PRR/Conrail Juniata Division Engineering Report

[Dave V]

Unbelievable Pennsy awesomeness arrived for the Juniata Division today.  All my coal drags will soon have proper power.  It will still need DCC, but I'm thinking about doing sound:



The I1sa class was equipped with Banshee single-chime whistles when built, but some research indicates that most, in fact, received standard 3-chime whistles by the 1950s.

I've been rounding up quotes for DCC install and sound, and they're all pretty crippling, so she may not see service for a while yet.

[eric220]

I've been rounding up quotes for DCC install and sound, and they're all pretty crippling, so she may not see service for a while yet.

I'm very sorry that she's not going to work out for you. I'd be happy to help you out and give her a good home! 

Very nice lokie.

[davefoxx]

Dave,

I think sound in this particular locomotive, considering all of its Pennsy awesomeness, would be appropriate.  It will likely be worth the wait to do it up right.

It's definitely a beautiful model, but can you do something about the distance between the engine and tender?  That gap is an eyesore to me.  I know the curves on the Juniata Division aren't particularly wide, but I bet there's plenty of room to close that gap somewhat and still clear your tightest curve.

DFF

[Dave V]

Dave,

I think sound in this particular locomotive, considering all of its Pennsy awesomeness, would be appropriate.  It will likely be worth the wait to do it up right.

It's definitely a beautiful model, but can you do something about the distance between the engine and tender?  That gap is an eyesore to me.  I know the curves on the Juniata Division aren't particularly wide, but I bet there's plenty of room to close that gap somewhat and still clear your tightest curve.

DFF

The drawbar has two holes...  This is the maximum coupling distance; there's another that's closer.

[eric220]

Dave, in a more serious comment, I've got a thought about sound.  I'm holding off on sound in my PRR locomotives for now.  With QSI's announcement of the Titan Micro, and knowing that they've got all the sound sets from the BLI HO stuff, I'm hoping that the stars will align and we'll soon have access proper proto sound sets for our K's, Q's, T's, I's, L's, etc.  Unfortunately, for now price and delivery are TBD.

[Bob Bufkin]

With that short tender you are going to have to stop at water plugs more often. 

Mine has the banshee whistle which under certain conditions can sent a chill down your spine.  Have you run it in non DCC mode to check how it tracks around your curves?

[Dave V]

With that short tender you are going to have to stop at water plugs more often. 

Mine has the banshee whistle which under certain conditions can sent a chill down your spine.  Have you run it in non DCC mode to check how it tracks around your curves?

I ran it on Jacob's layout which is DC...  It handled the 13.5" curve just fine, which is the minimum radius on the Juniata Division.

[Chris333]

PCM?

 

[Hornwrecker]

Noice DEC!  You need more. They ran in packs.

I just got a copy of Triumph VII, and it seems like half the photos in it are of Decs.  One thing mentioned in it was that when they were pushing in pairs, they paired one short and one long haul together, since they never had enough long hauls, so that the short could dog it when it started running low on water.  One pic showed two short tender decs with a tank car for water between them.

If they came out with an affordable, good running one - DCC ready, I'd probably go back a decade on my layout, as well as spending way too much $.

[chicken45]

Noice DEC!  You need more. They ran in packs.

I just got a copy of Triumph VII, and it seems like half the photos in it are of Decs.  One thing mentioned in it was that when they were pushing in pairs, they paired one short and one long haul together, since they never had enough long hauls, so that the short could dog it when it started running low on water.  One pic showed two short tender decs with a tank car for water between them.

If they came out with an affordable, good running one - DCC ready, I'd probably go back a decade on my layout, as well as spending way too much $.

The next time he sees more than one come up for auction at the same time, I'm sure he'll get right on that! 

[Dave V]

I've been purchasing brass locomotives at the rate of one every 10 years...   

[conrailthomas519]

Dave,
Awesome Loco, very Nice! ... looks like it needs ummm?? alittle something,  oh yeah Coal in that tender and a whole lot of weathering! Thats the ticket

[Dave V]

Seusscaboose brought up a very important point...  The shorts and stalls associated with brass will create havoc with a sound decoder.  I still have momentary shorts in turnouts with my brass K4.  Instead if sound in this beast, perhaps I do sound in a Bachmann H-class bash using a Superturbine casting and do standard DCC for the I1sa.  TCS Keep Alive looks attractive, if only it were N scale.

[Bob Bufkin]

Seusscaboose brought up a very important point...  The shorts and stalls associated with brass will create havoc with a sound decoder.  I still have momentary shorts in turnouts with my brass K4.  Instead if sound in this beast, perhaps I do sound in a Bachmann H-class bash using a Superturbine casting and do standard DCC for the I1sa.  TCS Keep Alive looks attractive, if only it were N scale.

He should know from experience for when I had my Il running on his layout.  Two feet and stall, etc.

[chicken45]

Seusscaboose brought up a very important point...  The shorts and stalls associated with brass will create havoc with a sound decoder.  I still have momentary shorts in turnouts with my brass K4.  Instead if sound in this beast, perhaps I do sound in a Bachmann H-class bash using a Superturbine casting and do standard DCC for the I1sa.  TCS Keep Alive looks attractive, if only it were N scale.

Since I never owned brass locos, can you go in to detail on this?