Large Scale Central

Working MU Connection

Modeling Motive Power
#12

I’ve done it, but it was never as sophisticated as you are planning. I let the original loco wiring handle the lights and just fed motor output to the lead loco’s track pick up connection. I did sound too. I used one two-wire JST SM-2 connectors (same as Aristo Power plugs) for the motor line and a SM-3 3 conductor for the sound. Hid the wires in black shrink wrap to kind of look like hoses. No where near as pretty as what you have envisioned. Here is the front of one loco that was set up for M/U…

Power on the left. So I didn’t need to worry about plug polarity and allow either end to be an MU connection, I used that short double female between locos. Ugly, yes.

#13

Jon,

What I envision and what might actually happen could be two very different things. My dad always says want in in one hand and poop in the other and see which one fills up first. So I put my dreams out here so people can bring me to reality. But I am really hoping the glad hand ting works. But if not mine will look a lot like what yours does.

#14

Devon,

I guess I really missed the whole point of your question :). What else is new?! I was talking about actual working glad hands that attached by magnets and would detach from the train during switching (per prototype).

There are real working glad hands and hoses for working train brakes for the 1/8th scale ride-on trains. But these are tiny even in THAT scale!

Good luck with your project>

#15

Yep. I’m that way too. If you want to keep it simple, put a Revo in both and batteries in only one. Then you only need to extend the battery power. Set up your Revo MU just like you would two autonomous locos. That way, if you ever wanted, you could run the loco without batteries either on track power (needs a switch) or with a battery trail car. With only two wires to extend, making glad hand hose connections might be doable.

#16

Gary Armitstead said:

Devon,

I guess I really missed the whole point of your question :). What else is new?! I was talking about actual working glad hands that attached by magnets and would detach from the train during switching (per prototype).

There are real working glad hands and hoses for working train brakes for the 1/8th scale ride-on trains. But these are tiny even in THAT scale!

Good luck with your project>

No I think you got it. The ones I am talking about don’t use magnets but they lock with a 1/4 turn like the real deal. So they do lock and unlock during switching. Just doesn’t use the magnet as you are saying. they are not working in the sesne of providing real air, just real connecting. So I think you were right on top of it.

#17

Gary Armitstead said:

Devon,

I guess I really missed the whole point of your question :). What else is new?! I was talking about actual working glad hands that attached by magnets and would detach from the train during switching (per prototype).

There are real working glad hands and hoses for working train brakes for the 1/8th scale ride-on trains. But these are tiny even in THAT scale!

Good luck with your project>

Those were from Geoff Ringle. I have a bunch of them. It never worked out well for me connecting them, but with careful attention to length, they did work. I still use them since they look great, but rarely attach them. It might be possible to electrify them as a single conductor connection. Trouble would be soldering to the white metal casting.

#18

Jon Radder said:

Yep. I’m that way too. If you want to keep it simple, put a Revo in both and batteries in only one. Then you only need to extend the battery power. Set up your Revo MU just like you would two autonomous locos. That way, if you ever wanted, you could run the loco without batteries either on track power (needs a switch) or with a battery trail car. With only two wires to extend, making glad hand hose connections might be doable.

I am just being cheap. I was hoping to get away with not buying two ESCs. But if thats what I end up having to do then thats what I have to do.

#19

Jon Radder said:. Trouble would be soldering to the white metal casting.

This is why I want to try using the Precision Scale ones because they are Brass/Bronze. I should be able to solder the wire to them. It will be a fun experiment to see if it works. 6 brass glad hands should give me 6 single conductors if it works. And my plan is to not have to disconnect them often. Ill make a cradle to carry them attached

#20

Gary inspired me to dig out my stock of Geoff Ringle’s Old Iron Designs Proto Hands. They are not white metal, but cast nickle silver. They will take solder and are a good conductor.

I did a quick low voltage test. One leg of a 12V LED circuit running through a pair of glad hands. The LED lights up and even if I move the hands around, it doesn’t flicker. I don’t know what the current capacity might be, but they just might work for you!

#21

Here’s my idea Devon that I have thought of.

  1. Use a small standard computer plug (3 or 4 pin) and mount the male end into the end plate of the locomotives

  2. Take the female ends and wire them to the brass glad hands ( soldered together). Female pin ->glad hands> female ends.

  3. Make a set of dummy plugs

Female plus to glad hands.

When you want to run two units together, you plug the computer pins in to the male connections. Loos right with glad hands, etc. When you need to disconnect the two locomotives, you still can.

Here’s the problem… The glad hands for the MU lines are about O scale. You need 2 o scale sized glad hands, 1 1/32 sized glad hand for the Main Res. Line and then 1 1/29 glad hand for the brake pipe. Plus the MU electrical hose.

#22

The route I went with my MU stand Devon (https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)

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#23

First David that is about the most clever I have seen. i really like that.

BUT!!! I have scrapped this plan. After an email to Revo because I had a concern with the power draw burning up the board I was told a single ESC will not run two locomotives. Now he did not say that the reason was to much power draw or he misunderstood what I wanted to do and thought I was nuts (or did understand what I wanted to do and still thought I was nuts). But the more I pondered the complexity of what I was trying to do and why I was trying to do it, which was really no more than saving a few bucks on the receiver and ESC and having one loco hold batteries and the other hold the electronic I have decided that I am just going to use REVOs ability to MU locos on the handset and put receivers in each loco. I always had this nagging thought that I would regret not being able to run them individually and so All of this combined has made me decide to just make them independent locos.

But I do appreciate the ideas and advice. That’s why I love this place is the collective think tank and the way we all entertain each others crazy whims.

And remember the rule I before E except when you can’t spell and are trying to type the word “receiver”.

#24

Devon, i fear that the brass glad hands may touch eachother…hose one to hose two and create a short cucuit…and be very fiddly to hook up each time you set up the locos. Wire cable connectors will work fine if they are easy to make up and will safely disconnect in a wreck.

I am a steam guy and you would think i would be about exact realism in all things, but keeping things simple and clean is very important if you want to have fun with the model.

I guess if it (they) were mine i would try to power and control each locomotive independently with your prefered battery and control systems in each locomotive. Wire them so operation is opposite in each…one goes forward when instructed to go ahead, the other backwards. Bind them both to the same transmitter. Couple them together and run.

Oops, i didnt read your last post untill after typing all this…but i think we think alike. Have fun and keep us aprised of hour progress!

#25

Eric Schade said:

Devon, i fear that the brass glad hands may touch eachother…hose one to hose two and create a short cucuit…and be very fiddly to hook up each time you set up the locos. Wire cable connectors will work fine if they are easy to make up and will safely disconnect in a wreck.

I am a steam guy and you would think i would be about exact realism in all things, but keeping things simple and clean is very important if you want to have fun with the model.

I guess if it (they) were mine i would try to power and control each locomotive independently with your prefered battery and control systems in each locomotive. Wire them so operation is opposite in each…one goes forward when instructed to go ahead, the other backwards. Bind them both to the same transmitter. Couple them together and run.

Oops, i didnt read your last post untill after typing all this…but i think we think alike. Have fun and keep us aprised of hour progress!

Yeah, after all of the discussion I really had to ask myself why am I trying to do this. At the end of the day for really no other reason than to save $150 bucks on a second ESC. Since I am making the switch, at least in part to Revo, there is simply no reason to do it since Revo allows multiple engines to be run MUed together at the handset. So I am done with this I have enough else going on. Back to reality. From what i understand of the way the Revo MUing works the handset takes care of knowing which loco is facing which direction. So when running long hood to long hood it will treat one as going forward and the other in reverse and then vis versa when you switch direction for the pair and it is all seamless. you set it up and then just run forward and backward and its handled. Like I said I was trying to way over complicate something for really no reason other than to say I did it. And for all of the reasons you mention I would end up regretting it. Better to not reinvent the wheel. And then at the end of the day each loco can be used independently.

#26

Oh come on, you need to at least try to engineer it for several months, destroy a receiver it something, you just cant give up so quickly and move on!!!

#27

In case this thread on “MU’ing” is open to a bit of realism, and prototype practices…

Steam engines were not MU’d…both locomotives required an engineer, and a fireman. This leaves the door wide open for REALISTIC railroad operations, where a double headed model train, would require an operator for each locomotive, and a conductor for the train. This allows more interested people being involved in an operation on an OPERATING Model Railroad.

When it comes to Diesel Electric locomotives, where MU’ing of up to 6 locomotives is quite the norm these days, with the locomotives spread throughout the train. On a modern type of OPERATING model railroad, the train only requires two people, the engineer, and a conductor.

The idea I’m trying to help promote, is to INVOLVE more interested people in the hobby…some who would really enjoy being involved, but without the funds need to purchase their own equipment, or the space for a pike of their own. So many would be great assets to a group, with their willingness to share their talents, and find how they can be involved.

Fred Mills

#28

DELETED

#29

Devon,

I’m glad you have finally come to see the folly of this latest endeavor of yours and now see the easy way to do this already exists! (https://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif)

#31

Jon I was looking up some info on the glad hands Geoff Ringle made years ago and this old thread popped up. Do you still have some of those and would you have any interest in selling if so? I bought some rolling stock recently that had these on them and I like the look so trying to round up a few more.

#32

I’m sure I have some, but not wanting to part with them, sorry :frowning: