# Number of engines at one time



## Bigone5500 (9 mo ago)

How many are able to be run at one time from a single power pack? This is a Bachmann super chief set.


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

Bigone5500 said:


> How many are able to be run at one time from a single power pack? This is a Bachmann super chief set.


How many amps does the powerpack put out? I'm guessing it's 2-3 amps, so you could easily run a half-dozen or more locomotives simultaneously with it. The problem is that in direct current, every locomotive would receive the same power output from the pack, so they would all run in the same direction at the same power setting (not necessarily the same speed, though). So for all practical purposes, the real answer is one at at time.

If you want to run multiple locomotives independently, you need independent blocks and a separate powerpack for each block in DC, or you need DCC (Digital Command and Control), which sends commands to a microchip in the locomotive for independent speed and direction control (and lots more) of each locomotive.


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## Bigone5500 (9 mo ago)

I have two of the same engines and was hoping they could run on the same setup. The older one is different than the newer one in that the way the trucks look. My new one doesn't have the gears showing on the underside. I can post pictures later.


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

Yes, your pictures would be welcome.

Is your system DC or DCC?

Don


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## Mixed Freight (Aug 31, 2019)

Bigone5500 said:


> I have two of the same engines and was hoping they could run on the same setup. The older one is different than the newer one in that the way the trucks look. My new one doesn't have the gears showing on the underside. I can post pictures later.


If you want to run the two as a lashup, i.e. a consist, as long as they run about the same speed they should be fine to run together. But if there's a considerable difference in speed between the two, you'd probably want to pass on running these together. There could be problems, especially if they both have traction tires.


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## GTW son (12 mo ago)

Mixed Freight said:


> If you want to run the two as a lashup, i.e. a consist, as long as they run about the same speed they should be fine to run together. But if there's a considerable difference in speed between the two, you'd probably want to pass on running these together. There could be problems, especially if they both have traction tires.


This makes sense to me as I have two CP Rail locos I would like to run together, one is a Kato the other is a Life Like.
Just from running them apart, the Kato is a lot faster than the LL, one can tell running them in tandem would not be a very good idea. 
Certainly one, the Kato would lose this battle as the LL is the slower but the torquier of the two.


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## cv_acr (Oct 28, 2011)

Bigone5500 said:


> I have two of the same engines and was hoping they could run on the same setup. The older one is different than the newer one in that the way the trucks look. My new one doesn't have the gears showing on the underside. I can post pictures later.


That doesn't really sound like two of the same engine then...

But, if the engines run at least reasonably close together in speed, you can couple them together and power them with a single power pack. It's no problem to the power pack to run sets of engines together. MRC used to advertise how their controllers could handle over a dozen engines at once, the key thing is you can't _independently_ control more than one train... all the trains/engines on the track will take off in the same direction at the same power level.


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## 5kidsdad (Nov 28, 2021)

cv_acr said:


> That doesn't really sound like two of the same engine then...
> 
> But, if the engines run at least reasonably close together in speed, you can couple them together and power them with a single power pack. It's no problem to the power pack to run sets of engines together. MRC used to advertise how their controllers could handle over a dozen engines at once, the key thing is you can't _independently_ control more than one train... all the trains/engines on the track will take off in the same direction at the same power level.


You also have to watch out for speed difference in the same manufacturer. I purchased 3 Atlas locos. 2 are closer to the same speed but 1 is faster by far. From what I could find out, they were manufactured at the same time. Maybe 1 worker ran out of slower motors & the next batch they got were the higher speed ones. I've remotored another with factory parts. It crawls along with lots of torque but no high end speed.


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## Mixed Freight (Aug 31, 2019)

5kidsdad said:


> You also have to watch out for speed difference in the same manufacturer. I purchased 3 Atlas locos. 2 are closer to the same speed but 1 is faster by far. From what I could find out, they were manufactured at the same time. Maybe 1 worker ran out of slower motors & the next batch they got were the higher speed ones. I've remotored another with factory parts. It crawls along with lots of torque but no high end speed.


If memory serves, all Atlas locos were at one time manufactured with the high-speed motors. Then, they came out with their low-speed motors, which was touted as a selling feature for a short while. After a year or two of being the norm, they then dropped the 'low-speed' advertising as everyone got used to it.

Other model train companies also benefited from the lower-speed motors too, as I'm sure it was the actual electric motor manufacturer that had switched to a lower speed motor offering, and not just Atlas.


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## Chaostrain (Jan 27, 2015)

When I had my N scale DC layout I ran up to 4 engines pulling one train if there independent speeds were close on a single power pack. I'd put the faster unit in the lead and work my way back in decreasing speed order. This would make sure the engines were constantly pulling. I've run them for hours that way and never had an issue.


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## 5kidsdad (Nov 28, 2021)

Mixed Freight said:


> If memory serves, all Atlas locos were at one time manufactured with the high-speed motors. Then, they came out with their low-speed motors, which was touted as a selling feature for a short while. After a year or two of being the norm, they then dropped the 'low-speed' advertising as everyone got used to it.
> 
> Other model train companies also benefited from the lower-speed motors too, as I'm sure it was the actual electric motor manufacturer that had switched to a lower speed motor offering, and not just Atlas.


Learned something new today. Thanks for the info. When I run DPU, I will put the fastest loco up front also. Then go slower further back to help keep couplers tight.


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## sid (Mar 26, 2018)

on my dcc++ex i run 6 locos and one yard loco. talk about keeping me busy looking after locos


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## Bigone5500 (9 mo ago)

This is the underside of the older engine. 








Top view.


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## Wehaveaproblem (May 15, 2021)

I remember being in a club years ago and during one of the open days when the public came I decided to do a 'positioning move' with a lash up of about 8 or 9 American diesel locos of various brands. Faster at front slower at back. Once we got them running they were fine it was the starting that was the problem. The controller would cut out automatically if the Amp was over the limit. But if u lifted a few off the track by tilting it to get the others going then u could start then tilt them back onto the track and away the consist went. I could not stop it or I got stuck. Which happened once. Oops. The old boys in the club frowned on such a train. But the public liked it especially the kids seeing so many locos in 1 train. Pity I took no photos. Was 20 years ago before mobile phone cameras.


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