I like to run double powered units on my UP railroad but beings I am using a tech 6 to run my sound units I can’t run two powered units back to back.
I decided to see if I could buy some of the older Athearn dummy units. I have found two so far, a GP30 and a U30c in new condition.
Of course the units needed to have the couplers replaced, the fuel tanks painted and the truck sides and horns painted to match the real UP units I Like. It has worked out great.
They give me the look I wanted at a small price. Wish I could post some pictures but it seems it is not easy with my iPad.
I’m not familiar with the Tech 6, but a quick search shows it to have a 2 amp output, which should be more than sufficient to run two locos, even Athearn’s Blue Box ones.
I use a PWM throttle on the AC output of a Controlmaster 20, and can easily run a dozen locos or more.
Why can’t you run them back to back? Can you run them elephant style. (Nose to Tail)
Can you run both locomotives at once when the are not connected together?
Is one faster than the other. If they are somewhat close there should be no problem. If they are running in oposite directions then you have a different issue.
With the tech 6 you can’t consist your locomotives, it is not DCC. It only allows you to use the entire sound inside your locomotive.
I can run two powered locomotives back to nosebut each loco is independent of each other. They are pretty well speed matched so no problems running them. But you can’t run them back to back.
They should. Running on DC, if your engine is running from left to right, you pick it up, rotate it 180 degrees, it is still running from left to right down the track.
Unlike DCC (which does acknowledge front from rear), DC has no bearing on the direction based on the physical front or rear of the engine. You can place two DC engines back-to-back, nose-to-nose or nose-to-tail and they will still run together in the same direction.
So what happens when you attempt to run them back-to-back? It might also help to know the make and model the locos involved. Any DC-powered locos should be able to run in the same direction together, regardless of which way they’re facing, as Mark has explained.
The only hitch to runnung multiple locos on DC is if any have a dual mode decoder. A decoder equipped locomotive running on DC usually needs a starting voltage of 4 to 6 volts. Coupled to a DC loco, the DC one would be spinning wheels while the decoder equipped one would be emulating a boat anchor.
Running DC locos together should be no problem as long as their speeds are close. At Boothbay Railway Village on our original layout, which was DC, we used to run 3 or more diesels together with no problems.
Any DC-powered locos, if wired correctly, will always,run in the same direction together, regardless of which way they’re facing, as Mark has explained.
Are the locos used? Sometimes, rarely, an owner will reverse the wiring on a locomotive to serve a particular purpose in his operation. Even more rare is one wired wrong from the factory.
I agree, but when I answered, it was unknown to us what was occurring when David tried to run the locos back-to-back. His subsequent answer pretty much explained why he’s having this problem.
I was preparing to add all-wheel pick-up to a friend’s brass steamer and discovered, when testing it, that it ran backwards to all of my locos, so I simply switched the wires on the motor, which cured the problem. However, when I started adding pick-ups to the drivers, I discovered that the insulated wheels, on both loco and tender, were on the wrong side - once that was corrected, the motor wires then had to be returned to their former positions.
I doublehead almost all of my DC-powered trains (and often use pushers, too) on account of the many curves and grades on my layout. I’ve discovered that most decent-quality DC locomotives will run well together if their combined effort is needed to move the train which they’re pulling. If you merely want to run multiple locos for appearance sake, you may be better off hunting for some dummy locomotives or switching to DCC, where you can programme your locos to play nice with one another.
For David, I’d suggest finding someone to re-programme his locomotive - either a hobbyshop, train club using DCC, or a fellow modeller.
Not sure why the thread is titled Dummy Engines when it’s not about dummy engines at all.
But, no matter, after reading through the entire thread, I am confused over the results. What is the cause of the problem? Is the Tech 6 not working properly, such that the OP cannot run a consist back to back? Why would the Tech 6 be incapable of running two locomotives back to back?
I agree with doctorwayne. Instead of screwing around with makeshift setups, just convert to DCC.
The Tech 6 is DCC/DC and with the T-6 Throttle you can consist. You need to use the same address for both engines.I ran a experiment to see what happen and both engines ran together. You can run up to 6 locomotives and consisting is possible without changing adresses like you would in DC… The T-6 throttle is worth its weight in gold.
The T-6 will operate one locomotive by its self in full DCC mode and will read all the decoders available CVs…
Of course in the DC mode you can consist locomotives like any DC power source.
Only running DC, and you want a loco to “always” run opposite direction (as in an AA consist), then I would recommend pulling the shell of one and reversing the two motor leads.
All I did was give both engines address “1” and use a CV to make the trailing unit run in reverse. If you still have the DCC CV instruction sheet for your DCC locomotives it should tell you what CV to use but,again you will need the throttle since the base unit will operate only one engine in DCC mode and a consist in DC…
Just to be clear on how the Tech 6 operates, when it is in “dual” mode it IS DCC, although it is a limited DCC system.
You SHOULD NOT need the hand held to run two locomotives back to back. The base unit has the ability to program CV’s. All you have to do is program CV29 to a value of 7 on the rear facing loco to reverse it’s normal direection of travel (to set it back to normal, program CV29 to a value of 6).
Cool! I’ll try that! Maybe I misread/misunderstood the instruction when MRC said it would run one engine in DCC mode and since I have the throttle I did my test on the throttle not the base unit.
Thanks for sharing that…I’m always glad to learn something new about the T-6. I call it the poor man’s DCC system since I paid $69.95 for my base and $54.99 for the throttle on line and needless to say its superior to Bachmann’s E-Z DCC system…
I knew the T-6 can program all CVs that’s one reason I bought it the other being sound…Still I will maintain the throttle is worth its weight in gold if one does a lot of switching with ground throws…