DCC and Series-Wired "China Drive" motors

Matt

Series wired China drive diesels work great with DCC - and the low speed performance is better than the same series wired locomotive running on straight DC.  I've converted two China drive diesel sets.  An A-B set of AtlasO Erie-built FM's (pushing a leading dummy A with an unobstructed crew in the cab), and an A-B set of Weaver BP-20 passenger sharks.  In each of the powered units (4 in all) I've used a single QSI "HO" sound & power  Revolution-U BEMF decoder.  

Ed Rappe 

Dan Dawdy who posts here using screen name railroad-guy is quite familiar with this technology. He wrote a good article which appeared in the first issue of

 http://www.oscaleresource.com/

He covered the series wiring and installation of a Tsunami sound decoder in an Atlas China Drive RS-1...I followed his instruction and discovered how wonderfully Atlas locomotives can actually run when correctly modified. Read that article...good stuff, and perhaps Dan will see this thread and add more to the discussion.

Bob

Thanks for the quick replies. That's good to know. I have several Proto-1 3-rail engines I'm considering turning into scale-wheeled units and DCC is an option I've been looking at over the long term for them.

I've downloaded OSR and will review the article.

Thanks again.

Read the article last night. Dan's using 1-Amp H.O. sound decoders in the Atlas RS-1's without problems. Pretty impressive. That opens up options...also has me looking at a couple of Trainman 2-rail DC diesels I hadn't considered earlier.

Yes pretty impressive. I did the conversion just as Dan instructed and then very carefully started using my RS-1 for light switching...and before long I realized it was going to be just fine for any usage I could foresee on my railroad...now I have premium quality sound, and exceptional running characteristic from what use to be a headache with trucks attached....

Bob

So! can DCS be wired in series??         Stephen...(cTr...Choose the right)

Proto-2 supposedly can't because it [supposedly] controls the motors independently. I've never tested it. The speed control and low speed operation of Proto-2 hasn't really made series wiring necessary, though.

What is a China Drive?  G

 G, they call vertical can motors a china drive. Some two rail engines have horizontal motors with drive shafts that allow for a detailed cab interior and other benefits.

 It does not control the motors independently. They are wired in parallel at the harness, I think. The tach reader is only on one motor.

I must admite that my MTH loco's, to me,seem to run quite smoothly, better than some of my brass locos, I feel I could shunt quite adequately with DCS, but any improvement would be a plus.        Stephen    (cTr.......Choose the Right)

A bit late to the party here...  If anyone need more information I can try and help. My only point in the article is to show that there are more possible options. I am here here smoking decoders so you don't have to

But seriously, as long as you know your current draw you can then make a decision on how to proceed with a decoder.

Believe me, Dan. Your article answered a LOT of questions. There is a side-effect, though, as now I'm taking another look at some 2-rail DC-only Atlas Trainman diesels.

Dan

Thanks for the article.  I enjoyed reading it.  The article and the comments here along with my own first hand experience with Atlas RS-1s provide further information to better understand other folks impressions of particular locomotives or tpes of drive trains.

The small size of the 2 rail O scale market over the decades has prevented any single product or group of comparable products from becoming a defacto standard power supply.  That lead to many guys coming up with their own or using power supplies intended for the HO market.  The smaller power supplies seem to have been the source of the emphasis on low amperage dray among so many two railers.  Attempting to adapt HO decoders to O scale locomotives is the DCC era version of that problem.  I liked your use of a relay to work around the amperage limitations of the HO decoder and keep the smoke unit available.  Of course some of those home made or HO power supplies can still be the source of problems when attempting to run conventionally in the dual mode decoder era.

With the QSI Titan and Proto 3 equipped locomotives on the market perhaps we can finally see those products set defacto standards for locomotives and you and others won't have to put so much of your own time an money at risk trying to come up with a way to get by with electronics of marginal capacity.  I love your comment...

I am here here smoking decoders so you don't have to

G asked

What is a China Drive?

To be historically and geographically correct, twin vertical can motors should be referred to as Maryland Drives.  That is where they were first manufactured.  

I didn't understand the frequent disparagement of twin vertical motored locomotives by two railers until I operated a factory fresh Atlas RS-1.  The speed control was terrible!  If that was my only experience with twin vertical motor diesels I would have had a low opinion of them too.

The speed control and low speed operation of Proto-2 hasn't really made series wiring necessary, though.

Proto 2 sure helped that Atlas RS-1!

I would expect that a Titan could do similarly well.  The QSI equipped Sunset E7s have very good speed control.

Either way it is sure nice to be able to expect a locomotive to do realistic work and not worry about it damaging low capacity electronics.