I have a dozen or so decoders to replace, many of them were from a bad batch from the manufacturer. On the positive side, for the locomotives with the working decoders, I was able to speed match literally over 300 locomotives over the last few days. They are running so sweet now setup in consists
Not a 300 locomotive consist, not enough power for that. I am speed matching my entire fleet of locomotives, all models and all roads with speed tables by class of motive power. For example, I have all my AMTRAK P42 Genesis locomotives using the same speed tables with a top speed of 110 smph as per prototype. All GP class locomotives with the same speed table are set to 65 smph as per prototype. And to go one more step into the insanity, they are also speed matched going either direction...
David... I had the exact same problem with one of mine ! swapped shells and all. Finally took the shell off and held the frame with thumb and index finger front and rear at the 'nubs' that hold the shell on. I put it on the track under power. When I squeezed the frame at those 'nubs' it quit running. Try this and see if it makes a difference before proceeding with a possible fix. Two schools of thought here. Shim the frame halves with thin styrene at the front and rear so the shell cant squeeze the frame to tight...OR...file those four 'nubs' down a litlle. I opted for the nub filing. A little at a time om all four nubs untll it ran fine with the shell on. The 'nubs' still hold the shell on just fine too. YMMV.
That is just a starting point, I have since speed matched and configured 138 more, and I still have about 500 more to go! 88 Amtrak locomotives done 230 ATSF locomotives done 75 DRGW locomotives done 46 NS locomotives done as of this moment.
Hey David... I figure you are only about 7000 locomotives short of what BNSF has in the 1:1 world....LOL
Lol.... life used to be so simple years ago. Now we consist numerous engines which need to be speed matched. We used to be happy to put a couple of non matched locos and run a consist of twenty to thirty cars. Every time I see threads with things like this makes me feel there are not enough hours in the the day for me to do what is needed to run my trains. Still lol... just thinking of putting DCC into my favorite locos... I will need to live a long time... and I was not even thinking of the speed matching issues. Sent from my SM-J737T using Tapatalk
Speed matching takes just a few minutes once you have yourself setup up to do it. All it takes is the same Speed table on the locomotives you want to run together, a simple loop of track and a way to verify the speed, be it a stopwatch on the cell phone or the AccuTrak speedometer, about $60. So a loop of Kato Unitrak, a speedometer is all you need. The other stuff that makes life easy is JRMI to program the decoders. You can create a template to be used over and over again to make sure all the settings are consistent. Just duplicate the template file for your locomotive, change the road number and then write all sheets and it it is ready for speed matching. It is really that easy! Not sure why the photo got rotated, it was not taken sideways.......
Thanks for the explanation... I was expecting a lot of CV manipulations per locomotive. I'm in the same 100's of locomotives to program situation... plus 100's more needing DCC upgrade. I need to retire from my paying job... to take on a non-paying job of model railroading . Sent from my SM-J737T using Tapatalk
I am more than happy to help you with the speed matching. All it takes is a little planing and the right investment in decoders. The key point is to have all the similar locomotives that you want to run together using the speed table and then using the trim to adjust and dial in the final speed you want. As seen here: With trim, I do not need to make any changes in the speed table to match speeds. This is my FVM Gevo speed table and you can see a small difference in the Forward and Reverse Trim. In this case the value of Trim sets the top speed of the locomotive to a prototypical 75 smph. In other cases the Trim Numbers are in the 70's or the 80's. With a Kato unit the Trim values are as low and the high 20's and low 30's in some cases. As long as the speed table is the same for the units you want to speed match and consist, it does not even matter the decoders, in the FVM models I use Zimo MX622N decoders and in the Kato units I have either Digitrax or the TCS version that supports Trim. There is even a few ESU Loksound units with the same speed table and they all run with each other with no issues whatsoever. There is a different speed table for a SD40, and again the same speed table setting with trim lets me run Intermountain SD40 units with Kato SD40 units with no issues at all.
Here is a link to a web site that gives a step by step for multiple approaches to speed matching. One of them is the same as what David is using. http://thelittlerockline.blogspot.com/2012/04/speed-matching-locomotives.html Paul D
After 9 days of decoder programming and speed matching, I have run out of energy to do any more....... So my workbench is currently clear. Time now will be spent by designing a layout with a friend!
No funds were spent, locomotives and decoders were paid for a long time ago, life just kept me from getting to them until now.
I posted this method on the Atlas Forum a few years before it was shut down. It was also posted on Trainboard several years ago, before the last upgrade of the site software. And it was also posted on Barstow Ricks website several years ago.
