Ok, some time ago I wanted to make a small set of videos showcasing the T-1.
I visited a friend and ran the engine with a consist of rolling stock from my storage on his railroad while recording today.
The rest of the afternoon before class was spent editing out the moments that really are not that great like “STOPITH! The train is off the track!” I finally inserted one spectacular derailment in a nasty spot for laughs. Probably to prove not all videos are taken without at least one boo boo.
Each of the files should be finished processing and become ready soon if not already. They are 5 meg in size average so that should not be too hard for dail up.
First up, the link to still photos on the railroad:
Second note: The Reading T-1 was used in helper service by the Western Maryland Railroad but it never ever wore WM colors. I used a bit of modeler’s license because I already have several units and wanted to make a family look.
Thrid note: The model started 22 cars plus a caboose worth three cars on drag out of the yard and made it up the 3% summit before it finally was stopped by the weight. No rubber tires were used. The train was cut down to about 16 cars which is average for this layout. Double heading was considered but not really feasible… maybe another day with a truly heavy train.
Forth Note: The model did a good job overall considering it’s maiden break in tour using cars that run well together. But towards the end of the video we began to encounter issues in certain spots. This is truly a large engine and it will occasionally get thru tight corners but will run best at larger radius.
Fifth Note: The whistle was really weak. I am using the DCC Master at home to reset the volume. The control system on the video was a Digitrax Super Cheif or Empire Builder… I cannot remember which. If the steady chuffing lulls you to sleep I apologize in
And make sure you use the right whistle. I reprogrammed mine since it’s an in-service unit, not a Rambles one. The default whistle on F2 is the passenger whistle. F4 is the proper freight whistle - I was able to reset the function mapping on mine so F2 blows the freight whistle.
Out standing,but I’am half deaf the whistle sounds like the trains in Europe,I’ve herd the 4449 and the 3985 and a few others, is there any way to dial in some base?Still an outstanding video!!
JIM
No that high-pitched bashee whistle IS accurate for the T-1 (and most Reading freight locos). PRR had some liek that too. Sounds odd, especially compared to the steamboat whistles used on 4449 and 3985, but it’s correct. Readign passenger locos had deeper multi-chime whistles ont hem, and such whistles were fitted tot he T-1’s used in excursion service. The one supplied by PCM, some peopel claim does not match what they heard when they road a Ramble, but it all depends on which Ramble they road, since different whistles were apparently used at different times.
The Bass is something hard to get on a camcorder. You probably can put it over a 100 watt 5.1 surround sound compuyter system and it sounds ok. But not terribly good.
The function 2 is the freight whistle on the T-1 but messed up the second whistle but will reset the engine and provide another video when I get rested. I am tired this week from the work and school and it might be a while before I get one up from the workbench.
Bass is kinda hard to capture off a model that is 10 feet away and moving across. The best bass I think I heard in the video series was when it was accelerating out of the yard past the camera.
Another thing that bothers me is the camera’s need to focus on the first thing it sees. Im exploring manual focusing with a defined depth field and getting ready to manually configure it so I can hit what I am “Shooting” at instead of a layout edge board in the front.
On the workbench the engine is just as loud as the BLI M1a or the PRR J1 2-10-4.
Interestingly the J1 2-10-4 has the “Beef” on it’s bass probably due to the really large tender and is a favorite for this reason. But it does not do very well on the friend’s layout due to it’s very long wheel base.
One of these days there will be a double header of the T-1 in slave mode and the M1a in the lead as it does not have a working front coupler. I hope to lug 30 cars up that 4% at a slow rate but have to work on it.