# Engine drive trains



## Robes (Jan 5, 2011)

Okay,... I have only purchased one engine so far...I wanted the cars and the engine came with it. I am getting my education on couplers, cars, tracks and transformers.... now Engine drives. I see "8 wheel drive", "All wheel drive", "Can motor" "Geared drive wheels (as opposed to ...what?)All-wheel drive. * 5 pole skew-wound motor. * Super-quiet, helical cut gears. * Dual, precision-balanced flywheel and the ever so wonderful DCC engines with the 28 speed step decoder. I will probably go with the DCC a bit later... but for now,.... a wee education on Engines and what to look for.


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## shaygetz (Sep 23, 2007)

Look for one with all wheels powered, all wheel power pickup, flywheels and a can motor...though a skew wound 5 pole motor can be a very good one as well. ---No traction tires---


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## gc53dfgc (Apr 13, 2010)

wheel drive- means all four wheels on a two axle deisel locomotive are powered.
All wheel drive- means every wheel on every axle of every truck is powered.
Can motor- a motor that all electrical components are put in a metal cylinder so no are or debri can get in them and harm them.
Geared drive wheels- the wheels recieve power from the motor through a drive shaft into a motor truck that is comprised of gears that either gears up, down or is one to one ratio for power conversion.
Rubber band drive- while I have only seen one powered this way and I just converted it to a dummy it is a motor that turns a shaft that has a rubber band around it and the lower wheel this is how the wheels recieve power, also not very powerful if my understanding of them is correct.
5 pole skew wound motor- a motor with five magnetic poles with copper wire wrapped around them.
Helical gears-gears that are slanted to run smoother and quieter.
precision balanced flywheels- metal circles with holes in the center that go over the drive shaft and make the engine run smoother and have some inertia. prescision part means that it will not turn fast at hi speeds and destroy the drive shaft.
DCC 14,28,128 speed step decoders- 14 speed steps is the lowest and least liked because it gives you less control over speed. 28 is more common and gives you fairly decent speed control (I think that most 28 speed step decoders now adays can be programmed to handle 128 as well. 128 is by far the best and gives you the most control over speed for slow moving operations.
two, four, and six function decoders- while not asked I might as well say it here. a 2 function decoder has light outputs for front and reverse lights only, 4 is front/reverse and two special effect lights like ditch lights, 6 (I have only seen one or two of these) have front/reverse and four effect light outputs, so two for ditchlights one for a red gyrolight (for some southern pacific locos) and a warning beacon on the cab roof. (used in switching.)


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## Robes (Jan 5, 2011)

That was outstanding... somebody oughta stickey that...


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Excellent tech info, GC ... well done.

TJ


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## Russell (Dec 11, 2009)

Wow GC, great info. I didn't ask the question but sure appreciated the answer. I pasted it to my hobby file.


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## NIMT (Jan 6, 2011)

gc53dfgc you did a great job of hitting all the points:thumbsup:, a couple of your points need to be expanded on.
There are 5 pole motors and 5 pole skew wound motors.
Skew wound motors are made in such a way that the windings on the individual armature poles are at an angle compared to the motor shaft. This helps the motor to start from a dead stop.

Helical gears have the advantage over strait cut gears in the fact that they allow more then one tooth of the gear to be mated up at the same time making them a lot stronger.
Flywheels give the engine momentum to remain at a relatively constant speed during times of electrical disruption.


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## Robes (Jan 5, 2011)

All good stuff. I did as Russel did and moved this verbiage into my Train notes for easy access. I can now make more informed decisions in purchasing my engines.


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