Does anyone know if the Roundhouse Model 40 locomotive will go through Atlas code 100 snap turnouts or is it too short and stops? Thanks
Bruce
Looking through older threads, you've already had experience with this loco stopping.
http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/t/126411.aspx
There are even older threads that mention a diode is reversed, this was back in 2008.
The frog on a snap switch is unpowered and cannot be powered, so you are down to one axle for electrical pick up. If ever there was a loco that needed DCC and a keep alive, this would be it.
There are critter fans on this Forum and they can advise how to keep this loco moving, but out of the box, you would be extremely lucky if this never stalled on a turnout.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
Thanks, when I started that thread years ago I found out they would stall but was wondering if by now Athearn had made corrections to it or if it is the same old loco as it was then.
I missed the year of your thread, I thought it was last month. Which made it an odd question to ask 5 weeks later.
It doesn't seem to be in their current catalog. Walthers figured it out for the Hustler Plymouth and put a keep alive in the DCC version. I think keep alives are a fairly recent innovation.
One reads threads about powering frog or not and some people never power their frogs and never have problems and others say you must power the frog for reliable operation and in all cases they are talking about much longer engines.
There must be other factors in play besides the frog, like dirty track or wheels or dodgy power routing in the turn out.
There is someone here who's name escapes me, who regularly posts about his very small engines. Search critter for more details. Soldering is not that difficult and there maybe someone near you who could help out with a decoder installation. If you are running DC, I don't know what they do about keep alives.
Some of the older Atlas switch frogs were cast in a metal that will not accept solder. For these, I drill and tap for a 2-56 screw. I cut the head off the screw, and file a slot in it so I can screw into the hole with some protruding out the bottom. I solder a feeder wire to this to power the frog from the bottom. Once the top end of the screw is painted a dark, rusy color, it does not show.
George In Midcoast Maine, 'bout halfway up the Rockland branch
Those are the Cutom Line turnouts that have a metal frog that you can power. Snap Switches are plastic.
They fit a decoder and keep alive in the Plymouth, so it should be doable with the Model 40. Downside is, it does fill up the cab. With the big windows of the Mode 40 it would be rather obvious it was in there.
The Walther Plymouth it the first loco I have with a keep alive - and I appreciate why ESU has a CV that controls how long the keep alive works. This little loco goes a LONG way with no DCC signal - if it stays on the rails, a piece of paper the long way (11") isn't even a challenge. I took it off the track and set it on my workbench and it just kept chugging across the bench. Frankly, it runs TOO long, should it derail or something. ESU decoders have a CV that sets a run time so you cna let it run the couple of seconds it would need to get over a dirty spot or a dead frog, but not just keep going until the keep alive ran down. It sort of reminds me of playing with a wind-up train.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
rrinker Frankly, it runs TOO long, should it derail or something.
.
This is something I always wondered about KEEP ALIVE technology.
What if the power to you house fails during an operating session? Do the trains just keep running until the KEEP ALIVE depletes, they crash, or worse?
This sounds like something that should not operate for more than 2 seconds.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
In absence of a DCC signal, they will run until the capacitor is too depleted to power the motor and processor. Or the DCC packet timeout is reached, which is usually a relatively large value. Hopefully others will do like ESU and add a CV for keep alive timeout. Or you can use a smaller keep alive so that the loco can't run as long. A second or two is all it takes to get over a dead frog or a spot of dirt on the rails.
The newer model 40 has a flywheel with all wheel pickup.
http://www.athearn.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=RND89567
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"