The Test Track. My layout has been down for almost 4 years. It has changed and grown over a period of time. The Mainline is about 150 feet long with various sidings. All told, I am sure there is about another 100 foot. Click on this Layout Link to get an idea of what the layout looks like. The track is all brass with an even mix of LGB and Aristocraft. I have 5 power strands to my main track. It is a "home run" wiring configuration with all the power leads going back directly to the power source. I have had my layout wired like that for about a year now. I use Arisocraft conductive grease between the track connectors. About 30 % of my LGB track has over the rail Split Jaws clamps. With the Aristocraft track, I just use the grease and the regular screws to connect the track. After hooking up the Command base and Lionel Power amp to my main lead to power my track, I examined the FA1 [see below photo].. The installation of the main board and sound card can be seen and there is a close up of the board on the next page.. I noted a small switch coming off the board. I believe this is the "Program" switch that enables one to program the engine operating number. The VHS tape that came with this demo version mentions this switch. This engine programmnig switch is on all Lionel TMCC O gauge locos and any O gauge locomotive that is licensed to have the system. I am sure that this switch will be located on the outside of converted locomotives. Initial Run I ran it on my track with no cleaning. It stopped 3 times. I then ran the track cleaner around a couple of times and it ran better, not great, but then I was trying to pull it with a lighted USA Trains caboose and I had several other things on the track that were pulling track power Two lighted caboose, 4 bulbs on my signal light bridge and a lighted end ot track bumper. After taking off some of these power draining items, the engine ran just about perfect. Initially there were no "dead zones" on my track but there were some intermittent rapid "stops" on two sections of track. Getting it to stop smoothly also seemed to be a noticeable flaw with this unit initially. Stan Cedarleaf, who initially had this unit, never could get it stop smoothly and neither could I until I read the brochure. There is a "set" button that makes the power knob [the big red button on the CAB-1 controller] more or less responsive. Also, there is a series of 3 buttons that set the "momentum" for the loco. There are 3 settings {Light, Medium, Hard]. Light is the train starts rather non prototypically but with some hindrance. As you got to "Medium" and "Hard", the engine takes awhile to get up to speed or slow to stop. Once I did this - the engine started and stopped smoothly and prototypically. I settled on the :Medium setting [M on the hand held unit]. Click here to take you to the Scale Command website overview of the controller. The power control knob is a rotating red button/disc. It is very easy to use your thumb in rotating this disk [clockwise to increase power, counter clock wise to decrease power]. I like the rotating power button. Easy to use and my boys like it also. I set the sensitivity of the button so it would ramp up to full power with initially 2 full turns. I later set it to go to full power in 1.5 turns. The Sound When you first put the engine on the powered track [Note: the power is always on to a peak of about 18 to 19 volts, AC], it sits there quiet and dormant. On the CAB-1, you hit the Engine button [ENG], then the number assigned to the that particular engine. In this case, ENG 1. Then you hit the "BST" Button and the engine comes to life. The sound unit is obviously that of a diesel. It is very loud. Later, via the internet Scale Command site, I found additional controls via the Auxillary botton [AUX 1]. This AUX 1 button enables the various functions and sounds that the SC [Scale Command] engine can perform. The sound overall is fair. I have heard Phoenix,Sierra and MTH sound systems. The diesel roar, bell and horn sound ok. The squeeling brake sound is somewhat irritating. In comparison to my LGB Mikado, the brake sound on the LGB is much better. I didn't take a look at the speaker. There was some tympanic vibration when the sound was set to high. There was a noticeable click in the background on occasion but recall, this unit has a Railsounds 2.0 in it and not the proposed Railsounds 4.0. Overall, I think the sound was good in this unit but not as good like some of the other sound systems I have heard. |
Most recently, several people in Arizona have gotten the opportunity to run an Aristocraft Locomotive FA1 that has Scale Command installed and Railsounds 2.0. The unit was a newer generation FA1 with the new motor blocks. It seems have been manufactured in 2000. It did have 4 traction tire wheels. One of the "rubber bands" had fallen off when I got the unit. The photo on the right is the unit being test run in Prescott at Stan Cedarleaf's railroad. Gary Lantz of Wholesaletrains.com was kind enough to send an engine, an AC power supply and the the TMCC system so we could give the system a whirl. Stan wrote up some comments on MyLargeScale.com. You can Click Here and the link will take you to that discussion. |
Scale Command control system for Large Scale trains is basically Lionel's TMCC altered to run on two rail. TMCC has been around a long time controlling Lionel trains since the early 1990's. It is also being used, under License by other Ogauge Train manufacturers such as K-Line and Weaver. Train America studios along with USA trains is making a move to get Scale Command installed in Large Scale engines. Scale command is somewhat of a hybrid between DCC and Radio control. The best overview of Scale Command and TMCC can be found on the following two websites: |
Scale Command for Large Scale trains |
Scale Command control system for Large Scale trains is basically Lionel's TMCC altered to run on two rail. TMCC has been around a long time controlling Lionel trains since the early 1990's. It is also being used, under License by other Ogauge Train manufacturers such as K-Line and Weaver. Train America studios along with USA trains is making a move to get Scale Command installed in Large Scale engines. Scale command is somewhat of a hybrid between DCC and Radio control. The best overview of Scale Command and TMCC can be found on the following two websites: |
Click above logo to go to ISLSMR |
Click above logo to go to Home Page |
Most recently, several people in Arizona have gotten the opportunity to run an Aristocraft Locomotive FA1 that has Scale Command installed and Railsounds 2.0. The unit was a newer generation FA1 with the new motor blocks. It seems have been manufactured in 2000. It did have 4 traction tire wheels. One of the "rubber bands" had fallen off when I got the unit. The photo on the right is the unit being test run in Prescott at Stan Cedarleaf's railroad. Gary Lantz of Wholesaletrains.com was kind enough to send an engine, an AC power supply and the the TMCC system so we could give the system a whirl. Stan wrote up some comments on MyLargeScale.com. You can Click Here and the link will take you to that discussion. |
The Scale Command system can run using a DC power pack as long as the DC transformer has an AC accessory hookup. The base Scale Command system comes with an inverter to hook up if one want's to use their DC transformer. The system will run using regular AC power transformers. For test purposes, we were given a Lionel 135 watt power brick [about 19 volts and 7.2 amps]. This hasn't been made by Lionel for awhile but it performed well. It has a 7 amp reset fuse that does pop fast. The item in the center is the CAB-1 handheld controller. The item on the right is the Command base. I won't go into detail as to what these items do as the two links above do a great job in telling you about the Scale Command basics. |
The Test Track. My layout has been down for almost 4 years. It has changed and grown over a period of time. The Mainline is about 150 feet long with various sidings. All told, I am sure there is about another 100 foot. Click on this Layout Link to get an idea of what the layout looks like. The track is all brass with an even mix of LGB and Aristocraft. I have 5 power strands to my main track. It is a "home run" wiring configuration with all the power leads going back directly to the power source. I have had my layout wired like that for about a year now. I use Arisocraft conductive grease between the track connectors. About 30 % of my LGB track has over the rail Split Jaws clamps. With the Aristocraft track, I just use the grease and the regular screws to connect the track. After hooking up the Command base and Lionel Power amp to my main lead to power my track, I examined the FA1 [see below photo].. The installation of the main board and sound card can be seen and there is a close up of the board on the next page.. I noted a small switch coming off the board. I believe this is the "Program" switch that enables one to program the engine operating number. The VHS tape that came with this demo version mentions this switch. This engine programmnig switch is on all Lionel TMCC O gauge locos and any O gauge locomotive that is licensed to have the system. I am sure that this switch will be located on the outside of converted locomotives. Initial Run I ran it on my track with no cleaning. It stopped 3 times. I then ran the track cleaner around a couple of times and it ran better, not great, but then I was trying to pull it with a lighted USA Trains caboose and I had several other things on the track that were pulling track power Two lighted caboose, 4 bulbs on my signal light bridge and a lighted end ot track bumper. After taking off some of these power draining items, the engine ran just about perfect. Initially there were no "dead zones" on my track but there were some intermittent rapid "stops" on two sections of track. Getting it to stop smoothly also seemed to be a noticeable flaw with this unit initially. Stan Cedarleaf, who initially had this unit, never could get it stop smoothly and neither could I until I read the brochure. There is a "set" button that makes the power knob [the big red button on the CAB-1 controller] more or less responsive. Also, there is a series of 3 buttons that set the "momentum" for the loco. There are 3 settings {Light, Medium, Hard]. Light is the train starts rather non prototypically but with some hindrance. As you got to "Medium" and "Hard", the engine takes awhile to get up to speed or slow to stop. Once I did this - the engine started and stopped smoothly and prototypically. I settled on the :Medium setting [M on the hand held unit]. Click here to take you to the Scale Command website overview of the controller. The power control knob is a rotating red button/disc. It is very easy to use your thumb in rotating this disk [clockwise to increase power, counter clock wise to decrease power]. I like the rotating power button. Easy to use and my boys like it also. I set the sensitivity of the button so it would ramp up to full power with initially 2 full turns. I later set it to go to full power in 1.5 turns. The Sound When you first put the engine on the powered track [Note: the power is always on to a peak of about 18 to 19 volts, AC], it sits there quiet and dormant. On the CAB-1, you hit the Engine button [ENG], then the number assigned to the that particular engine. In this case, ENG 1. Then you hit the "BST" Button and the engine comes to life. The sound unit is obviously that of a diesel. It is very loud. Later, via the internet Scale Command site, I found additional controls via the Auxillary botton [AUX 1]. This AUX 1 button enables the various functions and sounds that the SC [Scale Command] engine can perform. The sound overall is fair. I have heard Phoenix,Sierra and MTH sound systems. The diesel roar, bell and horn sound ok. The squeeling brake sound is somewhat irritating. In comparison to my LGB Mikado, the brake sound on the LGB is much better. I didn't take a look at the speaker. There was some tympanic vibration when the sound was set to high. There was a noticeable click in the background on occasion but recall, this unit has a Railsounds 2.0 in it and not the proposed Railsounds 4.0. Overall, I think the sound was good in this unit but not as good like some of the other sound systems I have heard. |
I didn't take a look at the speaker. There was some tympanic vibration when the sound was set to high. There is a cab chatter function plus another spoken word function that states the the track is clear ahead. There is a 4 position volume setting, a increase in the diesle idle [4 levels] and a function to power down the engine. |
