Dave, Ah, the memories of those train rides make one want to recreate a small world of those days in modeling S. The longest train I can recall riding was on the PRR--already PC, I think--in the summer of 1968 from Chicago to Cincinnatti and back. The train had already lost its Pullmans and was coach-only. I recall three E units up front, all E-7s, none of them looking very spiffy.
In both directions we had about 20 cars but what an assortment. At the rear, two PRR remodeled P70 coaches. In front of the coaches a Duke's mixture of X29 mail storage cars, PRR type mail storage cars, a foreign road box car or two serving as mail storage cars. There must have been a mail sorting car, but I cannot recall for sure now. On the return trip when we arrived at Union Station, I recall walking past perhaps 20 or more cars up to the front of the three-unit combo. The consist was a sight to remember! Tom Baker ________________________________ From: [email protected] [[email protected]] on behalf of David Engle [[email protected]] Sent: Thursday, November 29, 2012 8:11 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: {S-Scale List} Re: LokSound select decoders I don't want to drift too far off subject, but. . In ~1964 I had the fortune of riding Santa Fe from KC to Chicago on the overnight Chicagoan(?). We had A-B-B-B-A F-7s and about 20 cars. When we came off the Mississippi River Bridge and cleared the curve from the bridge, the entire train of lightweight cars, mostly Budds, suddenly lunged forward enough as it picked up speed that I was pushed back in my seat, there was no sign of slack running out. Later in the trip I asked what could have caused this, and it was suggested that all 5 units had transitioned at the same instant. Also, remember that F-2s and FT-s had "manual" transition, and even to their demise, it was cautioned on RI to have them lead newer automatic-transition units, as they could get burned out if they were trailing. Replicating that in the model venue could be a real trick. Dave Engle KCMO ----- Original Message ----- From: Greg<mailto:[email protected]> To: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, November 29, 2012 4:26 PM Subject: {S-Scale List} Re: LokSound select decoders The speed is what controls whether or not the engine goes through transition. Usually they are set at about 24-26 mph for the engine to transition. The reason they are set in that range is so a consist doesn't transition all at the same time. Bad for the engines and bad for the train if you're on a grade and all transition at the same time. :*( Greg Elems --- In [email protected]<mailto:S-Scale%40yahoogroups.com>, "railroadpaul" <railroadpaul@...> wrote: > > > I dont know, I was watching some video of a GP-9 sorting cars and you can > here the engine throttle up all the way with no transition and as soon as the > crew got her moving the engineer would throttle down to iddle "with no > transition" and coast through the switch, and they were working that engine > hard... > paul welsheimer > > > --- In [email protected]<mailto:S-Scale%40yahoogroups.com>, "Brian > Jackson" <brian__jackson@> wrote: > > > > When the 567 sounds like it's shifting down to notch 1 or 2, isn't that > > called "making transition"? > > >
