I'd like to be able to turn off the engine of a loco sitting on a section of track without disabling or isolating that section of track. I've searched everywhere and can't find any info how to send a signal to the loco to shut down the engine. It would also be nice to turn off the engines of each loco at it's "parking" place before shutting off the system. Using DB150 Digitrax and a DT400. The only way I' ve found to shut down an engine is to use the power button and the "n" button..which shuts it ALL down at once. There msut be a way that i'm missing. Thanks for helping.
What you are missing is the fact that railroads do not shut off their engines, well almost never.
Certainly a o\locomotive on a siding would not be shut down. Engines of this class do not have anti-freeze. After all how would you turn a steam engine off?
ROAR
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
F8 will mute the sound from most sound decoders. I have Lenz DCC, and for that system, at least, the engines forget that they've been muted after a short or a power-down, so they all come back to life when I restart.
Some, but not all, decoders do have a shutdown sequence. On my QSI decoders, it's 3 taps of F9. This will trigger a string of sounds like guys climbing down from the engine and closing the doors, and finally one long hiss and then silence. After doing this, the engine will stay silent and it will not respond to motion commands, either, even if the system is power-cycled. To restart the engine, press F6.
Even so, I have wired my roundhouse stalls, staging tracks and most of my passing sidings with kill switches.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
I'm going to ignore Lion's comment as him only run electrics ....
I'm assuming you are referring to sound decoders .... which brand ?
Mark.
¡ uʍop ǝpısdn sı ǝɹnʇɐuƃıs ʎɯ 'dlǝɥ
Wich decoder brand?
BroadwayLionAfter all how would you turn a steam engine off?
Dumping the fire and filling the boiler.
Some decoders its either 8 or 0 on the NCE throttle. I assume you mean the sound. Isolating sections of track isnt a bad idea; if the power cant reach the locomotive via means of a physical switch accidents can be prevented. A $5 DPST switch is cheaper than a $20-$100 decoder. And as mentioned above, in the future you may have enough sound decoders and lighted/powered rolling stock on the layout to max out your command station's current rating. My roundhouse stalls will all have kill switches to prevent locomotives from ending up in the pit or through the back of the roundhouse (those are prototypical accidents for a roundhouse, but like the prototype I find them undesirable).
Oh, Maybe I wasn't clear enough in my question...this is a MODEL railroad in my basement, not an actual railroad. The more realistic operation for this hobby railroad, to me, is to shut down the engines when the railway is not in operation. Thanks for your response though.
I agree with the last post. I have a five stall engine house and I have wired kill switches to each of those stalls so that I can have engines parked there quietly and safely.
Boatman44 The more realistic operation for this hobby railroad, to me, is to shut down the engines when the railway is not in operation.
Can you clarify this? Are you speaking of shutting them down while you are using another locomotive? Function 8 mutes sound. Some decoders are not equipped with a power down sound sequence. You have to look at each decoders instruction sheet for information about function key will control the shutdown sequence (if so equipped).
As for when you are done for the day. The layout should be de-energized at the source, ie unplugged when not in use. This reduces the risk of fire or layout damage from lightning strikes (lightning doesnt even have to hit your house to cause damage from lightning to the layout).
A google search provided this information about your setup:
Note: The DT402/DT400 can access F0-F12 when used with DCS50 or DCS100 Command Stations. DT400 can access F0-F8 when used with DB150 Command Station.
To the OP. Really try to include as much information, details of what you really want to do or we are just guessing. The answers so far should tell you that.
Rich
If you ever fall over in public, pick yourself up and say “sorry it’s been a while since I inhabited a body.” And just walk away.
F8 does act as a toggle to enable/disable the engine sound. 3 taps on F9 does nothing that i can tell. I'm going to look into finding more options for my Tsunami sound cards.
I'm likely to install on/off swtiches on selected blocks too, as a simple way to prevent accidental startups. I do really like to "cycle" the engines off when i power down after sessions instead of the blunt "sudden death" when the power is shut off.
Thanks for your response...it did help me make things better.
oh sorry...didn't think to include the decoder brand...Tsunami. SOmeone already did offer up the tip about the F8...and that does what i was looking for. Thanks for your response :)
Tsunami...i already found out, it;s the F8 button...thanks for your response :)
For full featured Tunami decoders,give CV113 a value of 120...prime mover sounds will shut down automatically approx. 30 seconds after throttle is 0 and all other features (lights) are off.If you want the engine to keep idling you leave the lights on.
Sound Value decoders (Bachmann's OEM) may have this feature deleted.
Well, yes...shutting the engine down to operate a different loco....but not just to shut it off..the docs that came with the sound card said it has an Engine Startup and Engine Shutdown. It makes the start up sounds fine...very realistic, but I want to know how to inititate the Engine Shutdown sounds, not just make it sound like the speaker got unplugged. There must be some f-key that tells it to shut down, and make the sound of the engine slowing more and more til it quiets and stops.
It's a Soundtraxx Tsunami TSU-AT1000 decoder.
Thanks for your response .
Want to give "manual notching" a try?I use it and love it..quite prototypical.
Give CV116=16...then F9 initiates"Start-up",every following F9 raises engine sounds one notch up to notch 8.
Then F10 notches down to "Shut down" sequence.
With CV116=16,interlock is active so loco won't move until startup is completed even if using "mute" (F8).
You will lose manual fan and compressor control (F9&F10),you can have them in automatic (random) operation with CV112=3.Hope you like it...
I was forgetting..if you don't want manual notching,hitting "Emer Stop" on your DT400 should do what you want...haven't tryed it though.....
With my Digitrax Super Empire Builder, shutting down a loco is a three step process. turn off the headlight. Double clicking 9 puts the loco in idle mode. Double clicking 9 again puts the loco in disconnect mode. Double clicking a third time shuts the loco off completely with the engineer leaving and the cab door closing, no sound or motor control. Then dispatch the loco to open up the decoder slot for another choice. To restart, after selecting the address, double click on 6.
retsignalmtr With my Digitrax Super Empire Builder, shutting down a loco is a three step process. turn off the headlight. Double clicking 9 puts the loco in idle mode. Double clicking 9 again puts the loco in disconnect mode. Double clicking a third time shuts the loco off completely with the engineer leaving and the cab door closing, no sound or motor control. Then dispatch the loco to open up the decoder slot for another choice. To restart, after selecting the address, double click on 6.
That sounds like a QSI decoder.
Tsunamis need an e-stop to runt he shutdown. Just make sure your throttle is configured for local e-stop, not global e-stop, or it will shut down your entire layout. Default should be local, so if you never messed with throttle settings you should be ok. This is only in DT400/402 throttles, the UT4 does not have e-stop.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.