Model Railroading > (Rapido) BC Rail RDCs

Just a little recent BC Rail action at the local club...

Stull working on the images from my 3/17 trip down to the La Mesa layout in SD.

~ Mr. MRL

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Any thoughts on how well the RDC's run as a set?

Are they bashing into each other? Do they all start at the same time? Do they run well in both directions? Enquiring minds want to know...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/22/19 23:00 by TCnR.

TCnR Wrote:
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> Any thoughts on how well the RDC's run as a set?
>
> Are they bashing into each other? Do they all
> start at the same time? Do they run well in both
> directions? Enquiring minds want to know...

Well, once I removed the surprising amount of dirt buildup on the (brand new out of the box) truck wheels... All three run quite well together. Seriously, polishing the spinning wheels on an alcohol soaked paper towel brought back memories of my old Athearn blue box diesels from 15 years ago! Jet black streaks of carbon buildup on the paper towel, just 60 seconds after taking them out of the box for the first time. Not sure if I was removing some sort of darkening stain or what, but it was essentially preventing the units from even powering up when setting down on the track and hitting F8.

Not sure how or why they came with the dirty wheels, but once cleaned off they ran around for 45 min without flickering lights, sound glitches, or power hiccups. I quickly changed out the stock painted Kadee #5 looking couplers out with short shank/semi scale head #153s. Other thing I did was turn the sound way down. Out of the box master sound CV63 was set to 192!, all three of mine are now down to 30. The three together sound much better now. A little bummed about all those dummy ditchlights, but I understand their reasons why. I’ll have to make attempts down the road to run some surface mount LEDs down there.

They are all sound/dcc equipped, three different numbers, 10, 14, & 21. Haven’t tried running them with my two old Proto 1000 models yet.

~ Mr. BCR

Cool stuff Robbie.Looking forward to the La Mesa pics.
Regards,DK

I think the ditchlight leds along with the one in the front door are supposed to be installed at the factory but you need to cut holes in the body to get the light out. I think I remember reading about that on the Rapido webpage. Mine are from the first run in the BCR dogwood paint. The next run should include BCR 30 and 31 in dogwood with the nose door oscillating light which the crew could remove and take to the other end when the RDC swapped direction. At least 2 of the BCR RDCs are in active service south of Portland working commuter service with their new DMU cars if you want to take a ride.

MrMRL Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> TCnR Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Any thoughts on how well the RDC's run as a
> set?
> >
> > Are they bashing into each other? Do they all
> > start at the same time? Do they run well in
> both
> > directions? Enquiring minds want to know...
>
> Well, once I removed the surprising amount of dirt
> buildup on the (brand new out of the box) truck
> wheels... All three run quite well together.
> Seriously, polishing the spinning wheels on an
> alcohol soaked paper towel brought back memories
> of my old Athearn blue box diesels from 15 years
> ago! Jet black streaks of carbon buildup on the
> paper towel, just 60 seconds after taking them out
> of the box for the first time. Not sure if I was
> removing some sort of darkening stain or what, but
> it was essentially preventing the units from even
> powering up when setting down on the track and
> hitting F8.
>
> Not sure how or why they came with the dirty
> wheels, but once cleaned off they ran around for
> 45 min without flickering lights, sound glitches,
> or power hiccups. I quickly changed out the stock
> painted Kadee #5 looking couplers out with short
> shank/semi scale head #153s. Other thing I did was
> turn the sound way down. Out of the box master
> sound CV63 was set to 192!, all three of mine are
> now down to 30. The three together sound much
> better now. A little bummed about all those dummy
> ditchlights, but I understand their reasons why.
> I’ll have to make attempts down the road to run
> some surface mount LEDs down there.
>
> They are all sound/dcc equipped, three different
> numbers, 10, 14, & 21. Haven’t tried running
> them with my two old Proto 1000 models yet.
>
> ~ Mr. BCR

Nice runners indeed! I had the same issue with the wheels and used the same trick as you did. I also cleaned my BB units and Hobbytowns that way too!

fbe Wrote:
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At least 2 of the BCR RDCs
> are in active service south of Portland working
> commuter service with their new DMU cars if you
> want to take a ride.

The RDCs currently in service in Portland are former Alaska Railroad, the BCR cars were sold after the Lewis & Clark trains to Astoria ended. I believe the BCR RDCs are in Eastern Oregon now.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/23/19 12:44 by KM-ML4000.

>
> Nice runners indeed! I had the same issue with the
> wheels and used the same trick as you did. I also
> cleaned my BB units and Hobbytowns that way too!

Bill is leaving for China tonight and that is one of the top things on his agenda with both factories. It's driving us mad.

-Jason
 

MrMRL Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Just a little recent BC Rail action at the local
> club...
>
> Stull working on the images from my 3/17 trip down
> to the La Mesa layout in SD.
>
> ~ Mr. MRL

That first photo is really, really amazing. Thanks for sharing!

-Jason