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If I wanted to stuff two decoders in there, they should be sound decoders (since each engine would need its own chuff sounds, and theoretically go in and out of sync).
I’m wondering if ESU’s 58731 (‘Kato Japan’) might be a good match in this build? Pete, I know you are intimately familiar with this decoder - what do you think?I have 3 N scale steam locos - Kato GS4, Model Power 4-6-2, Dapol ‘Hall’ class 4-6-0 - each of which I equipped with 58731 tender installs. Although it only has 3 powered outputs, they are usually sufficient for steam lighting applications. The two “legs” can be trimmed back, while still providing sufficient solder pad territory for track and motor leads, which makes for quite a compact little sound decoder.
A bit pissed off the lettering isn't silver am I .
That decoder …………. was designed for plug-n-play install in Kato models which have that type of interface (like GS4). This model has no such interface in the tender. So the decoder will fit, but will have to installed by wiring it. Not sure what advantage you have by using this decoder instead of lets say Loksound 5 nano.
Richie, this model is made specifically to depict the loco as it appeared in 2019, after it was restored. Was the lettering on that loco silver? If yes, then (going by how meticulous Kato is about every model, and especially this top achievement and pride-and-joy of Mr. Kato) I'm very surprised.
A bit pissed off the lettering isn't silver am I .Pete proved me wrong later on . Now I am pissed at UP for the white . With Big Boy chalked on the smoke box door my guess now it was to replicate the as delivered paint . But 4000 was the one with the chalked door not 4014 . 4000 had the radiators on the porch and was coal fired , and didn't have front engine chain lubrication . So the white was totally uncalled for by the UP . After all these of trying to get manufactures to follow UP standards of steam locos having Aluminum Leaf lettering , UP does this and sets us back 80 years on that effort . Well they got 4014 resurrected , so I guess I have said too much again .
Sooo...are you saying that the lettering on UP's excursion 4014 is white? I've seen it several times in the flesh, and believe me, I would have noticed if the lettering wasn't Aluminum, since that's one of my main gripes about some model Big Boys.Truthfully, it's difficult to tell from photos if the lettering is White or Aluminum. In my photos and videos I took of 4014 and 844 when they were doubleheading to Ogden, in my photos the lettering looks exactly the same on both engines, and I know for a fact that the 844's lettering is Aluminum.Also of note, is that the paint on the wheel journal covers, which I know to be Aluminum, looks white in my videos and photos...but, I know for a fact that they are Aluminum.I am surprised that KATO got the lettering wrong as it's pretty common knowledge that UP's Steam Engine lettering is always Aluminum, even if it looks "white" in photos, but it doesn't when seen with the naked eye.As for the rest of your points, KATO has not created a "Big Boy" in N-scale, but has replicated the restored 4014 in N-scale. Since there are major difference between the restored 4014 and Big Boys in service in the 1940's thru the 1950's, and, since KATO doesn't make any US prototype freight cars (except for a very few generic ones)...I assume this model was conceptualized to be the most accurate model of the restored 4014, and is designed to be perfect for present-day UP Excursion Service, pulling a variety of KATO water bottles and passenger cars...with maybe a shiny KATO 844 FEF-3 double-heading behind it....but not for pulling a long block of PFE reefers.Since UP is UP, they were not striving for nor is it the Steam Department's obligation to restore their steam engines to original specifications. The 4014 was definitely a rush job, and I was actually surprised that UP had got it running in time for the Sesquicentennial, but upon close inspection, is was pretty obvious that it still needed some work, such as supplying front cylinder covers, and the angles on the boiler covers looked/look "wrong"...because they are much simplified from the original boiler covers. />Additionally, the tender is 3985's tender, and is not a Big Boy tender, which was deemed to not be restorable in time for the Sesquicentennial. No, Challenger tenders and Big Boy tenders are not the same, although they look similar.As for historical accuracy, if your layout is running Big Boys in the 1940's thru the 1950's, the KATO model isn't for you. Both the Athearn Big Boy and the BLI Big Boy...not the BLI Excursion 4014, nor their Kenefick Park Big Boy, are the ones to get.My layout, which is dated in a ten year period between 1947 thru 1956, the Big Boy versions that fit my era must have at least two necessary feature (1) no handrail-mounted aftercoolers on the pilot (these were removed after 1944 on most of the 'early' run Big Boys #4001 thru #4019) and the last run Big Boys #4020 thru #4024, had their aftercoolers behind louvered doors at the front of the pilot. (2) First run Big Boys had their dynamos originally under the cab, but quickly moved them to the top of the engines when road-grime and rock damage proved that the under-cab location was no good. I think all N-scale Big Boys have the dynamo up top, but, I check new versions when they come out to make sure. I also prefer no wooden planks on top of the tender around the water hatches, and I wish that manufacturers would realize that in later Big Boys, the water hatches were extended.Since the KATO model is oil-fired, has the wrong tender, no ash pans, modern boiler cladding, and modern steam pipes running from the rear cylinders to the front, I won't be purchasing any of these to run on my layout. This is okay, since I'm very happy with my Athearn and BLI models, and I only pull trains of a maximum length of 9'5" anyway...about 30 40' cars and a caboose.Cheerio!Bob Gilmore
I am watching this with some interest (mainly curiosity), but the Kato HO P42 has a two motors (one in each truck), and the instructions indicate that a single decoder can handle it, though it seems counter-intuitive to me:http://www.katousa.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/HO-P42-DCC-Modifications.pdf
I put that tutorial together years ago.On the HO P42 wiring two coreless motors was really a non issue as the current draw is pretty low. I installed both LokSound and Soundtraxx in a couple thousand of them over the years and they work well enough.
How do you simulate wheel slip with both engines going to one decoder
Each powered 4-axle set is called an "engine" There is front engine (right behind the leading or pilot truck), and the rear engine is right behind that (and right in front of the trailign truck).The careful design of each engine is such that most of the weight that each engine support is over the traction-tire driver. I guess if one of the engines stalls, it will bring the loco to a halt, even if the other engine is still running. Each engine picks up power through all the drivers, and the locos frames connects both engines electrically. You describe a problem with the rear engine which is likely caused by either mechanical bind, or the rear engine's motor feed wires getting disconnected from the frame.Curious about what do you have to do to make the loco run again? Also, how often does that happen?
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Topic: Kato BigBoy pic - large screen cap for detail (Read 18096 times)
