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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