HUMMM good thinking i need to try this out as i have a hard time getting them to run same speeds when consisting them. I did notice on my throttle that i can add very easily two or three locos . Kinda liked that but my locos are not speed matched (this always gives me problems ) so maybe trying to speed match them your way might work for me......
Accutrack II Model Railroad Speedometer... Rarer then hens teeth !!! All my sources say "out of stock' !!
Speed matching isn't usually necessary for identical locos (incl A&B units) & decoders in a consist. Inclines shouldn't change over time, so as long as they're kept in a consistent state of cleanliness, nothing should change over time.
May be true..IF the locos are identical. The only locos I have that are close to identical are 2 SD40-2's that I bought from Jim Reising's estate.
THIS is what I want ! If my throttle says 35 my locos should be going 35 scale MPH NOT 35% out of a 0-99 throttle settings **Going top have to go on the deep dark web to find an Accutrack II Model Railroad Speedometer...
You don't need a speedometer to speed match, stick them both on a loop of track, and have them chase each other. Adjust the CVs until they're both same speed.
Yes and no. I want the top speed of ALL my locomotives to be 70 mph. I can adjust those with the speed tables in JMRI. I want the speeds to match the speed the throttle shows. Speed step 10 is 10 mph....20=20mph....60=60mph and so on. From videos I watched an Accutrack II Model Railroad Speedometer is the best way to do all that.
Oh! Okay I missed that bit about the speed step matching the actual speed, I thought you were kidding! In the past Ive set up a 12in ruler along straight bits of track and timed the engine crossing the distance, there are online calculators to help. But yes, I've sometimes wished I had the speedometer too, but price always made me change my mind. Timing it isn't very precise. I dabbled in making my own out of an Arduino and components I already had on hand. Works, but unwieldy and buggy. I keep thinking I need to rebuild it into a finished package for myself.
I've done that myself. I use my Unitrack dbl crossover (end to end). It is close to 12 inches. I also use the speed calculator at http://www.stonysmith.com/railroad/speedcalc.asp It gets close but really not close enough. distance=12 inches time=2.0 seconds speed 54.55 scale MPH distance=11 inches time=2.0 seconds speed 50.00 scale MPH Slow reflex time between your eyes and your thumb on the stopwatch at either end could cost you almost 5 MPH !! The consensus in the videos is a difference between locomotives of +/- 1 scale mph is acceptable. Anything over or under could lead to problems.
And thus the conundrum . Do I spend $100.00 on a Accutrack II Model Railroad Speedometer (if you could even find one), to speed match all my locomotives so I can double head them to climb the inclines pulling 15-20 cars? Or do I remove the inclines and a single SD70 ACe will easily pull 15-20 cars around on the flats ? !! Decisions...Decisions ! .
I've never done so, but if you bullfrog snot a wheel, could it solve the pulling problem? My Kato ES44 can barely pull 8 cars up my incline, but my Rapido dash 8s can pull much much more, the difference being the traction tires.
A little track maintenance on THERR Ballast Removal... I originally ballasted with AZ Rock fine cinders. For years it worked fine. Until it didn't! Over the years the cinder ballast 'heaves' and the snow plows on the front of locomotives catch it and trains come to abrupt stop ! So I have had to resort to popping the ballast out from between main lines to keep trains running. The heaving may be due to the extreme temp changes between summer and winter out in THERR RV. Whatever the reason...the real cinder ballast is coming out !! I have found...for me at least...that 'slate gray' latex chalk works great. It matches the plastic ballast on Unitrack pretty close. It also works great at 'gluing down' the track. Now the problem. I can no longer find DAP Slate Gray chalk anywhere !!! I checked at Ace Hardware...Loews...Home Depot..Walmart...even Amazon. NADA!!! I ended up buying a tube of regular gray. I had a very short (one day) of warm weather to get this job done before the weather turned cold and snowy again. The regular gray doesn't look as good but it is done for now. I am hoping to find a tube of the Slate Gray somewhere and run a thin layer over the lighter gray at some point.
That's aggravating. DAP's 18711 10.1 Oz Slate Gray Extreme Stretch Acrylic Urethane Premium Elastomeric Sealant is available at Home Depot, but it appears you may have to buy a 12 Pack at near $90. https://www.homedepot.com/p/DAP-Ext...stomeric-Sealant-12-Pack-7079818711/314924594 The more affordable DAP 18118 11 Oz Slate Gray Alex Plus® Acrylic Latex Caulk with Silicone is gone on DAP's website and as you found, it's out of stock everywhere. This seems to be the case with many things I look for too.
IKR ! Our local Ace is going thru a store remodel. I am hoping they might have some NOS that will see the shelves when they are done. I could paint the lighter gray..but that would be tedious at best.
Our local Ace closed, so I must drive 10 miles to another one. The big box stores are okay, but Ace, True Value and independents are a whole lot more fun for me to visit. When I ran out of my late father's leaded electrical solder while wiring my railroad, I discovered my local HD and Lowes no longer stock it, but Ace does and I bought a nice 8 Oz. spool there.
Try Reaper Paint Gray Liner over the light ballast. https://www.reapermini.com/search/liner/latest/09065
THE Wife and I went out again and did a deeper dive at Lowes. We found a tube of 'charcoal gray'. Not quite as dark as 'slate gray' but darker then regular gray. You can see the difference now at the 'flyover'. The top track to the right in this pic is the new 'charcoal gray'. The bottom track to the right is the older 'slate gray'. You can tell the difference better in this pic at the road crossing. The new gray is at the left of the crossing and the older gray is to the right of the road crossing. Like I said...I can live with it now. Better then the 'light gray'. All that is left now is to re-do some scenery around the man lines and re-do the road crossing. .
