs coupler work.

After opening it, I found that it was in the same condition as SP 7415. It appears to have a Tsunami installed (speaker leads cut) with the wires directly soldered to the 8 pin socket.

23 Dec 09

The decoder is a Wangrow Basic decoder and it the 8 pin plug is hard soldered to the PWB. The decoder is marked T3295. The decoder does respond to DecoderPro and I have set up an address of 8922 and enabled analog conversion. After finding and fixing the motor wire that was not connected, the loco started to run. It was well lubricated already and it runs as smoothly and quietly as the 28 speed step, low PWM frequency decoder will allow. The headlights are non-directional. The front headlight is on F0, the rear one on F1. I adjusted the couplers so that this loco is ready to certify.

18 Feb 10

GN 3022 was tested last week at the club and it ran like the others with a Wangrow decoder, it was not acceptable. The club supplied a Digitrax DH121 and I installed it. This loco had a 9 pin JST plug so I desolderd the plug that was on the Wangrow from the PWB to make some room and plugged the DH121 in. It ran fine right off.

23 Feb 10

This loco passed muster during testing tonight. It is waiting for an upgraded decoder.

8 Jun 10

GN 3022 got it's decoder changed out. This was a very easy swap. I pulled off the dynamic brake assembly and the old decoder was accessible. I pulled the DH121 and plugged in a DH163D. A quick check on the programming track and an adjustment to the address was all it needed. It runs fine.

Milwaukee No Road Number

20 Dec 09

This U23 has a decoder in it of unknown make. It presents a 4 digit address but it does not run. The decoder is the same as the ones in SP 7415 and GN 3022.

23 Dec 09

I am slowly prying open the Wangrow decoders in these locos. I got this one to respond on the programming track and used DecoderPro to download it's contents assuming that it was a Wangrow Basic decoder. It reports 0 in CV7 and CV8 so DecoderPro cannot determine what the decoder is until I tell it what it is. The loco was set to respond on analog so I put on DC powered truck and slid it on the track and it started to do something. The mechanism was bound up but eventually freed itself and it started to run fairly smoothly drawing about 400 mA. DecoderPro indicated that it had a 4 digit address of 8900 enabled so I dialed that up in 28 speed step mode and it actually ran. The headlight is not directional and there is no rear headlight. I adjusted the couplers but the rear one doesn't center every time, it needs a new spring and I haven't got a loose one.

18 Feb 10

The Wangrow got tossed, a Digitrax DH121 went in. The loco is good to go.

23 Feb 10

This loco was tested at LAMRS tonight and passed. It will get the test decoder pulled and a TCS T4X decoder installed as soon as the new decoders arrive.

3 Mar 10

This one had a DH121 in it so I just plugged in a T4X. There was no rear headlight. The club gave me a couple of bags of 14V GOW bulbs so i added one. I also removed the long shank couplers and substituted regular whisker ones. The long ones can go somewhere else where they are needed.

Amtrak 809

22 Dec 09

Amtrak 809 is a P42 that is in pretty good shape. It isn't marked but it appears to be a Life-Like product. It runs on DC and is a little noisy before lubrication, however it doesn't draw a lot of current, about 200 mA. The couplers will need some work. It has a JST socket with a jumper plug installed so that DCC conversion MIGHT be easy. I've not done one with a JST socket so I'm going to do a little wire tracing before I just plug one in.

23 Dec 09

I lubed the loco and the noise faded some to about the level of the wheels noise. I pulled the JST jumper plug and plugged in a test DH123 and it ran quite well. The plug is out right now as I am using it to test some other locos but it could go back in there easily. I adjusted the couplers. With the addition of a DH123 or DH163 or some sound equipped 9 pin JST decoder, this loco would be good to go.

Eventually, I pulled the DH163 from UP 1614b and replaced it with a Wangrow decoder because the FA, UP x1614, is going to get one of those also. The DH163 is a 9 pin JST decoder and plugged right into Amtrak 809. The Wangrow decoders have 8 pin plugs and plug into the UP units.

Amtrak 809 is done and ready to certify.

11 Mar 10

Amtrak 809 did get certified. I pulled it down from the cabinet because one of the other club members said it didn't run well. It didn't. It had obvious power pickup issues and when it ran, it ran sluggishly, not making speed.

The speed problem was due to commutator issues. It was sparking at the brushes pretty badly. I put a very small amount of AeroCar conductive oil on the commutator and it started to run better, but there black crud all over the commutator. Extended light abrasion with the end of a wooden toothpick rubbed most the black stuff off and the motor started to run smoothly with no visible sparking.

Then a track test indicated that the power pickup was bad too. An alcohol clean helped that a lot but there was still obvious crud on the wheels. I faced them lightly with a Bright Boy while running the engine with a Kadee brush and shined up the wheel treads. This helped more and the headlight flicker went away.

It'll go back to the club, but I'm going to keep a close eye on this one.

Southern Pacific 5669

22 Dec 09

SP 5669 is an SD9 which appears to be manufactured by Athearn. The engine runs with a moderate amount of noise before lubrication. The couplers are very high and will need some significant remounting work. It does not like 18" radius track very much.

25 Dec 09

I took SP 5669 apart for inspection and I found that it had been remotored with a good can motor. Most of the noise was coming from a contact tower on one truck rubbing against a U-joint, an easy fix. After lubrication and a little run in to spread the stuff around, it ran pretty well. It now runs on 18" curves, but it picks the points on some Atlas Snap switches.

I installed a Wangrow decoder. I now believe that these are probably a DH-155. This particular decoder is one I cut out of another loco as it just did not seem to operate. However, after learning more about these things, I was able to coerce it into working.

This loco has NO lights, nor any provision for them. There isn't even a hole in the shell for any light to shine out. If somebody wants to light this loco, they'll have to remove the lenses from the outside, drill some light passages and reinstall the lenses.

In any event, the decoder worked. It will read back on a SPROG programming track but not a DCS100 programming track. The loco is ready to return to LAMRS.

10 Feb 10

I tested the "Cadillac" at LAMRS last night. I apparently installed the shell backwards as it ran in reverse, but it ran well except that it picked the points of a turnout at Edison a couple of times. It is also intolerant of some of the tighter curves on my own layout.

It has no lights so I could not see if it had the same problem as 2790, but I could hear the motor cutting out on my own layout. A commutation problem would not cut out for so long so I suspect that the decoder is doing something odd. This one could use a better decoder and some lights. The shell was never drilled for lighting so the headlight lenses would have to be removed or drilled out.

17 Feb 10

I elected to upgrade the headlights on this one in preparation for a new decoder. Lloyd has some DH121's that will do ok for testing, much better than the Wangrow ones. When I get some of those, I'll cut out the Wangrow and install the DH121. If we elect to upgrade past that, a DH163 or T4X will plug right in.

The headlights were very small blobs of plastic with a metalized back that were glued into the headlight housings. There were 4 on each end. I popped the two on the upper housing out and drilled a 5/64" hole behind each one. Then I mounted a 5 mm white LED inside the shell so that it would shine out the resulting holes. This actually makes an acceptable headlight. The LED current is set with a 1KΩ resistor at each end so that the LEDs should run at 9 or 10 mA.

18 Feb 10

The club provided a Digitrax DH121 decoder to install in this loco for further testing as the Wangrow decoder was just not cutting it. The DH121 is a 28 step decoder with a low motor switching speed and no BEMF. However, it appears to work quite well and it works with 128 step commands.

The loco ran quite well with this decoder in it. It is ready to test again on the layout. If it runs well enough, it could possibly keep the decoder.

The headlight installation worked quite well. I also repaired some broken handrails and rebuilt a section that was missing from 25 mil music wire for the uprights and 15 mil phosphor bronze wire for the handrail proper.

23 Feb 10

This loco was tested at LAMRS tonight and passed. It will get the test decoder pulled and a TCS T4X decoder installed as soon as the new decoders arrive.

3 Mar 10

The decoder swap to a TCS T4X was uneventful, the loco runs fine.

Southern Pacific 5015

22 Dec 09

SP 5015 is a PB1 dummy unit. It is missing one coupler and the other one is poorly mounted. It doesn't roll all that freely and it doesn't like 18" curves at all.

26 Dec 09

5015 got a new coupler, centering spring and cover. The other coupler got adjusted.

2 Feb 10

At the meeting tonight, the club determined that they didn't need this dummy, it goes to scrap.

Saint Louis Southwestern 300

22 Dec 09

SLSW 300 is an Athearn PA1 that has probably been remotored. It is fairly noisy on DC but it draws only about 200 mA. It also does not like 18" radius curves.

26 Dec 09

This one had been remotored and after some lubrication, run in and adjustment of the contact stands, it runs well. It got a Wangrow decoder, there is plenty of room for it. The unit had a 1.5 volt 80 mA GOW bulb. I retained that and used a 240Ω current limiting resistor wired to F0. It got a new coupler spring in the front.

10 Feb 10

I tested this one at the club last night and I had to pull it off the track. It was too intermittent, it would intermittently sit there with the lights burning and no movement. When I retested it this morning, I could not reproduce that behavior. It had flakey power pickup until I cleaned the wheels, but the motor would still cut out while it was running, I could hear the buzz drop out and my track current meter was bouncing. This time, however, the headlights were flickering so the dropouts could be just power pickup issues.

This loco has talgo mounted couplers with the metal clip on covers, both are not acceptable to LARMS. This one may meet a grim fate. It's semi-matching B unit (SP 6146) and a dummy B unit (SP 5915) may meet a similar fate.

16 Feb 10

The club elected to dispose of this loco primarily because of the coupler situation and that it really isn't needed.

Southern Pacific 6146

22 Dec 09

SP 6146 is an Athearn PB1. It has been remotored and draws about 200 mA. It is fairly noisy before lubrication. Like the other C-C locos, it does not like 18" radius track.

26 Dec 09

This one needed the motor glued back down as it was flopping around loose. It also got a Wangrow decoder. It needed a new coupler, centering spring and cover on one end and a new centering spring on the other end.

16 Feb 10

The club elected to abandon this loco as it was not needed.

Southern Pacific 3343

22 Dec 09

SP 3343 is a Fairbanks-Morris HW-24-66 Trainmaster. It is probably a Life-Like unit. It has been remotored, draws about 200 mA and makes a lot of noise before lubrication. This loco has the plastic coupler retainer clips that tend to fall off. It also doesn't like 18" radius curves.

25 Dec 09

SP 3343 had been remotored with a can motor and it actually ran pretty well after I reattached the motor which was just flopping around loose. It had what appeared to be 1.5 volt GOW bulbs in it, but none of them worked. There was some sort of regulator installed to control the bulb voltage, but it was clearly damaged too. All that stuff got hacked out.

The unit ran pretty well on the bench but every time I put it on the track it shorted out. Eventually, I let the short circuit current rise high enough, above 2 amps, so that I hoped to see some arcing at the location of the problem. There was some arcing and smoking on the top of one of the trucks. The steel contact that rises above the drive shafts was very close to a metal plate on the top of the truck connected to the other side. The pieces were a little loose and when the weight of the loco was on the wheels, they tended to move together and short. A small piece of styrene was glued into each truck to keep those pieces apart and the shorting went away.

The headlights were replaced with 3 mm warm white LEDs fed through 560Ω resistors. The LEDs were glued to the roof of the shell and generally pointed at the main headlight lens with some spill over to the 2nd headlight.

The couplers were mounted in the plastic clip covers that never stay on, one was missing a knuckle spring and both centering springs were bad. I drilled out the coupler pad for a #2-56 screw on both ends and installed Kadee #5 boxes, then replaced the bad springs.

I essentially got the whole thing together, THEN I realized why the shell never fit quite right. The damn thing was on backwards when I got it. I had to turn the shell around, which was straightforward, but the decoder would not recognize the NDOT (normal direction of travel) bit in CV29 and I had to reverse the motor wires too. Further, I had difficulty getting it together and keeping the decoder from rubbing on a flywheel so I had to build a little stand made of styrene to prop the end of the decoder up. The decoder is fastened to that frame with a piece of double backed foam mounting tape. It just barely fits. This puppy is done.

10 Feb 10

I also tested the Trainmaster at the club last night and it behaved similarly to the other locos, it had very intermittent operation. However, I was able to see what is happening in this case. The decoder has poor restart response when power drops for a very short time and is restored. This loco has 12 working wheels which had been cleaned. The track is clean, it should have good pickup. It seems the decoder's firmware is just not up to the task.

I did substitute the Wangrow decoder with a DH123 from my stock. I didn't have a normal JST harness for it so I used a function harness from a DG583S. It is the same connector with the same function wire colors, but the motor and track wires are different from the standard. It went in fine and all the weirdness simply vanished. This loco is waiting a retest at LAMRS.

16 Feb 10

I tested this one at the club and it ran fine, MUCH better than it did with the Wangrow decoder. It will wait for a good club decoder, preferably with BEMF.

23 Feb 10

This loco was tested at LAMRS tonight and passed. It will get the test decoder pulled and a TCS T4X decoder installed as soon as the new decoders arrive.

3 Mar 10

I didn't put a T4X decoder in this one as I used them elsewhere. I did change out my DH123 that was in it to a DH121 club decoder. The loco buzzes some now but it makes less noise than some other locos with the low frequency decoders in them. It could use a better decoder but this one may be good enough.

11 Mar 10

While I had done some more testing at the club while the track had not been recently cleaned and I noticed that this loco tended to sputter and stall at spots where other locos had only minor difficulties. It needed some more work.

I brought it home again with the intent of changing out the wheelsets for some that were in better condition. I didn't do that because this loco has different wheelsets that most others. This guy doesn't use the axle bushings for power pickup, but instead it has metal sideframes and uses brass bushings in the sideframes. I also discovered that the forward right wheel on the rear truck wasn't providing power pickup at all. After some poking around with an ohmmeter, I found that the actual bushing wasn't making contact to the frame that it was pressed in to. I managed to actually rotate the bushing just a little with a screwdriver and scrub it in a little and it started to work.

The wheels themselves were covered with a gray haze that did not come off in an alcohol clean. I assume that this was either a micropit haze or some adherent oxide coating. I gently abraded it off each wheel with a Bright Boy. As each wheel turned, I could feel the wheel tugging on the Bright Boy for a few turns until the surface smoothed out and the tugging stopped. Then the loco ran without the headlight flickering. We'll see how it does in regular service.

8 Jun 10

SP 3343 got a new decoder. It was an easy matter to pop off the shell, unplug the test DH121 and plug in a DH163. The loco ran fine right off the bat.

General Electric 808

19 Jan 10

GE demonstrator 808 was one of three locos I picked up at the club that had been converted by somebody else with a club supplied Wangrow decoder. These locos could not be read on the club's programming track so I brought them home for test.

This one ran well enough and it would respond to the SPROG for programming. I programmed a club standard address of 8908 for this loco and it appears good to go.

23 Feb 10

Since the club is scrapping the Wangrow decoders, this one never got road tested. I pulled it back to wait for a new TCS decoder.

3 Mar 10

The club had 3 TCS drop in decoders in stock. One fit this loco so I installed it. It ran fine.

BNSF 8630

19 Jan 10

BNSF 8630 is a little puzzling. It responds to the SPROG programming track in the expected fashion but it does not run. Occasionally, it would just run away on the programming track which means that it is trying to analog convert even though analog conversion shows to be off. I suspect a bad decoder in this one.

20 Jan 10

I put another Wangrow decoder in this loco and it still would not run although it acted like it was working on the SPROG programming track. I put in a jumper plug and the loco ran on DC. I plugged in a Bachmann EZ-Command decoder and it worked. I plugged in a DH123 and it worked. I put the new Wangrow decoder back in and it doesn't work. The Wangrow decoder does work on my test rig. The original Wangrow decoder does NOT work in the test rig. There is something about this loco that the Wangrow decoder does not like.

It is waiting for a new decoder.

2 Mar 10

I put a TCS T4X in this Atlas loco and it ran fine. The TCS decoder has very good BEMF.

BN 9615

19 Jan 10

BN 9615 also has a Wangrow decoder and runs well. The loco has some physical damage. It had been dropped. The front coupler is broken, one cab visor is missing and some handrails need a little attention.

20 Jan 10

I reinstalled the loose handrails and replaced the front coupler and spring. I found the visor and reattached it. Now it is good to go.

23 Feb 10

Since the club is scrapping the Wangrow decoders, this one never got road tested. I pulled it back to wait for a new TCS decoder.

3 Mar 10

This loco takes an 8 pin medium plug, but the decoders were delivered with wires. I spliced on the plug from a dead Wangrow and plugged it in, no problems.

27 Jan 10

After all of the first batch and most of the second batch were complete, I picked up two more boxes of locos, 18 in total. We are getting to the bottom of the barrel here and many of these, especially the steamers, are pretty sad. These are listed here in more or less the order that I initially evaluated them.

BNSF 9929

27 Jan 10

This is almost a new loco, but it runs badly. It makes very loud gear noise from the front truck. I haven't had it apart yet to figure out what the trouble is, but this will be the first one to work on when I get to it. Otherwise, it's in excellent condition.

After I got into it, I found the problem. The wire clearance under the cab is very tight and the headlight and ditch light wiring gets pinched and pressed down into the front universal joint. When the time comes to put a decoder into this loco, I am going to attach the wires to the shell with CA to keep them where they belong. With the wires out of the way, it runs fine.

This loco can take a multifunction decoder such as a TX4 or DH163 via a 9 pin JST connector.

22 Feb 10

The headlight wires that were fouling the front U-joint have been glued to the cab floor, that's fixed. The handrails refused to stay on so they have been reattached with very small dabs of CA. This one just needs a decoder and it's ready to go. However, it does not run on 18" radius track, it will derail every time.

3 Mar 10

This one was simple, it already had a JST plug so I just pulled the jumper plug and plugged in the TCS T4X decoder. It is ready to go.

SP 6018

27 Jan 10

This E8A runs fairly smoothly but it has a tell tale clunking sound which indicates a cracked gear. The couplers need a lot of work.

28 Jan 10

The clunking sound was coming from a unseated journal on one of the wheels. Pushing it back into place and properly retaining it with the lower cover solved that problem. The couplers are fixed, this one is waiting for a test decoder.

24 Feb 10

I went to install an MRC test decoder in this one and I noticed that the clunk had returned. I noticed that the front truck would jerk at times so I popped the bottom cover and ALL THREE axle gears are cracked. I need to recover some more wheelsets from some old Athearn hulks that we have.

28 Feb 10

After I had recovered one good wheelset for SP 6019, I took apart one truck from the last hulk. In that 3 axle truck I found 3 good wheelsets. They went into 6018 and now it runs smoothly enough on straight track to deserve a test decoder so that I can test it at LAMRS.

3 Mar 10

A test decoder became available so this loco got it's first decoder, a DH121. We'll see how it runs on the club layout as it cannot take the curves on mine.

4 Mar 10

I tested this loco on the club track today and it did well with the DH121 in it. I installed a headlight and it is good to go.

8 Jun 10

SP 6018 got it's DH121 swapped for a DH163, no problems. It runs very quietly.

UP 130

27 Jan 10

UP 130 is an GP9 dummy. It is in pretty good condition except that the handrails are bent. SInce they are metal, this should be repairable.

The handrails were indeed easy to bend and after some coupler adjustment, this loco is good to go.

2 Feb 10

At the meeting tonight, the club determined that they didn't need this dummy, it goes to scrap.

SP 6019

27 Jan 10

SP 6019 is an E8B. It needs some coupler work. It also does not run at all.

I adjusted the couplers and completely lubed the loco and got it to run. It has been remotored and the motor runs well, but it sounds like there is a split gear in there somewhere. It makes a repeated clunking sound although it runs smoothly enough.

28 Jan 10

It does have a cracked axle gear. It is the one on the "F" end of the unit (furthest from the steam generators). This is a pretty standard Athearn looking part, we can probably rob one from some other dead Athearn loco.

11 Feb 10

At the last club meeting I recovered some basket case Athearn locos and recovered a wheelset from one with a truck dangling by it's wire. This fixed the clunking sound. I also touched up some paint on one side skirt with engine black. It still needs some touchup on the body but I don't have the red color for the SP Daylight scheme.

This one is waiting for a test decoder.

24 Feb 10

In testing prior to installing an MRC test decoder, the clunk came back, this time from the center axle on the rear truck. I need another wheelset.

28 Feb 10

I recovered 4 Athearn hulks from the club and started taking the wheels out to find one with a crack in the axle gear. I went through half a dozen before I found one. This did not bode well for SP 6018 which still needed THREE wheelsets.

In any event, replacing the one cracked wheelset in SP 6019 fixed the clunk while it was running on the track although the trucks were still hanging up slightly when suspended. At least the one truck didn't jam completely like it did before. When running along a 4 foot or so straight section on my HO layout, it ran smoothly. I could not test either 6019 or 6018 in th curves because these locos simply do not tolerate 18" radius track. I put it in the pile with the other ones waiting test decoders so that I can at least test it at LAMRS.

3 Mar 10

This one also got a test decoder, a DH121. It seems to run fine on my track, we'll see what it does at the club.

4 Mar 10

I tested this loco on the club track today and it did well with the DH121 in it. It is good to go.

8 Jun 10

SP 6019 got it's DH121 swapped for a DH163. It runs very well now.

SP 6002

27 Jan 10

SP 6002 is an E8A. It runs ok with reasonable light current. The couplers had both trip pins cut off and both were jammed in their housings. I replaced the whole works and now this engine runs.

On this loco, and on the similar 6003 unit below, the shell mounting had been modified with screws that go into blocks glued to the insides of the shells.

25 Feb 10

I ran another DC test on the loco and it was not running well. I lubricated it and after some run in, it started to behave, drawing 250 mA running light. I had an MRC AD350 test decoder come available so I installed it in this loco after removing the low voltage lighting module. I think that the shell is fitted to go in this loco backwards, but I wired the decoder that way so that it now runs "forwards." I did not install any lights, they are not necessary for testing.

28 Feb 10

This one had two problems during testing this morning at the club before the OPS session. The decoder was behaving badly, it will need to be replaced with a better test decoder and it tended to derail on some turnouts.

3 Mar 10

The MRC decoder got pitched for a DH121. No cause for the derailments was found, still working on that one.

4 Mar 10

SP 6002 passed test today at the club so it got a headlight.

6 Apr 10

The club has elected to sell this one instead of investing in a better decoder.

19 May 10

I removed the decoder and couplers from SP 6002 so I could use the parts elsewhere. The headlight and DCC wiring are still in there.

SP 6448

27 Jan 10

SP 6448 is a PA1 dummy. The couplers are talgo mounted and needed a little adjustment, but otherwise, the loco is good to go.

2 Feb 10

At the meeting tonight, the club determined that they didn't need this dummy, it goes to scrap.

SP 5915

27 Jan 10

SP 5915 is a PB1 dummy with a talgo coupler in the rear and no coupler in the front. The rear one needed a centering spring.

2 Feb 10

At the meeting tonight, the club determined that they didn't need this dummy, it goes to scrap.

SP 2157

27 Jan 10

SP 2157 runs poorly, draws lots of current, has no lights, and there is no body detail. I was not able to identify the prototype for this loco. All in all, maybe this one would do better elsewhere, such as in a child's hands.

2 Feb 10

At the meeting tonight, the club determined that they didn't need this loco, it goes to scrap.

SP 6003

27 Jan 10

SP 6003 is another E8A. It does not run but it has been remotored. It has a custom lighting module stuck inside the shell, but it is not connected.

After working on 6002, which had the same lighting scheme, I realized that the little plug that was hanging loose was wired in series with the motor. With the plug loose, the engine will not run. The lighting module deals with the low voltage GOW bulbs. All that will have to come out when the loco is converted to DCC and replaced with more conventional lighting.

With the lighting module plugged in, the loco runs fine. It needs couplers at both ends but I used my last ones on 6002.

It was missing the side skirts for the fuel tanks, but I found them in a junk box at the club. It is waiting for a test decoder.

25 Feb 10

This one was configured similarly to 6002. I removed the custom lighting module and all the GOW bulbs and installed an MRC AD332 N scale decoder. This was a pain, because the black wire broke off during handling, but I figures out where it went and soldered on a new wire. This decoder may not last very long, the red and black wires are not stress relieved at all, they go on the diodes at the very corners of the decoder.

The loco ran well but had no couplers so I installed a set of club Kadee #5's. I also reattached the fuel tank skirts. This one is ready to test. I could not test it much on my layout because, like 6002, it grinds and groans on my 18" curves.

28 Feb 10

SP 6003 worked well during test, it is waiting for a better decoder and more testing.

3 Mar 10

I tossed the MRC AD332 that was in there and put in the last DH121. It'll go back to LAMRS for more testing.

4 Mar 10

SP 6003 passed test today at the club so it got a headlight.

6 Apr 10

The club has elected to sell this one instead of investing in a better decoder.

19 May 10

I removed the decoder and couplers from SP 6003 so I could use the parts elsewhere. The headlight and DCC wiring are still in there.

SP 6263

27 Jan 10

SP 6263 is remotored PA1. It is pretty noisy and does not run well although the current is not very high. The front coupler is missing, the rear is talgo mounted.

After cleaning the contacts from the trucks to the frame and lubricating the whole thing, it started to run better. It still makes some gear noise, but it's not real bad. The current is low. There are no lights.

2 Feb 10

At the meeting tonight, the club determined that they didn't need this loco, it goes to scrap.

Pennsylvania 4876

27 Jan 10

Pennsy 4876 is a die cast 5 stripe GG1. It hardly runs at all and the couplers need work.

I opened it up and found that a headlight wire had wrapped itself around the drive gears and stalled the motor. After I unwound the wire, lubed motor, commutator and gearing, it actually ran. The current was less than 300 mA but the thing is really noisy. It is also REALLY old. That is a selenium rectifier in there for headlight directionality. I believe that this loco was built by Penn Line. The pantographs actually extend and retract but they are not set up to pick up power.

The loco tracks quite poorly, derailing often on turnouts. It picks up power on 3 brass wheels on each side. Since the prototype would never be found on a road like the GL&W and because it doesn't run all that well, I think that it ought to be sold. The motor would be easy to isolate to allow DCC conversion, but it's just not worth it for the club.

2 Feb 10

At the meeting tonight, the club determined that they didn't need this loco, it goes to scrap.

Canadian National 5125

27 Jan 10

This Mehano Pacific loco does run, as well as it's limited power pickup allows. My son has one of these locos and that one runs pretty well once I jumpered the tender power pickups (for the rear headlight) to the loco. The loco is also missing it's smokebox front. I did identify a tender in the box that goes with this loco.

27 Jan 10

This loco has a speaker in the tender, it was attached to a long wire with a 3.5mm plug on it so it was probably set up as a static display.

I cleaned and lubricated it and it started to run quite well. As I had it open, I realized that it is probably an older version than the one my son has. His has a can motor and a flywheel. This one has an open frame motor and no flywheel, but there is ample room in the cab above the motor for a decoder. The tender pickups could be jumpered to the loco and it would have good power pickup, 8 wheels worth. The unit also has a smoke generator which could be easily jettisoned.

The only fly in this ointment is the missing smokebox door. However, a version of this loco is still being made so we could probably order an appropriate part from Mehano.

With a smokebox door, I think that this one is a keeper.

3 Feb 10

At the club meeting last night I got direction to look for a part for this loco so I sent an email to Mehano looking for a smokebox door for a current production loco like this one which is still in production.

3 Mar 10

I have had little response from Mehano. I may have to make a smokebox door for this one.

I went ahead and installed a DH121 test decoder in the Mehano Pacific so that I could see how it actually runs at LAMRS. The decoder is mounted inside the loco, on top of the motor. I also cut out the headlight and smoke unit. If it fails to make the cut, then the missing part will be unimportant. Part of doing the DCC upgrade is jumpering the tender to the loco which picks up power on only four wheels by itself. The tender has pickups on half the wheels so that will add another four which may be good enough. If the loco works well enough, I'll add the headlight back in.

While testing the DCC installation on my layout, I noticed a problem. At low throttle settings, the thing would just buzz. It took about half throttle before it started to move and then it took off. I opened it up again and realized that the motor was shorting at low speed and current limiting the decoder. I had not seen this before on DC. As the motor spun, a ring of fire would develop around the commutator. At this point, I realized that the motor was near dead. I pulled the decoder and converted it back to DC. It does the same thing on my bench supply. It does not draw a lot of current, but it does still spit fire from the commutator. This one is scrap.

The next few locos are diecast steamers. These all use the tender for pickup, only one of them has a tender attached. There are a bunch of tenders in the box that these came in. I have been able to match tenders to all but one of them. There is an extra tender but it is way too big for the loco that doesn't have one, number 87.

Ten Wheeler type 87

27 Jan 10

This is the one without a matching tender. Ten Wheeler 87 has some body damage and some broken and missing detail parts. It does run, drawing about 400 mA when the wire dangling out of the cab is touched to a rail. There is some motor noise but it clearly needs lubrication which may help.

27 Jan 10

I cleaned and lubricated the loco and test ran it on the bench. It draws about 200 mA light, over 400 mA loaded (with my finger). It picks up power on 3 engine drivers. I don't have an appropriate tender for it and it will need a drawbar fabricated.

It is missing some details (headlight and numberboard) but it is otherwise in good condition. There is no visible valve gear.

2 Feb 10

At the meeting tonight, the club determined that they didn't need this loco, it goes to scrap.

Ten Wheeler type 99

27 Jan 10

99 is a die cast Ten Wheeler. It does not run at all. It's bodywork is in better condition than 98.

28 Jan 10

After matching a tender to the loco and building a new drawbar from styrene, then doing a full lubrication and a bench test, I managed to get the thing to run. Unlike 98 which runs with lots of noise, this Varney loco runs quietly and smoothly... when it runs. The power pickup is very flakey and unreliable. I am afraid that this loco is evilBay bait too.

3 Feb 10

Last night at the LAMRS club meeting I retained 99 for more work. However, this morning, it was having serious motor problems again so I elected to give up on it for cause. It'll be returned for disposal.

Ten Wheeler type 98

27 Jan 10

98 is another virtually identical Ten Wheeler to 99. It tries to run, but the mechanism is very gummed up.

After lubrication and run in on the bench, I got it hooked to a tender and ran it on the track. It is very noisy under any kind of load and tends to derail. Sell this puppy.

2 Feb 10

At the meeting tonight, the club determined that they didn't need this loco, it goes to scrap.

ATSF 5322

27 Jan 10

This Mantua Pacific is another die cast loco that does not run.

28 Jan 10

I located the tender that was intended for this one and then started to work over the loco. The commutator was just not working. After a lot of gentle turning of the motor with a toothpick and lubrication of the commutator with conductive oil, I was able to get it to jerk a little, then a little more and finally it started to run. A complete lubrication and run in was done on the bench. I then cleaned all the wheels, connected the tender and it ran. Actually, it ran very well. It is quiet and smooth and the power pickup is better than any of the other steamers by a lot. It still has problems on insulated frogs (headlight flickers) but on regular track, it seems to do ok. It MIGHT do well enough on the club layout. It draws 400 to 500 mA running light. When restrained from moving, it doesn't slip, it stalls. This is either an indication of very high traction, it is heavy, or low motor torque. Still the stall current isn't high enough to threaten a good decoder. DCC conversion may be complicated by motor isolation issues, but it has been done on similar locos. We need to talk about this one.

The rear coupler is in spec but there is no front coupler, a pocket for one would have to be machined out of the pilot casting.

2 Feb 10

At the club meeting, I retained 5322 for a possible test conversion to DCC. I really expect that this loco will eventually not make the cut, but I have elected to make it a "project" loco just because I have never converted a metal steam engine and it was the best running of all of the old steamers by quite a margin.

3 Feb 10

The loco wheels were packed with greasy crud so that I may not have cleaned them as well as I thought. That helped the power pickup a little. It does not stall running light on my HO layout even though it does intermittently lose power at times.

My HO track had some vertical gradients that this loco was sensitive to. At one point as the loco crested a grade at a turnout, the pilot truck would derail about half of the time. I added 1/2 oz of stick on weights to the top of the pilot truck as it was really light. However, one of the weights interfered with a screw and tended to lift the front of the loco as it was entering downward vertical gradients. I ground the weight AND fixed that piece of track, the dip there was just not acceptable. After all the fudging, it now makes it all the way around consistently without derailing or hanging up.

The power pickup will require some work. The unit actually tries to pick up power on the blind center driver on the engineer's side, but it usually doesn't rest on the track anyway. It really needs more pickup on the engineer's side as only two wheels are actually working there. However, there are no other metal wheels on the engineer's side that I can use. The power pickup probably won't get any better than it is, which is marginal and not good enough.

Further, testing under a load of a freight train reveals that the loco has motor torque issues and it tends to stall under load. This will be rough on decoders as the stall current is higher than 2 amps.

I have to reluctantly declare this loco unfit for service as well. It'll go back to the club for disposal.

Pennsylvania 63, E6 Atlantic

27 Jan 10

Pennsylvania 63 is clearly an E6 class Atlantic. It does not run.

After cleaning it up an doing a complete lubrication, I got it running on the bench. However, the drive gear looked a little worn. When I attached it's tender and put it on the track, the worm just spun over the drive gear. It can't handle any kind of a load. This one is toast.

2 Feb 10

At the meeting tonight, the club determined that they didn't need this loco, it goes to scrap.

ATSF 0-4-0 99

27 Jan 10

ATSF 99 is a diecast 0-4-0. This is the only one that came with it's tender attached. It sort of runs but clearly needs lubrication. The front coupler is a dummy, the rear needs work.

I cleaned all the dried grease off the drive gear, lubed the gear and motor bearings, lubed the commutator and cleaned the wheels. The loco actually started to run pretty well. After a few minutes to stretch it's legs, it calmed down and ran pretty good. That's the good news.

The bad news is that since it has only two wheels on one side picking up power and four on the other side, it is sensitive to track disruptions and it will always be so. The current dips as it goes over each of the insulated frogs on my Atlas turnouts. The motor is very hard mounted to the frame and would be difficult to isolate. The front coupler would take some work to change out to a functional one.

As much as I like this little loco, I think it would live a happier life on somebody's DC layout.

2 Feb 10

At the meeting tonight, the club determined that they didn't need this loco, it goes to scrap.

[ Top ]

Birk Binnard graciously donated his layout to the club. Lloyd, Marvin, Mike and I went up to his house and tore it down this morning. We recovered the rolling stock, track, turnout motors, trees and buildings along with the DCC system. The rest was cut up for scrap. There were 9 locos in the batch, only two ran and hesitantly at that. All of them have plastic couplers where there are couplers at all.

Baltimore & Ohio 2784

9 Feb 10

This Bachmann Consolidation had some minor body damage (the whole pilot assy was loose) but that has been repaired. At first it didn't run at all and the decoder did not respond. However I found that it would analog convert after some minor thrashing on the gear train. This implies that the motor brushes were not making contact. This same problem appears to afflict many of the locos in this batch, without a motor connected, the decoder cannot respond to the command station by driving a pulse of current through the motor.

I did get it running but the pony truck tends to derail easily. This one will require some more work but it is probably a keeper.

10 Feb 10

DecoderPro cannot read back the decoder type on this decoder so I assumed that it was an NCE decoder, many of the early ones do not support CV7 and CV8. I peeled open the tender because that is where I thought that the decoder might be and it was there. It is an NCE D102EU. Once I told DecoderPro what kind of decoder it was, it was able to read the decoder. I reset the addresses to 3 and 2784 and left it in 4 digit mode. This is an older decoder with a low switching speed so it buzzes some. The decoder is also a 28 step decoder but it does respond to 128 steps, perhaps in "direct drive" mode similar to the Wangrow decoders.

The decoder supports reversing headlights but there doesn't seem to be one installed in this loco. It may be there but I didn't see anything and it didn't work.

The couplers are plastic.

The tender shell isn't held on very well, it comes up easily at the front and releases with two clips at the rear. I haven't been inside the loco, I was able to lubricate it from the outside and by removing the bottom cover to reach the drive gear.

16 Feb 10

This one ran well at the club but it makes a clunking sound at low speed. I need to figure out what is causing that. It needs a headlight installed.

21 Feb 10

Over the last few days I've been slowly prying my way into this loco to find the clunk and to fix the headlight. The running gear comes off this loco relatively easily leaving the O-ring driven worm gear in the boiler assembly. The drive train moves easily enough by hand, I have not been able to locate a source of a repeated, one bind per driver turn, problem.

I also have not figured out how to get the smokebox apart so that I can work on the apparently non-existent headlight. It acts like the whole boiler assembly is glued together. The pilot assembly also fell off again but I'm not going to mess with that now.

22 Feb 10

After much fiddling, I did not figure out how to get the boiler apart, it appears to be glued. There is a hole in the front of the smokebox door behind the headlight which I assume is for a GOW bulb that is either gone or pushed inside. I cannot see any light coming from inside.

I did test the engine assembly on the track by pushing in both directions to see if the drivers bound. At some times, there was a little binding but after the lubrication that I added to all the motion worked it's way into place, the binding virtually vanished. I also replaced the missing screw that held the tender shell on so now it stays in place.

I put the loco back together and test ran it. All the tendency to clunk or bind is gone. However, the motor reacts to the low switching frequency of the old NCE decoder by buzzing annoyingly. This thing needs a "silent" decoder, preferably one with BEMF. The pony truck derails every time on the two tightest curves of my test layout. The curves are under 18" for short distances. This is because the pony truck has limited motion and it interferes with the cylinders. Somebody has ground away at the cylinders before to make more clearance but it isn't quite enough for my layout. This won't be a problem at the club as the minimum curves are MUCH wider than 18" and it runs on 18" curves well enough.

It's time to return this loco to the club for more testing and disposition by the board. If the missing headlight is a show stopper, then it maybe somebody else can figure out how to get it apart. If the lack of a headlight is acceptable, then the thing runs smoothly enough to deserve a better decoder.

23 Feb 10

This one got tested at the club tonight and passed operational tests. The club didn't think that the non-operational headlight was that big a deal so I'm going to fix the pilot, change out the couplers and we'll retest it later.

24 Feb 10

I have managed to install a Kadee whisker type coupler in the pilot. The Kadee was a few mils thicker than the Bachmann EZ-Mate coupler that came out so the coupler pocket required a little filing, but it fit. A whisker type Kadee fit on the tender without difficulty.

25 Feb 10

After reinforcing the pilot mount with a chunk of styrene attached to the frame and pilot with Zap CA, the pilot seems secure enough and the coupler is at the right height. The loco now runs well enough but it could use a better decoder. The low PRF of the motor driver causes the motor to growl and buzz in a quite annoying fashion. The loco could also use a sound decoder, the club has a few SFX064D sound/function decoders in stock.

I'll return this one to the club at my next opportunity to submit for retest and certification.

28 Feb 10

I ran this one on the layout before the OPS session today and it did fine. I left it for certification.

10 Mar 10

I investigated the installation of a Digitrax SFX064D sound decoder in the tender and it became obvious that it wasn't going to fit. The existing Bachmann interface board and the existing NCE DCC decoder took up all the room in the back of the tender. The tender shell mounting post consumed the sweet spot in the front half. The sound decoder would not fit sideways, either across or up and down anywhere. The speaker would not be a big deal, it could go under the coal load. If we want to install sound in this loco, it will take a combined sound/motor decoder like a QSI, Tsunami or ESU LokSound v3.5 or Select. One of these could go where the existing NCE decoder is.

11 Mar 10

Last night, I returned 2784 to the club and tried to test run it before I put it back in Steve's ToDo box for certification. It shorted the track. The short was in the tender. I brought it home to see what happened and I found that a wheelset on the rear tender truck had been reversed. This shorted the track within the truck itself. I reversed the wheelset so that the rear truck was opposite the front truck and the short cleared and the loco ran. It'll go back for certification next week.

8 Jun 10

B&O 2784 was not an easy conversion. I hadn't noticed before, but whoever installed the NCE decoder in it soldered the wires directly to the socket, ruining it as a socket. I solder wicked it out and installed two rows of 4 SIP pins to make a new socket. Then I could plug in the DH163PS that the club purchased for this loco. It runs fine.

AT&SF 1791

9 Feb 10

ATSF 1791 is a Proto 2000 USRA Mallet, a 2-8-8-2. It does not run or respond to the programming track.

10 Feb 10

This one had tender pickup problems too. It has an NCE D104AU in the tender, after the pickup problems were resolved, DecoderPro could read the decoder after being told what kind it was. I set the addresses to 3 and 1791 and left it in 4 digit address mode with analog conversion enabled.

A run test demonstrated that it needed lubrication. It ran very quietly but very slowly and drew a lot of current, varying between 1 and 2 amps on DCC or DC. As it ran, it started to speed up and the current went down, but it never really stabilized. I lubricated the lower engines, but I could not determine how to remove the shell to access the motor shafts for lubrication.

The tender shell just pulls off. The drawbar is attached via a clip, either push or pull to snap it on or off.

11 Feb 10

I managed to get the shell off, snap off the cab (remove handrails first) then remove a single screw under a dome in the center of the shell. The shell lifts off. I lubed what I could reach and put it back on the track, same story. Then it died completely.

There was 12 volts on the motor contact tabs but no motor movement. I took the motor out and it is open circuit. Apparently it had a bad motor all along as the gearing feels quite free.

21 Feb 10

A few days ago, I ordered a motor from Walthers for this loco. It was $25 plus tax and shipping and I ought to see it in a week or two.

26 Feb 10

The replacement motor arrived from Walther's today ($36.75 total) and I installed it immediately. The loco now runs very well. I changed out the couplers, adjusted the trip pin on the tender, checked the wheel gauge and put it in the box to return to the club for testing and hopefully, certification.

I tried the old motor again. At 4 volts, it ran slowly, drew nearly 1.5 amps and smoked. The new motor drew only 90 mA at 10 volts before I installed it in the loco.

28 Feb 10

ATSF 1791 ran fine in a short test at LAMRS, I left it for certification.

9 Mar 10

Steve hadn't got to certifying ATSF 1791 yet so I pulled it back to install a club supplied Digitrax SFX064D sound decoder in the tender. This is not the greatest sound system in the world and it typically hurts for sound volume, but it does work.

I mounted the supplied 1" 32Ω speaker on a piece of 30 mil styrene sheet hot glued and sealed under the coal load and drilled an array of 60 mil holes in the coal load. I glued on a combination of crushed Welch steam coal and black #10 chicken grit on the top of the load with JoAnn's Tacky Glue to help mask the holes. The balance of the tender shell volume provides the enclosure for the speaker. The decoder itself goes inside the tender shell and hooks to the power pickups which are parallelled with the engine. Both decoders are in parallel so that I have used the dual address trick (described below) on the decoders. Both decoders get a 4 digit address of 1791, the motor decoder has a 2 digit address of 3 and the sound decoder has a 2 digit address of 4. This way, they can be "split" apart in 2 digit mode to allow OPS mode programming. The 4 digit addresses can be set together to another address for the club either on the programming track or in OPS mode.

10 Mar 10

I finished the installation without a lot of difficulty, but the rear headlight stopped working. The headlight assembly mounts on two small brass tubes which are also the electrical connection. The wires from the headlight are threaded down the tubes and one, probably the short one, wasn't making contact. I bent the bulb leads a little so that they have to rub against the inside of the tube and the light worked again.

This thing is done, ready to certify and assign a club address to. I did not mess with the sound decoder programming at all except for the address. The chuff isn't 4 per driver turn, but the sound system cannot keep up at that rate anyway and it has no capability to do a dual chuff for the two engines anyway. If we want that, it will take a much better sound decoder to do it.

BNSF 2158

9 Feb 10

This Atlas GP38 reports an address of 58 but it does not run on DCC. It does analog convert and runs quietly.

10 Feb 10

This one responds identically to CSX 2121. It is an Atlas loco with a Dual Mode decoder. I reset the addresses to 3 and 2158 an left analog conversion on. The headlight responds to address 2158 but the loco does not run. Apparently, I am not talking to this decoder sweetly enough.

I have not been inside this loco yet.

11 Feb 10

The problem with this one is that it had an advanced consist address. I reset CV19 to 0 and now it runs well.

16 Feb 10

This one ran well and the club accepted it for certification. They will handle upgrading the couplers.

CSX 2121

9 Feb 10

This Atlas GP38 reports and address of 21 but it does not run on DCC. It also analog converts quietly. The decoder reports itself as an Atlas Dual Mode.

10 Feb 10

I worked on this one but I did not get it running. I was able to read a decoder type with JMRI (Atlas Dual Mode) and read the whole decoder. I changed the addresses to 3 and 2121 and set 4 digit addressing. JMRI reports that this is a 28 step decoder. However, even status editing the Digitrax system to 28, or even 14, steps. I could not get the motor to run on DCC. The headlight does respond to F0 at address 2121 but not to direction commands. The decoder appears to have been built into this loco.

The couplers are an odd plastic configuration. They are built in two parts. It looks like a Kadee #5 will fit.

I have not been inside this loco yet except I pulled off the dynamic brake section of the shell to inspect the decoder.

11 Feb 10

The problem with this one is that it had an advanced consist address. I reset CV19 to 0 and now it runs well.

16 Feb 10

This one ran well and the club accepted it for certification. They will handle upgrading the couplers.

C & O 3044

9 Feb 10

This Life-Like GP30 neither runs or reports the existence of a decoder.

10 Feb 10

I took this one apart to see what was going on. I found an NCE D104P2K decoder plugged into the same little adaptor board (with the same wiring issue) as ATSF 2790. Since this decoder doesn't use the incorrectly wired pin 3, I didn't modify the board.

I took the decoder out and plugged in a DC jumper plug and the loco ran, although with some significant bearing howl at high forward speeds. The decoder itself did not want to respond to the programming track in my 8 pin test fixture. It was reporting addresses, but it didn't respond to those addresses. I reset the addresses to 3 and 3044 then enabled 4 digit address and the decoder started to work. After lubing the motor and gear tower bearings, I reinserted the decoder and the loco ran well.

It'll need new couplers to meet club standards, the stock one work but are plastic. Kadee #5 couplers will fit right on.

The GP30 is fairly easy to get apart. Remove the couplers and pull off the fuel tank. Remove two small screws that hold on the shell.

16 Feb 10

This one ran well and the club accepted it for certification. They will handle upgrading the couplers.

23 Mar 10

C&O 3044 went back to the club for certification but it failed. It started making bad bearing sounds that it didn't do when I had it before. I took it back and verified the bearing sound and then lubricated it again, but from the oil that was around the gear tower and motor bearings, it had been lubricated already. I lubed it again just to make sure that I hadn't missed a spot and it still howled. Further, it started making a clunking sound when running indicating a cracked gear. This one isn't worth the effort to make right so I recommend disposing of it.

Minneapolis & St. Louis 246

9 Feb 10

This Atlas RS-1 reports and address of 4 but it does not run on DCC. The headlight is on. It does analog converts but makes some pretty severe bearing noise, it will need lubrication.

10 Feb 10

I tried to get into this one this morning to see what was going on, but I could not determine how to peel it open. Somebody at the club probably knows the secret.

I pulled and prodded enough to figure it out. You just pull the shell off the frame (after detaching the handrails). It had an NCE decoder in it, but there was no model number on the PWB. Since the headlights were non-directional, I guess that it might be a version of a D102US. It appears to program properly but still won't run under DCC. I did lube it an the bearing noise went away.

11 Feb 10

The problem with this one is that it had an advanced consist address. I reset CV19 to 0 and now it runs well. NCE tells me that this is a very early v3.1 firmware decoder. It is of similar vintage to the DH155 Wangrow decoder.

16 Feb 10

This one ran well and the club accepted it for certification. They will handle upgrading the couplers. This is the oldest decoder of the bunch. It may need a better one but that will be determined later.

8 Jun 10

Minneapolis & St. Louis 246 took a drop in decoder. This was a DH165AO, a newer type than the DH163's that were used in a lot of other locos. I apparently got the decoder in backwards (I followed the one that was in there) as the lights were reversed and quite dim. I set the NDOT bit in CV29 to reverse and that got the headlights to match the throttle. Then I had to reverse the motor wires to get it to run in the right direction. The decoder supplies constant current for lighting and the default was 15 mA, appropriate for an LED. I had to cut a jumper on the decoder to get it to source 30 mA. The headlights are not overly bright, but they are visible. The loco runs very well.

Pennsylvania 1361

9 Feb 10

This Bachmann K4 Pacific reports and address of 2. Initially, it did not run, but it would sort of analog convert. However, it could not decide in which direction it should run. After thrashing on it a bit, it settled down a little on DC and started to run on DCC. Eventually, it started to run smoothly. However, the tender tends to derail on curves less than 18" radius.

10 Feb 10

The loco has an NCE D104 decoder wedged into the tender. It's address is set at 3 and 1361. I left it in 4 digit addressing with analog conversion enabled for testing. The tender shell can be removed via two screws underneath along the centerline. Be aware that it is not easy to get the shell back on until the decoder is settled into a position along a wall.

16 Feb 10

This one ran well and the club accepted it for certification. They will handle upgrading the couplers.

8 Jun 10

An 8 pin DH163 fit into the tender and the loco ran fine.

Nickel Plate Road 765

9 Feb 10

This Riverossi 2-8-4 neither runs or responds to the programming track.

10 Feb 10

This one had bad tender pickup too. It also is a plastic loco that uses the drivers and rear truck on the loco on the engineer's side and 4 of the 6 tender wheels on the fireman's side. The connection between the engine and tender is the drawbar. The big problem is that the drawbar pin on the tender was very loose and not making contact to the tender wiring. After that was fixed, it ran quite smoothly.

The decoder is inside the loco. It is an NCE D102EU. I had to tell DecoderPro what it was before I could program it. Along with the power pickup fixes, then DecoderPro could read the decoder. It is a 28 step decoder but it responds to 128 step commands. I set the addresses to 3 and 765 and left it in 4 digit addressing with analog conversion enabled.

This one will require testing on the layout to determine if it is reliable enough. It does not like my tight radius track and Atlas turnouts as it has no blind drivers.

The loco shell can be removed by removing a screw inside the smokestack and another large screw under the cab. Carefully pull out an end of two grab irons at the rear of the cab before removing the shell.

16 Feb 10

This one ran well and the club accepted it for certification. They will handle upgrading the couplers.

19 Apr 10

A club member had this one for replacement of the front coupler, but I found it with some other dead engines. The main drive gear has stripped or split or both. It no longer runs and is probably not worth repairing. I've moved it to the dead line.

21 May 10

Last week, we salvaged a crankpin from 765 to fix UP 841. I finally got information back from Hornby America concerning parts for Riverossi locos. The short answer is that there aren't any. Unless we can find another Riverossi junker to raid for parts, this one may be down for the count. I'm going to look at it to see if it uses the same motor brushes as UP 4005.

AT & SF 3460

9 Feb 10

This Riverossi streamlined 4-6-4 also does not run. It does not respond to the programming track either. The headlight is on. The rear coupler is broken.

This is a model of the only streamlined Hudson that ATSF owned, it was the first in it's class. This one was called the Blue Goose.

10 Feb 10

This loco's problem is that it was not picking up power reliably enough. This is a plastic loco, but it picks up the right rail on the engineer's side of the loco on 3 wheels (one blind) and on 4 wheels on the fireman's side of the tender. The tender axle wipers were essentially not working until I "adjusted" them. Then it responded to DecoderPro and ran. It has a Digitrax DH141 28 speed step decoder in it although it responds to 128 speed step commands. I set the addresses at 3 and 3460 and left it in 4 digit mode with analog conversion enabled. Now it runs fairly well, it'll need evaluation at LAMRS to see if the power pickup is reliable enough.

I have not been inside the loco. The tender shell comes off easily by unscrewing the drawbar pin.

16 Feb 10

This one exhibited marginal power pickup at the club. It is not expected to get better without a lot of work and the club elected to abandon it.

10 Apr 10

This one was sold to a club member at the swap meet today.

[ Top ]

Tidewater and Delta 21

9 Feb 10

I picked this one up at the club meeting tonight and gave it a spin. It's a loser on many fronts. This is a die cast loco and it is fairly heavy, but it has only two wheels on each side that pick up power, further, they are brass. The loco was so badly gummed up that it didn't run. Actually, it was a dead short.

After I disassembled it I found that every bearing and gear was totally dry and the drag of just driving it by hand was very high. After lubrication with the two trucks removed from the loco, I was able to run it on my bench and it sputtered to life. The current was still hovering close to 0.7 amps which isn't good. After reassembling it, I put it on the track and it was shorted again. It was spitting fire from several points. The worst of these is that the metal truck frames on the front truck (the one with the motor) was mounted on an insulated bolster, but the truck frames were dragging on the brass screws that hold the insulator to the frame. There were sparks coming from somewhere else as well. I just gave up. This one goes directly to the dead line.

[ Top ]

The club found three more DC locos to evaluate, all Kato. These run well and are worth converting. Unfortunately, two of them have the same road number.

Rio Grande 5100 #1

23 Feb 10

This one runs quite well with a medium noise level. It is in good condition except that both couplers have a large amount of vertical slop and need their mounting tightened up. The loco draws about 500 mA running light which is a little high but lubrication may bring that down.

24 Feb 10

This Kato loco has a similar structure inside, except the walkways are part of the frame and the shell lifts off. Some handrails need to be removed before pulling the shell.

This one has a single non directional headlight in the center and plastic light pipes to conduct the light to the headlights. There might be a drop in decoder board configured for this loco however, looking at the Digitrax and NCE websites, I don't see anything obvious.

After lubrication and run in on the bench, the current came down from 500 mA to about 270 mA with the headlight running.

Somebody had improperly mounted the couplers, installing the cover backwards on one end and leaving it out completely on the other. I corrected the coupler mounts and the slop went away.

3 Mar 10

This one got a "drop-in" TCS-A4X decoder. It as actually a "kludge in" as it didn't actually fit. The clear plastic light guides that lead to the original central headlight bulb interfered with the decoder. I had to adjust the position of both guides and grind down some of the front one to allow the shell to fit back on.

Rio Grande 5100 #2

23 Feb 10

This Kato high nose GP9 is identical to the previous one but it's shell is loose and may need some adjustments or repairs. The couplers are mounted better but the front one doesn't center properly. This one draws about 400 mA running light. It's noise level is similar to the other one.

24 Feb 10

I lubricated this loco and the current came down to 250 mA. This is the inside, like it's buddy above, there may be a decoder to fit but I didn't locate one immediately.

3 Mar 10

The second one of the same road number got the same treatment.

Santa Fe 2804

23 Feb 10

This is Kato GP35 that runs at lower current and more quietly that the two Rio Grande units. The front coupler needs to be shimmed upward a little and the front handrail fell off, but otherwise it is in good physical condition. It draws about 300 mA.

24 Feb 10

Somebody had installed Kadee #5 couplers incorrectly resulting in some slop at the front. Also the rear handrails are outright missing. I reattached some other loose handrails with CA and glued the shell to the walkways as the shell was a little loose. I also lubricated and tested the unit. The current came down to about 180 mA.

It is not designed to accept DCC but installation of a wired decoder will not be too difficult. The motor is a can motor with easily isolatable contact straps. The headlights are buried in the weight at the top, but they appear to connect to a small PWB with the direction setting diodes on it. There will be a way to isolate those also. There might be a substitution type decoder for this loco, some research is needed.

3 Mar 10

I didn't have any more drop in decoders and even if I used one, I'd loose the weight so I wired in a TCS T4X. I would have gone more smoothly if I had initially installed the decoder at the right end of the loco (rear) so I had to move it. The loco ran right off and is ready to go.

Last night at a run session, I picked up four locos, three that I had worked on before and a new one that I found in the club rolling stock cabinet.

Southern Pacific 3343 is suspected of just having wheels that are nearly worn out. It rumbles as it runs as it generates acoustic noise and transmits it into the layout. It also stutters on dirty track that most other locos don't have serious trouble dealing with. Baltimore & Ohio 2784 has a short inside the tender. Amtrak 809 just didn't run very well.

Then there was a nice looking Pacific in the cabinet that had not been converted to DCC and doesn't show up on the club inventory. I took it home for evaluation.

Grand Trunk Western 5629

11 Mar 10

This one was sitting in the cabinet. I assumed that it was certified and put it on the track. It buzzed as it was not converted to DCC. This was obvious because there is a harness out of the back of the engine with a 9 pin JST connector and a jumper plug. There is a pocket in the front of the tender that looks like it is intended to accept a decoder. The tender does not have power pickups.

Unfortunately, this one probably has a broken gear as it makes a pronounced clunk once per driver turn.

I just found out that this loco belongs to an inactive club member so it is going back to the club.

10 Apr 10

I met Jim Ryan, the owner of this loco, at the Open House today and we spoke some about his loco. He was unaware that it had failed. He gave the club authorization to fix it if we chose to. After playing with it a little more today, it clearly has a split and possible partially stripped axle drive gear. It makes one clunk per driver turn and when loaded it will slip at that point. I tried to get the loco apart to see what was wrong, but it didn't yield it's secrets. I'll work on it more later.

C&O 3044 was returned for running noise issues. Check the link for details, but we elected to scrap it. There was another return and six other "new" locos that I found in a cabinet.

BNSF 9290

23 Mar 10

BNSF 9290 is an SD70MAC that had been club certified and used in OP sessions, but it didn't speed match very well and it started to display problems.

Without taking it apart, I can tell that it has an older decoder, due to the decoder buzz. It also has some bearing problems as it howls some. I'll get inside it later.

24 Mar 10

I peeled this one open and found a neatly installed Wangrow decoder inside. This is why the speed matching was no good. Unless the Wangrow decoder is "status edited" on the Digitrax throttle to 28 speed steps, it runs in "direct drive" mode and ignores all speed tables.

There was a dry bearing, lubrication of the motor shafts and the worm shafts solved that problem.

This loco needs a better decoder but otherwise, it's good to go.

8 Jun 10

I installed a DH163 into this loco and it ran, but the lights don't work. The decoder works in my test fixture. I did a little testing and it appears that the bulbs are both bad. Also, the dry bearing started acting up again so I'll need to do some more lubrication.

9 Jun 10

I recall that there was one gear tower bearing that was not easy to get to (the very front on is encased by the weight) so it didn't get lubricated the last time. It was the one. I partially removed the weight and touched it with some oil and the bearing noise ceased.

Both headlight bulbs were burned out, I replaced them with club supplied incandescent bulbs. This one is now ready to go.

25 Jun 10

The bearing noise returned so I lubricated the high speed bearings and the noise went away... again.

Berlyn Inspection Car

24 Mar 10

This one is kind of unique. It's a brass and diecast inspection car with a trailer. It actually runs pretty well but with some noise. There is room underneath for a Z-scale decoder.

This car has only 4 brass wheels that pick up power but it seemed to do well on my Atlas insulated frog turnouts. This car is a novelty item that would only fit into the club's Period 1 and 2 operating plan if the dispatcher sent it out as an extra in a effort to "clog" up the works and add some operating "excitement." I personally really like these little self powered things.

I opened the inspection car up to provide access to more bearings and the motor so that I could lubricate it better. The thing is very simple and both motor leads are via wires so that a DCC installation would be a piece of cake, a four wire installation. The decoder would be taped underneath the frame.

Berlyn Hi-Rail Truck

24 Mar 10

The more modern Hi-Rail truck is a Period 4 version of the inspection car. Unfortunately, it does not run as well as the inspection car, it would stall on every insulated frog on my layout. The brass railroad wheels are used to support the truck and pick up power, but the unit is actually driven via the tires on the rear axle, just like a real Hi-Rail truck. It could also be used in a modern period OP session for a little variety. Mechanically, it seems fine and it is brand new.

However, when placed on the LAMRS layout against other truck models from the same period, it looks large, maybe as large as S scale. The club has tentatively elected to sell this one.

I opened the Hi-Rail truck too to see what it would take to install DCC and lubricate it better. This one too would be easy. A Z scale decoder would fit nicely under the "hood" and the wiring would be straightforward.

Alaska 3018

24 Mar 10

Alaska GP40 3018 is a new-in-the-box Bachmann DCC equipped loco. This means that the decoder is crummy and won't speed match worth beans. It made a lot of noise out of the box but after a lubrication, it quieted right down and runs quite well. The internals are essentially identical to a loco that Marvin has.

The decoder itself is built into the loco. Either a "drop in" designed for Bachmann locos would have to be installed, or the whole board ripped out and replaced with a wired decoder. There is no socket for a plug in decoder.

30 Mar 10

At the OPS session last Sunday, the club elected to sell this loco as it will take more work to get a decoder in it and the club already has several GP38's and GP40's in more appropriate road names.

10 Apr 10

This loco was sold to a club member at the swap meet today.

Union Pacific 6344

24 Mar 10

The Proto2000 SD60M came in a factory box with the shell detached. I just set it on the loco for this picture. It wouldn't fit all the way on without removing the couplers.

This one didn't run out of the box. A visual inspection revealed that the gray wire leading to the motor was floating in the breeze. I soldered it back to the motor tab and it ran, sort of. The thing was all gummed up from probably years of inactivity. It drew over 800 mA and ran slowly. I backed it down to a crawl and let it go for awhile. The speed picked up and the current started to drop. After 5 minutes of running in both directions at a variety of speeds, the current dropped to 300 mA and the maximum speed moved into the normal range.

The unit needs a decoder. There is a small PWB with the lighting circuits on it that will have to come out to make way for a decoder with an 8 pin plug. The headlights will also have to be changed out to 14 volt bulbs which we have.

9 Jun 10

I changed the 1.5 volt bulbs to 12 volt bulbs. There were three, I didn't install a new one for the front numberboards because I ran out of bulbs. The old lighting board got tossed so that I could flip over the socket and plug the DH163PS in. It was a little sluggish again, I lubed it and it did better. It still needs some break in before it gets speed matched.

Southern Pacific 8027

24 Mar 10

This Atlas B40-8 has an Atlas Dual Mode decoder in it and it ran fine right out of the box. All it needs is a decal to assign a road number.

2 Apr 10

I was told that the loco has been numbered 8027 as there actually was one with that number. It got certified and is in the cabinet.

Undecorated Atlas B40-8

24 Mar 10

This is another Atlas B40-8 but undecorated. The box is still sealed and I elected to not open it. It also has an Atlas Dual Mode decoder in it and it likely runs, but testing it would reduce it's resale value. Painting and assembling the loco would take a lot of work and we have several B40-8's already.

30 Mar 10

At the OPS session last Sunday, the club elected to sell this loco without removing it from it's packaging. See how hard it has been to get somebody to just letter a loco, getting it painted, assembled and lettered will not likely happen. The club will sell this MINT condition loco instead. We already have several B40-8 locos in club stock.

At the OPS session at the club today, I picked up three more locos. One had been converted but didn't run well, one that did not run and one new in the box with a set of 6 auto racks.

Union Pacific 9202

28 Mar 10

UP 9202 is a previously converted C40-9 club loco that was given to me because it did not run right. Something was very odd about this one. It ran, but slowly and it made almost no power. It would not slip it's drivers and sometimes would buzz but not even start until given a push. The lights did not work.

It had a Digitrax DN121 in it. I substituted a DH123 and it ran fine but only the rear headlight worked and in the wrong direction. I tested the DN121 and it seemed to respond so I simply reset it (CV8=8) to the factory settings and tried it again. Then the loco ran properly so that something was really messed up in the configuration of the decoder. I don't know what someone could do to a decoder to make it act this way, but it was way different that before. However the lights still didn't work. This is an indication that the decoder was plugged in backwards. I reversed it and the lights started to work, but the loco ran backwards. By playing with the motor leads, I got the motor to run in the same direction as the lights, but it was still backwards with respect to the throttle so I set bit 1 of CV29 (Normal Direction of Travel) to 1 (reversed) and then it ran in the direction indicated by the throttle AND the lights agreed. Something is very odd with Bachmann's wiring. However, it runs now. The DN121 is an older decoder, we'll have to see if it can be speed matched with 128 step commands.

6 Apr 10

Even though this loco runs well, the club has elected to sell it. We just have too many modern UP locos.

Rio Grande 5300

28 Mar 10

This Proto2000 SD7 has some serious wiring problems. It draws 2 to 3 amps on DC as it tries to run. The motor itself appears to be ok, run from a bench supply, it draws much less than an amp. The lights do not work, but the bulbs appear to be ok as they have a resistance of 45Ω. I'm going to have to work on this one some more, the source of the near short is not obvious.

After a little more looking around, it was obvious that the short was due to the funny lighting circuits that were there to deal with the 1.5 volt bulbs. I had no need for this stuff so I simply ripped all the unnecessary parts off the board and installed club supplied 14 volt GOW bulbs and a couple of wire jumpers to get the blue wire to the right place. I plugged in a personally owned test DH123 and the loco ran and the lights work. The harness for this decoder isn't quite long enough to allow it to reach into the cab area where an HO decoder will fit but it was sufficient to test the loco. This one will need a 9 pin JST decoder with a medium length 8 pin plug.

There are a few detail parts left in the box to attach, but this loco is about ready to go. It moves out of triage and into the club disposition bin.

2 Apr 10

There is only one visor in the box so I didn't attach it. The orange steps simply snap on, held in place by the air hoses. It is much easier to remove these pieces to lift the shell that the more typical method of removing the couplers. The shell snaps on anyway.

I tested the loco enough to know that it was going to work so I removed my decoder and converted it back to DC. It is awaiting disposition by LAMRS.

9 Jun 10

Rio Grande 5300 presented no difficulties, A DH163P went in easily and it worked fine.

BNSF 8213

28 Mar 10

Jim had a club owned Athearn Genesis set of an SD75MAC and six auto racks still in shrink wrap. I did not evaluate the racks, but the loco runs fine. It draws about 300 mA running light and 400 mA slipping. It is quiet and smooth. The couplers are plastic.

It is set up for a drop in decoder, this would probably be the easiest way to deal with it.

8 Jun 10

Even though my notes here indicated that it needed a drop in decoder, I bought an 8 pin decoder for it. This one will have to wait for another decoder order to get an DH165AO or something similar.

17 Jul 10

A drop in decoder was ordered and has arrived, but I didn't pick this loco up the last time I was at the club. It seems to be hard to get the loco and the decoder in the same place at the same time.

20 Jul 10

I picked this one up at the club tonight and installed the decoder. I really don't like the drop in style decoders. Those little plastic caps are a pain in the backside and these didn't fit on the Digitrax decoder so I soldered the wires.

Note that the lamps are 1.5 V 15 mA bulbs, two in parallel in the rear, FOUR in parallel at the front. Two of them are ditch lights. Since the DH165AO is a constant current decoder for F0F and F0R, I cut the jumper to make it provide 30 mA and the lamps worked. However, I did not rewire the ditch lights, I just insulated the wires. I could have soldered them to decoder functions, but the members probably would not know that they were there anyway and if they are connected to available function pads on the decoder, they WILL NEED series dropping resistors of 1000 ohms each.

Then I discovered that the lights don't match the direction of operation and the rear lights stopped working completely. I have to figure this one out later.

21 Jul 10

It appears that the "30 ma" setting on the DH165AO is somewhat more than 30 mA as it didn't take long to burn out both sets of 1.5 volt bulbs. It would appear the the optimal current for the bulbs is 14 mA each at 1.5 volts based on bench tests. They were brighter in the loco. When one bulb blew, then the decoder shoved the whole 30+ mA into the other bulb and it died in short order. I replaced both bulb sets with 14 volt 30 mA bulbs that are about right for intensity and won't burn out. I also flipped over the decoder so that the right end was to the rear so that the headlights went in the right direction.

I just do not know where all these things are coming from. At the meeting tonight, 6.5 more locos showed up in my bin for triage. Several of them were already destined for sale before I touched them, but I wanted to know if they ran so maybe we could sell them for a little more if they did. The half a loco was the shell of an SD40 and a box of hulks. I am going to try to reassemble that one from parts due to the custom paint job on the shell.

Baltimore and Ohio 0-4-0T

6 Apr 10

While we were cleaning up for the upcoming open house, I found yet more locos. This one does not run, the motor buzzes badly on the MRC9300 power pack and the gear train is loose. It is an obvious scrap case.

Pennsylvania 99

6 Apr 10

Pennsy 99 runs pretty well for it's limited wheel count on the track. However, it is going to be sold.

Pennsylvania L1s

6 Apr 10

This obviously Pennsy loco is an L1s class 2-8-2. It is a heavy diecast model and actually runs fairly well, but the club is going to sell it anyway. It draws about a half an amp and makes moderate noise.

SP Brass 4-4-0

6 Apr 10

The box says that this is an SP loco from Continental Models. The price tag is $24.95 for a brass loco. This one is clearly pretty old. It wasn't assembled all that well either as the assembler obviously left flux on some of the solder joints. It runs but the one of the motor bearings is dry and it makes a pretty terrible screeching sound. It will be sold.

10 Apr 10

This loco was sold to a club member at the swap meet today.

Great Lakes & Western 2521

6 Apr 10

The Great Lakes and Western is the namesake road for the LAMRS. This is one of three locos painted in this scheme. This is a GP40 that has been remotored, it used to be an Athearn loco. It actually runs quite well and should be converted to DCC.

14 Jul 10

The club ordered a good decoder for this one, but it hasn't arrived so I did part of the wiring and installed a test decoder. It runs well but still needs lights and the final decoder installed.

I had to remount the motor as the remotoring job that somebody did in the past was falling apart. I attached the loose saddle to the frame with gap filling CA and the foam tape that held the motor to the saddle was replaced.

17 Jul 10

I bought some 14 volt 30 mA bulbs for the three GL&W locos, this one took 3 bulbs, 2 in the front and one in the rear. A DH163 replaced the DH121 test decoder without difficulty.

Great Lakes & Western 3612

6 Apr 10

This SD45 is yet another GL&W loco. It has also been remotored and it runs fairly well for it's age. It should be converted to DCC. The couplers are not well mounted and will need some work.

30 Apr 10

I brought this one home to test again because Matt identified as one that used to wobble a little. It does wobble a little bit but not a lot. The problem is that the trucks rest against the frame on a small circular protrusion around the king post. This washer like surface is pretty narrow. It could be ground flat to widen the support base, but it wouldn't help much as the metal strip on the top of the truck that the surface bears against isn't much wider. Changing the geometry would also cause the truck to degrade it's rough track tracking capability. I elected to leave it alone and just put up with the minor wobble.

14 Jul 10

I wired a test decoder, a DH121, into this one. It works but still needs the final decoder and lights.

17 Jul 10

I bought some 14 volt 30 mA bulbs for the three GL&W locos, this one took 3 bulbs, 2 in the front and one in the rear. A DH163 replaced the DH121 test decoder without difficulty.

Great Lakes & Western 3041

6 Apr 10

This custom patined GL&W SD40 shell and frame has no trucks and probably no motor. However, I have a box of basket case locos and I am going to try to assemble what is missing from parts. The trucks won't be right, but sometimes loco trucks got swapped with parts from wrecks. This one may take a while to complete.

7 Apr 10

I found that the Atlas type frame had been remotored with Athearn type ball joints in the flywheel. The motor was good but the trucks and drivelines were missing. I found another identical Atlas frame that had flexicoil Athearn trucks on it. This was obvious, use the Athearn trucks. However, I didn't have enough driveline parts among all the hulks to make things reach. Apparently the motor was installed off center so that the driveline was compressed on one side and expanded on the other. So I glued the slip joint drive shaft in one of the ball joints so that it would reliably reach to the other end.

One truck was missing three wheelsets so I took the last three that were still left on the hulks (after I had raided them to fix other locos). All three were cracked. Further, the ones on the other truck were cracked too. I installed them anyway.

The initial track test was a short. The cracked gears were not holding the wheels in gauge and several were badly undergauge such that the half axles intermittently touched inside the cracked gears. I reset the gauge (it is not stable but it was a test) and the shorts went away. However, the loco clunks like crazy and sometimes jams. I will need 6 good wheelsets. I'll either raid them from one of the locos destined for sale or maybe we can get new ones from Athearn.

24 Apr 10

I got some replacement gears for GL&W 3041 (Athearn #60024, $4.98 for a package of 6) and replaced them all. All the clunking went away and now the loco runs well.

14 Jul 10

I wired a test decoder, a DH121, into this one. It works but still needs the final decoder and lights.

17 Jul 10

I bought some 14 volt 30 mA bulbs for the three GL&W locos, this one took 2 bulbs. A DH163 replaced the DH121 test decoder without difficulty.

GL&W 3041 also had no couplers. It took a standard Kadee #5 on the rear and a long shank version on the front. Fortunately, the last two club supplied couplers that I had fit this loco.

While we were sorting things out for the Open House and swap meet tomorrow, I found four more locos in older sell boxes. These are all clearly from train sets and none is worth the powder it would take to blow it up. They go in the sell bin, but it might be really hard to sell them.

Chattanooga 5623

9 Apr 10

This Tyco loco is a road switcher of some kind but it doesn't look like any real loco. It's close to a GP7 but a lot of detail is wrong. Further, it runs for crap. It is 4 wheel drive, picks up power on only 4 wheels and it makes a lot of noise.

Centennial F7 1776

9 Apr 10

This Life-Like F7 is also only 4 wheel drive and it is very noisy.

Chattanooga 638

9 Apr 10

This ALM 2-8-0 does not run. The motor is in the tender, the loco freewheels. It has oddly arranged drive wheels. The center two axles are driven (but they don't work) and the end two axles are arranged like pony trucks.

Chicago & Eastern Illinois

9 Apr 10

This Tyco BL2 is also 4 wheel drive and pretty noisy.

This one was identified to me this morning at the Open House as a loco that ran poorly. Nobody had bothered to bad order it so it was just sitting out on the layout. I brought it home to see what was up with this previously certified loco.

Union Pacific 1328

10 Apr 10

This FM H-15-44 had been previously certified by the club. It didn't take long to determine at least one problem. It ran like crap. Power pickup at low speed was very poor although it smoothed out at higher speeds. The wheels were dirty and needed an alcohol wipe AND an light abrasive clean. That improved the situation but did not fix it. I flipped it over and determined that the front truck (the long hood is the front on these locos) had intermittent power pickup on both wheelsets. This probably means a connectivity issue in the truck or loco wiring. I need to peel it apart to take a look around but it didn't yield easily. I'll get back to it later.

11 Apr 10

I had a little more time to work on this one and I finally managed to get the shell off. Inside I found a cleanly installed drop in sound decoder. Most of the wiring was soldered to the drop in board and I found no flakey connections. The decoder identifies itself as a Soundtraxx Throttle-Up, one of three model numbers which all seem to have the same set of CV's. The prime mover sound is weak on this decoder and I could not make it any louder than it was.

After yet another wheel cleaning and a light application of AeroCar conductive oil to the wheel journals and an extended run in, it seemed to improve and much of the flakey power pickup went away. Early Soundtraxx decoders, and this is one of them, did not have particularly good resistance to intermittent power pickup. The loco has, based on headlight flickering, about average power pickup for a B-B loco. The decoder is sensitive to this so the tendency to act flakey on dirty track and wheels probably cannot be improved without a decoder upgrade.

This one is already certified so it will go back to the club for testing there in actual operations.

Since last week, the club found even more locos, two Kato SD45's, one undecorated B40-8W, an SD50 and NINE VO 1000's. Except for the paint, the Kato's are identical. The nine VO 1000's are also identical except for the paint.

ATSF 5592

21 Apr 10

Kato SD45 ATSF 5592 is like new in the box. Somebody has assembled it well and it runs well on DC. The instructions indicate that it takes a 8 pin decoder.

17 Jul 10

A batch of decoders arrived today so ATSF 5596 got a DH163-PS. Kato provided a place to plug the decoder in but didn't provide a place to put it. I had to hack off a part of the weight attached to the shell to make room for the decoder.

The stock Kato couplers were plastic. ATSF 5596 got Kadee #5 couplers. They fit in the existing boxes.

ATSF 5596

21 Apr 10

Kato SD45 ATSF 5596 is like new in the box. Somebody has assembled it well and it runs well on DC. The instructions indicate that it takes a 8 pin decoder.

17 Jul 10

A batch of decoders arrived today so ATSF 5596 got a DH163-PS. Kato provided a place to plug the decoder in but didn't provide a place to put it. I had to hack off a part of the weight attached to the shell to make room for the decoder.

The stock Kato couplers were plastic. ATSF 5596 got the last set of whisker Kadee couplers that I had. They fit in the existing boxes.

Undecorated B40-8W

21 Apr 10

This Atlas B40-8W (I think) is not quite in new condition. It is missing it's turbo stack and maybe some detail parts. It runs well on DC but unless we can find somebody to paint it, it won't do the club much good.

14 Jul 10

Conrail 6818

21 Apr 10

Conrail 6818 is a Life-Like SD50. This is an older weathered loco with an open frame motor, but it seems to run well enough. It would take a 9 pin JST decoder.

13 Jul 10

The club voted to keep this one so I used the last DH163 in it. However, the motor won't run on the decoder. The lights work. The decoder tests good so there is some weirdness in the wiring.

14 Jul 10

The problem was pretty simple, my DCC system was in a standby state with the indicator on the DT400 flashing. By the time that I noticed that, I had pulled the DH163 to go into UP 841 and put a DH121 test decoder. Restoring full track power allowed the loco to run. When the new decoders arrive, I'll swap out the test decoder for another DH163.

17 Jul 10

The decoders arrived so the DH121 got swapped for a DH163. The loco also got a new front coupler as it did not have one.

The next nine locos are all virtually identical except for the paint.

Frisco 224

21 Apr 10

This Steward VO 1000 switcher is in like new condition except that it is missing it's couplers and handrails. It runs well and sips current. It takes an 8 pin decoder.

Frisco 213

21 Apr 10

This Steward VO 1000 switcher is in like new condition except that it is missing it's couplers and handrails. It runs well and sips current. It takes an 8 pin decoder.

Seaboard 1402

21 Apr 10

This Steward VO 1000 switcher is in like new condition except that it is missing it's couplers and handrails. It runs well and sips current. It takes an 8 pin decoder.

Seaboard 1416

21 Apr 10

This Steward VO 1000 switcher is in like new condition except that it is missing it's couplers and handrails. It runs well and sips current. It takes an 8 pin decoder.

Seaboard No Road Number

21 Apr 10

This Steward VO 1000 switcher is in like new condition except that it is missing it's couplers and handrails. It runs well and sips current. It takes an 8 pin decoder.

Northern Pacific 415

This Steward VO 1000 switcher is in like new condition except that it is missing it's couplers and handrails. It runs well and sips current. It takes an 8 pin decoder.

21 Apr 10

Northern Pacific No Road Number

21 Apr 10

This Steward VO 1000 switcher is in like new condition except that it is missing it's couplers and handrails. It runs well and sips current. It takes an 8 pin decoder.

Burlington 9365

21 Apr 10

This Steward VO 1000 switcher is in like new condition except that it is missing it's couplers and handrails. It runs well and sips current. It takes an 8 pin decoder.

Burlington No Road Number

21 Apr 10

This Steward VO 1000 switcher is in like new condition except that it is missing it's couplers and handrails. It runs well and sips current. It takes an 8 pin decoder. The hood on this one is loose and snaps off easily.

These three locos have been sitting on the layout for since the dawn of time. At least two of them were there in the mid 90's when I visited the layout. They were parked on ready tracks next to the Ford roundhouse as props. Nobody seemed to know much about them except that they were dead. One of the club members got so tired of seeing them there that he moved them off the layout. I picked them up to see what was actually wrong with them.

Great Lakes & Western 205

12 May 10

I'm not sure where this one came from as it wasn't in the Ford engine yard. It has a yellow sticker on the bottom with the number 31. It belongs to an inactive member, Gordon Jean.

This is apparently a model of a USRA heavy Mountain type in the style of the C&O. The compressors on the front, the low mounted headlight and the 6 axle Vanderbilt tender are the main spotting features.

This Mehano 4-8-2 ran when I put it on the track. The only thing that I could see that was wrong is that a wire was broken on the connector that leads to the tender. That got fixed. The rear coupler knuckle spring was also replaced. It seems to run ok but it needs more testing on the club layout as it will not stay on the track on my tight radius test layout.

I installed a personal DH123 test decoder in the loco and it runs. This particular DH123 has a blown out F0F function, the white wire. I wired the headlight to the yellow wire (F0R) and remapped the headlight to the yellow wire so that it work properly. Next week, I'll take it back to the club layout and let it stretch it's legs.

The DH123 barely fits, actually it doesn't fit and the shell doesn't close completely without some distortion. The blue and white headlight wires should be rerouted too as they are actually visible under the boiler. However, the current configuration will be good enough for testing. If it accepted for a decoder upgrade, an N scale decoder would be a much better fit.

15 May 10

I was testing GL&W 205 again today and found a problem. The loco would just stop dead sometimes when a crosshead was on the backstroke. The crosshead was hanging up on a bracket above it. The crosshead guides themselves were a little sloppy and could move up and down. When they moved up, the crosshead could hang up. A little drop of CA on the guide where it exited the cylinder assembly holds it in place prevents this slop. This has seemed to fix this issue, but some serious testing on the LAMRS layout is required to see if anything else is causing problems. This loco got sidetracked for a reason many moons ago and I haven't found anything serious enough (except maybe this crosshead issue) that would have caused somebody to abandon such a nice looking loco.

I checked the tender wheels for power pickup, two wheels on each truck are used for pickup. That was working but when I took a good look at the front truck, the rear axle was misaligned. The truck frame was melted on one side and the axle was pushed forward on one side. This was probably the result of some high current derailment in the past that heated the wheelset enough to cause it to move about 50 mils or so. The resulting misalignment must have been bad for tracking so I ground off the plastic that was in the wrong place and then glued in another piece of 0.030" x 0.125" styrene on the inside of the truck and then filed in a new axle slot in the right place.

I took the tender shell off to inspect for any other possible high current induced damage and I found it. The wire leading from the connector to the front truck had the insulation melted right off of it. The wire got replaced. The wire leading to the loco however, was not damaged, it is a little heavier gauge so it apparently didn't heat as much. When I had the loco apart to install the DCC decoder, I also saw no sign of over heating of any of the loco's internal wiring.

Once the crosshead issue on the loco was fixed, I tried more test runs on my tight radius track (18" with one spot that is a little less) and it derailed badly. The problem was interference between the pilot truck and the front coupler mount. After grinding off some useless tabs on the top of the pilot truck, it got better, but the inside wheel would lift badly on every turn. I ground as much off the Kadee box that I could but it wasn't enough. I remounted the coupler box forward and used a short shank whisker Kadee so that I could grind more off the box behind the mounting screw. This helped but it wasn't enough. I remounted the box as far forward as it could go and, along with yet more grinding on the rear of the coupler box, it FINALLY worked and the pilot truck would stay on the track even in the very tight section.

The loco actually runs very well and very quietly. I can hardly hear it move. The tender makes more rolling noise than the loco.

19 May 10

GL&W 205 was tested at LAMRS and ran very well. I brought it home to remove my test decoder so I could re-use the decoder in my large scale handcar. It is awaiting disposition from LAMRS before anything else happens to it.

26 May 10

I finally peeled 205 open and removed my DH123. I tried to install a club DH121 into the same spot, but the DH121 is thicker and would not fit so I left the loco without a decoder until it gets dispostioned by the club. This one should get an N scale decoder.

17 Jul 10

A DN163 was ordered for this loco with the last batch of decoders, but it got back ordered. GL&W 205 will have to wait until it's decoder arrives.

19 Jul 10

The backordered decoder arrived today and was promptly installed in the loco. Apart from some minor wire routing necessary to keep the wires from rubbing on the flywheel, it went in fine.

20 Jul 10

While I was testing this loco at the club, it developed a problem running in reverse. I brought it home again and found that there was a wiring interference with the flywheel. I fixed that and it is ready to go... again.

Union Pacific 4005

12 May 10

This Riverossi Big Boy was in poor shape. It tried to sputter but it essentially did not run. A rear driver on the front engine had not been reassembled properly and the drive rod fell off. I recovered the screw and washer and got the wheels back in line and reinstalled the connecting rod. Then it sort of ran.

The motor is hanging right out of the cab so I clip leaded to the contacts and and ran it on it's back while on the bench. The commutator on this motor is an odd flat design and it wasn't working. Some conductive oil and a little persuasion got the motor to turn hesitantly. After some run in, the current dropped from nearly an amp to 350 mA and it ran fairly smoothly. However it was pulling some pretty serious commutation spikes.

The power pickup is very flakey. It won't run very well on the track but I haven't cleaned anything yet. This one is going to take quite a bit more work to even determine if it can be saved.

After more careful inspection of the loco, I find that with 16 drivers on the rails, it only uses 4 of them to pick up power, two on each engine. Two wheels on the pilot truck are hooked to one side and two of the wheels on the trailing truck hook to the other. Once I got those wheels cleaned and actually connected to the loco, it ran better.

Both of the motor brushes continue to spark when it is running indicating that there are commutation issues. The pickup problems can be improved, but the commutation issues will continue to cause trouble.

The loco does track well enough, it handles my 18" radius track without difficulty although it is taller than anything that I have run before because it hangs up in one particularly low tunnel.

13 May 10

The loco still has spotty performance after it has been sitting for awhile. Messing with the brushes seems to make it perk up. The brush on the engineer's side looks pretty normal but it is somewhat depressed in it's holder indicating that it is worn. This is the one that used to spark until I pressed on it, then it stopped. The one on the fireman's side is in much worse condition. This one now sparks worse that it did when I first noticed it and it doesn't respond to pressure like the other one. The visible end of the brush also appears much different. It looks like there is a fuzz button on the end. It is also pretty deep in it's holder so I suspect that it is fully worn and no longer is subject to spring pressure. If I use a small screwdriver to twist the brush while the motor is running, the arc pattern changes significantly also indicating that the brush is toast. If I can find parts, the brushes could be replaced, but it is probable that the commutator is also worn and pitted from high miles and lots of arcing. If the club elects to recover this loco, a new motor might not be a bad plan.

I did clear the obstruction inside my tunnel so that I could run the loco continuously, but after a few laps it started to misbehave with obvious brush problems and more serious arcing. I don't think that I'll run the loco anymore until at least the one brush is replaced.

The brush holder is about 105 mils in diameter. I don't have any brushes left at all. If we can find on that is close to fitting, it could probably be "adjusted" to fit and we could give the loco a good test. Since one brush is behaving, maybe the commutator surface is ok and all it really needs is another brush.

The rest of it seems to be doing ok except that the headlight did not work. The problem with the headlight was that it wasn't connected as the screw that held the contact strap in place was gone. The screw also held the equipment assembly in place on the pilot and it tended to fall off. When the contact strap was secured with a new screw, it shorted the loco. This is probably why the screw was missing. It took a fiber washer under the contact strap to prevent the screw pressure from shorting it to the frame. The headlight now works but it is very dim, nearly useless. If the loco is recovered, the headlight can be converted to an LED fairly easily.

The tender on the Big Boy (and on UP 841 below) are identical except for the road numbers painted on the rear. They are a centipede arrangement with the last axle allowed to pivot. The tenders do not pick up power, but this could be arranged with some difficulty if necessary.

The loco has no front coupler but there is a place to install one. The current pilot has a piece that rotates and exposes a dummy front coupler. There is a pin that holds that feature in place. It can be pushed out leaving room for a Kadee coupler box. The rear coupler needs work, somebody hacked one on but the mount is not acceptable.

Union Pacific 841

12 May 10

As can be seen in the photo of the Riverossi 4-8-4, it is missing a connecting rod screw. The motor tries to run but the mechanism is jammed by the rod on the other side. I need to find a screw just to get the thing mechanically back together to see what other problems it has.

I took the rear connecting rods off and moved one of the crankpin screws to the 3rd driver. The 3rd axle is the geared one, the rear one now freewheels. Now the loco runs pretty well. I think that all this one needs is a crankpin screw and washer. I may be able to get one of those from Nickel Plate 765 which has a stripped or split main drive gear.

13 May 10

I checked 841 on the bench for motor current specifically looking for commutation issues, none found. However, I did find a systematic bind in the engineer's side valve gear. This had apparently been there for awhile as a pocket intended to hold the valve rod in position was worn out and allowed valve gear to hang up and bind. A little CA on the reversing rod, which is not designed to move anyway, now holds the valve gear deeply enough into the slot so that it doesn't bind anymore.

This loco picks up power on 6 of the 8 drivers with the contacts omitted on the two with traction tires. Two pilot wheels also contact one rail while the two wheels on the other side of the trailing truck also contribute. However, the lead driver set appears to be installed backwards, the contact plunger is on the side with the traction tire. This will be easy to fix.

Riverossi also uses springs on some pilot and trailing trucks to provide downward pressure on the truck. The trailing truck was set up that way and the spring was still there but not connected. The tab that it is supposed to fit over was bent over at an odd angle and holding the spring in place, but in an orientation where the spring could not reach the other tab. I bent the out of place tab and reconnected the spring.

The tender is identical to the one on the Big Boy except that nobody has tried to mount a rear coupler.

The loco has the same hidden dummy coupler as the Big Boy, it'll take the same modifications to install an operating coupler. There is no rear coupler either. A coupler mount will have to fabricated, not a difficult job.

18 May 10

I took 841 back to the club tonight and Lloyd took a crankpin from 765 and reassembled 841. I brought it home to test and it initially ran, then the drive train froze up. I got it to run again, but running in reverse it tends to freeze and running forward it make a dry bearing noise. This one will take more work. The connecting rods are all free, they are not part of the problem. The problem is somewhere from the geared driver back to the motor.

19 May 10

I had a chance to take 841 apart this afternoon and I found two problems. First, the crankpins had been installed in the wrong places, the one with the shorter shoulder was on the driver with two rods and the one with the longer shoulder was on the last driver with one rod. I swapped them and then the mechanism partly freed up. The other problem was the at the stuff that used to be grease on the worm had hardened to a solid glob. I picked as much out as I could and then diluted the rest with some light oil. Then the thing ran properly and very quietly.

There is room in the front of the boiler for an HO sized decoder. The headlight doesn't work but it will have to be replaced anyway because it is firmly attached to the frame.

Since it was running well, I installed at test decoder, a DH121, in the smokebox. It runs under DCC. The test decoder can be easily pulled out of the smokebox from the front and swapped with another 9 pin JST version. I installed a club supplied 14 volt incandescent lamp in place of the non-functional bulb that was there.

A Kadee #5 mounted on the tender with little difficulty. I removed the odd Riverossi mount entirely and glued a piece of 0.040" x 0.250" styrene to the mounting bosses and drilled and tapped a #2-56 mounting hole. This placed the coupler at exactly the right hight.

25 May 10

I test ran 841 around with a track cleaning train. The traction wasn't outstanding, it needs more weight. The tender is also light and needs weight. However, other than some slipping and some wobbling of the tender, it ran fine. I picked up some stick on weights and I'll add them to the loco and tender when I get a chance.

29 May 10

The 1/2 oz weights that I got at the club were too big to fit inside the loco so I used 4 1/4 oz weights from my own stock. This is about all that would easily fit, we'll see if it is enough. The tender is a little odd. The shell is a completely enclosed molding. The end caps can be pried off. I put 3 1/2 oz club supplied weights inside the tender.

14 Jul 10

I pulled the test DH121 out from behind the smokebox door and put a DH163 in. It ran right away so I buttoned it up to return to the club.

Steve and Matt Menker donated three locos to the club, one got immediately put in the sell pile (train set loco not worth messing with) another, an HOn3 Goose got put away for the narrow gauge guys to look at and the last one I got.

ATSF 7809

18 May 10

Steve and Matt Menker donated this Mehano Mogul (2-6-0) to the club. Initially it ran poorly with very intermittent power pickup but the wheels were all very dirty and even a little corroded. I cleaned the drivers and tender wheels and then it rain smoothly drawing about 100 mA running light and 200 mA slipping. Matt commented that it was a weak puller so I latched onto a 4 car consist and dragged it up a 5% tightly curved grade. It slipped a little at the top which is pretty normal for a 6 coupled loco on this layout. My Bachmann 0-6-0 does almost exactly the same.

I popped off the boiler to look inside and there isn't any room for more weight and hardly any room for a decoder. A Z scale decoder would fit between the rear weight and the back of the motor.... maybe. The drive train was straight up Mehano. There is a little can motor that drives the center driver via a worm. The other drivers are coupled via the siderods.

The loco picks power on all 6 drivers, they work, and on 4 tender wheels so that the power pickup stability should be adequate. After the wheels were cleaned, I saw little headlight flickering.

There is a Kadee coupler on the rear and room to mount one on the pilot.

At the club work night on 22 Jun 10, we got a group together to disposition the "last" batch of locos, most were selected to keep, only one that I had worked on was designated to sell. There were several items that I had not worked on that were designated to sell. These three however, I elected to take home to evaluate as I had not seem then before.

I also took home a previously certified loco that had mechanical issues.

Great Northern 1257

22 Jun 10

The club didn't show a lot of interest in this loco and voted to sell it. However, it looked interesting to me so I elected to run it through my triage process to see what it was.

It seemed to run pretty well on in a short test, but as I ran it around my layout, I found that it tended to derail on most turnouts. The wheels were in gauge and all rested in the track properly but the thing just walked over many frogs.

Since the club didn't show interest and it has problems, it is probably a sell item. Except for the tendency to derail where other locos do fine, it is a good loco. It might run better on somebody else's layout.

26 Jun 10

I messed with this one some more and I managed to improve it's performance. First, the pony truck was having problems. I removed the truck and converted the loco into an 0-8-0. Most of the derailment problems vanished. Then I had a vertical gradient leaving a turnout, that was it's worst spot. This hadn't bothered other locos, but I fixed the gradient to spread it out over a longer section of track and the tracking improved, still without the pony truck. The pony truck itself had two problems. It was not mounted properly so that there was no spring tension holding the truck down. Then the fingers that held the axle were bent and the axle could slop quite a bit. After adjustments to the truck to mount the axle more firmly and to mount the truck properly to the loco so that the spring worked, THEN the thing started to behave.

The club didn't know this when they voted to sell the loco, but they didn't know anything about it either so I assume that it will still be a sell.

36 Ton 2 Truck Shay #11

22 Jun 10

This standard gauge two truck brass Shay appears to be in the 36 ton range. Initially, it ran poorly, it locked right up. After freeing up the gearing on one of the trucks, I got it to run. It clearly needed lubrication so I lubed everything I could reach and then it started to run properly.

This thing is geared very low so that it runs slowly, as it should. The gear train is more complicated than I've ever seen on an HO loco. The motor is in the tender. It drives a worm when engages a gear on a vertical shaft. At the other end of the shaft is another worm which engages train of spur gears that eventually drives the engine shaft. Power is transmitted to the trucks via the square shafts and to gears on each axle. Electrical pickup up is on all 8 wheels.

This one runs well enough to consider converting to DCC. There is probably room in the tender to install a decoder.

25 Jun 10

I took a peek inside the Shay to see if I could fit in an HO decoder, no joy. The shell comes off the frame easily enough, one screw centered under the boiler and two under the tender, but the NWSL can motor in the tender consumes all of the good space. A Z scale decoder would fit behind the motor or up in the cab. The wiring will be easy enough, everything is properly isolated already so it would be an easy matter to reconnect the motor and lights to a decoder that runs from the wires that go to the motor now.

13 Jul 10

Since GL&W 56 died I removed the DZ123 and put it into Shay #11. All went well, it runs.

Narrow Gauge Goose

22 Jun 10

There were actually two "Geese" in the batch. One was a standard gauge goose painted for Great Northern. Since there weren't any standard gauge geese that looked like this one, much less on the Great Northern, that one got designated as a sell quite quickly.

However, this HOn3 undecorated Goose was another story. The LAMRS has an extensive amount of narrow gauge trackwork although I have never seen anything running on it. This Goose would fit right in. It appears to be in the configuration of Geese #2, #3 or #5 before they were converted to passenger traffic.

I got a piece of HOn3 track from the club to test it on and clip leaded the piece to my track. Initially, the thing was a dead short. However, it wasn't shorted if only one truck was on the track so I suspected that the rear truck had been rotated 180 degrees. I found that it was and when the truck was turned around, the Goose ran fine. It picks up power on all 8 wheels under the trailer so it should be reliable enough.

There is a standard 8 pin socket in the trailer but a Digitrax connector did not fit due to an interference with a choke mounted right next to it. I moved the choke. It runs fine from a DH121 with the short harness that was in a DH163PS package left over from a previous batch of installs. The DH163 will go into a wired loco with a 7" harness. Then the front headlight did not work. Actually, it was coming on but the bulbs were not visible. Still working on that.

25 Jun 10

The headlight was a poor design. The light pipe was not transmitting any light from the illuminating bulb. I drilled it out with a 0.040" drill and then I got a little light out, but not enough to actually see. I replaced the bulb with a 3 mm white LED with some appropriate resistor selections to prevent the remaining bulbs and LED from burning out and now it works. The DH121 test decoder works well enough in this application to leave it that way. I believe that this one is ready to certify for operation on the narrow gauge line.

Union Pacific 5080

25 Jun 10

UP 5080 is a club loco that had already been certified. It seemed to run ok so I lubricated it.

[ Top ]

24 Dec 09

The club has a bunch of old 28 speed step decoders that I found in a few locos and I got some "new" ones from the club. The one page data sheet for these decoders is pretty sparse. It says "System One" at the bottom of the page which means that it was supplied by Wangrow (out of business) and probably manufactured by NCE as Wangrow didn't make anything themselves and NCE made most of the stuff that they sold. The Wangrow "Basic" DH-155 decoder definition in DecoderPro seems to be able to handle these decoders.

I couldn't find anything currently on the net with a Google search so I scoured through the WayBack Machine to find wangrow.com. It was in the archive. I picked some dates around the year 2000 and dove through the archive of the SystemOne site. I found a SystemOne manual and on pages 2-43 and 2-44 I found a better data sheet for this decoder. It really does appear to be a DH155.

These aren't the greatest decoders, Stanley Ames (a DCC old-timer and on the committee that wrote the DCC specs for the NMRA) asked me how much I paid for these decoders. I told him that they were free to me. He said I paid too much.

I've gone through 8 of them so far:

• 4 of them are in locos and working
• 1 was in a loco and appeared to be dead but actually works
• 3 more are in bags and appeared to be dead but actually work

I had a lot of trouble figuring out how to make these work, primarily because I was working with ones that didn't appear to work due to programming track issues. When I stumbled across a "good" one, it at least responded on the DCS100 programming track as expected and even though it's not a great decoder, it did work.

This is a 28 step decoder so to make it work with momentum and a speed table with a Digitrax command station, the address needs to be "status edited" to tell the command station how to talk to it. It will also respond in 128 step mode but only in a "direct drive" mode. When commanded in 128 step mode any programmed acceleration, deceleration, Vstart, and the speed table will be ignored.

It should respond on a programming track in page mode without any fiddling with the command station. The 4 good ones do that, the other four do not. The "bad" ones all report 255, NoPg or some arbitrary value on the DCS100 programming track.

The decoder supports 5 functions, but they appear to be just on or off. Even the headlight is non-directional. They do support 4 digit addresses, analog conversion, and at least Vmin, when running at 28 steps. Vmid and Vmax are not supported. Speed matching requires the use of the 28 step speed table. The input current rating is 1.8 amps, 1.5 available for the motor, the balance to functions. I have not stressed them yet beyond about an amp. The motor driver uses a low frequency PWM scheme so that the motors hum some, especially at low speeds. They don't respect the NDOT bit in CV29 nor do have any attributes to any lighting function. They do have a 28 step speed table.

Neither the manufacturer's ID or a version are encoded into these decoders, they will return 0 in CV7 and CV8 so that you have to explicitly pick the type in DecoderPro to enter the Service or OPS mode programming functions. The do appear to respond to limited OPS mode programming.

I was using a locomotive as a "test fixture" but sometimes I had them all buttoned up and it was a pain to open one just to test a decoder. So I built this test fixture from a board removed from ATSF 2790. The "motor" is a 39 ohm resistor, I can observe the voltage on this resistor with an oscilloscope if necessary. The three LEDs represent the 3 functions wired to the 8 pin plug. This makes it easy to test an 8 pin decoder by connecting the red and black wires to a programming or running track with clip leads.

The four remaining decoders that I had (the club has more) characteristically respond to the request for the value of ANY CV with 255 (an illegal value in some CVs such as the 2 digit address) or with a NoPg indication on the throttle. This is on a Digitrax DSC100 programming track. One of them is sensitive to the programming track voltage. At higher programming voltages, it will respond with values, but never the same one twice in a row. A Digitrax DH123 plugged into the same fixture responds appropriately and it lights the lights appropriately when connected to a running track. The four remaining Wangrow decoders did not respond to the running track so I assumed that they were toast.

However, these four DO respond to the SPROG on it's programming track. The SPROG has more programming power so apparently these decoders are touchy but they do function when properly programmed in the proper way. The SPROG has enough soup to actually cause a loco to bump along as it draws current spikes to signal the command station. It also has enough soup to read a Tsunami. I did try one hard to program loco on the club's programming track and it did not respond to Service Mode programming.

At least one of the touchy ones (the one in the PB1) also responded to the programming track driven by a PR3 and JMRI on a Macintosh. It also bumped the loco along some, but not as forcefully as the SPROG. The PR3 would not read back a Tsunami so it appears that if a programming track can read a Tsunami, it can read these Wangrow decoders as well.

The decoders are wired a little funny too. There is no reversing headlight so that there is no F0(R) function, the yellow wire. Wired onto that pin is F1, the green wire. F2, the violet wire is connected to pin 3 which is optional. Many decoders come wired with only F0(F) and F0(R) connected to the plug with pin 3 unused. Some come wired with F1 (green) connected to pin 3.

In the NMRA design, if the plug is inserted backwards, the red/black pair are reversed, this ok for the track contacts as DCC doesn't care about track polarity unless the loco is analog converted. The orange/gray pair are also reversed, this makes the motor run backwards. However, when analog converted with both the motor and track reversed, the motor will run in the correct direction. With the standard NMRA wiring and the plug backwards, the blue wire would be connected to a socket that doesn't go anywhere and the the headlights would be reversed, but since there is no power for them they won't work anyway. No harm, no foul, reverse the plug and all gets well.

The problem is that, in one instance, I found an "NMRA" socket wired in a non-standard configuration that can be dangerous. Life-Like had jumpered pins 3 and 7. This was probably a feature in that it connects the blue wire to TWO pins. When there is no function connected to pin 3, the socket jumpers the blue wire (+ common) to pin 3 and the lights will work, but they will be reversed too but they will function. The problem is that if a decoder wires a function pin to pin 3 AND the plug is plugged in backwards, the connection will place + Common on that function. As soon as the function is turned on, it tries to short the + Common to ground and it will probably fail instantly.

I have started to check the continuity of all Life-Like sockets by measuring the resistance between diagonally opposite pairs in the center four pins. If I find continuity, something has to get fixed. Either the cross connection needs to be cut on the PWB or the wire to pin 3 should be clipped off the plug.

I also got some Digitrax decoders from the club, a DH140 went into the B&O RDC and a DN142 went into Amtrak 346. I put a DZ123 into GL&W 56. The club also has some small MRC decoders. I have not been overly happy with MRC decoders in large scale. We'll see how these work in HO.

30 Dec 09

I picked up some more decoders from the club stock, all old ones. There are:

• 3 more SystemOne DH155 decoders
  • 1 has an 8 pin plug, has been tested and works
  • 2 have no plugs, they will get tested later
• 2 MRC350 decoders with 8 pin plugs
  • These both work
  • There is no decoder definition for this one in DecoderPro and the ones that are there don't seem to work with this decoder.
• 1 MRC332 N scale decoder
  • it doesn't have a plug, will get tested later
  • There is no good DecoderPro decoder definition for this one

There are a total of seven locos left to convert. The GP35 will get the Wangrow SystemOne decoder that is in UP 1614b now. Then the two UP FA/FB units will probably get the MRC350 decoders as at least there are some attributes to the lighting and the FA could use something It'll be easier to speed match the pair if they use the same decoder. The MRC332 will go into the SW12 provided that the owner of the loco gives the club permission to modify the loco. The three remaining Wangrow decoders will go into the GP38s. Amtrak 227 needs a 1 amp or better N scale decoder and the club doesn't have one now.

20 Jan 10

I used one of the Wangrow decoders in SP 4823 and another died in that loco during testing. The one that was in BNSF 8630 was toast as delivered. It needs another kind of 8 pin decoder as even a "good" Wangrow decoder won't run in that loco.

26 Jan 10

I've consumed the three MRC decoders, one Wangrow System One decoder was used to replace one that failed. The other two have been tossed at the request of the club. Lloyd has ordered 10 TCS TX4 decoders. When these arrive the board will determine which locos that already have Wangrow decoders in them will get "upgraded" so I or somebody else will get those back for more work. It should be easy work. A few of the locos have the 8 pin socket so it will be a simple matter of unplugging an old decoder and plugging in a new one. The majority of the older locos were wired so then it will be a slightly more complex cut and splice operation matching wire colors EXCEPT that the Wangrow green wire will go to the TCS yellow wire.

3 Feb 10

The club has decided NOT to certify any locomotive with a Wangrow decoder in it. Instead, these locos will be tested uncertified to see if the loco is really useful. If so, then the Wangrow will be pulled and replaced with a better decoder. The Wangrow decoders are "odd" in that they are difficult to program on the club's programming track and the users must remember to status edit the loco's address to 28 speed steps or any speed matching that was done will not be enabled. These "features" will cause problems in the future. The decoders were donated to the club so that they have no value other than as test decoders. If a loco eats one, no great loss. That makes it clear that the club should not spend any more effort or money on that loco. If the loco doesn't perform well enough during testing to deserve a decoder upgrade, then the Wangrow decoder can be pulled and used for testing in other locos.

10 Feb 10

After testing every loco that had a Wangrow decoder in it at the club last night, a pattern emerged. Every one had intermittent motor operation. It appears that even slight power dropouts that will not bother other decoders cause the Wangrow to stop and they take some time for the motor driver to wake up. This can cause loco to sit on the track with the headlight burning (it comes back on immediately) but it takes a few hundred milliseconds or so for the motor to start running again. This makes the locos balky and some can appear to stall with the headlight burning or flickering. This behavior is the death knell for these decoders, it makes locos essentially unusable.

As a test, I did substitute a DH123 for the Wangrow decoder in SP 3343, the Trainmaster. All of that weird behavior went away. The LED headlights did flicker a little in spots, but the loco kept moving. The Wangrow decoders truly are junk and should be simply discarded.

18 Feb 10

The club supplied some more Digitrax decoders, these came from Lloyd's personal stock. There are 6 DH121 (all wired), a DZ143 (wired) and a couple of DZ120 wired decoders. The DZ143 is current production, the others are quite old. The old ones are 28 step, have low motor drive frequency and do not have BEMF. The DZ143 is a silent drive, 128 step BEMF decoder. As soon as I got them I proceeded to install them in locos that had Wangrow decoders so that we could actually properly test the locos at the club. The two older Z scale decoders will be held back for install in space constrained locos. The DZ143 went into Amtrak 227 which did not have a decoder installed already.

25 Feb 10

MRC Decoders. The three MRC decoders that I have used (one is actually in a certified loco, UP 1614b) have proven to be more trouble than they are worth. There is no DecoderPro decoder definition for these decoders even though they are actually current production units. This makes them not fit well into the club's decoder documentation scheme. Further, they have very limited speed matching capability. UP 1614b was speed matched, but with a value of 20 or so in CV5. This is crazy because reducing it any further causes the loco to simply not run. I was not able to get UP x1614 to speed match at all. By the time it almost got slow enough, it stopped entirely. I have pulled two of them. The one in BN 248 got replaced with a current production DZ143. The one in UP x1614 got replaced with a DH121 test decoder but it needs a 4 function decoder instead, such as a DH163. I propose also to replace the remaining MRC decoder in UP 1614b with a more modern decoder. A DH123 would probably work fine as we'd turn off the BEMF in the B unit anyway if the decoder had it. However, the three MRC decoders CAN be of service as temporary test decoders as they can allow testing on the LAMRS layout to verify the other performance characteristics of a newly converted loco. If the loco eats one, no big deal.

3 Mar 10

Last night I picked up 10 TCS T4X decoders and 3 TCS-A4X decoders. These are electrically pretty much the same decoder. The T4X is a 9 pin JST version. The A4X is an Atlas "drop in" decoder which fits some Kato and other locos as well. I don't much care for the drop in designs, they are quite a bit of work to install.

Overall, the TCS decoder is a good one. The BEMF works very well. Most locos crawl along at speed step 1 without having to mess with any programming at all. I had no difficulty at all with any of them. There are good DecoderPro decoder definitions for them and for what little programming I did, they responded as claimed.

10 Mar 10

SFX064D. The SFX064D is a sound/function decoder, it has no motor driver. This is a very basic sound decoder that comes with a selectable GP38 or generic steam sound program. I've used these before in large scale and they don't make enough volume for use outside, they are marginal inside. The new SFX0416D with more memory for a larger sound program makes even less volume, it is hardly suitable for HO. The older SFX064D decoders came with 32Ω 1" speakers. The newer ones come with 8Ω 1" speakers. To my ear, the one with the 32 ohm speaker is a little louder. These decoders DO NOT respond to a programming track without a load on a function output so that you cannot read their contents without a load. They will ACCEPT programming though on the programming track. This is done by design so that the decoder will not interfere with a motor decoder wired in parallel. Overall, I found it easier to use the dual address trick (see below) and program them in OPS mode.

The sound file is quite basic in 8 bit sound. The chuff cannot properly keep up with high chuff rates so it is best to run them below 4 chuffs/turn to keep the rate down. The chuff can be set with a cam or by DCC speed control which actually works fairly well. The whistle is a little hard to "play" but if you get the timing just right on the F2 button, it will play a short whistle sound. You actually have to hold the button down a little longer than you might expect to get it to play a short toot. Note that there is a "secret" CV to set the chuff rate that is not in the instruction booklet. See the SFX064D page on the Digitrax web site for the details.

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4 June 10

At the business meeting a few days ago, the club authorized the purchase of 11 decoders for the locos that were currently approved for a decoder upgrade. These are:

1. Rio Grande 5300, an SD7
2. BNSF 9290, an SD70MAC
3. Union Pacific 6344, an SD60M
4. BNSF 8213, an SD75M
5. Minneapolis & St. Louis 246, an RS1
6. Pennsylvania 1361, a K4 class Pacific
7. Baltimore & Ohio 2784, a Consolidation
8. SP 6018, an E8A
9. SP 6019, an E8B
10. Southern Pacific 3343, a TrainMaster
11. GN 3022, a GP40

I selected DH163 decoders in appropriate configurations for each loco as this particular type of decoder works extremely well with full function control and BEMF. The average cost was $25 each. The RS1 gets a DH165AO decoder as the DH163AO has been superseded.

For the last batch, we used TCS T4X decoders. These have proven to be entirely adequate where they were used. I selected the Digitrax version this time mainly based on cost issues and that the TCS decoder didn't come with a short harness at all. The Digitrax versions were overall slightly less expensive. On many of these locos, the short harness will fit better. One needs the 3" harness.

The 8 pin harness itself is a relatively expensive part of the decoder. It resulted in a $5 increase in cost over the 7" wired harness. This is because the 7" wired harness can be automatically assembled from a wire loom. The 1" and 3" versions add the $5 because they require hand soldering at the 8 pin connector.

Installation will be easy as each loco has a decoder in it already. For 10 of them, it will be an unplug/plugin job, either at an 8 pin medium NMRA connector or at the 9 pin JST connector at the decoder itself. The RS1 uses a drop in decoder so that will involve moving several wires from the board that is in the loco already to the decoder board.

To expedite finishing these locos I've used some of my own parts. The club has provided other parts, some of which I still have and will return to the club when this job is finished. I've only listed parts here which have a value more than pennies. Shrink tube, adhesive, resistors, bits of styrene, Kadee boxes and knuckle springs, wire and a few screws don't count.

Sometimes, it is advantageous to install dual decoders in a loco, usually one for the motor and one for sound. Dealing with dual decoders CAN be a hassle, but there are typically several ways to deal with it.

The problem is that when two decoders are both wired to the track, programming the individual decoders can be an issue. If both decoders happen to respond to the same CV, then trying to read the contents of that CV can be ambiguous because it is hard to tell which one, or both, is doing the talking. Sometimes it is necessary to program different values, such as addresses, into one decoder and not the other. This can be tricky.

There are several ways to deal with this issue.

1. Switches
2. Physical separation
3. Decoder locking
4. Consists
5. Address tricks

Switches. On large scale locos, there is often room to put two SPST switches in series of the track leads of each decoder. That way, one can easily be taken off line. This doesn't work so well on small scale locos.

Physical Separation. On steamers, it is sometimes possible to mount the motor decoder in the loco and a sound decoder in the tender. If BOTH units pick up power from both rails, this is an easy solution. Simply disconnect the units and place the one that you want to program on the programming track. This also works with a powered A unit and a dummy, sound equipped, B unit.

Decoder Locking. SOME decoders support a feature called Decoder Locking. This feature is controlled by the values in CV15 and CV16. BEFORE the decoders are installed, or when they are individually accessible, write a value into CV16. This is the "lock." The value of CV16 is usually between 0 and 7. CV15 is the "key." When the value stored in CV15 matches the value stored in CV16, the decoder is "unlocked" and programs normally. When CV15 and CV16 are NOT the same value, the decoder will not allow programming and will not respond on a programming track.

Normally, both values are zero and the decoder is unlocked. If the decoder supports locking, then to use it, program the lock first into CV16 and then program the key into CV15. JMRI supports this feature for newer Digitrax decoders in the "Digitrax" tab. Generally, the type of decoder is defined in CV16. A motor decoder is usually assigned a value of 1, a sound decoder a value of 2. The ONLY CV that will work when the decoder is locked is CV15 so that when you define a lock in CV16, you are still able to change the key in CV15 and neither will respond to any programming except another change to CV15. To lock BOTH decoders once they have had a lock set, program 0 into CV15. If both decoders are on the programming track at that time, both will lock. To program one of the decoders, write the "key" for that decoder into CV15. The decoder where the key doesn't match the lock will remain silent.

Consists. An easy way to deal with the problem is to simply consist a motor and sound decoder provided that they have been assigned different addresses. I usually make the sound decoder the "top" address so that the function buttons will drive the sounds without having to actually dial up and select the consisted address. This method works quite well and when it is time to do some programming, do it in OPS mode on the main which is directed to a particular decoder by it's address. This method is the most practical one where one of the decoders does not properly support 4 digit addressing. The Phoenix P5 "DCC" sound system in particular doesn't like 4 digit addresses so I use 2 digit addressing with the motor and sound decoder consisted in this case.

Advanced consisting is another way to program a motor and sound decoder to respond to the same address without having to set up a consist when the set is moved to another layout. However, advanced consisting is a pain AND the consist address MUST be in the range of 0 to 127. This is discouraged on the LAMRS layout due to the potential for address conflicts.

Address Tricks. Decoder locking is not supported by many decoders and BOTH must have it for decoder locking to work. This has been the case EVERY time I have installed dual decoders, one or both do not support decoder locking. So in some cases I use a consisted sound and motor decoder and other times I use an addressing trick which I think actually works better and is less confusing. If I want the combination to eventually have an address in the 2 digit range (1-127), I usually use a consisted address. If I want to use a 4 digit address for both, then I use this address trick.

If you normally use 4 digit addresses then you want to assign the motor and sound decoders DIFFERENT 2 digit addresses and the SAME 4 digit address. Set up CV29 to use 4 digit addresses (add 32 to the base value). The two digit addresses in the decoders will be ignored and the pair will use "basic" consisting (same address) on the 4 digit address so that the pair are easy to use and transport to other layouts without hassle. When you want to program the decoders, use OPS mode programming or service mode programming to set CV29 for two digit addressing (subtract 32). This then causes the motor and sound decoder to "split" apart and pick up their different 2 digit addresses. Then consist the two digit addresses so that the sound and motor work together again. Then use OPS mode on the main to make whatever changes that you want to either decoder by programming to that decoder's 2 digit address. When you want to rejoin the decoders to their common 4 digit address, either write the original value of CV29 back into both decoders individually in OPS mode or together on the programming track in Service mode. Using this address trick allows the decoders to normally operate together like a consist AND to retain that "consisted" operation when the loco is moved to another layout and to retain the ability to use a 4 digit address.

Note that this trick can also be used with a primary 2 digit address by just reversing the process. The 2 digit address becomes the "joined" address and separate 4 digit addresses are used for programming.

The club has a lot of older 28 step decoders in locos and they have been causing problems. Most older (year 2000 and older) decoders use 28 speed steps, although they will respond to 128 speed step commands. These decoders are Digitrax decoders in the "0" and "1" series, NCE decoders that are not silent running, MRC decoders and Bachmann EZ-Command decoders all have the same general issues.

The issue is that when commanded in 128 step mode, they will run, but much of their functionality is disabled. In 128 step mode, they run as "direct drive" decoders. They run 0 to max over the throttle range of 0 to 99. Any momentum, Vstart, Vmid, and Vmax settings along with any 28 step speed tables are simply ignored. To speed match them at all requires that the Digitrax throttle be "status edited" into 28 step mode.

To Status Edit an address on a Digitrax throttle, dial up the loco number as usual, but BEFORE pressing the Loco button the 2nd time, press Edit instead (lower panel, on the left). Then twist the right throttle knob through the seven possible settings and pick 14, 28 or 128 as appropriate. The others are for Marklin decoders and such. THEN press the loco button. That address will be recorded into the slot table with the notation that it is a 28 step decoder (or whatever was selected).

Status Editing impacts the address of that loco. Once the status is edited, it stays in the command station slot table until that entry is purged somehow. Status Editing impacts the way that the command station formats commands to the decoder. The decoder recognizes these formats and operates in the way that it was designed to operate. This can vary from decoder to decoder, but some general characteristics seem to exist across all the impacted decoder types.

The problem is that the Digitrax throttle has an encoder that has 100 settings, 0 through 99. Somehow, these have to be translated into 28 individual steps. NCE does it by making the speed display go from 0 to 28. Digitrax does it by making the throttle go from 0 to 99, generally with a 3% step per tick. Throttle settings of 3, 6 and 9 are typically ignored. The decoder won't make any power at all until the throttle reaches 12 or sometimes 15. Further, at a few speeds, the throttle will advance by 4% per tick so that the 28th speed step occurs at 99 on the throttle.

The is a problem when trying to speed match a loco with a 28 step decoder to one with a 128 step decoder. The club sets up the locos to just start to crawl at speed 1 on the throttle. This is done through the use of BEMF in the decoder or by setting Vstart and the Kick Start CV's such that the loco just starts to move on the first click. A 28 speed step decoder will usually not move until the throttle reads 12 no matter how Vstart is set. Vstart simply sets the motor voltage AT speed step 12. This means that a consist of locos with mixed decoders will simply drag the one(s) with 28 step decoders until a speed of 12 is dialed up.

SOME decoders, like the Bachmann ones, will act this way until some momentum is programmed. Even though they are 28 step decoders inside, they will interpret the lower speeds and start to move. However, Bachmann decoders don't have a Vmax or speed table so that it is not really practical to speed match them anyway.

There may be a programming trick around this problem, but I haven't found it.

Since I had gone through virtually all the locos that the club had not certified, I started on rolling stock. I picked up a box of bad order cars, some of these were REALLY bad order. It would appear that couplers especially live a hard life at the LAMRS.

Rolling Stock Status

Road Name	Road Number	Type	Photo	Bad Order Report	Status
Great Northern	2021	Wood side REA car		metal trucks	Metal trucks are normally not allowed at the LAMRS due to short circuit risks. This doesn't result in any damage, just a halt to operations in a part of the layout until a derailment is cleared. These are heavyweight style high speed sprung trucks. They could be replaced, but the car seems to track fine the way that it is.
TTGX	158221	Tri Level Auto Rack		Coupler mounts ride up	This car has body mounted couplers, but the mounts are allowed to pivot. The mount for one of them was broken, the other is a little sloppy and the cover has been glued on. I repaired on the broken coupler mount of this car by reattaching the pivot post with CA and drilling and tapping a new screw hole for a #2-56 screw. This car is good to go.
Union Pacific	36391	Three Bay Hopper		broken coupler	The coupler mount is molded into the car. However, one had broken off. I shaved off the molded mount and mounted a Kadee #5 box with a #2-56 screw in a newly tapped hole. This car is ready for recertification.
CSL	36532	Four Bay Hopper		Plastic wheels	Needs new wheels
MOW	None	Tool Car (track cleaner)		Derails	Wheel bearings are worn and sloppy, needs new trucks.
Southern Pacific	654809	Extended Height Double Plug Door Box Car		Broken coupler	The coupler mounts are molded into the frame. One is sloppy, the other broken. Then need the mounts cut off and new coupler boxes mounted to the body. The one broken mount got hacked off and a styrene pad was built up on the floor of the car. When the CA dried, a #2-56 mounting hole was drilled and tapped and a Kadee whisker coupler and box was attached with a single screw. The other end had a Bachmann coupler which was damaged anyway. However, the box looked like it could be saved. I mounted a Kadee whisker coupler in the box, but it was too high. I built up some styrene shims to press the box back down to the right height and attached the shims to the carbody so they won't come out. Now the coupler is at the right height. This car is good to go.
GL&W	29101	type		Broken truck and coupler	This car needs new wheels and the coupler box remounted.
Southern Pacific	510719	TOFC		Broken coupler, loose loads	The couplers need remounting and one of the loads needs to be glued back on.
TTX	471229	TOFC		Missing Trucks	The trucks are entirely missing, the couplers need work and the loads need to be remounted.
CSL	x106584	MOW Tool and Block Car		missing coupler	The old coupler box had been glued onto this car but it was gone. I remounted a new box with a machine screw. Then I peeled off the coupler box on the other end and remounted that one too as it was sloppy. This car has metal sprung trucks but it wasn't bad ordered for that. I don't see the problem with metal trucks. It would have been a bigger deal before DCC, but if the car derails and shorts the track, the car still has to be rerailed before operations can resume. The short would take out a section of the layout, but it is well divided anyway so that the metal trucks don't seem to be a serious drawback. If the car tracks well, and this one does, then it won't derail anyway and the metal trucks will not cause a problem. In any event, the car is fixed and will be returned to LAMRS for recertification.
Railway Express Agency	6183	Express Freight		underweight	All this car needed was 1/2 oz of weight. The roof is easily removable to add stick on weights. It is now up to spec.
Railway Express Agency	6158	Express Freight		underweight	All this car needed was 1/2 oz of weight. The roof is easily removable to add stick on weights. It is now up to spec.
TTZX	86377	Center Beam Bulkhead Flat		underweight	This one will take some lead shot glued underneath.
TTZX	87993	Center Beam Bulkhead Flat		underweight	This one will take some lead shot glued underneath.
Burlington Northern	625571	Center Beam Bulkhead Flat		underweight	This one will take some lead shot glued underneath.
Rio Grande	22318	Stake Car		bad coupler mounts	This car has the Athearn type clip on / fall off coupler cover. The wheelsets are pretty sloppy too but the car seems to track well. The trucks really should be replaced with Athearn Bettendorff trucks. There was nothing wrong with the car except for the unreliable coupler mounts. My standard fix is to apply a little CA to each clip, then the cover will not come off. If the coupler ever needs to be replaced, then the frame should be removed and the whole box cut off. Then a new Kadee box can be mounted to the weight with a screw. The car needs about an ounce of additional weight. I'll return it to the club to see if they want it weighted as an empty or if a load will be added.
Southern Pacific	23507	Bulkhead Flat		bad coupler mounts	This car has the Athearn type clip on / fall off coupler cover. There was nothing wrong with the car except for the unreliable coupler mounts. My standard fix is to apply a little CA to each clip, then the cover will not come off. If the coupler ever needs to be replaced, then the frame should be removed and the whole box cut off. Then a new Kadee box can be mounted to the weight with a screw. The car needs about an ounce of additional weight. I'll return it to the club to see if they want it weighted as an empty or if a load will be added.
CSL	4C	Pullman Observation		trucks fell off	The trucks on this one simply snap back on. They are not really very secure, but they will stay on if not seriously disturbed. They are held on via a knob on the kingpin and what looks like the snap from a baby pajama mounted on the car. They will never be very secure with this arrangement. The car is also wired for lighting but it doesn't work. A wire to one truck was broken, now fixed, but the connectivity between the axle and the truck sideframe is very poor. There is a homebrew lighting board inside, but the roof is attached in an odd way and I didn't remove it to try to fix the wiring because the trucks would not allow it to work very well anyway. The car also has quite a bit of drag and doesn't roll very well. It will barely roll on a 4% straight grade.

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