Large Scale Central

The first Railpro install

Electronics Power and Sound
#1

I finally finished the first RailPro in an LGB mogul.
I have to admit, I like it.
I was going to put the battery in the tender, but opted for a trailing car to hold the battery because I can use my 6000 mah Lii-ion and run all day long if I want.
I programmed the control for magnet chuff activation and it works. I put three magnets on a tender wheel and used a reed switch from Del Tapparo to activate the chuff. I still have to fine tune it for the layout because I use a bench test to set it up.
I like the touch screen controller. Much easier to use than the Airwire I am replacing.
I can’t put a picture of the actual locomotive I’m using on the controller because the interface is not Mac friendly.
The controller is formatted with a PC. So I’m going to pick up a cheap windows lap top to set up the controller with a picture of the locomotive I want to use.

The sounds are all great. You have lots of sounds to use with the touch screen such as blowdown, coal shoveling, water filling, etc.

I’ll take a video of everything when I get it on the track for you all.

1 Like
#2

If you want to delay that PC purchase, send me a straight-on shot of the Loco on a plain background and I’ll create a photo file for you.

You will still need a PC to run the RP Assistant program to load the file on the controller. Maybe a club member could help.

#3

Thanks, Jon.
Like you said, I still need a PC to load it.
For now I just named the diesel icon “Mogul D&S” so I can find it.

I have already converted two LGB RhB electrics with a couple AirPro modules without sound (AirPro doesn’t offer an Electric sound) and used LGB “electric” sound modules. It works great, but you can’t do anything but rev up and down and you have air, catenary, etc background sounds.

So the pictures on the screen of the diesel icon is labeled “RhB 1 and RhB 2”

#4

Here are some pics of my two LGB Moguls with Rail Pro installed. Both engines were totally re-done to my railroad the Fort Worth & South-Western. All lighting was changed to LED’s, this also includes the front marker lamps, firebox lighting, interior lighting, etc. The engines are battery power and all pickups, etc. in the engine were removed, plus the wiring between the engine and tender is now and eight plug pin. The engine is now Oil Fired and the coal bunker in the tender was changed to an Oil Bunker, as there were never any Coal Fired engines that ever ran in Ft. Worth, Texas.

DSCN3999
DSCN39991920Ă—1440 239 KB

DSCN4002
DSCN40021920Ă—1440 219 KB

DSCN4036
DSCN40361920Ă—1440 93.8 KB

DSCN4037
DSCN40371920Ă—1440 92.4 KB

DSCN4045
DSCN40451920Ă—1440 108 KB

DSCN4046
DSCN40461920Ă—1440 107 KB

2 Likes
#5

I’m not an Apple user so it does not affect me, but I think Ring is limiting his market by not making his software tools compatible with Apple OS.

I’ve read that some folks have been able to get it running in Virtual Windows for Mac, but have no info on how it was done.

so @John_Bouck - Now that you have more than one loco running RailPro, check out the MU function. Just WOW!

#6

Nice work, John!
I was looking into adding a yellow mogul to the my roster, but haven’t yet.
I converted a a Bachmann Annie to oil some years back.

Jon,
As far as I know, Phoenix Sound isn’t Mac friendly either.

#7

From the FAQ on the RailPro site.
Is your software to get pictures, sounds, etc, from the internet compatible with Macintosh?

No. We currently do not have Macintosh compatible software. We have some Mac users that use bootcamp or parallels to run our PC software. We know there are some Mac users and at some point we may provide Mac compatible software. Our newest software was written from the ground up to be multiple platform friendly. So the software we plan to release soon will be easier to make Mac compatible than our older program.

Of course, since they sell as fast as he can produce them, I don’t see any reason to do it. There are many other enhancements to focus on and like Phoenix, It’s basically a one man operation.

#8

Exactly why I resisted Don Sweet’s attempts to sell me for years. Glad I gave in though :smiley:

#9

You mean this guy :wink:

#10

I buy all my Rail Pro stuff from Don Sweet, I find him very informative and always has the time to answer my questions. I did watch the video several times before I decided to go with Rail Pro.

#11

Here is the first chuff test with Railpro and magnets.
I’m getting 4 chuffs per driver revolution. (more or less).

1 Like