# consisting locos



## sid (Mar 26, 2018)

how hard is it to consist locos. i just bought a EMD F7A-F7B units and will need to consist them when they arrive. ive read a little about it speed matching ect. my DCC of choice ia NCE system the consisting locos have digitrax decoders in them (not sure witch ) any hints or help would be much appreciated. i know ive got lots more reading ta do. But ive never done this. all new to me. but im looking forward to being able to run these on my new layout when i get it built. OH ya there both KATO units. i only buy kato now. bachmann ticked me off and ive had great luck with kato so thats all i buy now. the others dont appeal to me as i like to use rapido couplers.


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## MichaelE (Mar 7, 2018)

Go here to learn how to consist using NCE Powercab:

https://ncedcc.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/200945159-NCE-Power-Cab-How-To-Consist-


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## 65446 (Sep 22, 2018)

I have an NCE PoweCab..It comes with a user's manual..There's a section "consisting locos" in it...There is a bit of a learning curve to fully or near fully comprehend everything.
Don't know what you mean by "not sure which"...This insinuates that only one loco has a decoder in it..If this is so you won't be able to consist the two..Both must have decoders to do that or they can't communicate. Or, do mean the A unit (likely) has a decoder and the B unit is a dummy. If a loco doesn't come with 'Sound on board' you will not have sound. But you can add it later by several ways. All DCC locos come with the default address '3'. You can leave one engine No.3. But a second engine will need to be changed from '3' to have independence of the 2 (or more locos)..Usually we give engines the No. on their cabs as an address.. Eventually you can change engine #3 to its cab#, too.. But you can give them any numerical address you want.. 
Finally: Do you not have or want knuckle couplers ? Near all US prototype model locos and cars today come with operating knuckle couplers. But since Rapidos are not popular any longer, you'll probably find very low prices on rolling stock; N scale I presume. 
Cheers, M Los Angeles


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## sid (Mar 26, 2018)

Thanks for replies.. Ive read the nce manual and more reading online. 
for the (not sure witch ) means i dont know exactly witch decoders they have. Both loco's have decoders installed in them...
ive never consisted locos before , so im learning.
yes i do not want any knuckle couplers at all . i find there a pain to use. im simple i just want to run my trains and the tried an true rapidos work great. YA there not like the real locos but i dont care about real locos i just wanna have fun playing with mine... NOW if all the people whom make these locos and cars would all use the same knuckle coupler , then i would probably use them . personally there a pain to use so i wont use them. matter of fact i have about 35 + that sit in a small box various brands . if only they all would mate with each other and be easy to couple uncouple i would use them. i really dont under stand why there all different. now rapidos there all the same and they work simple as that. now back to my consisting. ive read that some consisting has to be done on one track only and that once removed then you have to do it all over again.. still got lots of studying ta do in order to get it straight in my head..


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