Unit
Labeling
Each locomotive in the fleet carries a label stuck to the underside of the fuel tank. This label iden- tifies the decoder manu- facturer and the DCC address. If the decoder should fail, I can identify the manufacturer with- out removing the shell. Fried decoders and prob- lematic locomotives will reveal their electronic insides by virtue of the label.
the fleet into service. I keep my locomotive boxes on shelves in the shop where I can quickly see what I have and don’t have. The boxes receive two more labels to help me keep track of my locomo- tives. The “Sound Standardized” label indicates the locomotive has been JMRI-programmed identi- cally to the rest of the fleet. Sound levels, function keys, reverb, and speaker type are all set during this programming. It is essential to getting a fleet to operate togeth- er well. Next is a rebuild date la- bel, indicating what generation of decoder is in the locomotive. This information is for possible future upgrades made by the manufac- turers, and I want a quick refer- ence on each box as to what is in-
side. A date also shows the “then current” technology used for the locomotive rebuild. Remember, there was a time we added diode drop lighting and grain-of-wheat bulbs because that was “state of the art” at the time. Things can and do change faster than I can even imagine.
Reasoning I am not paranoid; I am just
facing one of the realities of own- ing and maintaining a large model railroad. My approach is to treat everything as a fleet and stan- dardize to what I often refer to as “best practices.” These practices manifest themselves in the fol- lowing ways in relation to loco- motives. First, I use the prototype as a basis for my physical appearance of my fleet. Nothing unique there; most modelers adopt the same practice. Elec- tronically, I add to the unit’s
believ-
ability by installing LED headlights and Prime Stratolites per the prototype. Not all manufacturers have a good representa- tion of the Prime brand beacons pro-
grammed into their decoders; LokSound and Tsunami do. Fur- thermore, part of my decoder pro- gramming involves how the CVs are set up, so the entire fleet op- erates in a similar manner. This programming will be necessary as I add more and more operators to the roster. Secondly, I use the la- bels to track how I programmed the locomotive. The most basic information is the address num- ber of the unit itself, which I show clearly on the bottom along with the decoder manufacturer. I print the decoder informa-
tion onto Avery 5167 labels us- ing a color printer. If the label is too large, such as is common with switchers, I trim it to fit the loco- motive. I have used several label designs over time, and that is not critical, as long as they provide the needed information.
Conclusion The entire labeling process is
a study in making your fleet de- pendable, predictable, and hope- fully easy to manage. One could achieve similar results by using a computer and a spreadsheet, but I like the instant information hav- ing labels on the engines and box- es provides. Besides, you cannot believe how much time I spend in front of a screen!
Box
Labeling I also label the boxes, so I can tell what is inside, whether I equipped it with a decoder, when I upgraded it, and if I stan- dardized the sound. The goal is to program all lo- comotives the same way except the decoder ad- dress and a few unique sounds and features.
JULY 2015 47
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100