Recent content by pa steam

Update: I found the part I broke on Athearns site. They list it as a spline coupling. Hopefully I will be back in business.

Different issue. I broke it after checking if the motor was completely isolated.

I was double checking my connections and ended up breaking a plastic flywheel bushing. Ugh!!! Now to try and find a replacement.

Very nice. I love the snow covered mountain.

I just recently purchased the Digitrax DH163AT decoder for an Athearn blue box PA-1 diesel. I have never installed a decoder before but did a little research and figured I would give it a try. Well I got it all wired and put it on the track and the light is lit and the engine begins to move...

Thanks for the replies. I will definately try your suggestions. I recently cleaned all my locomotive wheels but not my rolling stock. Looks like I have some work to do.

How often do you need to clean track when running DCC loco's? I ask because it seems that I need to do it every few days anymore. I have only been using a brite boy on the rails and they have quite a bit of black oxidation that is affecting the operation of the loco's. I recently cleaned the...

That's interesting. I haven't had that happen yet.

Northeastern PA Very close to Steamtown.

They run great and look fantastic. The sound is not that great though. If you are handy and can swap out decoders then I would get one. If sound isn't a big concern, you can also mute it. I think the diesel sound is good, the horn and bell are ok but some of the other sounds such as the...

Very interesting project. Looks good.:)

I just saw one of each at a local club open house. They ran well and sounded good. The one thing that looked really bad was the head lights. They were orange colored. Yuck !

I had a few minutes to try out my new loco's yesterday. I just ran them with the #3 address since I didn't have time to do any programing. The A/B units ran well except for a abrupt stop when throttling down. That may just be because they are new. Sound.....The jury is still out on this...

Great job in a limited time.:)

The instructions just say to "program the locomotive the same way you would program any other NMRA compatible decoder with your DCC system." I have a few DCC loco's but this is my first A/B unit. I have a few Proto 2000 steamers with excellent programing manuals. If you were ever new to...