Hey all – A while back I asked on the Prototype forum about pictures I saw showing a New York Central F-M C-Line diesel and a steam Hudson heading up a train (https://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/13/t/293907.aspx). The folks here gave me some good help and input.
Well, I got the train together for a first test run. Here it is, with apologies for the crappy camera work:
Results: Mixed. The BLI Hudson wasn’t behaving as well as I’d like with the Tru-Line C-Liner. Actually, it wasn’t behaving very well, end-of-sentence. And I did have to lose a couple of head-end cars to get up the 2% grade – I think 12 or 13 will be the limit.
Still, if I can get the Hudson behaving right, I think we have a train!
It’s an engine I haven’t run before, and I had a few issues: the excess wire from the tender keeps lifting it off the track, and at one point, while backing up, the crosshead came right off its guides! I had to partially disassemble the side rods to get everything untangled.
I also need to work on speed matching… at certain speeds they run well together, but when accelerating the Hudson sometimes cleans its wheels. Paragon and BLI… neither very straightforward to program! Interesting, though, that the BLI varies its sound based on load, so I can tell, just from the sound, when the C-Line is pulling and when it’s being pushed.
Gidday Aaron, as I was only expecting photos, that video was a bonus, thank you.
I agree with Stix, certainly looked great, especially as you had not run the Hudson before. It does happen but it is disappointing when a loco doesn’t run properly straight from the box.
Being a technological Luddite, I run these two locomotives together using their individual addresses but on a Digitrax DT500 throttle. It didn’t take me to long to get them synchronised together using the Mk1 eyeball and loco sound, not suggesting though that you should adopt my “Cheats Method.”
You know… I am ashamed to say it, but it never occured to me to try this. DUH Our club (er, Museum) is a bit too big to run this way full time, but I bet that noting the differences in throttle would make it easier to know what I need in order to speed-match them a little bit. I’ll give it a try! Thanks. Great video, btw!
The caption simply stated “early 50s, Vermillion, Ohio. Not an uncommon sight, an FM leading a steam loco” (I was always told, don’t use no double negatives?) the writer went on to say this was either a case of the steam generator not working on the F-M or a “power balance”.
