# What does it all mean?



## Chiefmcfuz (Dec 30, 2008)

I know in reefing we have acronyms and slang for lots of stuff found in our fish tanks and equipment we use for them as well. What are the main ones used in the hobby?

Also I set p a nice little ez-track layout for my kids but I see here most people use regular track without the plastic bed on their setups is that a correct observation? And why does the switch track seem to be de-railing stuff mostly the rolling stock?


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## stationmaster (Dec 7, 2008)

The "frogs" are too tight, too high, or misaligned. And not the reef or aquatic frogs here. And you won't need a 'fuge ,HOB, or a sump to run your trains.

My grandson's first layout was EZ track. I got a thin flat file and opened up the frogs. Emory cloth will work also. Roll a car over the frogs and observe what is happening and adjust accordingly.Adding weight to the cars may also help. I would try adding weight BEFORE sanding away.

Not a "reefer" but I do have a couple of FW tanks. Cichlids are my forte, especially the Victorian haplochromines. I do like the SA dwarves too.


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## shaygetz (Sep 23, 2007)

Your derailments most likely are coming from the wheelsets catching the point on the turnout or switch. Lightly filing the point usually helps this. Get a standards gauge and make sure your wheelsets and track are in gauge as well.

Some of the terminology...

*Crummy, hack *= caboose

*FRED* = *F*lashing *R*ear *E*nd *D*evice that replaced the caboose

*reefer* = any refrigerated boxcar, regardless of how it keeps its temperature

*gon* = gondola

*oil can *= tank car

*block* = an electrically isolated section of track

*pig train* = a train wholly or mostly devoted to carrying trucking trailers piggy backed on flatcars.

*rivet counter* = anyone who places an annoyingly high priority on scale and period accuracy

*juice jacks, juicers, motors* = any locomotive that gathers its power from overhead wires

*fouling the main* = any action performed with a train or any part thereof that impedes the forward progress of any train on the mainline

*in the hole *= temporarily on a siding awaiting further clearance from a dispatcher

*chasing your caboose* = your current layout limits you to little more than a small loop of track

*scratchbuild* = building a model primarily from raw stock, be it wood, plastic or metal

*kitbash* = building a model primarily by modifying one or more ready made kits into configurations other than what it was originally manufactured for and can include some elements of scratchbuilding.

*armchair railroading* = your current modeling is limited to mostly reading with an occasional small kit or two but does not include a layout of any kind

Come on guys, I know there's lots more


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## Boston&Maine (Dec 19, 2007)

shaygetz said:


> *chasing your caboose* = your current layout limits you to little more than a small loop of track


Hahaha, guilty as charged! Those were all great Shaygetz, and there were some there that I had never heard before...


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## stationmaster (Dec 7, 2008)

Her are few terms:

A

* ALCOholic: a railfan who loves, or is obsessed with, American Locomotive Company (ALCO) locomotives.
* Alligator: ALCO RSD-15 locomotive, so named for its long, low nose. 

B

* B-Boat: GE B23-7, B30-7 or B36-7 locomotive. By analogy with U-boat, since with the Dash 7 line, the "B" or "C" moved to the beginning of the designation.
* B-Unit: A booster locomotive commonly with no cab.
* Baby Boat: GE U18B locomotive.
* Baby Tunnel Motor: EMD GP15-1 or GP15T locomotive, so-called because its low air intakes resemble those of the much larger SD40T-2 and SD45T-2. 
* Bandit: Nickname for Milwaukee Road engines after the railroad was sold to the Soo Line. The Soo covered up the Milwaukee Road name and logo on the orange locomotives with black paint, causing them to resemble bandits.
* Baretables: Empty flat, spine or well cars.
* Basketball: Nickname for the Pan Am Railways logo.
* Big G, the: Nickname for Guilford Rail System, in reference to the large "G" emblem on their locomotives and boxcars.
* Big Mac: Nickname given to EMD's SD70MAC, SD80MAC and SD90MAC locomotive models.
* Billboard: Santa Fe locomotive in the pre-1972 blue and yellow scheme
* Black Widow: Southern Pacific Locomotive (All black with some silver)
* Bloody Nose: Southern Pacific Locomotive (Post 1959, grey and red paint scheme)
* Blowdryer: Nickname for dynamic brakes.
* Bluebonnet: one of two Santa Fe paint schemes. The standard freight scheme from 1972 until the BNSF merger was dark blue with yellow on the front, with the same color division as the warbonnet scheme. It is also known as Yellowbonnet. Bluebonnet can also mean a warbonnet unit with only the red painted over, resulting in a silver and blue locomotive; this was used on passenger engines transferred to freight service after the formation of Amtrak.
* Baobab: (PRR only): an oversize load. From the telegraph code-word used. A baobab tree is a very large tropical tree.
* Booster: (Diesel locomotive) - a cabless B unit or Slug. Although a Slug and a B Unit differ slightly, (See related articles for details) both serve the same purpose of adding more tractive effort.
* Brick: GE E44 electric engines used by Pennsylvania, Penn Central and Conrail (called this because the road-switcher style engines were as ugly as a brick compared to the classic PRR GG1s that they worked along side of)
* Bright Future: The middle CSX tricolor paint scheme (also known as Yellow Nose 2 or YN2).
* Buggy: a caboose on the Boston and Maine Railroad.
* Bull: a railroad police officer.
* Butthead: Switching locomotive with the operating cab located at the rear end of the carbody. 
C

* Cabbage: Former F40PH locos with the diesel engine removed, and a roll-up baggage door installed in the center of the carbody; used as cab/baggage cars in Amtrak push-pull service.
* Cadillac: A nickname for EMD SD9 locomotives, in reference to their smooth ride quality reminiscent of a Cadillac automobile. This nickname is said to have originated on the Southern Pacific Railroad.
* Calf: A cabless switcher. Not a slug; it has its own diesel engine.
* Can Opener: Conrail's herald
* Catfish: Norfolk Southern's D9-40CW locomotives.
* Ches-C: Chessie System's kitten logo.
* Chicken Bone: Amtrak's City of New Orleans
* Coal Drag: A train loaded with coal.
* Covered wagon: an EMD E-series or F-series locomotive.
* Cow: a switcher locomotive, when paired with a Calf.
* CPLs: Color Position Lights, PRR style signal heads with new color lenses installed.
* Crap-9: Another term of derision for Dash-9 engines.
* Crash 8: A term for CSX's C40-8Ws that are starting to show their age.
* Critter: A small industrial locomotive. 

D

* Dark Future: The current CSX paint scheme (also known as Yellow Nose 3 (YN3) or Gold Nose 1 (GN1)).
* Darth Vader: Term used to describe the lens hood on a modern style of railroad signals, due to its visual resemblance to the helmet of Darth Vader from Star Wars. [1] 
* Deathstar: Term used to describe the logo of the Illinois Central, which has the letter "i" inside a circle — based on a resemblance to the Death Star battle station in Star Wars.
* Diamond/Diamonds: Level crossing of two railroad tracks, at any angle from 15° to 90°.
* Diet Pepsi: An Amtrak GE Dash 8-32BWH wearing the Phase IV paint scheme. (See Pepsi Can)
* Dinky: Nickname given to small locomotives, particularly while in industrial service.
* Dirt Dauber: Loaded phosphate train.
* Douche-9: Another term of derision for Dash-9 engines.
* Draper-Taper: Canadian National units with wide/extended hoods
* Dress Blues: Former Conrail unit, nostalgic.
* Dump Truck: a GE AC6000CW, based at least partially on the fact that these units are almost always covered with dirt and grime.
* Dynamics/dynamic braking: Regenerative braking in which the motors on the locomotive wheels generate electric power off of the momentum of the moving train, and this power is burned off through resistor grids as heat. 

E

* Elephant-style: A lashup of multiple locomotives with all units facing forward
* Ex-Con: Former Conrail unit or former Conrail employee 

F

* Fallen flag: a railroad company that no longer operates.
* Wings/Flags/Flares (W/F/F): Characteristics used to designate Union Pacific's paint scheme and engine type. Wings = "Wing" Decal on the engine nose, Flags = "American Flag" Decal on engine body, Flares = "Flared Radiators" of certain SD70Ms on the long hood. Some engines have one or more of these UP characteristics.
* Fatheads: Wide-nose (North American Cab) locomotives.
* Firework Show: Nickname for the sparks that shoot out from the electrified third rail when a train passes over it when the rail is damp.
* FRED: "Flashing Rear End Device" located on the rear of trains, measures train air line pressure and train speed
* Foamer: a railfan, particularly one whose enthusiasm is excessive, or one who has a particular interest in steam locomotives.
* Ford Edsel: Amtrak GE Genesis locomotives.
* Furball/Furbie: Locomotive owned by First Union Rail (FURX).
* FRN: an acronym for "fucking rail nut", a derogatory term used by some railroaders to describe railfans.[1] 

G

* Geep: Nickname for EMD's GP series of locomotives
* Gennie: A MetroNorth or Amtrak GE P32AC-DM locomotive.
* Genset: A switching locomotive that uses two or three high-speed diesel engines, rather than one medium-speed diesel engine. Sometimes confused with Green Goat locomotives; the only similarities between the two types are their outward appearance and that both are designed to reduce air pollution.
* GEVO: Nickname for GE Evolution Series locomotives, in reference to the GEVO-12 engine used in those units.
* GN1: Gold Nose 1, the current CSX paint scheme. Another term for YN3.
* Goat: a locomotive used in yard switching service.
* Green Goat: A type of "hybrid" switching locomotive utilizing a small diesel engine and a large bank of rechargeable batteries.
* Greenie Weenie: Leased locomotive, typically of Burlington Northern heritage.
* Guilford Fail System: Guilford Rail System (derogative). Several Guilford locomotives have had the "R" in the word "Rail" vandalized to resemble an "F," thus resulting in this nickname. 

H

* Hammerhead: A Dash-8 or Dash-9 series locomotive running long hood forward.
* Hertz: A locomotive leasing company.
* High Ball: Another term for a clear signal, derived from the days of steam where a station operator would hoist a ball up the scaffold, signalling the engineer he was authorized to proceed.
* Hogger: locomotive engineer.
* Horsehead: Norfolk Southern's new locomotive livery with a horse's head embedded in the NS Logo. (sometimes also called 'Mr. Ed')
* Hotbox: Overheated wheel bearing. 

I

* Iron Triangle (The): An area near downtown Fostoria in northwest Ohio where two main lines of CSX Transportation (the former Baltimore and Ohio line between Akron and Chicago and the former Chesapeake and Ohio Railway line between Columbus and Toledo) and one main line of Norfolk Southern (the former Nickel Plate Road line between Bellevue and Fort Wayne) cross each other in close proximity. 

J

* Jenny (also Jimmy): A 24 ft or 25 ft long ore car. Also refers to mine gondolas, as well as gondolas and hoppers from the early days of railroading.
* Jet: New Haven EP-5 electric locomotive, named for its loud cooling air blower equipment.
* Juice jack: Electric locomotive.
* Juice Train: Unit train of Tropicana cars.
* Junk box: see Rent-a-Wreck. 

K

* Kodachrome: Southern Pacific Santa Fe Railroad's red, yellow and black paint scheme, which resembled the packaging of Kodachrome color transparency film. This was the scheme instituted when the merger between Southern Pacific and Santa Fe was assumed to be approved. Hundreds of locomotives were painted in Kodachrome colors before the merger was denied. 

L

* Lightning Slinger: telegraph operator. 

M

* Manifest: A freight train with a mixture of car types and cargos.
* Mate: See Mother.
* Mating Worms: Penn Central logo
* Meatball/Swedish Meatball: Amtrak EMD AEM-7 / ABB ALP-44 electric locomotives; so named for their design being based on the Swedish Rc4.
* Miniquad: Four ore cars (jennies) permanently coupled.
* Monobrow: The second version of Norfolk Southern's "Horsehead" paint scheme
* Mop, the: the Missouri Pacific Railroad (MoPac).
* Mother: The locomotive that is paired with a slug.
* Mud Missile: Derogatory nickname given to GE Genesis locomotives, in reference to their involvement in the 1993 Big Bayou Canot train disaster. 

N

* Nuetered Stallion: A term given by Norfolk Southern's employees for the new horsehead logo. 

O

* Orange: One of Tropicana Orange Juice Company's Bright Orange boxcars. 

P

* Pac-Man: A nickname for Canadian Pacific Railway's 1968-1996 logo featuring a black triangle within a white half-circle, which resembles the main character of the video arcade game Pac-Man. It was CP's corporate logo for all business aspects - railway (CP Rail), shipping (CP Ships), telecommunications (CNCP), trucking (CP Express) and airline (CP Air).
* Patch: A locomotive wearing a new reporting mark and/or number on a "patch" over existing paint, usually of the former owner's.
* Pennsy Style: Nickname for old Pennsylvania Railroad position light signals
* Pepsi Can: An Amtrak GE Dash 8-32BWH, in reference to the units' original paint scheme with large red and blue stripes.
* Pig train: a train devoted exclusively to intermodal traffic, generally trailers on flatcars (TOFC) or containers on flatcars (COFC).
* Private varnish/PV: privately owned passenger cars.
* Pumpkin: BNSF Railway's current paint scheme, CSX's maintenance-of-way paint scheme. Formerly also ICG's all-orange scheme. 

Q
R

* Racetrack: Nickname for a stretch of Metra Commuter Rail line and BNSF freight line between Chicago and Aurora, Illinois where commuter trains and freight trains commonly attain high speeds.
* Racks: Nickname for autorack cars
* Raccoon: Norfolk Southern locomotives that have the entire area around the cab windows painted white, resembling the face of a raccoon.
* Railfan Window: The window in the end door of the lead or last car on a subway train or commuter train without a full-width cab.
* Rare Mileage: A passenger train traveling over track that does not have regular passenger service.[2]
* Red Barns: Canadian Pacific's SD40-2F locomotives
* Rent-a-Wreck: Locomotive owned by a leasing company
* Roster Shooter: Someone interested in shooting every locomotive road number they can.
* Royal Toaster: Nickname for the Amtrak AEM-7 #946 that led a train carrying Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall. 

S

* Screamer: EMD F40PH locomotive, in reference to it operating in a constant state of full throttle (in order to provide head-end power to passenger cars). Coined by MBTA railfans.
* Screaming Thunderbox: EMD F40PH locomotive, particularly while in Amtrak service.
* Sergeant Stripes: a Canadian National locomotive in the 1970s-1980s paint scheme featuring light grey stripes on the locomotive's long hood.
* Shower Caps: Canvas coverings which protect the mouths of locomotive air horns on most freight units. Usually blue in color, and easily deteriorated by exposure to the elements.
* Silver Snake: Name given to Norfolk Southern's PPLX hopper trains which have only silver Bethgon hoppers
* Slug: A locomotive, with or without an operator's cab, which lacks a diesel engine, and draws power for its traction motors from a normal locomotive, known as a "mate" or "mother."
* Slushbucket: SD26 locomotive. So named for their muffled-sounding turbochargers.
* Snow Cones: Stainless steel coverings which protect the mouths of locomotive air horns, particularly on passenger units such as those used on Amtrak. So called due to their shape, which helps to deflect debris while at speed.
* Speeder: a small, motorized track inspection vehicle. Also called motorcar, trackcar, putt-putt, or golf cart.
* Space Age Noodle: Another name for the current Canadian National logo.
* Speedo: a track speed restriction (slow order).
* Spin Cycle: derogatory name for the compressor noises made by GE D9-40CW locomotives when idling.
* Stacks: Nickname for double-stack cars or trains
* Stealth Unit: The early CSX grey & blue paint scheme. So named for their virtual invisibility in poor light. Also used to describe NS D9-40CWs in light gray primer paint, and a scheme used on some Metro-North locomotives.
* Susie-Q: Nickname for the New York, Susquehanna & Western Railroad. 

T

* T-Hog: Nickname for a Reading Railroad T-1 4-8-4 steam locomotive.
* Taco Belle: Nickname for the new Southern Belle-inspired paint scheme on Kansas City Southern Railway locomotives.
* Toaster: Amtrak AEM-7/ALP-44 or GE P42DC locomotives. Also used to refer to any GE locomotive, due both to their tendency to shoot flames out of the exhaust stack during Turbo Lag and to General Electric's historic involvement in the manufacture of household appliances.
* Tomato Can: M2 (railcar) operated by Metro-North Railroad.
* Tri-Color: type of signal which features red, yellow, and green in a triangle shape
* Tunnel Motor: Southern Pacific EMD SD40T-2 / EMD SD45T-2. Named for the lower-located air intakes to prevent the locomotive from pulling diesel exhaust in with the clean air while traveling through a tunnel.
* Turbo Lag: Characteristic of older Alco locomotives (and in more modern times, GE locomotives), where the turbocharger lags behind the throttle-up of the diesel, shooting dense clouds of black smoke and/or flames from the exhaust stack when initially throttling up. 

U

* U-Boat: GE Universal Series locomotive. 

V

* Vomit Bonnet: BNSF's first attempt at a paint scheme 

W

* Warbonnet: Santa Fe's red and silver paint scheme (less common since the BNSF Railway merger in 1995)
* Warpumpkin: Name given to the BNSF orange and black update of the classic Sante Fe Warbonnet scheme.
* Washboards: name given to M.U. cars, subway cars, and other equipment made with corrugated side panels that resembled washboards.
* Wet Noodle: Canadian National's stylized CN logo, in use since 1961.
* Whiteface: first version of Norfolk Southern's "Horsehead" paint scheme. Paint scheme used on Burlington Northern's widecab SD60s
* Window train: a passenger train.
* Winnebago: Nickname for Metra's fleet of EMD F40PHM-2 locomotives, in reference to that model's resemblance to the popular recreational vehicle.
* Worms In Love: Nickname for Penn Central's herald. Commonly known as "mating worms." 

X
Y

* Yellowbonnet: one of two Santa Fe paint schemes. The standard freight scheme from 1972 until the BNSF merger was dark blue with yellow on the front, with the same color division as the warbonnet scheme. It is also known as Bluebonnet. Yellowbonnet can also mean a warbonnet unit with only the red painted over, resulting in a silver and yellow locomotive; this was used on passenger engines transferred to freight service after the formation of Amtrak. 
* YN1: CSX's first yellow-nose paint scheme; gray overall with dark blue on the top half of the cab and yellow on the front of the nose; blue "CSX" lettering
* YN2: CSX's second yellow-nose paint scheme; more yellow on the nose; the whole cab is dark blue, along with a stripe on the side; blue or yellow "CSX" lettering
* YN3: CSX's third yellow-nose paint scheme; dark blue overall with a yellow nose; yellow "CSX" lettering 

Z

* Zebra Stripes: A Santa Fe locomotive in the early black scheme with white warning stripes

courtesy of spottingworld.com


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## B.C.RAIL (Sep 1, 2008)

LOL, those are good!...The FRED one got me laughing. And I heard someone call a caboose a "Van" before...


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## stationmaster (Dec 7, 2008)

I'm just a "google genius". lol


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## B.C.RAIL (Sep 1, 2008)

Ah Google...what would we do without it???


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## Chiefmcfuz (Dec 30, 2008)

Well without google I wouldn't have found MTF! 

Thanks guys. 

I am going to look at the frog/weight thing and see if that does it. but it was doing it with the heavy all metal cars and the plastic cars as well that I was using.

Cichlids are my favorite FW fish, if I ever break away from SW I am going to set up an african tank.


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## B.C.RAIL (Sep 1, 2008)

LOL. I found MTF through google too...heehhe


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## shaygetz (Sep 23, 2007)

Boston&Maine said:


> Hahaha, guilty as charged!


As bad as this?


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## B.C.RAIL (Sep 1, 2008)

LOL !! haha

BTW Im a Brakeman!!


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## stationmaster (Dec 7, 2008)

Chasing your tail there shaygetz? lol


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## Boston&Maine (Dec 19, 2007)

shaygetz said:


> As bad as this?


Yep... I could not even fit all of my rolling stock on the track at the same time, and my loop was around a 12' x 10' room... I normally only would run half at a time though so it did not feel like I was stuck on such a small layout...


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

I'm impressed. It's not easy to keep a long train on a short circle.
Entertaining too!. I didn't know photobucket had video's.


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## Chiefmcfuz (Dec 30, 2008)

Cool video. 

Can someone answer me a Q about Steam Locomotives, why are they so expensive?


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## Boston&Maine (Dec 19, 2007)

Chiefmcfuz said:


> Cool video.
> 
> Can someone answer me a Q about Steam Locomotives, why are they so expensive?


Just an educated guess, but probably because there is mcuh more detail on them than on diesels... Therefore they take longer to produce which means that they need to charge more for them... I do not know about HO, but some O scale steamers cost over $1,000, and even the less expensive ones are like at least $200 more than a diesel...


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

Quality and electronics. Plastic has increased with oil prices. Expensive has always been relative. You just have to know what you are buying. The most expensive models are geared for collectors and produced in limited numbers. 
Lionel has K line with lower quality and it goes up from there.


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## Chiefmcfuz (Dec 30, 2008)

I know this might sound like blasphemy but I was looking for a inexpensive loco for the set I have for now. Collector stuff down the road but stuff for me and the kids to use for now.


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

Hey, I rarely buy new, I just fix. I do this for beginners. For O27 any set is ok. Hogwarts and Polar are nice because they have coaches. Even Bed and Bath has a freight set for sale.
Ho I do not keep up. Craigslist is always an option. you may find a completed layout. I have seen them for 50 bucks.

I think that members buying should rate their sets. We get a lot of questions but not the feeback after the suggestion.

So please tell us why, after you get one to help others.

My collection is at a point I buy single pieces and I am not sure what the other members do.

I could learn a lot from looking at reviews of sets.


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## Chiefmcfuz (Dec 30, 2008)

Ok so I added some weight to a couple of cars and they still derailed going over the frogs. Should I get new ones or try to bend the track? Or file? Where do I start?


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

stationmaster said:


> The "frogs" are too tight, too high, or misaligned. And not the reef or aquatic frogs here. And you won't need a 'fuge ,HOB, or a sump to run your trains.
> 
> My grandson's first layout was EZ track. I got a thin flat file and opened up the frogs. Emory cloth will work also. Roll a car over the frogs and observe what is happening and adjust accordingly.Adding weight to the cars may also help. I would try adding weight BEFORE sanding away.


You need to see how it happens and correct it.. It is probably more of a shape problem than a track height problem. The wheel rims may be a little large but you need to correct that on the frog. Also your turn may be too sharp and the track cannot give enough support to keep it on the rails. Adding a straight section may help.










The frog


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## Chiefmcfuz (Dec 30, 2008)

The problem is the front wheels go in the right direction and the rear wheels go towards the right when the switch is in the straight position.


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## stationmaster (Dec 7, 2008)

Are we getting off topic here?


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## Chiefmcfuz (Dec 30, 2008)

I am just keeping all of my questions in one spot for organizational purposes sorry.


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## stationmaster (Dec 7, 2008)

It's your thread......

Who manufactured your switches....or did I miss that?


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## Chiefmcfuz (Dec 30, 2008)

Bachman ez-track type switches


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## Southern (Nov 17, 2008)

Boston&Maine said:


> Hahaha, guilty as charged! Those were all great Shaygetz, and there were some there that I had never heard before...


Also guity.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCFzg45mJ-M

watch in high quality.

John


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

I subscribed and gave you 5 stars! That was dome tail chasing!


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## stationmaster (Dec 7, 2008)

You needed the song, "Train, Train" by Blackfoot. That would have ROCKED!!!! Great little clip.


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## Chiefmcfuz (Dec 30, 2008)

Ok so here is another question for you. Can you run non dcc trains and dcc trains together on the same track?


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## B.C.RAIL (Sep 1, 2008)

Hmmm..that's a good question....I would like to know too.


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## Southern (Nov 17, 2008)

No clue, here. I am an old school DC man. No DCC yet. I would like to know more about converting to DCC. With me it would be a slow process.


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## B.C.RAIL (Sep 1, 2008)

Well...I don't have DCC either. No one knows yet..So this make three of us...lol


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## Chiefmcfuz (Dec 30, 2008)

I ask because I almost bought a dcc locomotive and I don't have dcc so would it work like a dc loco without the controller? Also if I got a controller would the dcc work like it is supposed to and the dc trains would just go around like they would normal like.


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

*NO*

From what I understand DCC is a fixed voltage and the engine is told what to do. Nomal engine depends on the transformer. You can convert old engines, but that is why you see one or the other.

To read up on DCC go the manufacturer of your trains to see what they have. It will be plenty. Mixing different types may present different problems.


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## stationmaster (Dec 7, 2008)

Yes, is the answer as long as your system is configured to be able to run an Analog engine. My Digitrax system allows me to run one analog engine. My layout is blocked AND is DCC. A bit of overkill, but I had not intended to use DCC when I started the layout.

Technology and the fact that I wanted to run multiple engines(MU), wanted to have more than one consist run, add in the yard, ....DCC was the only way to go and that helped me to decide to go with a DCC package.

Some of the engines I run are not Dcc Compatible. There isno room for decoders under the shell. Rather than trow them out or sell them, I run them as an analog. Kind of a neat deal actually.

And some engines equipped with "smart decoders" can run analog. Another neat feature.


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## Chiefmcfuz (Dec 30, 2008)

My son wants to run multiple trains at once and on a 4x4 board it's impossible. I was thinking it might be easier with a dcc controlled unit but maybe just 1 at a time is better on such a small layout.


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## stationmaster (Dec 7, 2008)

In my opinion, that would depend upon the layout. Yes larger set ups are better, if for no other reason that to give some margin for error. The engines' speed would be controlled by a single transformer normally an small analog layouts. Not much fun there and one would have to watch everything as not to get in to "Gomez Adam's" syndrome.

I would suggest DCC. But, the cost for the transmitter and decoders is somewhat steep, depending on the unit selected. When I bought mine, I looked at three manufacturers, Digitrax, Prodigy and MRC. I liked them all for different reasons, but ended up getting the Digitrax. It was more versatile and would fit my future growth plans. It is a bit harder to program, but is easy after one becomes accustomed. It is also more expensive.

Blocking the track is also an alternative. Create sections in your layout that can be "turned off and on". This will help deter any crashes, if one remembers to throw the switch at the dash.

If you wish to MU using analog control, put the slower engine in front. That prevents breakaways. I hope this helps.


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## Chiefmcfuz (Dec 30, 2008)

It helps quite a bit! Thank you very much


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## B.C.RAIL (Sep 1, 2008)

Cool, now I know too. Thankyou T-man and stationmaster.


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## Chiefmcfuz (Dec 30, 2008)

This is my old GI Joe Loco that when I was a kid I would switch this "ROCK" body with the GI Joe body depending on the train I was runninf (JOE or Freight) When I put it on the track nothing happens. When I put it on the track and another train is running on the track the other train stops running too. What could be wrong with it?


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## stationmaster (Dec 7, 2008)

Short somewhere. Does the armature turn?


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## Southern (Nov 17, 2008)

Please post a pic with the body off.


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

*Out on a limb*

My guess is that it has a plastic top that holds the armature. It is broken. So the short. I have fixed one in the past, if it looks like a small Lionel motor. My guess, so take the shell off. Please.


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## Chiefmcfuz (Dec 30, 2008)

I'll take the top off and take a pic. What is the armature?


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

Ooo an easy question.
If you have a decent motor the top plastic piece will be held on with two screws. a piece like this is underneath. The armature is the spinning part of the motor.


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## stationmaster (Dec 7, 2008)

Is that a Model Power Hustler?


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

I don't have the engine but looking at the picture I see a weight at the rear window. The engine I fixed had one. I had to epoxy the cover on the outside and grind the weight to get clearance. It was a good little motor.
18 bucks wil get you one.
http://www.hobbylinc.com/htm/mdp/mdp96709.htm


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

Chiefmcfuz said:


> This is my old GI Joe Loco that when I was a kid I would switch this "ROCK" body with the GI Joe body depending on the train I was runninf (JOE or Freight) When I put it on the track nothing happens. When I put it on the track and another train is running on the track the other train stops running too. What could be wrong with it?


Is this it, A TYCO switcher?


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## Chiefmcfuz (Dec 30, 2008)

That's not it, mine says RSO ATEST Z-73332MDT 6E-35 on the bottom of it and made in Yugoslavia. 

It looks like this:


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## Chiefmcfuz (Dec 30, 2008)

Come to think of it my friend might have pulled a fast one on me when we were kids and took mine and gave me this one.


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

Yugoslavia may be AHM. The motor is a can. So I don't think it has screws on the top. A can is better than the Tyco I showed you. I have never seen an HO version.


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## Chiefmcfuz (Dec 30, 2008)

Ok thanks, now I should replace the can to fix it?

There is a train show coming soon I may just wait and buy a new one since this one is probably 20 - 25 years old anyway. 

Another question about DCC and DC trains running on the same layout, should they be on separate power sources or can the same transformer run both?


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## stationmaster (Dec 7, 2008)

They all run on the same power supply.


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