Atlas Track Planning Software - Version 1.9.8 Released

The Atlas Track Planning Software has been Updated to Version 1.9.8

Create magnificent layouts in HO, N & O scales using Atlas track with the Atlas Track Planning Software! This software allows you to create and customize your very own layout, view it as a 3D model and then generate a shopping list to make your dream layout a reality.

New features and fixes have been listed below.

Added and improved features:

- Small bugfixes and updated language translations
- ATPS is fully tested and certified for Windows 11

Click Here to Download Atlas Track Planning Software Demo

Click Here to Purchase the Software License

In addition, for those who might be looking for a place to start in the creation of their layout, we have also made select layout files available for purchase. Once downloaded, simply open up ATPS and load the file and start creating!

Purchase Layout Files Here

The Atlas Track Planning Software has been Updated to Version 1.9.8

Create magnificent layouts in HO, N & O scales using Atlas track with the Atlas Track Planning Software! This software allows you to create and customize your very own layout, view it as a 3D model and then generate a shopping list to make your dream layout a reality.

New features and fixes have been listed below.

Added and improved features:

- Small bugfixes and updated language translations
- ATPS is fully tested and certified for Windows 11

Click Here to Download Atlas Track Planning Software Demo

Click Here to Purchase the Software License

In addition, for those who might be looking for a place to start in the creation of their layout, we have also made select layout files available for purchase. Once downloaded, simply open up ATPS and load the file and start creating!

Purchase Layout Files Here

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So...the Foreign Country Will Pay the Tariff, r...i...g...h...t.

A close friend of the author's, Lee, just sent him an email.

I wanted to share that my latest Rapido pre-order…before Tariffs was $669 from Rapido for a PA and B set.  Shipping was $22.95……….TARIFF SURCHARGE $67.19.  You know who to thank for that. So be prepared if you have any model train pre-orders coming. Spread the word.

Another friend, Steve, replied to this:

Apparently Rapido didn't get the word that the foreign country was going to pay the tariff. What a joke!

Lee responded:

Just got off the line with customer support.  The lady explained that even though it was preordered last year, the tariff for Rapido to import from China this year was 20%.  They are only charging we the customer 9.6%. They have no choice.  That 9.6%  actually goes to the U. S. government so I’m wondering if since that is a tax on us, then we should be able to deduct that on our income tax. Hmmmm! Anyway that’s the story.  We were told we won’t have to pay the tariffs…

Author's reply:

I can guarantee you that there will be no line in next year's tax return that asks "Didyou pay any tariff money in 2025?".

Just sayin'...

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Throttle Percentages vs. Speed Steps

This question has come up more than once on the Digitrax groups.io forum. "How do I convert the speed percentages of my Digitrax throttle to the 28 speed steps"? Soundtraxx has this defined in their reference manuals but it is a little hard to find. It is on page 60 of the current reference manual (software release 1.2).

Figure 1 Speed steps and throttle speed percentages

Column 1 lists the number of each CV in the custom speed table. Column 2 lists the speed steps, Column 3 is the throttle percentage representing that speed step and Column 4 is the default value of the corresponding CV. For example, speed step 5 is 18 on the throttle. That is controlled by CV 71 which has a default value of 45.

JMRI's Panel Pro throttle has speed steps built in. Start Panel Pro, select Tools. Select Throttles then click New Throttle. Right click on the Control Panel, click Properties then click on  Display speed steps. 

Additional Information

Entering values from 0 to 255 into CVs 67-94 will set each point of the 28-point custom speed table from 0% to 100% of the maximum throttle setting. The 28-point speed table is linear by default as defined in the above table.

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ALCO's RS1 vs. RS2 vs. RS3. Which one is it anyway?The Author Stands Corrected 2025-08-16

This is for those that do not really know the difference or how to tell the difference. The author is getting tired of arguing about it. Also, if you have a used one that are trying to sell and the box disagrees with the following points then someone at some time put the wrong locomotive in the wrong box. The author has seen many examples of this on eBay, a RS2 in a RS1 box...etc. and therefore (of course) sold as a RS1. Email the seller about it and you'll get ,"The box says RS1".

The way to tell the difference is to look at the exhaust stack, YES, it is that easy. Look at figures 1, 2 and 3 below.

RS1
The stack is close to the cab on the fireman's side (if long nose forward). See figure 1.

Figure 1 B&O RS1 from the author's collection

RS2
The stack is on the same side of the shell but it is moved forward. See figure 2.

Figure 2 D&H RS2 from the author's collection

RS3
The stack is in the same forward position as the RS2 except it has been turned 90 degrees and placed in the center of the shell. See figure 3.

Figure 3 D&H RS3 from the author's collection

One other point is that the RS1 had a 6-539T engine while the RS2 and 3 had the 12-244 engine so the radiator intakes were different between the RS1 and the others RSs. 

The author hopes this clears up the identification problem.

Addendum
Jack Shall has left a comment on the correctness of this post. Please read the comment because it describes further ways to identify the differences between the RS2 and the RS3. This comment is accurate for the prototype locomotives. However, I have not seen any differences from what I explained regarding the stack in manufacturer's models.

The Author Stands Corrected <2025-08-16>
A KATO model RS2 was found on eBay that has the turned stack in the middle of the shell, no battery box behind the engineer's position and was identified as an RS 2. See figure 4.

Figure 4 KATO RS2

This is the first model constructed this way that the author has encountered so the information in the addendum above is correct.

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Replacement Encoders for Digitrax DT602 Throttles

DT 602 Replacement Encoder

Mick Moignard of the Digitrax groups.io group recently put out information and a link to the spec sheet for the replacement encoder for DT 602 encoders. The part number is ALPS EC12E2424407. The spec sheet is here. They appear to be in the $1 - $2 range apiece.

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Whyte Wheel Arrangement Classification

Here are the Whyte wheel arrangements for all known locomotive types arranged in 3 pictures. The wheels are arranged from pilot wheels to drivers and then trailing wheels. "0" indicates no wheels in that group. Click on each figure for an enlarged view.

Figure 1
       
Figure 2


Figure 3

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Cleaning Track & Wheels Scientifically - Addendum 2025-07-13

That black gunk from nowhere that plagues model railroaders has finally been figured out. It is caused by micro-arching between the wheels of powered locomotives and the track on the inside of the track where the flange meets it. This is shown in fig. 1. 

Figure 1

Over time the gunk builds up on the wheels to the point that the locomotives run intermittently or just plain badly (or not at all). Then you have to clean the track and/or wheels and it seems as if we are always cleaning something.

The author’s background is in Chemistry and he understands that in order to prevent the gunk in the first place you have to prevent the micro-arching. The only way to do this is to clean the track and wheels with a liquid that has a low dielectric constant meaning it is a non-polar solvent. You don’t really need to understand what that is. All you really need to know is that lower dielectric constants prevent arching and which solvents have a low dielectric constant.

The table on the left (thanks to Model Railroad Hobbyist Magazine) is a list of many solvents that most readers should be familiar with. The key to this table is that the solvents are listed from the lowest dielectric constant to the highest.

So what solvent is the most commonly used by model railroaders that have never heard of dielectric constants? Would you believe Isopropyl alcohol? Look at table 1 and find Isopropyl alcohol (commonly known as IPA). What is its constant? How good do you really think it is at keeping track clean? Are you still cleaning a lot?

There are some solvents to definitely not use (common sense) Kerosene, Gasoline (explosive), Carbon Tetrachloride (carcinogenic) are just some of them. Mineral Spirits is a good choice because of both its low dielectric constant and its cost. It also comes in an odorless form.

The author has tested several of the low constant solvents on his home layout with these results.

WD-40 contact cleaner - inexpensive but dries much too quickly making it difficult to clean engine wheels. Also recommends good ventilation (toxic).

CRC contact cleaner - Plastic safe but expensive and has multiple warnings of highly flammable spray.Also dries too quickly.

Gasoline, Kerosene & Diesel - forget it (you figure it out)!

Mineral Spirits (odorless) - inexpensive and readily available. The author is currently testing this on his home layout.

By the way, he has also gotten rid of his IPA except when laying ballast.

Addendum 2025-07-13
There has been some pushback concerning the use of oderless mineral spirits for cleaning track and wheels. Along with these arguments against its use is the author's response. Do your research first before spouting off that you know better.

IT'S FLAMMABLE
The flashpoint (the temperature at which a substance will easily ignite if exposed to a spark or flame at or above this temperature) of Isopropyl Alcohol is 64 - 75 degrees F  while the flashpoint of oderless mineral spirits is 100 - 140 degrees F. Which do you think will flash first?

IT DAMAGES THE PLASTIC OF LOCOMOTIVES
What are you doing, putting it on with an air brush? Use common sense. To clean track put it on a small felt pad and clean it. For locomotives the author removes some sheets from a alcohol wipes container, let's it dry out in open air and then puts OMS on it on a test track and runs a locomotive, holding it still, to clean it's wheels. It's not that difficult to figure out.

IT DAMAGES SCENERY
See the above remark.

As the author said above, it's not difficult to use, it's not dangerous, it not damaging (common sense, remember?) and it cleans better.

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Nathan P and M type Horn Packs For SP Fans

Bryce R (sorry don't know the last name) has uploaded to the LokSound groups.io files section several Nathan P and M type horn sound packs. These apparently would be very useful for Southern Pacific fans. An example horn pack is shown in figure 1. You can get to them here. 

If you are not a groups.io member it's easy and free to join. Read the second paragraph of this post to see how easy it is to join.

Figure 1 Nathan M-type Horns

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ESU LokProgrammer Upgrade 5.2.13 Is Available For Download

This update will not be available by auto-download for a week or two.

The LokProgrammer software 5.2.13 is now available for download. This includes the firmware 5.12.178 for all LokSound 5 and LokPilot 5 decoders: It allows for higher motor current when start moving to "kick off" some heavy trains more easily. 

Further, new decoders such as ESU Digital interior lighting strip 2.0, LokPilot 5 micro DCC Direct Atlas Legacy or Lenz LenS5 L decoders are now supported.

In the decoder's motor setting, there is now an additional diagram showing the actual speed table values as computed and used by the decoder. This is for easier speed matching. 

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Atlas Closed for July Vacation

Atlas will be closed for vacation from July 4th through July 11th. Orders will be processed when the office reopens on July 14th.

Please have orders in by Wednesday, July 2nd at 12PM ET to ensure shipping before vacation.

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ESU Automatic Horns With No Movement Until Done Sounding

Even with the plethora of Horn sound slot file tutorials on this blog, the most common request this author receives is to change them so the engine does not move until the horn is finished playing (that's prototypical). Apoorva (The IndianRail Modeler) and I have been working on this together and with his help and input on both the stop signal and some selections within sound files that the author was unfamiliar with, we have it working. This is one of the more complicated projects presented in this blog but it works and it's a relief to have it working. The core of this project lies in the Starting Delay sound slot usually slot #26 shown in figure 1.

Figure 1 Sound Slot #26 Starting Delay

It is recommended that you run this with the simulator to see how it actually works. The Start, Reverse and Stop horn sounds will be added directly into this slot but there are several things you have to know for it to work properly. They will be discussed. The stumper for the author was getting the Stop signal to function. He was all over the place and none of the tries worked. Then Apoorva demonstrated how easy it was. The author just never looked at it this way.

Let's start with the completed project (figure 2) and we'll break it down into parts as we go.

Figure 2 The completed project

We'll start with the Forward and Reverse signals. First, be certain that with the original Starting delay slot in the Sound Slot properties you have the Unlimited checkbox checked and there is a constant variable of Speed 1 = 0.

The Forward Signal

Add a container named Forward Signal between the two Drivelock states. The entry conditions are Requested Speed > Speed 1 and Reverse = false. The exit actions are tmr1 = SV13. So we are setting timer 1 to the value in SoundCV 13. SoundCV 13 can be viewed on the Sound Slot settings sheet of the Decoder pane. In most (if not all) sound files 13 is a default value. The contents of the Forward Signal container are shown in figure 3.

Figure 3 The Forward Signal

Notice how timer 2 controls not only the length of time the horn sounds (in 1/4 secs. so 2=.5 secs) but also the length of time of the pause between horn blasts (in this case a hard coded value of 6, change it if you like). The select value is entered and changed on the Sound slot settings sheet of the decoder pane (it's the Sound configuration variable). The statement in the comment about mapping all horn states to sound slot #3 is in the author's opinion a stroke of genius by Apoorva. This is done in the State Properties as shown in figure 4.

Figure 4 Tying another sound slot to this one

What this does is tie the horn to sound slot 3 so in the event you change the selected horn by changing SoundCV 9, all of the horn states in this sound slot change with it. You don't have to do anything extra!

The Reverse Signal

More of the same here except the entry conditions have the Reverse = false changed to Reverse = true. See figure 5.

Figure 5 The reverse signal

The Stop Signal

Now for the item that caused the author a lot of grief. We'll not get into that but the fact is if the engine got as far as the Drivelock Timer Before Release then it moved and sounded the horn so now you have to sound the stop signal when spd=0. We also have to take into account the Function mapping being still in effect. So to differentiate these two we'll implement a user variable. A value of 1 means the function is still active so when spd=0, sound the stop horn. Shown in figure 6.

Figure 6 The stop signal

Again, nothing new. Prior to the stop horn sounding there is a delay state that allows for a short delay until the stop horn actually sounds. It consists of playing the silence.wav file a number of times. Look at the state properties in figure 7.

Figure 7 The delay state properties

Adjust the delay by changing the Min and Max numbers equally up or down.

Summation

• You do not have to worry about mapping this in the Function Mapping sheet of the Decoder pane. Since it is already mapped with 'Stop, F8, not F15' you're good there.

• Do not uncheck the Starting Delay on the Driving characteristics sheet of the Decoder pane. That will prevent this sound slot file from working properly. If it is unchecked, check it.

• The unlimited checkbox MUST be checked. A quote from Apoorva,

  "The unlimited check box signals to the decoder what to do if a soundslot is interrupted while it’s playing. Interruption could be due to loss of power, hierarchy when too many sounds are simultaneously playing or conditions within the soundslot. If the box is not checked, the user will need to toggle the function button to re-start the soundslot. If it is checked, the decoder will automatically restart the sound".

• Every horn state must be mapped to sound slot 3 or whatever sound slot you have moved the horn pack to, if you have.

Recommendations

• If, and for some sound files that's a big IF, you have an extra soundCV available use it to set and change the values where tmr2 is hard coded to a value of 6 as shown in figures 5 and 6. Say you have SoundCV 14 free. Set it to a value of 6 on the Sound settings sheet. Then change the appropriate transition action lines from tmr2 = 6 to tmr2 = SoundCV14. With this in place you just write decoder data when you change SoundCV 14 (less than 10 secs.).  As is, if you change this value you will have to re-burn the sound file (30 minutes!!).

• As an experiment you could substitute the start, reverse and stop horn files that I detailed here in place of the ones in this article. The author would be interested to know if these work and if they work properly. There's no reason they shouldn't. The only issue with this is if you change the horn you will have to revisit the file and update the horns manually. Mapping the horns to the sound slot will not work in this case.

• If the delay between the start horn finishing and the engine starting to move is more than you prefer, just reduce the value of SoundCV 13 on the Sound slot setting sheet. Remember the engine revs up during this time period though.

• If you have engines that you repeatedly run in a consist it is recommended that you only add this sound slot to the lead engine. All engines that have this added will sound their horns on start and stop. If you want that then fine but the only way to prevent an engine from sounding their horn is to remove the State Properties Mapping shown in figure 4 above. You will have to reburn the file everytime you change things. 

I hope you learn a lot from this sound slot, THIS AUTHOR DID! It somewhat changes the way you think about how sound slots work and how to connect them to other slots and sounds.

Thanks Apoorva for pointing me in the right direction!

Good luck with this everyone but most importantly, have fun!

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Digitrax Track Status Light - Which Color Is It Anyway, And When?

The following is from BillyBob Experimenter on the Digitrax-Users groups.io forum and was written about a year ago.

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When address 0 is being used and it is "stopped", the lamp should look about the same as when address 0 is not being used.

When address 0 is being used and it is "moving forward", as the speed increases, the track status "gets more redish" (or gets more-greenish), with the most-redish (or most-greenish) when Address 0 is at a speed of 99.

When address 0 is being used and it is "moving reverse", as the speed increases, the track status "gets more-greenish" (or gets more-redish), with the most-greenish (or most-redish) when Address 0 is at a speed of 99.

When the "Address 0" feature is disabled, the track status lamp will show as "Amber".  And please note, I LocoNet devices do not support the "address 0" ("Analog loco") feature, and actually turn the command station's feature "off" if they see it turned on!  The OpSw which controls this is typically command station OpSw20; OpSw20=Thrown seems to allow Analog operation via address0;  opSw20=Closed seems to disallow Analog operation.

Be aware that the DCC track signal does not know which direction the loco is going!  If the loco is placed on the rails one way, the loco will run forward when the Track Status is more-greenish, and run reverse when the Track Status is more-redish .  But when put on the rails in the opposite direction, the loco will run reverse when the Track Status is more-greenish and run forward when the Track Status  lamp is more-redish! That's why I said "more-greenish (or more red-ish)" above...

And some DCC command stations display the Track Status in such a way as to be harder to determine the Analog usage.  This is because some command stations and boosters do not have a great "amount of greenishness" and "amount of redishness" for the effect of the "Address 0" speed.  In my experience, the DCS52, DCS210, DCS210+, DCS240, and DCS240+ command stations seem to have this "lower" variance.  This may affect DB210, DB220, DB220Opto boosters, too.

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ESU 5 Single Sound Slot Auto Horn

This is a move in creating a more efficient automatic horn sound slot that combines two slots into one. Eventually this will become a part of a project that will also allow the horn to complete playing before the engine starts to move. There have been many questions to the author about getting this to work so he has finally taken this on and it's a complicated one.

A single start, stop and reverse sound slot file was first mentioned here. The cons, as detailed in that post were taken care of in this new version. Figure 1 shows the general flow of the logic and it's quite simple. The key is everytime the engine starts in motion it will eventually have to stop so tie the stop horn to the start horns and it becomes simpler. 

Figure 1 The general flow

For those of you that have already implemented the auto horns which were detailed here. The forward and reverse horns and also the stop horn (shown in figures 2, 3 and 4) can be merely copied and pasted into the new diagram containers respectively. For those that haven't implemented the horns, it is recommended you do. You'll learn a lot about creating containers and states and saving the finished product to your templates.

Figure 2 The forward horn signal

Figure 3 The reverse signal

Figure 4 The stop signal

Once you have this complete, save it to your templates. The next project up is utilizing it in a slot that plays the horn sounds completely before the engines moves.

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ESU Autobell WIth Start, Loop and End Files Employed Expanded 2025-04-28

Originally, this author posted how to employ an auto bell for locomotive starts and stops. That post is here. This is a rather simplistic way of getting the bell to work automatically. It only employs the Loop sound WAV file but it does work. He had every intention of employing all three files (start, loop, end) sometime in the future. Well, we all know how that "future intention" works and here we are three years in the future.

Recently, a reader of this blog who has employed several of the other methologies presented in this blog sent the author an email showing where he could not get the file to work after adding the start and end sound files. So it looks like that time is now.

First of all if you have not followed and implemented the original method mentioned above, it is recommended you do. You will learn a lot of manipulations that you need to know and you will have a basis for building this more advanced form of the auto bell. The really good thing about this exercise is that it can be built completely utilizing the Simulator and not have to be burned to the decoder until we have it correct.

The original project was simple. If the speed was greater than zero, spd > 0, and less than the max speed we selected, spd < SV16, then ring the bell using the loop WAV, otherwise stop ringing. Now the logic gets more complicated. Whereas the bell ringing happened in a simple State located in a Container, that State now expands to multiple states in the Container to hold the additional logic and sound WAVs. The starting container is shown in figure 1.

Figure 1 The starting container

  

The complete contents of the container is shown in Fig.2. The Decision state and wait for function are both states. 

 

Figure 2 Autobell with start and stop sound WAVs added

The logic of which sound file to play is determined by using the user1 variable and setting it to either 1 or 0. Anytime it is 1 indicates the start sound should play. Otherwise, depending on the speed which is determined by the spd register obviously and the sound CV SV16, play either the loop sound or the end sound.

Don't forget to check the loop checkbox in the Repeat Playback section for both the Decision State and the Wait for Function state or you will get an error.

Expansion 2025-07-28

A user of the LokSound groups.io forum, Greg Taylor, asked the author if it would be possible to start the bell before the engine started to move. So that set off another development session of autobell. Figure 3 shows the additional conditions needed for the bell to start with a function press (usually F2) or whatever function you have the slot file mapped to. In essence, the bell is now function controlled (except when the locomotive exceeds the speed set by SV16).

Figure 3 Using a Function For Bell Ringing Before Movment

A couple of things to notice are first, a new value of 2 was added to user1, second and critical, the order of the four exit points of the Decision State container must be set to the order in the figure. Lastly, many F = true checks must be done on all branches since the function key can be turned off at any time! In which case the bell end WAV file must play.

The order is set by clicking on each transition and then setting the order at the top of  the Transition Settings section.

Have fun with this one.

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CowCatcher Magazine's Article on Model Railroad Tariffs

Updated from the May/June 2025 Cowcatcher Magazine this article discusses the effects of the newly imposed tariffs on the hobby.

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The Hobby Industry Coalition

This is a forward posting of an email from Atlas Insider. It is meant to help protect the future of toys and hobbies in America. It appears things are heating up and they had better do that or this hobby may not survive the next four years.

Read about it here.

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A Message From The Model Train Industry

This is something that everyone needs to watch and listen to concerning the tariffs. It is a statement  from most of the prominent model railroad manufacturers today and an important eye opener for all of us who love the model railroading hobby.

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Loksound Equipped Engine Refuses To Move But Sound Is Fine Final Update 2025-04-17

This problem has plagued users for a long while now and is almost constantly an issue brought up on the LokSound groups.io forum. Guaranteed you'll see it brought up about every two or three days.

There are several reasons this could happen and the majority of them are easily remedied. There is a list of things that need to be checked and these are mentioned whenever the problem pops up. 

• Make sure Drive Hold is not on
• Ensure the Independent Brake is not on
• Ensure the Automatic (Train) Brake is not on
• To learn how to implement the Train brake read this
• Make sure CV19 is set to 0 (not in advanced consist)
• By default, the sound files have a 3 second delay before they allow the engine to move
• Allows the engine sound to spool up before moving (because that's how prototypes work, read this) 
• If you haven't turned off this delay, give it a little time to start moving
• A comment was left by a reader with a common sense check I should have mentioned. After checking the easy stuff, check the motor contacts (or wiring) make sure they are clean (in the case of contacts) or wired correctly (for wiring). Problems with wiring includes a wire where half or more of the individual threads of wiring have been cut through or broken or have a bad (cold) solder joint. Thanks to the reader whoever you are.

If group members think of other things that need to be checked, email the author and he'll add them to this list. 

Recently, the author came across this problem in a couple of his locomotives and it always occurred when initially programming the decoder. It didn't matter if the engine was programmed from scratch or was a copy of a previously programmed engine with just the engine number changed. It happened in both instances and was always for a v5 decoder (that's what the author has) so, both 21 pin and micro decoders developed the problem.

Definition of Terms

Just to be clear, the following was done with a LokProgrammer and not JMRI. Also, with a LokProgrammer there are some terms used in this discussion that may be confusing for those used to JMRI - Panes, Sheets and Driver's Cab. 

• Panes are the columnar selections on the left side of the LokProgrammer window. They start with Driver's Cab at the top and end with Sound at the bottom. Directly to the right of the Panes are the Sheets starting with Address. See figure 1. 
• Sheets give you access to the individual CV settings of the decoder but they can also give you access to other things such as the individual sound slots on the Sound Pane. It depends on which Pane you select. It  takes a little getting used to.
• Driver's Cab is a built in throttle which allows you to immediately test the changes you have made to CVs after Writing Decoder Data. It does not allow you to test any changes you have made to the Sound Pane though. Some changes there have to be burned to the decoder to hear them (the Simulator in the sound pane will allow hearing some changes but not all of them and that is beyond the scope of this discussion).
  
  
  

Fig 1 Panes, Sheets and CV access

Now For The Insidious One
Re-burning the unchanged original downloaded file from ESU (pure factory reset not a reset to previously programmed values) would clear up the problem so what did the author change that caused this? 

Today it was decided he was going to take the time and trace the cause. One sheet at a time utilizing the Driver's Cab to test if the engine is running or not after changes and then go changed setting by changed setting on the particular sheet if the problem occurred.

This took some time. Brake Settings, Driving Characteristics, the various Function Sheets, all were fine. Motor Settings, WAIT!!! the engine refused to move!!! Now change by change until the author got to Motor Overload Protection. Long story short finally, checking the Enable motor current limiter would prevent the engine from moving!  See figure 2.

 

Fig 2 Motor current limiter

Think! Why? This was an older HO KATO AC4400CW purchased at a swap meet and it had the same changes made as to a new one that was working. This makes perfect sense. The older motor needs more current than the new model and the protection wouldn't let it move because it was above the set limit.

Uncheck the Enable motor current limiter box, test, engine moves! Problem solved. Perhaps in the future (when there's time) some experimentation with this setting will show what's going on.

Don't forget this one after checking Drive Hold and all the different brakes don't fix the problem. Also remember that if after all of these checks are done and the engine still does not move, you probably have a blown drive circuit in the decoder and it requires a trip to Colorado for a fix. Remember that the ESU office has moved. It's no longer in Pennsylvania. 

I hope this helps and I know it demonstrates what lengths you sometimes have to go through to isolate problems. Good luck!

<Update 2025-02-19>
Interesting development concerning these settings happened today. The author obtained a brand new CSX GP38-2 Atlas Master (new old stock) with the the older DCC/DC mother board controlled by a slide switch. The motherboard was removed and replaced by the new Athearn G67140 Genesis DC-21 Pin Motherboard for LEDs. A new ESU 21 pin v5 decoder was added and programmed.

Now for the fun!  During the BEMF auto-calibrate (CV54=0, press F1) procedure, the author noticed that the engine was extremely sluggish although it did move. Testing the results, no matter how much the throttle speed was increased the engine refused to move at more than a crawl speedwise. The author went as far as re-burning the soundfile to the decoder, no joy. After some thought he remembered he had checked the Motor-overload-protection and also the Current-limiter-protection so, he unchecked them just to see if it had any effect and yes, you guessed it, the engine returned to normal running. 

This one is a stumper!! These settings seem to have a lot more to do with the running of an engine than would be expected from their names and the experience discussed from the beginning of this post.

<Final Update 2025-04-17>
The author was finally able to reach ESU tech support and talked to Lee about these problems caused by Enable motor overload protection and Enable motor current limiter. According to Lee these two settings should be ignored. They were originally put into the programmer to help Rapido with some decoders they thought were having problems. Turns out it was the wonderful Chinese motors that were put into the engines (yeah, wonderful). So, accordingly, these settings are no longer needed. Lee stated (and I quote), "Frankly, I don't understand why ESU just doesn't remove these settings from the software".

So there you have it, leave these settings alone!

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