How to run more than 2 locos on one track using Digitrax Zephyr

[Anonymous]

Hi,
I just got my Zephyr, and I would like to run 3 or more locos on the same track without bumping into eath other, then I would like to turn the unit off and when I started again run all the locos as it was programmed before turning it off. I am looking at the manual and I do not see any where on how to run more that 2 locos at the same time.
Please help.
Thanks and all the best wihes for the season.
Mo:-)

[jwmurrayjr]

Er...this sounds too basic but...

You have to assign each loco a different address. Most folks use the road number on the loco. Then you can run all of the locos that you can keep up with by addressing the loco that you want to control. If you have additional throttles it will be easier.

Coppish?

[tstage]

Mo,

First off, do your locomotives have decoders in them? If so, did you give each of them different addresses? You can run them all on the same address but that sorta defeats the purposed of using DCC. Unless you have a good size layout, you may want to be content running just 2 or 3 locomotives at a time. (Or, at least know where the emergency stop button is on the Zephyr.)

Mo, I don't have the Zephyr but, if you programmed each decoder correctly, you should be able to call up each individual locomotive independently. Did you use a programming track to program your locomotives? Or, did you do it on the mainline?

In order to run more than one train at a time, you first need to call up one of your locomotives on the address you assigned it to, give it a command to obey (e.g. move it forward), then call up another locomotive you programmed and give it a command. While you are communicating with the 2nd locomotive, you're first locomotive should continue with the command it was given.

Does this all make sense?

Tom

[ereimer]

numbers in brackets ( ) are the section numbers from my zephyr manual , it's possible your numbers will be different

put 1st loco on the track
change the decoder address (16.2)
select the new address (9.2)
run loco 1 (9.2.7)

put 2nd loco on the track
change the default address
select the new address
run loco 2

put loco 3 on the track
change the defualt address
select the new address
run loco 3

now all 3 locos will be running on the track and by selecting each loco's address you can control it indifidually , but the only way to stop them from bumping into each other is to carefully set their speeds so they don't , or to take control of each loco as it gets close to the one in front and slow it down .

you can also buy an additional throttle like the UT4 and control 1 loco with the ut4 and one with the zephyr

if you're asking about automatic running of locos, that is something that requires extra hardware , and probably a computer interface and some software

[simon1966]

If you have 2 old DC power packs you can attatch these as the Jump Throttles for the Zephyr. Then assign 2 locos to the jump throttles and run them using the DC powerpacks and a 3rd with the Zephyr controls. This is exactly how I started out with my Zephyr before adding some other Digitrax throttles.

[Texas Zepher]

QUOTE: Originally posted by moshken
I would like to run 3 or more locos on the same track without bumping into eath other, then I would like to turn the unit off and when I started again run all the locos as it was programmed before turning it off.

A totally automated system for three trains is going to take a whole lot more technology than just the Zephyr. The Zephyr assumes that the operator is manually operating the three trains.

I'm thinking:
At least one BDL168 Occupancy Detector with transponding decoders in the locos
OR Several BD4 Occupancy Detector for 4 detection sections and DS54 Quad Stationary Decoders
one MS100 RS232 Computer Interface

Thecommon track rail will have to be blocked so the system can know where the various locomotives are.

Then find software to program the non-bumping scheme you had in mind.

[Anonymous]

Sorry I did not make my self clear. Yes each loco has it's own address, and what I would like to do to run them automaticaly without me controlling. I thought that was DCC is all about!

[simon1966]

The Zephyr can certainly be a part of such a system. On its own, it can not automate the layout. It can act as the interface between a PC application and the layout. Texas Zephyr has indicated much of what you will need. You will also need a computer interface like the Locobuffer 2 (not currently available pending the release of a new USB locobuffer) http://www.rr-circuits.com/locobuffer-usb/LB-usb-flyer.pdf This acts as a PC interface to the Loconet system. There are several PC applications that can then run the layout. The JMRI suite of applications is free and has a script application that allows automation. http://www.decoderpro.com/doc/scripts/index.html However to be really effective you will need many of the elements listed by TZ

[tstage]

Mo,

DCC can do that but, as Texas Zepher has already stated, not without additional hardware. What DCC does for you is to give you the ability to control X amount of locomotives independently of one another - even if they are on the same track. You still have to operate or supervise the individual trains to make sure that they don't run into one another - JUST like a real railroad has to "supervise" the movement of trains on a real track.

With DC, you control the track by adjusting the amount of current going through the rails. The higher the current, the faster your locomotives move - BUT, they will all move the same direction and relatively the same speed.

With DCC, you control the locomotive (or better stated, the decoder that is installed in the locomotive) instead of the track. You can tell one locomotive to go this way at this speed, and tell another locomotive to go that way at that speed. You STILL have to control or keep tabs on both trains. A fully automated system is an entirely different animal.

Tom

[Anonymous]

Heh, even full-sized trains don't have these capabilities, otherwise who'll need engineers :)

[selector]

In a nutshell, what you had thought is not contemplated by over 90% of those who run DCC layouts (my guesstimate). The reason is that it is too much gosh darned fun actually manipulating the locos, and three is about the max that any of us can handle at one go. The reason is that our layouts are too small and the locos cover more ground than we realize when we want them to do something else...like stop and reverse into a siding. Watching three trains chase each other's tail for 15 minutes might be really exciting to some people, but most of us would rather do something that the real railroads would call constructive. And, operations demand immediate feeback and real-time control.

Yes, a computer could be programmed to run a layout, including the constructive operations, but it would mean a great deal more involvement than just dialing in three locos and then letting them run along the main. As stated earlier, the computer would require feedback from sensors that your $160 system simply doesn't have. The sensors would need to detect not only the loco's location, but its address. That way, the computer would know which train to stop and back into which siding, after it had switched points on the turnout just passed. Lots of programming work there.

[Tom Bryant_MR]

Mo, for the very reasons that selector has stated is the very reason I never ran more than two trains on my N-14 Atlas layout.

1) The layout was small, even for N scale, only 4 x 5 feet, and
2) I was the only operator.

So, I was able to manage getting both trains running at the same time by starting one up and getting it going at a certain speed, then, selecting the other loco from the Zephyr command station and getting it going. At times I would have to switch back and forth on the Zephyr to slow down or accelerate one train or the other.

My N-14 was not operations based, just basically round and round the outside loop. I eventually became adept enough to switch one of the trains to an inner loop and then throw the turnout so that the train behind would continue on the outside loop.

It was a challenge even on the small N-14 layout for one person to keep two trains running at the same time without close calls. It would have been easier if I had added at UT4 (another control unit) to the Zephyr so that I could control one train from the Zephyr command station and the other from the UT4 as ereimer has suggested.

[Adelie]

Mo,

What it sounds like you want is possible. The reason I am saying "sounds like" is that you can start one of the locos running, then call up the address of the other and control it while the other is doing what it was last commanded to do. Just be ready to hit the emergency stop button.

My goal is to eventually have automated control, but I never envision me not controlling something. I have a large N-scale layout, capable of running 4-6 trains without much problem. The idea of having "the system" run some number of them and prevent them from hitting each other while I run 1 or 2 others (including some switching) appeals to me. But that is well down the road.

DCC can certainly do what you want, but it will take some research, work and programming (the software probably already exists, but it needs to know what your layout "looks like"). Tex is right, it is going to involve block occupancy detectors, probably transponding, a computer interface, a PC and software. Plus patience to get it working the way you want.