Uses for 3 position E-units

[dsmith]

Hello,
I have been operating several Postwar Lionel engines for the past year and have stumbled on the ability to operate 2 engines on the same track when switching cars or engines. If you are using the 3-position e-unit, just make sure that the engine on a siding or block is in the neutral position when another operating engine enters the same siding or block. By judiciously using the directional control button on the transformer, you can then independently control either engine in forward/neutral/reverse. Im sure that otheres have figured this out before, but I haven't seen it in print before and it's not mentioned in Lionel literature that I can find. I don't know if this was the intended use for the 3-position unit as opposed to the 2-position unit, but it comes in real handy in switching operation. Give it a try! Does anyone know the real reason why Lionel came out with the 3-position forward/neutral/reverse e-unit?

[lionelsoni]

It should be possible to control 4 locomotives this way, by taping over part of the e-unit drum. The drum goes through 8 positions, or two complete 4-step cycles in each revolution; so, by disabling one of these cycles on each locomotive, you could alternate among 2 pairs of locomotives in each half rotation. Who needs TMCC?

Another thought: If you use the Lionel "Magic Electrol" scheme, whereby the whistle relay steps the e-unit, you could control 8 locomotives on one track.

[thor]

Yes I've been using that trick with great success and mixing an electronic with a mechanical e-unit makes it even better because the electronic one is much less sensitive to track chatter disrupting it. So with care, by driving the old loco in such a way as to make it jump slightly, I can get the mechanical unit to cycle whilst the electronic one sits on the siding in neutral despite all the jiggery pokery! So that means on a simple oval wih one siding, using two locos, you can manipulate one of them to shunt back and forth whilst the other waits for its turn. Another thing is that trick of getting elecronic e-units to cycle by reducing track power? Well if you're real careful you can make the electronic unit cycle whilst the mechanical one stays in neutral because whilst its sensitive to sudden changes its not so sensitive to gradual voltage drop.