Can you make a lash-up (2 or more engines hooked on one train) without a command system? I know you can get each engine synced so that they each run the same way, but I tried that last night, and the engines ran for about 2 seconds and then everything shorted out. Is there something in the engines that tells them to stop when they detect another engine on the same track?
i was successful at doing that once or twice. I stopped after a couple times because it was too boring. when I bought TMCC, it was much more interesting with the smoke, sound, and the direction of the lights. I know i used the Dual Power O27, and it worked well.
What kind of locomotives are you dealing with?
If they have similar traditional universal motors, you can simply wire the motors in parallel, two wires for the armature and one for the field, relying on the track for the ground. Put one e-unit in the neutral position and switch it off before connecting the motors. Lionel claims one e-unit can control 4 motors.
If they have similar DC motors, disconnect the motor(s) of one locomotive from whatever electronics it has and wire it in parallel with the motor(s) of the other locomotive.
In each case, if the locomotives try to run in opposite directions, swap the two armature wires (AC) or the two motor wires (DC).
If the locomotives are dissimilar, the problem is much more complicated.
I am trying to hook up a Lionel Santa Fe FT and a Lionel Chessie System GP38 (not a very good consist, I know). I also have a RailKing Amtrak Genesis that is in the process of being repaired.
Does MTH’s DCS system work well with temporary layouts (set up and then pick up later, like at Christmas or something). I have a Lionel 80-watt transformer and MTH claims DCS can hook up to “any transformer”.
I’ve had 100% success running Williams locomotives as lashups (as long as they are facing the correct way). I’ve also had 100% success hooking up DCS equipped locomotives.
The only thing I’ve not tried is mixing command with conventional, and probably won’t because my Williams conventionals have some souped up motors that would likely tug like heck at the CC-equipped ones.
I’d take a guess at two possible causes: 1. The power draw of the two engines exceeds the transformer capacity; 2. The gearing on the engines is disimilar enough that one of the motors is overloading by trying to “drag” the other engine around.
One check would be to disconnect the engines with a space between them and run them in the same direction, the gap should remain somewhat constent.
Universal motors cause no trouble in locomotives that want to run at different speeds. It’s only the permanent-magnet-field DC motors that insist on their own speed.
Bob,
“Does MTH’s DCS system work well with temporary layouts (set up and then pick up later, like at Christmas or something). I have a Lionel 80-watt transformer and MTH claims DCS can hook up to “any transformer”.”
Yes it does, we do it once a month at the Western Division TCA meets, once a year under the Christmas tree and, as fate would have it, on the floor of my home office all the time.
To run lashups under DCS, it is assumed, of course that you are unning PS-2 locomotives.