Quote from: rogertra on January 02, 2016, 04:42:33 PM

Quote from: brokenrail on January 02, 2016, 03:05:28 PM

I was thinking about installing some smoke units........................

Be nice to just have one that worked well to bring out every now and then to entertain .All that nice steam out there with sound does not get the realisum it should without it.Diesels you can burn some oil somewhere so it smells and there you go.

Don't!

They are unrealistic and are messy.  They will leave a layer of oil over your locomotives, track and scenery.

At best, they just look as though your loco is smoking a cigarette.  The smoke is thin and wispy looking, nothing like real locomotive exhaust.  Completely unrealistic.

Happy New Year.

Roger T.

Quote from: UPTODAY on January 02, 2016, 11:24:21 PM
The West Side Lumber Co. ran arch bar trucks,ribbed wheels,and link and pin couplers until they quit in 1960.

A bit of history
UPTODAY

I like that.Wonder if they had any issues with there equipment running them like that or who they paid off to look the other way
Johnny Adam

Some of us are here to help some that cannot help themselves and do it with honor.That is it, otherwise a spectator is the best recommendation.
Johnny Adam

Broadway limited,The competition has some new smoke units out there that are fan driven that seem to be a work in progress ,but there not to shabby.I stumbled on to a link one day of someone using a micro transistorized type of relay that was very small and lost all the info on a pc that went to the scrapper.So far I have not found it.Time to reinvent the wheel it seems when dealing with smoke units.

Quote from: jbrock27 on January 02, 2016, 04:41:45 PM
Does that mean you endorse "smoke"?

If it is done correctly.I see many comments that it is messy and causes problems Yes I AGREE,because it is not being done the right way.IF the old mechanical sound systems were thrown out and never improved upon we would not have sound .Now would we.
Years ago when there were still stores around town we picked up these toy trains for the kids they were battery powered had lights,some kind of sound coming out of the station and smoke out of the loco.Well it was not smoke .It was powder driven by a pump type diaphragm mechanized off of a gear from a drive wheel.It worked somewhat ,but it was a great example of trying.We all know progress is not perfect,but isn't that why we have such great stuff today in model railroading?

Have you lubricated the motor bearings recently? The reason I ask is that if you did there is a good chance that when it sits some lube runs into the commutator area of the motor when it sits.Then when you put it on the rail some of the lube gets on the brushes and after a time of running burns off a little to where it no longer hesitates warmed up ,but then when it sits and cools down a little the lube migrates back where it should not be and attracts the crud/brush material worn off.Had a Athearn do that .Ran terrible after sitting a bit.Then after a warm up ran ok.Made some odd sounds ,hesitated and was never quite right until I took the motor out cleaned it and put a new set of brushes in it along with new springs.The old brushes and springs were not worn,but I figured since I had the parts and nothing to lose why not.After that no more noise or hesitation.The cleaning out with alcohol probably really took care of the issue.AFTER Cleaning the old brushes in alcohol I put them in another to test and all was good.
Johnny Adam

I was thinking about installing some smoke units and would like to be able to control them with the dcc output control and a realize that the current that the

smoke generators use is too much for the decoder to handle .I would like to know if there is a micro type relay to use to use the low current dcc controll output

to control the high current that a smoke generator draws, and a example of how it could be wired  without letting the smoke out of a Soundtraxx sound

decoder.I like the option of being able to turn it off, rather then letting it constantly draw and burn out prematurely If not being used.I have some 12 volt mini

automotive relays laying around ,but seem still to large and too much draw to be of any use in ho scale.Already fried part of a old mrc dcc decoder doing a trial and error with one of those relays.Guidance Appreciated.
Johnny Adam

Hello,
I seen you post and went through what your going through .Most important thing I learned was easy access to all points of the layout  should be considered wisely .I had a 20 by 8 layout that was complete ,but it took up so much space and was very difficult to access every point that it turned into a shelf type layout that is now shaped like a J .Basically a bent dog bone.Every point is accessible even the corners and the loops with access doors in each loop so everything  is in arms length.Along with this being sectional in a layout of size is important in the planning for things may have to move one day and without the sectional idea put into the design it will have to be cut up.My neighbor had the same type of bent dog bone design,but did not section it in the bench-work and spent 5 years spiking hand laid track with wood ties that he ended up having to cut up ,,,,rather then take apart  the sections so he could move it to his new residence.It was sad.He gave me a few pieces and a strong reminder of a sectional design. His track work and scenery was a work of art that had to be basically destroyed because of this major error in planning.
Johnny Adam

Quote from: Len on December 31, 2015, 11:58:10 AM
If you're modeling a particular time period, cast wheels started going away during the 50's. They were banned from use on new cars in 1957, and banned completely from interchange service in 1970. Steel wheels started gaining in popularity around 1920, so would not be out of place in the later portion of the steam era.

Len

Remembered the reason they were banned ???They Shattered .Talk about a recall
Johnny

Witch Mantua Diesel?

Understood,My focus also being the default list be accurate and up to date and also complete.Along with its own manual.It would be a good idea under cretin circumstances to know that there is a on/off switch for the bemf.This should be advised ,but left up to the end user since he or she did pay for it .I myself have used this and it does make some difference .In certain areas Better.It is pretty remarkable that such a poor job has been done with this area since it is very new to many exploring dcc and dcc and sound and referring a Chevy to a Cadillac manual is as shade tree as it gets .The customers that support this deserve better regardless of the price .
Johnny

Thanks Man! Happy New Year! I have seen a tyco/mantua with there nternal truck motor that has 2 worms at the end of each motor shaft that drove 2 axles.There was a video out there where it was re-powered using the original motor shaft and gears with 2 pulleys and a drive belt.Smooth and they managed to get the correct pullys for a good slow speed switcher.Model power has a new one that drives one axle .That does not get it for me.Finding the can motor Bachmann version is proving to be difficult.
Maybe Bachmann is going to make a new version hopefully since there already doing one in N scale any clues??
Johnny Adam

Hunt,
Did you ever try cv 217.It is there and is some type of noise reduction and does have a effect on the way they run at a slow speed .I Googled it,and found that it was told to a customer at a train show directly by one of the soundtraxx reps. .Why is it not listed either?How many more of these adjustments are there, but not accurately described in the manuals available so we can fix it or adjust it to our own preferences??

Was looking through the Online ho seeker literature diagrams and was interested in a Plymouth switcher.The Diagram showed a 3 axle Plymouth switcher with the split frame design reduction gears,and 2 of the 3 axles were gear driven witch is confusing since the Bachmann online diagram is a little different .
1 shows a pancake motor ,and the other shows a can motor with the traditional worm gear.Very interested in that one ,but I am not sure on the part number and if it is a Spectrum or a standard white box .Like the idea of both axles powered ,gear reduction and a can motor in one of these ,but a pancake motor is out of the question,,, and do not want to get stuck with one of those.A little help or knowledge would be appreciated 
Johnny Adam

CV 51 controls the beacon light output function on the dda40x .This has not been corrected,but for the record, it is the same as the Tsumani default. They have 4 lighting outputs ,so if somebody wanted to rearrange the lights and add ditch lights it could be done and controlled just like the Tsumani. Had a idea to renumber one to 6936 and add the ditch lights that would work,but too many projects going now.
Johnny Adam