Test Run of the MTH RS-1 Diesel Locomotive

After replacing the traction tires on my O scale MTH Hudson steam locomotive the other day, I put my O scale MTH RS-1 diesel locomotive on the test track for a test run too.  I figured it was a good time to maintain and test this diesel locomotive since I was on a roll with all these model railroading maintenance tasks.  Unfortunately, the moment this diesel engine started rolling, the traction tires broke off three of the four wheels with traction tires!

I immediately ordered a new set of traction tires that should arrive in the next week.  Installing these four traction tires on this diesel engine should be even easier than replacing the traction tires on my Hudson steam locomotive.  My Hudson steam locomotive ended up being a much easier project that I thought it would be, which was great, but this diesel engine should be even easier. 

In the meantime, I removed the RS-1 from the test track and removed the one traction tire that did not break apart.  Even though this lone traction tire did not break, it was cracked and dried out so needed replacing anyway.  

After removing the traction tires (photo at left) and cleaning the wheels, I put the locomotive back on the test track (with no traction tires) for a quick test run.  The traction tires aren't really necessary but they do help with pulling power by providing traction between the rails and the wheels.  Even with no traction tires, this RS-1 diesel engine ran well, as should be expected!  There is a short video below.  

After shooting the short video, I placed my two O scale MTH locomotives on the test track at the same time...  my RS-1 diesel and my Hudson steam locomotive.  I've never tried running both at the same time on the same track.  That worked flawlessly too.  It worked just fine with the single controller but it would be nicer to have two separate hand controllers.  It could get a little hairy using just a single controller although it does work just fine if operations are slow and controlled.  I'll have to look into the cost of purchasing a second remote control though.  

I really need to do the same for my NCE DCC remote control.  If I have two controllers, then Lukey and I can run our own trains at the same time.  I'll definitely need more than one DCC controller for that control system.  

Below is a photo showing how to move from controlling one locomotive to another on the DCS remote controller.  In this case, I was choosing between my RS-1 diesel and my J-1E Hudson steam locomotives.  It is pretty straight-forward.  You press the "ENG" button (for Engine) and the LCD shows the available locomotives on the track at the moment.  You then scroll to the locomotive you'd like to control and then press the scroll button to select that engine.  It works well.  Actually, when you press the "Engine" button, the system automatically puts the selection arrow at the other locomotive which makes it even easier.  If you were running three locomotives, then I suppose you would need to scroll to the locomotive you want to control and then select it.  

As I said earlier, it could get a little hairy using just one controller if you needed to actively and quickly make changes to both locomotives at the same time or even very near the same time.  It can be done, however, and it works very well.  

Before this type of digital control, it was very complicated controlling more than one locomotive at a time and they needed to be in separate blocks of track.  Digital control has added all sorts of new features especially far more realistic and prototypical features and I like that.  

The one complaint I have about digital control is that it isn't standardized nearly enough.  Some of my locomotives run on MTH's DCS Command Control (which I prefer) while others run on DCC Command Control.  Although, my MTH DCS locomotives can run on DCC too...  I'll have to try that sometime to see how well that works.  

DCC control is very 1980s/1990s hexadecimal/DOS-like in that it is about entering codes for setup (CV codes).  You actually need a manual at your fingertips for reference.  The MTH DCS system is far, far more user friendly with a much easier to use interface.  In DCC, everything is in numbers while, in DCS, everything is in plain text or abbreviations.  

The other issue with DCC is that each manufacturer uses their own coding values.  Some manufacturers even skip various options/features.  It can get very frustrating trying to set up a locomotive in DCC especially when using locomotives from different manufacturers and trying to match the settings between the two.  

That being said, even DCC is far better than using just analog DC when it comes to modeling realism.  And analog DC is better than the old conventional AC control (ala the typical Lionel beginner locomotives).  I hated using that old conventional control that cycled through directions...  Forward ---> press Direction button ---> Neutral --->  press Direction button ---> Reverse ---> press Direction button ---> Neutral ---> press Direction button ---> Forward... etc.  There was no realistic slow speed operation using that conventional AC control either.  It was very toy-like and people tended to run their locomotives at absurd toy-like warp speed rather than modeling realistic speeds.  I disliked that control even as a child.  Analog DC was better but it still lacked realistic sound and realistic features.  Digital control (DCS, DCC, TMCC, etc) moved model railroading into realistic prototypical modeling.

Standardization and compatibility of these various types of digital command control systems would be nice but I don't think that will ever happen in my lifetime.  At the moment, the hobby seems to be moving toward dead-rail control systems which is great but it is not improving the standardization and compatibility between systems.  

Dead-rail systems use a battery/batteries in each locomotive rather than drawing power from the tracks.  This makes cleaning track and cleaning wheels unnecessary.  This is a huge plus since just slightly dirty track or wheels could cause all sorts of problems when using any other system.  I hope to convert my large scale Fn3 steam locomotive to a dead-rail/DCC combination.  At the moment, very little electronics are available in the hobby due to the pandemic so this conversion project will need to wait.

Anyway, at the moment, this MTH DCS system is my favorite even though the track and wheels must always be kept clean.  

Now I am waiting on new traction tires for my RS-1 diesel locomotive...

EDIT:  I checked on getting another remote hand controller for my DCS system and they are no longer available.  I don't know if this is simply due to the pandemic or if they have been discontinued.  If discontinued, I'll have to live with using just only one controller.  They are still selling DCS locomotives so I suspect they will offer the remote hand controllers again sometime in the future after the electronics shortage is resolved...  hopefully!