In "The DCS O Gauge Companion" it is noted that when long passenger trains span sections of a layout connected to different TIU's, it is possible the engines will not respond to commands from the remote. It also notes release 4.0 has greatly helped this problem.

This is happening with version 4.10 on my layout... I believe.

Is there anything which can be done to correct this problem short of removing passenger cars to shorten the consist or removing multiple TIU's from the layout?

Other than trying to avoid issuing commands while the train's cars are bridging the tracks connected to the two TIUs, there is only one thing that I can suggest.

If the issue is that the engines actually obey the commands and the problem is that the remote locks up and/or gets an error message, you could try setting the remote to "Speed Mode". When operating in "Speed Mode", the remote doesn't wait for an acknowledgement from the TIU. It simply assumes that the command was executed and is immediately ready for the next command.

If your issue is what I've described above, give "Speed Mode" a try and see if things improve. Just be aware that "Speed Mode" will also mask any other error messages that might be legitimate.

Is it neccessary to set the tiu's into super mode each time the layout is powered up and remote is turned on and tiu's powered on...or one time setting of tiu's to super remains in effect until set back to normal in remote?

Super Mode stays in effect from power on to power on until changed back to Normal Mode via the DCS Remote.

Gregg,

quote:

The engine(s) will just carry on with the last command given before going over the small section with no dcs signal.

Won't the pickup rollers on the engine lose power if the insulated gap is longer than the distance between the engine's pickup rollers?

On average, the gap between pickup rollers on engines is shorter than the gap between pickup rollers on passenger cars, isn't it? Am I missing something?

Gregg,

OK, now I get it!

Pretty clever! The only thing I would add is that the channel whose input side is providing the power should be either a Fixed channel or a Variable channel in Fixed mode.

I've made a note to put this in the next edition of The DCS O Gauge Companion.

Thanks!

Hey Barry, I deleted my posts, it's not going to work.

Gregg,

quote:

it's not going to work.

Why not? It actually sounded as if it would.

quote:

Gregg,

quote:
it's not going to work.

Why not? It actually sounded as if it would.

Although there may be a separation of each tiu zone briefly with the small insulated section , the rollers eventually bridge each tiu zones no matter how long the insulated section is....back to the drawing board.

If the pass car only had one roller it wouldn't be a problem but then flickering light would be. I guess we'll have to live with it.

Gregg,

Yeah, that's right. It would only work if there was just one passenger car in the train.

If there's more than one, the first car connects TIU #1 to the insulated section while the second car connects TIU #2 to the insulated section at the same time, effectively connecting the two TIUs together.