# Progress Report . . .



## GNfan (Jun 3, 2016)

I've got my locomotives running! What wiring I have is held together with wire nuts and I'm using an old Bachmann "starter set" power pack; but they run! Next step is to put the wiring together "good" - I've already chopped off the big fittings on the Kato power feed cables and I'm going to wire things together through an Atlas Twin. Also, the old Bachmann power pack gives the locomotives a herky-jerky motion so I'm thinking of getting an MRC Railpower 1300 (~$40 at modeltrainstuff.com).. 

I've now got the two Bachmann 0-6-0's, A GN (with the old herald) and an NP caboose, and maybe 8 Pacific Northwest themed ice bunker wood reefers to divide into two trains. One reefer is a GN/WFE and 3 are NP.(Thank God for eBay.) For no good reason I've also been collecting post WWII Japanese prototype Kato freight cars and cabooses; but I don't have a locomotive yet. Oddly, they all have Rapido couplers. I've changed the track plan a little. I'll post a pic or two when I can get things set up and get my son with the fancy camera to help.


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

Uncertain what you mean by 'herky jerky' motion. The Bachmann power
pack should put out a smooth stream of DC by design. Usually, if locos 
pause, stutter, and run less than smooth there is a poor electrical
contact between the loco wheels and the track. 
If the headlight is flickering when the loco is acting up
that would be a good indication of the above. Clean the track
and loco power pickup wheels and see if that improves operation.

However, if the track and wheels are clean, it could be
that you have poor
electrical contact in the speed or reverse controls of the power pack which could
cause poor running.

Don

Don


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## GNfan (Jun 3, 2016)

Both the track and locomotives are brand new, but the power packs might be 15 years old. Before DCC, if you planned to be a serious model railroader one of the first things you did was replace your "starter set" power packs for packs like MRC's - and this seemed a good excuse to do that. 

Yes, I'm aware of the dispute between MRC and Rapido, but so far as I've been able to find it has to do with running Rapido locos with factory DCC on a Railpower 1300 or 1370 (based on a 2 year old thread on MR's forum) and I'll be sure not to buy any of those.


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## vette-kid (May 2, 2020)

I would give them a good cleaning anyway. I've used lots of old power packs and never had one be the culprit for jerky running trains. More likely rails/ wheels dirty (even if "new"),a poor connection to the trails from power pack or a bad connection inside the locomotive from pickup wheel to motor. 

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## kilowatt62 (Aug 18, 2019)

“Both the track and locomotives are brand new.”

Doesn’t matter in my opinion.

19 times out of 20 times, the track needs cleaned right out of the box for obvious dust and budding corrosion reasons. Including also, possibility of residual manufacturing chemicals left behind. Give em a wipe down at least.
“I believe that, Tops of the railheads should be shiny at all times. Period.”

Flip that locomotive up side down. Add some juice to spin the wheels and, get busy with the Q-tips and your favorite wet, wheel cleaner. You’ll be glad you did. 

“This has been a mildly opinionated public recommendation announcement.”


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## GNfan (Jun 3, 2016)

*Update 9/29: *I'm not going to sweat the " herk & jerk" issue until I get the wiring finished. I appreciate all your advice but I fiddled with it again today and I think at least some of the problem is crud either under the speed control knob or on the shaft of whatever actually sets the output voltage in a cheapo DC power pack. Put simply, it's nice and smooth as long as I don't move the speed control knob. And I still think that for $40, upgrading to an MRC Railpower 1300 is a decent investment. (My family of 4 adults can spend $40 at Mickey D's.)

Here's a new pic, complete with my new trains. The inner train has an NP caboose and 4 NP cars, and the outer train has a GN caboose, 3 GN/Western Fruit Express cars, and my 3 "egg cars" that claim to be carrying eggs from Puget Sound to "points East". Some of these cars are the wrong era. I've been doing research and found that Stokely's (the people who bring you Gatorade) had 2 warehouses in Bellingham in the 1940's. I've got a Stokely's wooden ice-bunker reefer from Atlas and another from Micro-trains somewhere in the mail system; and there's another one from Micro-trains if I want it.


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## GNfan (Jun 3, 2016)

*New question: Can a Kato turnout be operated manually? *Look at the pic in my last post. See the single rerailer on the right side of the inner loop? That's the one place I can see to put a turnout. I can build a curved spur out of 6" radius track I already have, and put a bumper on the end. It would give me a place to park a second "cut" of cars for the inner loop. But if I do; I don't see much point to operating it remotely especially if I would need a source of around 12V DC for it.


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## vette-kid (May 2, 2020)

Yes, they can. Get the kato power pack if you don't have it. The turnout controls attach to that and are powered through it. No need for anything else. I did not realize you were using unitrack initially or i would have recommended their power pack to start with. I am using that to power about 125ft of rail and 4 turnouts with no issues. 

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## GNfan (Jun 3, 2016)

Considering that the turnout + Kato power pack would cost nearly $100 (from modeltrainstuff) to build a "spur to nowhere" who's only reason for existence is a place to park a few extra cars; I think I'll see if I can "fake" it. Make the rerailer on the right a double like the one on the left, put a bumper on one end and a half-circle of 6" radius track plus a bumper on the other end, and call it close enough.


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## vette-kid (May 2, 2020)

You don't have to use their power supply, it's just convenient. I've never tried them with anything else though. 

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## GNfan (Jun 3, 2016)

It's my understanding that Kato turnouts are two-wire DC, but Atlas, Bachmann and Peco are all 3-wire AC. So to power a Kato turnout takes a source of constant voltage DC that my old Bachmann (or a new MRC 1300) couldn't provide. From what you tell me it's possible to control one manually, and someday I might do that. Because I don't know about anyone else, but buying cars is one of my favorite aspects of this hobby.


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## Steve Rothstein (Jan 1, 2021)

GNfan said:


> *New question: Can a Kato turnout be operated manually? *Look at the pic in my last post. See the single rerailer on the right side of the inner loop? That's the one place I can see to put a turnout. I can build a curved spur out of 6" radius track I already have, and put a bumper on the end. It would give me a place to park a second "cut" of cars for the inner loop. But if I do; I don't see much point to operating it remotely especially if I would need a source of around 12V DC for it.


Yes, but it is a little tricky. On the Kato turnout, there is a very small black slide switch to operate it truly manually. I did it a lot when I was setting up the layout and still working on wiring. 

Warning: the switch is small and easy to not get all the way into position, causing derailments.


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