QSI Sound and DCC conversion

[rollsfixer]

I recently acquired an older Williams "Gold Edition" steam locomotive with QSI sound.  Can this QSI board do anything else?  Can it be remotely controlled rather than just do its own thing according to what the engine is doing?  (chuff-chuff-chuff, somewhat coordinated to engine speed, and occasionally a bell when starting up.)  If so, where do I get a controller?  How does the "constant-voltage" headlight work with the track voltage being variable?  (The headlight does not maintain constant brightness.)

I would like to run the track at constant voltage and have a remote control that varies the motor voltage, which is what I think a DCC unit does to control the engine speed among other things for HO gage.  Surely the engine must have a whistle, but I have no idea how that might be controlled.  The whistle control on my standard old KW transformer does nothing for this engine.  I believe the old Lionel whistle controller super-imposed a DC voltage on the track, which the whistle motor picked up and ran the blower in the tender which made a whistle sound with an actual whistle.  Very old school and complicated.  Modern electronics must have made an electronic whistle possible.

Is it possible to upgrade to a DCC control system?  It seems like that should not be very difficult, but I can not find anywhere DCC being discussed or advertised for O gage trains.

What do y'all do to run multiple trains on your tracks without them all going at the variable track-voltage speed and banging into each other?

[Len]

Most electronic whistle controllers are polarity sensitive for the DC triggering current. Try reversing the track power wires, either at the track or the transformer, and see if the whistle works.

Len

[phillyreading]

The QSI system installed in the Crown Edition engines is a sound system. It has a station leaving announcement at start up(needs lower voltage to work), the bell sounds off at lower speed or voltage and will dis-appear at higher speeds but come back on at lower speed again, and the whistle needs more voltage to work with, both bell & whistle can be operated by the same whistle control button.
On the older Lionel transformers you may have to hold the whistle button(ZW & VW models)about two/thirds of the way to full position for three seconds.

The QSI system is just a sound system, it has NO speed control or coupler opening features.
This system is exclusive to the Williams Crown Edition engines only.
FYI; I like the older QSI system that Williams had. I wish they would have kept it.

I know that Williams had the "Crown Edition" but never a "Gold Edition."  Also Williams did some brass engines before the Bachmann take over and had a reproduction series a few years after the Crown Edition.

To convert to DCC or TMCC you will need to remove the QSI system. Keep in mind that the motors are DC can motors so straight track voltage, without any circuit board or bridge rectifier, will damage the motors really quick.
You might want to consider using G scale DCC for the Williams engine but will need to buy the proper size DCC base & remote set-up.

Currently for O gauge there is either DCS by MTH or TMCC by Lionel and Legacy by Lionel for remote control of engines. ERR company sells upgrade kits for the TMCC by Lionel.

Lee F.

[phillyreading]

Most electronic whistle controllers are polarity sensitive for the DC triggering current. Try reversing the track power wires, either at the track or the transformer, and see if the whistle works.

Len

Len, what you wrote about whistles is true for anything other then the QSI system. True Blast 2 is similar to what you mentioned as well.

With the QSI system reversing the wires won't help! If the bell works then the whistle will work at a higher voltage. The bell goes away when track power is above a certain voltage and comes back at the lower voltage once again. To access the whistle or horn you will need a higher voltage to do so, usually able to access this once the train is at a decent speed.

Lee F.

[phillyreading]

rollsfixer,

I am willing to guess that you were into H.O. trains a bit before getting into O gauge trains.

As DCC is used mainly by; H.O., N scale and G gauge. There might be other sizes that use DCC but generally O gauge uses command control either ; Lionel TMCC or Legacy, MTH DCS.  It seems that no company in O gauge wants to use DCC.

Another thing to be considered is that some companies like K-Line, Williams and Williams by Bachmann have their own remote control units for operating their operating cars like the log dump car, and will not work with command control systems like TMCC, Legacy or DCS.
The Williams by Bachmann remote may work with K-Line and Williams(before Bachmann) but the other remotes won't work with Williams by Bachmann, at least that is what I have heard.

To see if your operating car needs to have a remote control or special unloading/uncoupling track look at the bottom of the O gauge train car and see if it has a small piece of black plastic with a small metal piece in the center called a slide shoe, this works with the uncoupling tracks.

To answer your question about running multiple trains in variable track voltage is similar to running in pure conventional with no command control features. You can only control track voltage in variable voltage setting, or use the whistle or bell buttons.

Lee F.

[Len]

For the larger scales, you usually find DCC being used for 2-rail "Scale" 'O' and G-gauge. The decoders generally have a higher amp rating than those used in HO and N. Some folks, like me, are also known for converting American Flyer 'S' locos to Timko can motors, and putting decoders in the tender, along with a couple of relays so the function outputs can turn the smoke unit and headlight on and off.

Since most modern 3-rail O-gauge locos, like Williams by Bachmann, have can motors, there's technically no reason the guts couldn't be stripped and a DCC decoder or Sound/Motor Controller, installed. Assuming you have a DCC system to control it with. But it wouldn't really be compatible with anyone elses layout or equipment that hasn't been converted to DCC. And as Lee F. pointed out, you also lose the ability to control operating cars.

Len

[phillyreading]

Len,

What I am trying to say about the K-Line, Williams & Bachmann remote controlled operating cars is they won't work with anybody else's remote control system. You can not use them with any command control system unless you change out the receiver circuit board like you do for TMCC or DCS.
It is possible the operating cars will work with DCC unless they use track power, I have not had any WIlliams or Bachmann operating cars so I don't know for sure how they work.

Lee F.

[Len]

The K-Line cars with the remote use track power to operate the mechanism once a radio signal is received from the K-Line remote. I don't own any WBB operating cars, but they are probably the same if they use the K-Line system.

Len

[phillyreading]

The K-Line cars with the remote use track power to operate the mechanism once a radio signal is received from the K-Line remote. I don't own any WBB operating cars, but they are probably the same if they use the K-Line system.

Len

Thanks Len. I wasn't sure how the operating K-Line cars worked.

Lee F.