Why do all that to get two locomotives to run together when you can program them to do so? The way you are trying to do this, every time you want to speed up or slow down you have to adjust both locomotives, and until you make those adjustments they will fight each other. Can you imagine what would happen on the real railroads if the engineer had to keep running from unit to unit adjusting throttle settings? Thankfully, control of the entire consist as one locomotive dates to the early days of diesels. With speed matching we can do the same on our model trains.

Marklin is totally incompatable with US track and rolling stock. We use a system where wheels and rails are electrically isolated from each other. Marklin wheels and rails are not isolated from each other. Trying to use Marklin on our track will cause a short circuit.

Quote from: JonJet on April 21, 2024, 07:11:31 AMI have 50+ N-scale loco's...and 5 HO...

All the HO models are Bachmann GP40's and SD40-2's...but I cannot seem to get anywhere using CV 2/5/6 to speed match

I have CV2 at 10 - CV5 at 255

The AccutrackII shows the same whether CV6 is 50 or 150

Am I missing something???

Are these the DCC OnBoard units that came with the factory decoders? If so they may not support CV5 or CV6. This makes speed matching impossible. If this is important to you, you'll need to replace the original decoder with an aftermarket one like the NCE Bach-DSL which is a drop in replacement. I am not sure why the original decoders do not support these very important CVs.

Quote from: John Fed on April 18, 2024, 03:51:28 PMI am building a 2 loop layout on a 4x8 platform with an 18" radius inner loop and a 22" outer loop. I will purchase 2 left hand and 2 right hand turnouts to connect the loops and need help identifying which turnout to buy. My interest is the DCC type nickel silver with grey roadbed. Will the standard turnouts items #44130 and 44131 align properly so the 2 loops connect?  Thanks

I would strongly advise against the use of those two. Using them as a crossover between the two loops will leave you with a nasty S curve your trains will not like. And even if that weren't the case, they give an excessively wide track spacing. You're better off using  #5 or #6 for this. They are far less sharp of a curve, and have build in straight parts to lessen the effect of the s curve to something that most rolling stock will run through without derailing. The use of 18" radius curves in an S curve without a straight of at least 6 inches is a well known source of derailments, yet it is a mistake most beginners seem to be attracted to like moths to a candle.

https://www.kadee.com/206-ho-insulated-muti-purpose-coupler-height-gauge

Quote from: Mark Joe on April 11, 2024, 02:41:10 PMI broke the pins trying to connect my engine to tender.  How do I fix?

Thanks,

Mark

WHat locomotive was this?

Terry,

there is a trick to getting parallel track with Anyrail. The #4 is approximately 14 degrees, and the #6 is about 9.5 degrees. There should be enough give in the EZ track sections in real life to make the 15 degree curve work with the #4, and the 10 degree curve work with the #6.

To get this to work with Anyrail, you should first use the parallel track tool to create the two tracks. Glue those tracks to keep them from shifting, then add the switch and associated curve section to make it work. There should be enough "give" in the program to make the connections needed. I believe the default setting is 3 degrees, so as long as your connection is within that default it will connect. The glue function keeps the track from moving once the connection is made.

As long as the track is in good condition and functioning well there is no need to replace it. Unless the rails get damaged it's hard to wear track out. How hard? My dad laid out a yard in 1978 using Atlas switches with plastic frogs. They stayed in service under heavy traffic until they were replaced in 2020. By that time 42 years and literally hundreds of thousands of wheels passing over them had worn out the plastic frogs. Other switches that were hand built around the same time are still in service and not showing similar wear as they have all metal parts. Like I said, as long as the rails aren't damaged they will hold for many years.

Have you tried Northwest Short Line? They make gears of various sizes and may have what you need.




https://nwsl.com/

I am fortunate to have a friend with a quarterer to get the rods correct on my steam locomotives. Without that, I wouldn't attempt to replace a gear on a steam locomotive. If the drivers are out of quarter when you put it back together it'll never run right because the rods will bind up.

Quote from: trainman203 on March 16, 2024, 10:08:49 AMThe 127 limit is a holdover from the earliest days of DCC back in the Digital Jurassic Of low chip capacity in every dimension. It's so embedded in everything, though, it can't be gotten rid of.

DCC is digital, which is based on the binary system at its root. In Binary, things are either on or off, a ) or a 1 value. Strings of binary digits, each one controlling something, is the basis of DCC, and computers in general. Everything in the protocol is based on mathematical powers of two. Alot of it is hexadecimal which is binary on steroids. This is why you have short addresses up to 127 (128 it 2 to the 7th power) and many CV values up to 255 (2 to the 8th power or 16 squared.) Understanding this makes understanding the rest of DCC much simpler. CV29 in particular, controls various features by turning on or off bits.

Will not run on any short address? You've tried all 127 of them?

DCC is a form of AC. The decoder converts it into something that won't hurt a DC motor such as those in locomotives or your turntable. The decoders I mentioned are for motor control only, and functions such as headlights that can be turned on or off. A sound decoder is a different beast, containing sound files as well as motor control circuitry. It requires a speaker in order to get sound out of it. Sound decoders are NOT what you want here. Your best bet is to measure the enclosure on your turntable to get an idea what will fit. The decoder manufacturers will have the dimensions on their decoders on the web site. Train World will not have this information, so you;re better off googling the manufacturer. BTW, scale doesn't matter much in decoders, other than the size of the board itself. An N or Z scale decoder is perfectly capable pf controlling an HO locomotive, and vice versa. Space available is the primary consideration. I have used Z scale decoders in HO locomotives where space was at a premium.

200 locomotives spread across a wide variety of railroads made the RUssian decapods a good better choice for a model than most steam engines. That is a far different case than the Green DIamond as a one off streamliner that only ran on one road would be. The popularity of the railroad itself probably doesn't enter into it. You don't see Bachmann producing the PRR T1 either. And I guarantee they would sell far more of those than Green Diamonds.

Looking at the instruction sheet I linked to earlier, it appears the decoder uses a standard 8 pin plug. Keep in mind the sheet is for an HO turntable, I couldn't find one for the N scale turntable on Bachmann's site so I assume the interface is the same. If this is true any decoder with an 8 pin plug should work, but it looks like there isn't alot of room for it so I'd keep the  decoder wire harness as short as possible. SInce there don't appear to be appropriate Bachmann decoders for this anymore, here are two to consider. Digitrax DH126PS has a short wiring harness with the 8 pin plug and is an economy decoder, meaning it doesn't have alot of functions that you won't be using anyway. Another option is the Digitrax DH165IP, which while more expensive has the 8 pin plug directly on the decoder. There is no wiring harness so you can just plug the chip itself into the socket on the turntable.