Engine on DCS variable track starts at full speed

John,

I've had the same issue.  In my case, it appeared to be tied to having the variable channels set to variable.  I use DCS 90+% of the time so I set my variable channels to fixed and only set them to variable if necessary. With the variable channels set to fixed, the problem is gone.
I haven't had this issue in quite a while but when I was going through things, I started doing conventional resets on all my engines.  I then tested each on in conventional just to be sure when it comes up, it doesn't move.  I had a premier K4 that I had to set in conventional neutral or it would take off like you describe every time it missed the DCS Watchdog signal.

Tony V

I have been setting my variable channels to fixed for years.  You don't have to do any reconfiguration to use them in variable mode, just select the track and start using the thumbwheel to control the voltage, they automatically switch to variable mode.

Interesting. I've heard of the ability to set a variable channel to a fixed mode, but Ive never really looked into it heavily. Perhaps this is the solution.

A question about doing that: Does the new circuit behave exactly like a fixed output in every way? For example, the variable tracks start up at zero volts when you turn on the system. Will they now start at the maximum?

Also, since the circuit in particular is a siding, there are times when I do want to shut power down to that section of track. Is there still a way to do this, perhaps with a toggle button of off or on?