I HAVE FOUR MRC CONTROL MASTER 20 POWER SUPPLIES WITH FOUR BLI QUANTUUM ENGINEERS WIRED IN. FOR CHRISTMAS I WAS GIVEN FOUR OF THE BLUELINE SD9 ENGINES. I HAVE READ THAT YOU MUST USE A DC MASTER TO BE ABLE TO ACTIVATE THE SOUNDS-HORN, BELL, ETC. MY QUESTION IS , CAN I WIRE THE MRC CONTROL MASTER 20 TO THE BLI QUANTUUM ENGINNEER TO THE DC MASTER TO THE TRACK. IN EFFECT ALL COMPONENTS IN SERIES? MY PRR LAYOUT IS A FOUR TRACK MAIN LINE THAT WILL RUN FOUR TRAINS AT ONCE OR ANY TRAIN ANYWHERE. I HAVE NEARLY 250 LOCOMOTIVES AND FAR TO LATE IN THE GAME TO CONVERT TO DCC. THANKS FOR ANY HELP!!!
You should be able to connect them all together and use the appropriate one to control each loco.
Why do you say it's far too late to convert to DCC? If you have a Quantum Engineer you must have some locos with QSI sound - those are already DCC. You have 4 CM20's to run the trains, but probably not because of power requirements, probably so you can run 4 trains at once. No one says you need to convert all 250 locos at the same time, do a few at a time (plus you'd have all your QSI locos ready to go). The freedom of being able to run any train anywhere without worrying about block boundaries and flipping the block selectors is totally worth it. Plus you could control the sound locos anywhere, not just from the power pack that has the Quantum Engineer connected to it.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
THANK YOU FOR THE REPLY. AFTER TESTING DIFFERENT CONFIGURATIONS AND MONITORING VOLTAGE/AMPERAGE WITH DIFFERENT LOCOMOTIVE CONSISTS, I HAVE DECIDED TO BUILD A MATRIX USING ROTARY SWITCHES. THIS WAY I CAN BEST UTILIZE THE POWER AND COMPONENTS. I HAVE RULED OUT DCC CONVERSION DUE TO COST AND MASSIVE WIRING CHANGES.
Hi!
We have similar situations. I currently run with two MRC "20s", and have 5 BLI Paragon locos, and a Quantum engineer wired in to get as much of the sound effects as I can. Ha, the sounds still make me smile (and I'm 64 and played with trains for 55 years)!
Anyway, I have decided to go over to DCC concurrent with my layout rebuild - but only after agonizing over making a decision and getting as educated as I could on the subject. I'm no stranger to this forum, and thank them all for their help in getting educated.
I guess my point is, it sounds like you have a lot put into the hobby, and might be a good candidate for the conversion to DCC.
For what its worth.......
Mobilman44
ENJOY !
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
Hello...Thanks for your two cents! Yes, I do have alot into this hobby. Briefly my RR is two levels-bottom is O-gauge with 350 ft of track and the top is HO with 900 ft of track. Both are the Pennsylvania RR with a four track main line. HO runs 4 trains at once or any train anywhere in a heavy industrail/urban setting. The O'gauge can run 5 trains at once, 4 on the main and one on the Carnegie Secondary or any train anywhere. The structures are a mix of MTH and Plasticville in a urban/industrail setting. However all turnouts are operated by compressed air and I have an extensive PRR signal system which really sets the tone of the layout. Convert to DCC would be nearly impossible for me, it would take a year to just take this thing apart. I just turned 55 and still have the Lionel trains bought for me when I was born. Both layouts are complex enought that you will not get bored running them and now I just work on whatever floats my boat. That's the beauty of this hobby----you are never done! Have a good evening! ED K