I know it is common practice to run DCC equipped engines together in consist. So I tried the poor man's consist : 2 DC engines together. I'm very pleased with the result, the train runs smoothly, no jerky motion and It can run at very low speed ( inches per minute ) , lower than with just 1 engine. I tried to select similar engines, 1 Atlas GP-9 and 1 Life-Like GP-18. Of course I don't feel like coupling a Kato Mikado and a Life-Like SW9-1200. Does anyone on this forum run such DC consists ? Jacques
YUP ! I run a few of mine that way. I do run them seperate on the same track first...to make sure they are running at near the same speed. I dont want a super fast loco and a slow poke hooked together. Not only do they pull better...run better...but dang...they sure do look sharp... ;-)
I always do. I will also put an Atlas GP38 or two mid-train. You have to be careful with this and it does take some trial and error as you need to balance the weight of the train putting heavier cars toward the front and lighter cars behind the DPU. The advantage of the Atlas is it's light weight and smooth running.
I normally MU four engines in my DC lash ups. Five to six engine MU lash ups work well, too. For 6-8 engines in my F7 power, I usually have 2-3 unpowered F7 units in those. Speed matching before running is a good idea but the speeds only have to be approximate, not exact. Similar starting voltage between engines is important for switching duties. When engines are not approximate in speed, I put the faster engine on the rear so the weight of the train will hold it back. There are many rules-of-thumb for this type of operation.
Flash started a great thread here on the subject: N Scale Engines and Amps - TrainBoard.com Things that can go wrong with a DPU (mid train or end train): The lead units stall for any of a variety of reasons ranging from dirty track, turnout the wrong way, entering an unpowered block or just plain derail due to track gremlins. This could lead to the DPUs pushing the cars off the track. The reverse is possible in that the DPUs could stall for the same reasons causing string lining I would not try this anyplace derailed cars can fall to the floor.
Sure, I still have about a dozen DC engines. I have 3 SD-40s, 2 GP-7s, 3 SW1500s, 2 U-boats, etc. that I always MU. They all play nicely with their kind. Some of these will get DCC'd.
All I have are DC locomotives. What people have said above is sound advice. Right now I'm running an Athearn F45, an IMR SD45-2 and an Atlas SD24 together, and there's no operational issues. Something might turn up once all 3 locos are broken in, but I doubt it.
Thank you mtntrainman, Grey One, Flash Blackman, campp and David for taking some of your valuable time to reply and to offer some sound advice. I did some testing and found that the Atlas GP-9 is a little faster than the LL GP-18 , so I run the GP-9 as the leader. I have the MRC DCC system and 1 Atlas GP-9 DCC equipped but to be honest I prefer to run my DC engines with my MRC 200 Tech4 DC power pack. Jacques
I use three gp at time and also I have two 2-8-8-2's I run togethor I've never had an problem I check the speed and run the faster engine in the rear,works for me. JIM
