I am interested in running multiple diesels on the same track in an analog setup, no DCC. Specifically I have an Atlas SD-35 Conrail and an SD-9 Norfolk Southern that I want to run together as part of the same train. Unfortunately the SD-9's motor is a little slower and when running with the Conrail out front and the Norfolk behind and reversed there is a noticeable strain on the Norfolk Southern. What options are out there for my analog setup? What can I do to run these engines together? Suggestions are much appreciated!!!!!
Firstly, welcome to TB Lots of thing to try: 1. Atlas+ Atlas/ Kato + Kato: Is the sd9 a lifelike or Atlas. Generally in Analog, locomotives of the same manufacturer will run together (MU) the best. The are exceptions to this rule of course 2. Burn in time: Have your loco's been properly broken in? This can even out the speed difference. 3. Direction: Have your tried running the 2 units togehter facing different dirrections, or the same direction (elephant style)? 4. Power distribuion: Do you have a balanced supply of power to the rails? Say power feeders every 3 feet? 5. Clean feet: Check the wheels of the slower loco, it may have some gunk on it. 91% isopropol alcohol will clean these. 6. Got Lube: Has the slower loco been sitting awhile? A touch of lube can improve running qualitys. What type of track are you using? What type of throttle controller are you using?
Dave covered all the bases there. I run both units coupled a lot though usualy they are the same type and bought at the same time. I always break them in - run for 5+ hours around and around. As for DPU - That is units on the front and units in the middle / rear of a train that requires careful patient trial and error till you get the hang of it. Usualy heavyier cars behind the lead units and lighter cars behind the rear units. Grades and curves complicate things. The Kato F40s: http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/data/1176/GandG_F40_with_Pink_Fox_Box_4Bay_8x_ACF_70_high.jpg and in my sig run perfectly together.
The DCC crowd has some great options here, but analog really does not. If all of the above listed performance tuning measures don't help to sync up the units and you really want them to run together you could try adding a diode rectifier circuit to the faster unit. Diodes typically create a .4-.5 volt drop and you could use multiple diodes in series to drop the voltage more. Very much a trial and error procedure to get the results you are looking for since this will drop voltage across the whole range of performace. Beyond that you could try swapping out motors, repowering with another mechanism or if you are really intent on making those two locomotives work well together and you're not pulling a long train... yank the motor and gears out of the one you like the least!
With an analog setup your engines either match up or they don't. You may get them in sync at one speed but they will be out of sync as soon as you either slow them down or speed them up. You just need to find a pair that runs good togeather. If you really want different engines running togeather consider swaping shells on matched chassis.
I would add to put the faster engine on the rear so it "pulls" the train and slows it down. It is easy to do; I run 4-6 engine lashups all the time with analog, but they do have to be somewhat matched. IMHO, the starting voltage of the motor is an important part of this. One final rule posited by a friend of mine: If they are coupled together, they HAVE to run together. Slipping wheels on a fast engine didn't bother him; I have seen him MU ten engines. (Slipping wheels are not pulling cars and very few amps.)
Cautions? Flash’s post got me thinking. I have not experienced any of these but I have not run them much. I am guessing the following could occur with mis-matched engines: Broken or misaligned couplers from too much pushing or pulling – another good reason to have the faster / lighter engine in behind the slower one. Shorter motor life? From too much – I don’t know. Would wheel slippage cause issues either with worn out wheels or track? Again – I’m just speculating. Please feel free to contradict any and all of this post but please give reasoning.
Flash - help me here bit would it not make sense to place the slower engine at the rear, I would think that a faster engine at the rear would push the cars causing them to derail or uncouple?
You guys have given me some good info to start out with and is much appreciated! I have considered pulling out the motor and drive gears on a diesel model that would fit the SD-9 shell. Both engines are ATLAS so I was surprised that the SD-9 did not run like the SD-35 especially since production dates are relatively close but who knows what the SD-9 went through with its previous owners since I purchased it on Ebay. The SD-35 runs great! I usually run on a friends setup that his dad built it when we were kids. Not sure about the track mfg. but I do know that the track has a good power supply that is evenly distributed throughout the layout. I have briefly checked the condition and have cleaned the SD-9 but unfortunately without my own layout its hard to run and tune. My next step is to get my own layout setup for the cold months that are upon us! I have been running trains since I was a kid. My dad had originally got me into HO when I was 4ish but I quickly fell for N-scale!!! Now that I have money to spend I am getting back into the hobby. Thanks for the suggestions and replies! I will put them to good use!
Oops! I mean on the rear end of the MU lashup on the front of the train, not at the end of the train as a pusher. You are correct about that. Another thing you can do is change motors in the Atlas engines for high speed vs low speed. That is a little expensive, though.
It might wear out the wheels or the track if it is slipping, but it won't wear out the motor as it is turning freely and not pulling many amps. The problem would occur if it was not spinning wheels yet trying to go much faster than the consist. For example, if you had a fast engine with rubber tires that could not spin wheels. I certainly do not recommend the spinning wheels method. Something about that just doesn't seem right to me when you are running trains even if it did not bother my friend.
I did this for many years on DC with diesels with no problems. Unless engines are wildly mis-matched in terms of speed, they will run together without wheel-spinning, coupler pull-outs, or overheating. The faster motor will slow down under the load; the slower motor will speed up due to the assist from the faster motor. The only problem I ever had was the opposite of wheel-spinning, which is wheel-drag. Wheel-drag happened when a motor quit due to dirt on the wheels. It's my experience that engines have to be wildly mismatched to cause problems. Diesel-steam combos usually don't work in DC; the steam engine will spin if it's faster or drag if it's slower. But a light slow diesel will happily "assist" a heavy fast diesel. I used to just put the engines on the track and watch what happened. It took less than half an hour to determine what would run with what. If they were close, then couple them together and forget about it.
Kato, Intermountain & older Atlas engines will run together.The newer Atlas engines with that stupid slow motor won't run with anything else.The best way to check your engines is run them on the same track,uncoupled.There's a big difference between the old & the new.You'll is it right away.
