LASHING 2 OR MORE HO LOCO TOGETHER

[relucas]

ALL LOCOS ARE NOT CREATED EQUAL. I NEED TO KNOW AT A SCALE SPEED OF 45 MPH WOULD I PLACE THE FASTER ENGINE IN FRONT OR BEHIND. AND WOULD IT GO FROM FASTEST TO SLOWEST ON A 3OR 4 LOCO CONSIST. OR BE THE OTHER WAY ,SLOWEST TO FASTEST. CAN I ALSO RUN BACHMANN AND ATHEARN TOGETHER IN A LASH UP. BACHMANN DOES RUN A LOT DIFERRENT THEN ATHEARN .FRONT OR REAR FOR THE BACHMANN.

[Anonymous]

Easy on the caps. Use of the caps lock in the internet is the same as "Screaming" in real life.

I personally put engines that are alike together. Usually the slow engine goes into the pusher of the fast unit. Saves the couplers. The slack action resulting from slow unit first and the fast unit shoving on it will destroy couplers in short order.

Think of different engines like a 4-8-2 Mountain being assisted by a 4-6-0 Picture a Father and child pulling the log up hill. The combined effort on the log is enough to move it.

This is for DC operation only. DCC introduces a whole different scenarios. I tend to use too many words and confuse issue, so I defer DCC to experts.

Good Luck

Lee

[Anonymous]

I see your problem - though, as said before, ease up on the caps lock key? I only have the one Bachmann loco (A Dash 8), which I run with an Athearn AC4400 on heavy container/intermodal trains. I usually run the Bachmann loco at the back of the lash-up between the AC4400 and the rest of the train - the Dash 8 is a little quicker when running light but the weight of the train means that both locos run at the same speed with a reasonable amount of tension in the couplers.

[Anonymous]

There's a split consensus on the subject depending upon personal experience.
Generally with comparable locos with slight differences in speed, other modelers
use the slower as the lead loco.

I don't.

[dknelson]

I would put the "faster" engine on the point. If a slower engine is being pulled the speed will be fairly consistent but somehow I think a slower engine being pushed would result in some jerky action and maybe even cause the coupler to be stressed. having said that, why not try both? The main point to running two engines is usually appearance, as very few of us run trains so long that we need the pulling power of two locomotives.
Dave Nelson

[BentnoseWillie]

If you put the slower engine in the rear, then both will pull at the speed of the slower unit. If the faster engine is on the rear, the slow engine won't be pulling anything but itself, since the couplers will have slack in them and not transfer any pulling power.

Put simply - couplers work much like a chain, and you can't push a chain!