Atlas Powered B-Units

Yes they do.  They have the same ERR sound card that the powered A units have.

T4TT,

 

Thank you, you just made my day.   

You are welcome Jim.  I posted the part number to the traction tire-less wheelset for the Atlas F units over on the 3Rs forum for you.  I made my powered UP F3 B unit a dummy and will be using all of the ERR electronics to convert an MTH UP rail inspection car to TMCC operation.  

That's good to 'hear' (pun intended) as all the units should have sound and especially if powered!

 

Too bad the other manufacturers don't have sound in their powered B's...

TT4T,

So, is it safe to assume that the horn blows in the B-units as well?

Jim, I had a 3 rail Atlas FM Erie Built A-B-A.  All units were powered and the horn blew in all.  However, it depends on how you program the TMCC units to run together.  If you use the TR key instead of the ENG key and have the units numbered differently the horn will only blow in the lead unit.

 

I usually use the ENG key with the same engine number for all units.  Depending on the way the TMCC is programed at the factory, some will have the ability to program F and R after the engine number so that even though using the same ENG number they will be differentiated by the F and R so that the engine that is F (lead) will blow the horn and those with R won't.  That also makes a difference with coupler operation.

 

I hope that is fairly clear.    

If considering an A-B-A consist, Most likely you would have to program each unit to run the consist with an older Cab 1 remote, or Legacy in TMCC mode.  

TMCC Cab1 programming: Power on, Engines on the track in Run mode, All engines in forward, as indicated by directional lighting and movement on power track. Note the backward facing engine should be going the opposite direction.   

Lead engine facing forward.

TR ##, Eng##, F, Set,  a horn will sound.

B unit middle.

TR ##, Eng##, Set, a horn will sound.

Rear engine facing backward in forward mode

TR ##, Eng##, R, Dir, Set, a horn will sound.

Check consist via TR## Only the front and rear head light should work, Only the front and rear coupler should work.  All units should operate in the same direction. 

 

I run consist of Atlas SW9's which have very small speakers. The multiple speaker sound is quite good.

SWEET

 

Thanks Howard and Mike.  I am considering modifing my Atlas F7 order to include 3 powered units as follow:

 

Powered A

Powered B

Dummy  B

Powered A

 

The first two units will be programed as lead units to start in forward.  Then the dummy B.  I will also program the trailing A (as a lead unit starting in "R"everse).  That will allow the horn from all three.  Of course I will lower the volume on the B-unit and trailing A-unit.

 

That should provide a deep, rich, quasi-stero horn that will get the attention of all on-lookers at the grade crossings.

 

Before I swap out the Dummy B for a powered B, I must ask the following question:  

 

What, if any, are the exterior physical differences between the Santa Fe 37B (powered B) and the 45B (non-powere B) that Atlas is offering? 

 

Thanks in advance.

 

PS -

 

I just ran across a post by Howard that may answer my question:

 

Will the (2) road #'s 37 & 45 have Phase I and Phase II specific details

Joe- They have 37 & 41 listed on their website which is more recent than the catalog.  I think they may have changed to 41 so they don't need to go with the larger d/b fan.

 

A bit off topic but I think most, if not all of us, would appreciate new tooling for the fuel tanks in these F7's. The fuel tanks used for the F3's is awful.

 

The interesting multiple sound speaker from different units  that I noted was the beat effect, with the sounds slightly out of sink.  The Pulsing.

Turn up the sound.

Click on the triangle for a video. Probably not the sound of F3's or F7's

 

Mike, Yes I was able to pick it up from your video.    Thanks for posting and thanks for your comments.

 

BTW you have a great looking layout and I LOVE your coal drag.  Some unit trains just can't be beat.

as it should

What, if any, are the exterior physical differences between the Santa Fe 37B (powered B) and the 45B (non-powere B) that Atlas is offering? 

The only difference should be a small 37B or 45B (BTW on their website, Atlas is using the number 41 for that set.  I think they revised it because 45 would have required a 48" dynamic brake fan to be correct.  If they use the number 41 then they can use the 36" d/b fan that the 37's will use and it will be detail correct.) 

To get around that you can either:

 

1.  Program all powered units with the same ID and run together not as a train.

 

2.  Set them up as a "train" or "lash-up" one by one and assign each a the LEAD unit using the same Train# and start in whichever direction you desire.

 

What say you?

The video I posted has prime mover sounds from all the units in the consist. I didn't check the horn sound, it could be keyed to the lead locomotive. 

 

Another point of the consist detail is that all couplers are dis-abled, except the lead unit, front, and rear unit, rear. With the SW's the same applied to the directional lighting, only the lead unit, front lighting, and rear unit head light in reverse are functional.  The consist should function as one unit.    

 

Common alternative was/is to assign the same engine number to each unit.  All couplers and all lights will still function.

 

Note that consist programing is done simply with the handheld Cab1, power to each unit, there is no need to use the Run Program switch.   

 

Note that eventually each unit, once removed, from the consist, should be assigned to TR #0, which allows the unit to function as a single unit, even if the TR ## is used for another consist.

 

Have fun with these wonderful toys.

Mike CT