That's why you need CLEAN track and reliable feeders. Or the next step after the Ring system - direct radio with on-board batteries so the track doesn't matter.
We run MU and doubleheaded steam on the club layout all the time - but that's all power on the head end. If one stalls, the others justpush it past the dead spot. If it was a pusher on the back, or a mid-train helper, it would indeed be a disaster if the head end suddenly stopped but the rest kept going.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Kevin - yes you can DPU with Railpro, but as Randy stated you better be sure that everything is clean and reliable. Railpro will still load share when doing DPU and from what I've seen it can work well. I haven't done it myself yet, as I currently don't have any layout large enough to warrant it. Here's video made by another Railpro user of DPU in action (hopefully the link works):
http://youtu.be/oB9L1JoAcpU
Randy - you can do battery with Railpro if you want. All Railpro needs is power, and it doesn't care where it comes from. The problem is finding a battery that is small enough to fit in a standard HO hood unit. If you're running steam then you have a bit more room to work with.
-Kevin
Thanks for sharing that video. Slowing, speeding up - impressive, but unless there's a magic camera/lens, or these old eyes deceive, that's a large scale train. I thought 700-800mA might be a little weak for O or G. Wonder if we got a Ring large scale beta test here.
DC
http://uphonation.com
It's HO scale unless I'm grossly wrong. I believe the Sue Line (a freelanced railroad) is all HO scale. It appears large scale due to the placement of the camera.
Very deceiving angle with those guys walking around on the left, but obviously it is HO. Here's what Tim Ring said about the video:
"That is the layout in Shreveport LA. It is a HO scale layout. And yes they really like the RailPro consisting. This is a good example of how well it works. The locos are not only different models but also different manufactures too. Basically this is as difficult as consisting gets for a model control systems and they told us it work very well when making the video. The layout is 50 ft x 50 ft (2500 square feet)!!!!! The owner has told us that he wants to convert it completely to RailPro. We do plan to make modules for larger scales."
Definitely HO scale. Sue Line is Dr Richard Kamm I believe. It's been in MR, and he's long been associated with Keith Gutierrez in being one of the test railroads fro his pre-DCC command control systems. Looks like his primary control system is Easy-DCC, with what appears to be a Loconet bus for signalling (since he is using RR-CirKits Tower Controllers).
DC, K-Pack, and others who are using RailPro. What are you using for auto-reverser's on your layouts? do you use the Ring Engineering units, Frog Juicers, or others?
thank you in advance,
Kevin
Sorry, Kevin, I don't have any auto-reversers. The Ring Engineering AR-1 is for DC, not DCC or AC. Ring says that it is designed for RailPro products only, but DC is DC (no pun intended), and I don't see why it wouldn't work with any well regulated DC power supply, 16V or less, with good over current protection.
Kevin - I don't have a need for an auto-reverser on the current layout I have, but my Railpro power supply has one built in. I'm using the old PWR-75. The newer PWR-56 does not have an auto-reverser built in, so if you need that functionality you will need the AR-1. The PWR-56 is much less expensive, and with multiple units powering a larger layout they provide more power than an equivalent number of PWR-75's.
I'm not positive, but I believe Frog Juicers are DCC only. Railpro is filtered DC.
For powering frogs, I've used the distinctly low-tech solution of DPDT switches to control the polarity of the frog. Not ideal, and not something I will do for a future layout.
With the AR-1 you keep the direct connectivity to your throttle so you can also keep an eye on the functionality of the units. I still have yet to put together a layout and after some tours I am thinking about provisions for continuous running for a point-to-point operation. Right now my son is three (four in a couple weeks) and he likes seeing trains also So I need to get started.
Thanks guys,