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Model Railroading > Speed Matching (Part 2) – Merry Go RoundDate: 02/02/25 21:30 Speed Matching (Part 2) – Merry Go Round Author: tmotor It goes without saying, but prior to beginning the Speed Matching process, the track and wheels should be CLEAN. This ensures the engines will be as responsive as possible. In fact, after a new engine has had an hour of break-in time, the track and wheels get cleaned again. If the engine is pulling a track cleaning car, so much the better!
Break-In Run The engines were right out of the box, and their default 003 address was used. Each engine was run forward for 15 minutes, then in reverse for 15 minutes. Since it was on a circle of track, the gear train was constantly turning in only one direction. To fully “exercise” the gear train, each engine was manually spun 180-degrees to face the opposite direction. Then it was again run 15 minutes in both directions. This gave a break-in period totalling an hour, which should produce reasonably consistent speeds. Main vs. Programming A DCC Command Station has 2 different track outputs, one for the Main, and another for the Programming Track. The basic idea is to make most of the changes to the decoder on the Programming Track, and then use the Main to run trains. The Programming Track is a section of track that is electrically isolated from the rest of the layout. Changes sent to the Programming Track only affect engines on the Programming Track. Engines on the Main are NOT affected. Isolating the Programming Track (from the Main) prevents making unintended changes to other engines. Since my test track is fully isolated, all of my changes were done on the Main. However, caution needs to be used if making decoder changes on the Main of any layout. When I visit the La Mesa Layout, the only “programming” I will do is to build a Consist. La Mesa has hundreds of engines, and I don’t want to get the reputation as the guy that reset all the decoders on the entire Layout. :-0 Test Track I liked the idea of having a single straight track (vs. a complete circle), since it would easily fit on a workbench. However, a loop of track would allow continuously running is one direction. This allows for longer runs, which will increase my chances of better test results (to confirm the Speed Match settings are consistent over long distances). Moreover, if a CV setting makes the engine takeoff like a rocket (or the wrong direction), I won’t have to worry about the engine running off the end of the track. Back To The Future A oval of track was attached to a sheet of rigid foam. When not in use, it is attached to the back of the garage door. Since it is light weight, and thin, there is plenty of clearance (to walk under it) when the garage door is open. Ironically, my very first trainset (when I was 5 years old) was a sheet of plywood covered with dark green corduroy material (to simulate grass), with a simple oval on it. It is a bit of a flashback to be using an oval of track once again. :-D Speed-O The Accutrack II Speedometer is pretty simple to use. Be aware there is an enclosure (inside the “tunnel”) that houses the electronics. This means the unit needs to be set off-center relative to the track. Otherwise, the enclosure will crowd the track and the locomotive will slam into it. (Guess how I know this…) The digits are big and bright, so they can be seen from a distance, and in dim or bright light. After a locomotive crosses the pair of sensors, the MPH is displayed for about 5 seconds. When the MPH display goes dark, it is ready for another locomotive. I was breaking-in a pair of locomotives at the same time, so there had to be about 10 seconds of distance between them. Otherwise, the MPH for the previous locomotive would still be displayed when the 2nd locomotive enters. (The Accutrack will NOT sense this, nor reset itself.) While the MPH is being displayed, it will ignore the next locomotive. This can give the false impression the locomotives have the same MPH. Nope! Hold-back the 2nd engine (wheels spinning) until the display goes blank, then release it. Be sure to give enough distance for the locomotive to come up to speed, like 2-3 feet. There is a power-save feature, so if it has been several minutes since the last locomotive passed-thru, it will power-down. Cycle the power switch (ON, OFF, ON) to restore operation. The Long And Short of It Each DCC decoder needs a unique identifier, known as an “address”. When the DCC Command Station wants to communicate with a decoder, the address is attached to the front of the command packet. All decoders receive all commands, but only act on the ones with their address. Addresses come in 2 flavors, Short and Long. Out of the box, a DCC equipped engine has a default address of 03, which is a Short Address. For my purposes, that isn’t going to cut it. I want to use the 4-digit road numbers (as they appear on the side of the engine cabs) since that makes remembering their assigned address much easier. To accomplish this, I need to tell the DCC system to use a Long Address. The NCE throttle makes this pretty simple. This video shows the few steps it takes: youtube.com/watch?v=LnYcZHXqW2k (Cut-n-paste that string into your browser. You know the drill…) The decoder now knows to use a 4-digit identifier for this engine. With the engines broken-in, they are ready for Speed Matching. Dave Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 02/03/25 10:53 by tmotor. ![]() ![]() Date: 02/07/25 08:03 Re: Speed Matching (Part 2) – Merry Go Round Author: M-636 A friend of mine does something similar, but instead of an oval he made a elongated figure eight with KATO UNITRACK. He seems to like how it works, but he only is able to speed match one locomotive at a time without the danger of an "Adam's Family" style meeting at the diamond!
Date: 02/07/25 11:08 Re: Speed Matching (Part 2) – Merry Go Round Author: tmotor Greetings M-636!
> A friend of mine does something similar, but > instead of an oval he made a elongated figure > eight with KATO UNITRACK. He seems to like how it > works, but he only is able to speed match one > locomotive at a time without the danger of an > "Adam's Family" style meeting at the diamond! When running a pair of engines separated by several feet, if the lead engine is a bit faster it will widen the distance. Eventually it will T-bone the other engine. An over-under figure-8 would work, but this would be more prone to damage when I store the test track on the back of my garage door. The Adams Family was one of the few TV shows that featured model railroading. Though not exactly a role model, you gotta' love Uncle Festus' enthusiasm. :-D Take care and God bless! Dave |