Can anyone tell me how well life-like’s P2K S1 and SD7 run with Walthers’ Proto 2000 and 1000 diesel locomotives? I am buying a P2K S1 and SD7 and want to make sure they work ok with my Proto engines like my RSC2’s GP15-1’s and H10-44.
Just my own experience, but the Proto engines I have generally weren’t that close to each other in speed…at least not compared to Atlas engines which are usually quite close. Of course if you’re in DCC it’s no problem to speed match them using the CV’s, but can be a hassle in DC.
Note too that few (if any?) railroads had H-10-44’s with m.u. capability, so they’d generally work ‘solo’ anyway.
Presumably, you’re asking about running them together in a consist, because having them on the same layout but not coupled together is no issue.
If you’re not running DCC, I’d avoid trying it. They will most likely not play nicely.
My experience has been that my Proto engines generally run at a slower speeds than the Atlas ones. As far as P1k & P2K getting along, I need to refrain from comment because my P2K’s are all the older BL2’s and FA’s which don’t run as smoothly as my newer P1K F3’s.
I’m a DC guy, so I need to be careful about building multiple unit lashups, which can be a bit frustrating at times, or else I get one loco pulling or pushing the other while pulling a train.
Jim
What exactly do you mean by “run well together” and “work ok with”. My first thought was that you wanted to run multilple locomotives together on a single train, but I can’t imagine an S1 and SD7 lashed up together. Nor an H10-44 lashed up with anything. Did those even have MU connections.
Anyway those are fine running locomotives. They should run as well as the others you have listed.
Recently Walthers (throwing prototype to the wind) has gone to putting 14:1 gears into all their locomotives so theoretically they will all run exactly the same.
My Proto S1 is equipped with a LokSound decoder. It is set up for a switcher. The engine itself seems to be geared very low, and the decoder has a realistic “time lag” while the motor spins up before the engine actually starts to move. In this configuration, it’s not going to match well with a road engine.
I’ve also got a P1K RSC-3. This engine is also geared to run slower than other road engines, like my GP9s. I’ve manipulated the CVs a bit so I can run it in a consist with the Geeps, but I don’t usually do that either.
As far as "quality’, all the Protos are equal quality, whether they’re Life Like or Walthers. The difference between Proto 1 & 2 is the level of detail. The difference between some of the units can be gear ratios and/or motors. Some will run well together, some will not. One generally would’t run an s or sw unit (switchers) with SD or F’s anyway, so those speed differences don’t matter. Both Life Like Proto and Walthers Proto were using different gear ratios in some models, but it seems Walthers has finally settled on 14:1 on all their models of the past couple of years. So, when it comes to which ones will run with what it doesn’t really matter if they were made by Walthers or Life Like, you have to compare model to model.
I’ve got a Proto 2000 GP7 and a Proto 1000 RS3. The GP7 has factory DCC adn sound, the Proto 1000 has a Digitrax motor decoder with a MRC sound decoder piggybacked on. Come to think of it, I dont think I’ve ever consisted these two. I’ll have do it and see how well they play together without changing the CV’s first, then if I have to I’ll speed match them.