Daley Train Log
Page 5
I spent a very leisurely hour on the layout this afternoon. Much of the time was devoted to cleaning the track in the Coaldale classification yard for the route that I am using when I first set up CN 6700, a diesel C-liner, to leave the yard and enter the mainline. I pulled out most of the nails along this section that I am using to fasten the track to the foam ballast and the table top. This allowed me to make a small but important adjustment to the track so the joints between track sections was as smooth as possible. I then went over this track with a track eraser to remove any oxidation or dirt that may have accumulated over the last 9 months since I last worked on the layout.
The second task was to place unit CN 6700 on the Program Track and then program the decoder to recognize 6700 as the loco number for the cab control. That turned out to be straight forward. Good. But it also meant that all of the settings for loco number 3 were lost. I now need to learn how to program this information into the decoder. This is going to require some careful reading of the manual that came with the locomotive as well as the manual that came with the MRC Wireless DCC system.
I hooked up a B-unit (CN 6708) to CN 6700 and that also worked fine. This is the first connection that I have made to CN 6700. I want to create a consist of about 3 cars and use that train as a test of the track as I go over all of the track on the layout.
I also want to carefully read the two DCC manuals (one for the MRC system, the other for the diesel unit) and see if I can coordinate the various sounds with the different actions as I form the train.
In summary, I have two major activities that require some new learning: