# Consisting locos



## Bwells (Mar 30, 2014)

I have the above two locos that I have consisted. I am using an NCE Power Cab with no booster or wireless. The lead loco is a Bachmann with DCC but no sound and it has a Bachmann decoder and the second loco is a Bachmann with a sound value decoder made by Soundtrax. Both are factory installed.
In order to get them to function properly I do the following: first call up the lead loco and turn on the headlight. This brings up the consist but the second loco has chuff but no other features, bell, whistle,etc. I then call up the second loco and honk the horn and sounds work. When I give it throttle, the headlight on lead loco goes out and the two move in reverse. I switch the direction to reverse and the headlight on the lead comes on and both move forward and I have sound.
As long as I follow this procedure, everything works fine however the handheld shows operating in reverse. Not a big deal but there must be something wrong with the way I consisted them.
I know I programmed each one in order and running forward.
Any thoughts?


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

I can't help on the consist CV settings, I have my
digital aware brother do that for me, however,
you need to tell both of your decoders the direction
you consider FWD, which most of us would think
the direction of the FWD button on the controller.
At present both are backwards.

Don


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## wvgca (Jan 21, 2013)

i -think- CV29 should be set reversed .. what is it set to now ??


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## Bwells (Mar 30, 2014)

Warren: lead loco has cv29 set at 34 and second loco has a cv29 value of 38. Should they be the same?


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## wvgca (Jan 21, 2013)

hmm .. both are set right now to forward position .. 38 is with DC mode ... on, 34 is with it off [no running on DC mode track] ..
i would try the front engine with CV29=34 and the rear engine [facing backwards] at CV29=35 .. if the rear engine faces forwards [same as front engine] then CV29=34 also ..
i would do these one at a time on the programming track

do they move in a correct manner by themselves ?? [ singely]


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## Bwells (Mar 30, 2014)

Yes both locos move correctly by themselves. I found a cv29 calculator and did see the second loco cv that is 38 is set for DC. Not sure why. I will do what you said with the second loco and change cv 29 to 34 and that is probably the problem.
This is the first day in 3 weeks that we don't have rain so I'm making the best of it by mowing weeds so I'll try tonight and see if that does the trick.
I know Calif. needs the rain but I am sick of it along with the cold. Highs are in the low 50s so I'm waiting for spring and some 80-90s.
Thanks again and I think you found the problem, I'll let you know.


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## wvgca (Jan 21, 2013)

if both move correctly by themselves, they -should- move together correctly ?? i'm not familiar with digitrax [i've got mrc], but the little arrow when you set up the consist was facing forwards ??


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## Bwells (Mar 30, 2014)

The locos are Bachmann and the controller is a NCE power cab. It's been a year since I set up the consist and I just followed the instructions, I think. Train room is locked up for 9 months until the weather turns bad so I don't recall what I did. I stuck my lawn tractor in the mud so it's beer time and then get my Suzuki 4 wheeler out and drag it out. Clouding up now with more rain on the way, geez I'm sick of this!!


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## deedub35 (Jan 29, 2014)

I have experience with consisting. I have a few locos “permanently” consisted together. I prefer using advanced consisting as it gets the results I want with no messing around but it does involving changing CV values.

CV19 is for the address. I pick a consist number which for me is the last two digits of the loco numbers added up. Example CP 1450 and CP 4521 consisted together I use 71. For the loco facing forwards then CV19 is 71 and for the loco facing backwards then CV19 is 71 + 128 so 199.

CV21 is for functions. One loco has sound so I want all sounds available so I use 255. You can consult the manual if you only want certain features like F1 bell, F2 horn, F8 mute, etc. The other loco doesn’t have sound so I left it at 0.

CV22 is also for functions. I set the front loco at 1 for the headlight when going forward. I set the rear loco at 2 for the headlight when going backwards.

Sometimes the headlights may not work right so one consist of mine both CV22 are set to 1. Trial and error.

Also, on another consist there is F9 break squeal and F10 crossing bell sequence so that CV22 value is also different so be sure to consult the table in the manual for the appropriate values.

That’s all there is to it.


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## Bwells (Mar 30, 2014)

Update: after an hour messing with cv 29 with many combinations I finally hit the sweet spot by setting both locos to 35, I think. Both now operate in the forward direction and the power cab says forward. I have no clue as to why but it works.
deedub: I do remember something when setting up the consist about the power cab assigning a two digit address to consists and I think it started at 28 and worked down for another consist. I can't remember for sure, I suppose I should reread my manual. I always call up the consist with either engine number.
Thanks for the help, seeing the DC mode was somewhat scary as I run both via DPDT block control and pay strict attention to not mixing the two.


Edit: here is the cv29 calculator I used. http://www.2mm.org.uk/articles/cv29 calculator.htm


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## wvgca (Jan 21, 2013)

well, CV29=35 would normally mean reversed direction ... tender first ..
as long as it works, lol


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## Bwells (Mar 30, 2014)

Yeah, maybe I only set one to that cv, can't remember as I tried multiple scenerios until I
got a combo that worked. From the main to the program and back again. I'm getting better at rerailing. It may have been only one set to 35 which sounds like it is wired backwards from the factory. Which one, I can't remember and I don"t care. I was about to get out the hammer but remember the saying if a hammer doesn't work, it's an electrical problem. It is obviously and electrical problem so I put the hammer away.


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## MichaelE (Mar 7, 2018)

There is a menu selection in the Powercab for assigning forward and reverse without having to go into the CV's to do this.

I have a locomotive with one side I like better than the other (different features from one side to the other) so I turned the locomotive around and change reverse to forward.

European locomotives typically have a cab on both ends so either end can be forward and not look unusual.


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