Broadway's Reading T1 4-8-4

[Ike the BN Freak]

I just saw there still is a version with a slightly different livery available through Lowell Smith.

Marc

The T-1 wore 3 different paint schemes during 1975-76 when pulling the Freedom Train

[u18b]

Mark, sorry you had a issue with your T1. I've had that happen to other equipment and it is never desired. I hope Broadway is able to come through for you in terms of parts for repair.

On another note, I have noticed that my T1 runs well but is a little jerky. More at the medium to mainline speeds. I do not have any experience in fine tuning the programming on the Paragon decoders. Does anyone know some tips I can try using JMRI?

I'm no DCC CV expert, but it seems that tweaking is more for slow speed needs.
It's kind of not good in my mind if it's a little jerky at running speed.   Maybe it needs to break in some more?

[nstars]

A cause for jerky running could be wrong BEMF settings, but that’s indeed something which normally only happens at slow speeds, not not at medium speeds. But it still could be the decoder. I would play around with the motor management settings in CV 112 to 120. Be sure to check the default settings so you can always go back to them.

Marc

[Sokramiketes]

Roundy-round testing, so I wasn't there. The weird thing is that my DCC system never registered a short, so when I finally noticed that it wasn't running it was sitting there with the headlight flashing and the entire shell super hot to the touch.

I think I must've messed up getting the pilot truck reinstalled correctly because that's where the derail started.

-Mark

If you toss a quarter on the track at that point, will the system shut down?  If not, size of bus wires may be the issue. 

[spookshow]

I was finally able to finish up all my testing, and I gotta say the smoke unit is probably the coolest thing ever. It reminded me of why model trains are so fun (or at least are supposed to be).

-Mark

[bbunge]

I was finally able to finish up all my testing, and I gotta say the smoke unit is probably the coolest thing ever. It reminded me of why model trains are so fun (or at least are supposed to be).

-Mark

Mark, this made my day.  Wait and play with the smoke at a show.  The kids will love, as well the older folks. 

One minor point regarding your excellent review.  Reading and Northern 2102 is operational and is used 3-4 times a year on a modern "Rambles."   If you like 1:1 steam, IMHO, you need to get to one of these events.  It is a must see.  Do not walk, RUN!  No where else in the country can you watch a coal fired 4-8-4 pound up a 1.2% grade with a full load of 20+ cars, or ride behind it in cars with open windows at track speeds because no where else is the railroad CEO a die hard railfan. 

Bob

[PiperguyUMD]

Mark, this made my day.  Wait and play with the smoke at a show.  The kids will love, as well the older folks. 

One minor point regarding your excellent review.  Reading and Northern 2102 is operational and is used 3-4 times a year on a modern "Rambles."   If you like 1:1 steam, IMHO, you need to get to one of these events.  It is a must see.  Do not walk, RUN!  No where else in the country can you watch a coal fired 4-8-4 pound up a 1.2% grade with a full load of 20+ cars, or ride behind it in cars with open windows at track speeds because no where else is the railroad CEO a die hard railfan. 

Bob

2102 leaving Port Clinton is the greatest steam show I've ever seen - and I saw 611 stall on Saluda!

[PiperguyUMD]

Anyone else having trouble with their T1 tracking? Mine runs super smooth, but the lead truck and first drive like to climb over the outside rail on my 22” radius curves. My track work isn’t the best, but it isn’t bad, and my other big steam doesn’t have any trouble. Any thoughts?

[dem34]

Anyone else having trouble with their T1 tracking? Mine runs super smooth, but the lead truck and first drive like to climb over the outside rail on my 22” radius curves. My track work isn’t the best, but it isn’t bad, and my other big steam doesn’t have any trouble. Any thoughts?

Had the same issue running it on the home layout. Check the tension of the truck spring, not sure if there's an easy way to stiffen it. I shelved it as a show only engine assuming the truck climbing was caused by 10" curves.

[PiperguyUMD]

 All the wheels are in gauge and the track is even slightly wide in the curve where this happens most frequently, which makes this even more odd. I'll mess with the lead truck spring this evening after work...

[jdcolombo]

I don't own one of these locos, but I've found with other 8-coupled engines I have (e.g., LifeLike Berkshires from the early 2000's) that sometimes the bushings on the drivers don't allow enough side-to-side play.  If there isn't enough side-to-side movement available, the engine will climb the outside rail on even broad curves.  22" radius is huge in N scale, but that is roughly the equivalent of a 20-degree radius for the prototype, which would be at the very edge of the limit for a fixed-wheelbase 8-coupled engine running light.

So . . . check your side-to-side play on your front driver.

John C.

[wmcbride]

All the wheels are in gauge and the track is even slightly wide in the curve where this happens most frequently, which makes this even more odd. I'll mess with the lead truck spring this evening after work...

Did you ever have any success in identifying this or fixing it?

Perhaps it was the tightness John Colombo wrote about?

[Ike the BN Freak]

Anyone else having trouble with their T1 tracking? Mine runs super smooth, but the lead truck and first drive like to climb over the outside rail on my 22” radius curves. My track work isn’t the best, but it isn’t bad, and my other big steam doesn’t have any trouble. Any thoughts?

Is yours DCC/Sound or Stealth? On other forums, someone mentioned the stealth units lack a weight, as the smoke generator is removed, but its an empty cavity up front. And he just filled it with some lead shot.

[PiperguyUMD]

Is yours DCC/Sound or Stealth? On other forums, someone mentioned the stealth units lack a weight, as the smoke generator is removed, but its an empty cavity up front. And he just filled it with some lead shot.

I haven't messed with it in a few days, but yes - mine is a stealth version. That makes perfect sense! Hope that takes care of it!

[PiperguyUMD]

Yup big empty space for the smoke unit. Packed it with tungsten putty and that did the trick! Pulling 27 cars with ease now!