Comtrain goes H0! H0! H0!: 02/27/14

2014/02/27

2014_02_27 Talking Tsunami

2014_02_27 Thursday

I asked the makers of Powerpax a few questions and the second half of their answer was illuminating.
I bought the PowerPax because it was supposed to help load Tsunami's. This is obviously incorrect.
The bit about NMRA standards is indeed interesting and the suggestion is that the Tsunami is also not up to these standarrds?

Rod:
The reason for the warning is that many people end up connecting the program track to the main. This WILL damage the Power Pax. Using it on an isolated piece of track is fine. The Power Pax cannot be used to drive the locomotive. It meets the NMRA standard for program track which requires that it not output more than 250mA. Any current in excess of this will trip the Power Pax off requiring a reset. This is to protect your decoder from damage in the event that there is a mis-wire. If you are using the PR3 or the Sprog2, you do not need the Power Pax. These units DO NOT meet NMRA program track standards, so they have enough output power by themselves. The Power Pax is designed to provide a boost to the normal program track output without violating the 250mA requirement. Frankly, for Soundtraxx decoders, you probably want to use the Sprog2. The reason is that the program track on Digitrax is only on for a short time. This on time is not long enough to get the decoder up and running, and as a result, it is very difficult to correctly program Soundtraxx decoders with Digitrax equipment.
Larry Maier
Tech Support
Tony's Train Exchange

About my Railway

The Australian National Railways was established by the Whitlam Federal Government following a commitment made in the 1972 election to invite the states to hand over their railway systems to the federal government. In July 1975 Australian National Railways was formed taking over the operations of the federal government owned Commonwealth Railways.

The state governments of South Australia and Tasmania whose railway systems were deeply in debt, accepted. During the next two years discussions between these two states and the federal government resulted in a number of staffing and operating agreements being made that resulted in all South Australian Railways services (except for the Adelaide metropolitan passenger network) and all Tasmanian Government Railways services transferring to Australian National Railway in March 1978, the latter being re-branded AN Tasrail.

At first Victoria declined to hand over its Railways, however a change of Government after Bolte retired meant Victoria could be absorbed into AN as well.
Despite doing everything they could to tarnish ALP leader Clyde Holding, The ALP were able to defeat Hamer who was seen to be just another Bolte, doing more of the same into the future.

Clyde Holding handed over Victorian Railways to the Commonwealth where it prospered as a division of AN retaining its VR colours until later when AN decided to re-brand it as V/Line.

My Railway thus reflects what could have been ;)
And of course National Rail (Pacific National) has no place in my little scenario. Australian National was never privatised and has continually taken East Coast loads off the Highways. As well many branch lines were upgraded and Whitlam's policy of decentralisation actually moved employment to towns with a ready pool of workers, which of course took the pressure of Melbourne which was starting to expand as bush kids moved away from the Country in search of education and employment ( just as Gough Whitlam envisaged it would do)
Rod Young

Comtrain goes H0! H0! H0!

2014/02/27

2014_02_27 Talking Tsunami

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