M.T.H. HO 2-8-8-4 Yellowstone, Engineer'S Manual

Page 1: ...l throttle cruise control for steady speeds regardless of curves switches and grades built in decoders for DCC and the M T H Digital Command System DCS and a full range of prototypical sounds If you re looking for motive power that s accurately detailed smooth running and a great deal of fun to operate it doesn t get any better than this PLEASE READ BEFORE USE AND SAVE PS 3 0 ENGINEER S GUIDE 3 AR...

Page 2: ...ratethehobbytransformerwithdamagedcord plug switches buttonsorcase Recommended for Ages 14 and up Not recommended for children under 14 years of age without adult supervision As with all electric products precautions should be observed during handling and use to prevent electric shock Rev 80st10826i_2 8 8 4 Yellowstone Ps3 3 10 16 TABLE OF CONTENTS Quick Start Guide 3 Unpacking Your Engine 4 Produ...

Page 3: ...ngine refer to unpacking instructions Step 2 Set the engine on the track Step 3 Make sure the DCS DCC selector switch is in the DCC position see Modes of Operation section for more detailed information Step 4 Power up your DCC system Step 5 Select engine address 3 and press F3 to start her up Step 6 Turn the throttle and head on down the pike I RUN DCS Step 1 Unpack your refer to unpacking instruc...

Page 4: ...following items are packed with your engine Quick Start Guide 1 For those who can t wait to get started This will give you the basic information to get your engine up and running Smoke Fluid Pipette 1 Enough fluid to get you started and then some Rear Drive Wheel Set without Traction Tires 1 For Those who prefer not to use traction tires Nut Driver 1 In case you want to install the drivers with tr...

Page 5: ...most your new locomotive has to offer in the simple to use yet powerful world of DCS To be clear DCS is NOT a proprietary version of DCC as some other manufacturers offer DCS is a comprehensive layout control system designed with one primary goal make model trains do amazingly realistic things using a simple and intuitive controller We put the complexity on the inside and the fun in your hands Dig...

Page 6: ...ur new HO Steam engine includes realistic Classification lighting with appropriately colored LED s in the boiler We even included a light in the cab so the engineer and fireman can see to do their jobs MTH is renowned for our realistic smoke systems When the smoke is on you will experience copious puffs synchronized precisely with chuffing sounds at 4 times per revolution of the drive wheels Of co...

Page 7: ...eceiver Control Hatch Wireless Close Coupling Drawbar Wireless Close Coupling Drawbar Your HO Steam Engine features our new wireless close coupling drawbar To attach the engine to the tender simply insert the prongs of the drawbar into the receiver as depicted in the images above Boiler Receiver Close coupling Drawbar prongs Coupled 7 M T H HO 2 8 8 4 Yellowstone Steam Engine ...

Page 8: ...pon how your run your engine so for particulars on turning it on or off or setting the output levels check out the features and operation section You shouldn t run your smoke unit without fluid Doing so can cause overheating and reduce the performance and or life of the unit Of course we recommend using only MTH ProtoSmoke fluid Super Smoke and LVTS brands also work fine Removal Installation of Dr...

Page 9: ...there are a couple of important things to know First under the square bushings on each end of the axle are tiny springs They are critical to the proper operation of your engine and you don t want to drop them Next look closely at the wheel set and bushings and take note of their orientation Brake Shoe Lever Bellcrank Traction tire Nontraction tire Brake Shoe Detail bottom plate Brake Shoe Lever Be...

Page 10: ...ll the gearbox cover with screws and then reinstall the chassis bottom cover with screws gently press the plastic molded brake shoe detail back into place and install the rear drive rod screws See you ve done it Lubrication Using light machine or household oil apply a very small amount to all drive rods linkages axles and other moving parts as shown Your gearbox is properly greased at the factory ...

Page 11: ... get into the features of each mode Analog DC This is when there is nothing connected to the rails except a conventional DC power pack These power packs generally have at least one variable output controlled by a throttle of some sort and a means of reversing DC polarity on the track to change the direction of your engine 11 M T H HO 2 8 8 4 Yellowstone Steam Engine IMPORTANT DCS DCC Selector Swit...

Page 12: ...n DCS is NOT the command signal Next DCS employs a fully functional bi directional communication scheme opening a vast range of advanced features and yet is so simple and intuitive you can enjoy them No programming tracks bits and bytes or conversion of binary to hexadecimal numbers here To add an engine in DCS just press ADD ENGINE After that If you want to start your engine just press START UP o...

Page 13: ...rection the old fashioned way by reducing throttle until the engine stops flip the direction switch and then increase throttle again Either way is OK we just thought a graceful transition from any speed would be cool If you switch track polarity too slowly the engine may stop abruptly and not move in the reverse direction This is normal There is a feature we call anti jack rabbit that prevents the...

Page 14: ...mum down to off whatever suits you Turn it counterclockwise to reduce the volume or clockwise to increase it Smoke There is also a potentiometer for smoke control exactly like volume control To increase or decrease smoke volume simply use a Phillips head screwdriver to turn the potentiometer clockwise increase output or counterclockwise decrease output When you turn the smoke on just give it a few...

Page 15: ...e or while backing up Of course just as you begin to move forward it goes bright to show the way The cab light is always on so the engineer and fireman can always see clearly The tender back up light only illuminates when in reverse even if you re not moving It goes off when in forward This is really handy since you ll always know which direction the model will move next Depending upon the engine ...

Page 16: ...u go Our models are compatible with 14 28 and 128 speed steps We strongly recommend 128 because in this mode speed steps correspond directly to scale speeds That is speed step 10 10 smph speed step 47 47 smph etc You get the idea When your done press the F3 key again your engine will shut down To be clear pressing F3 when the engine is shut down will start it up Pressing F3 when the engine is star...

Page 17: ...entered the feature The bell ring for a short while and then turn off automatically Lighting As with other feature categories lighting in DCC mode operates just like conventional DC with regard to rule 17 constant brightness and directional behavior See that section for details DCC provides some additional control to suit your preferences F0 Headlight Toggles the headlight on off F5 Lights Also se...

Page 18: ...unit off F13 Smoke Volume There are three smoke volume levels in your MTH PS3 equipped engine Low Med High The default for this is set to High You can adjust the smoke output amount of smoke the generator puts out by pressing the F13 button twice This sets the level to the next step For example if you are currently at the High smoke output level pressing F13 twice toggling it on then off will set ...

Page 19: ...l hear the crew talking back and forth about how the engine ran time schedules etc NOTE The engine must be sitting still in order to trigger F Functions F14 through F18 F19 Labor Chuff To force the Labor Chuff sound in a steam engine press the F19 button once enable F19 As long as F19 is enabled the engine will play its Labor Chuff sounds To set the sound back to Normal Chuff press the F19 button ...

Page 20: ...ort horn blast F26 Brake Sounds Pressing the F26 button enable F26 will disable the Brake Sounds for your engine The Brake Sounds occur when you reduce the speed of your engine rapidly To enable the Brake Sounds press the F26 button disable F26 Brake Sounds are On by default F27 Cab Chatter Cab Chatter occurs when the engine is sitting at idle There are various times when the crew will talk to eac...

Page 21: ... Signal F11 Grade Crossing F12 Smoke On Off F13 Smoke Volume F14 Idle Sequence 3 F15 Idle Sequence 2 F16 Idle Sequence 1 F17 Extended Start Up F18 Extended Shut Down F19 Labor Chuff F20 Drift Chuff F21 One Shot Doppler F22 Coupler Slack F23 Coupler Close F24 Single Horn Blast F25 Engine Sounds F26 Brake Sounds On Off F27 Cab Chatter On Off F28 Feature Reset 21 M T H HO 2 8 8 4 Yellowstone Steam En...

Page 22: ... miles per hour smph and increments of one So that means if you dial up 10 you engine will smoothly accelerate to 10 smph There is no need to select a speed step setting there s only one precise linear control at scale speeds See powerful yet simple Introducing the ultimate in prototypical operation Proto Whistle Your new HO engine includes this amazing feature It allows you to adjust the pitch of...

Page 23: ...rce with a line output to the DCS TIU and send music train sounds or anything you like down the rails to be played through the engine as it moves along the track Your holidays may never be the same Smoke In addition to a simple button labeled go figure SMOKE to toggle your smoke on and off you get the ability to quickly and easily adjust the output volume In plain English you simply select low med...

Page 24: ...ration Rate CV24 Consist Deceleration Adjustment CV25 Speed Table Select CV29 Decoder Configuration CV49 Short Address controllers that prohibit PoM CV50 Extended Addr High Byte controllers that prohibit PoM CV51 Extended Addr Low Byte controllers that prohibit PoM CV52 MTH PWM Mode Configuration CV53 MTH Acceleration 1 8 sMPH s For example a Value of 8 written would give you 1sMPH s acceleration ...

Page 25: ...ngine will give you a two whistle horn blast response 5 Call up the engine on its new address and away you go NOTE If you have elected to use PoM and did not start up the sounds of your locomotive you will not hear the two whistle horn blast response Alternatively depending upon the type of DCC system you have you can enter PoM and then write the new address in the Address Menu This only works for...

Page 26: ...s after removing power to insure the settings are stored in the engines memory Reapplying power in less than 5 seconds may result in losing the setting changes If all else fails and you aren t sure of something never fear You can always get your engine back to a known state by either performing a Feature or Factory Reset There are a couple of ways to reset your M T H PS3 0 equipped engine Factory ...

Page 27: ...ust telling the DCC system to start talking to engine address 55 You will want to make sure that no other M T H engines are on the rails or any other manufacturer s engines with an address of 55 are on the rails M T H engines will listen for commands coming to engine address 55 when the 55 55 55 reset is enabled even though they are not programmed as address 55 Enter PoM mode on your DCC handheld ...

Page 28: ...erse Trim User ID 1 User ID 2 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 Function Bell High Byte Function Bell Low Byte Horn High Byte Horn Low Byte Start Up Shut Down High Byte Start Up Shut Down Low Byte PFA High Byte...

Page 29: ...ke Sounds 2 Cab Chatter 3 Clickety Clack 4 Coupler Close 5 Coupler Slack 6 Drift Chuff 7 Engine Sounds 8 Forward Signal 9 Grade Crossing Signal 10 Horn 11 Idle Sequence 1 12 Idle Sequence 2 13 Idle Sequence 3 14 Idle Sequence 4 15 Labor Chuff 16 Master Volume 17 Short Horn 18 One Shot Doppler 19 Reverse Signal 20 SCRIPTS Extended Shut Down 21 Extended Start Up 22 PFA 23 Start Up Shut Down 24 Train...

Page 30: ...our DCC controller The engine will give you a two horn blast indication Note You ve also left an empty location where PFA used to be F4 5 Now you can fill that location with whichever CV you d like For this example we are just going to move the Feature Reset up to F4 we re just swapping F4 and F28 6 Since F4 s Low Byte is CV122 then bring up CV programming for CV122 7 Now tell the engine which F F...

Page 31: ...f the desired CV number is equal or greater than 80 enter the hundreds and tens digits of the CV number on the keypad For example to program CV 94 enter 09 on the keypad then press the function key to tell the engine that a CV number greater than 79 is being entered 2 Briefly turn the speed knob counter clockwise to the direction change position The headlight should shift to a long short flash pat...

Page 32: ...number as high as 869 790 79 Operation Until the engine receives a packet that is addressed to it that uses the new Märklin format the single function key directly controls startup and shutdown If the function key is on the engine will run the startup script If the function key is off the engine will run the shutdown script This allows the engine to be used with controllers that only have a single...

Page 33: ... the ON position on the Marklin 6021 Controller you can re map F1 F4 using CV115 CV122 When Bit 2 of CV56 is set you now have functionality of F5 F9 at the current engine address 1 For example if you are controlling engine address 5 you would need to call up engine address 6 and then you can use Function Off and F1 F4 to control functions F5 F9 The same applies to consists as they would be consist...

Page 34: ...CV19 set to 0 Setting the MSB Bit 7 of CV19 tells the engine that it is facing reverse in the consist Setting CV21 and CV22 determine which F Functions the consist responds to See diagram below for example Engine 1 Front Engine 2 Middle Engine 3 Rear Normal Forward Direction of Travel F R F R R F 34 M T H HO 2 8 8 4 Yellowstone Steam Engine ...

Page 35: ...ngine s address Most systems have a light bulb icon to indicate whether F0 is active or not Ensure that it is OFF 5 Call up the Rear engine on your DCC handheld address 3 in this example 6 Set CV19 to 128 the value of your consist address So if your consist address is 4 you would add 128 4 132 You would write 132 to CV19 This tells the Rear engine that it s reversed in the consist You will get two...

Page 36: ... to set which F Functions you want the consist address to control For example you will likely want all of your MTH consist engines to respond to Start Up Shut Down F3 Also you ll likely want at your Front engine to respond to the Bell and Horn commands F1 and F2 respectively and the Front Coupler F7 on most MTH models Likewise you ll want your Rear engine to respond to the Rear Coupler command F8 ...

Page 37: ... MTH Proto Sound 3 0 equipped HO locomotive does not program well on Programming tracks due to the inclusion of super capacitors utilized in the locomotive s electronic package The super capacitors provide backup power to the electronics allowing the locomotive to better negotiate track sections suffering from poor electrical conductivity This ensures that sounds continue to play the locomotive co...

Page 38: ...ple CV29 you would simply add the additional bits you enabled to the existing value to obtain the new CV value For example if you had a consist address CV19 set to 5 and you wanted to alter this to show an engine reversed in the consist you would need to set bit 7 decimal value 128 for the engine you want to reverse To do this take 128 the new bit you want to set 5 the existing bit that you do not...

Page 39: ...m Boiler Height rail to smoke stack 57 1 mm Tender Height rail to smoke stack 59 7 mm Boiler Weight 438 g Tender Weight 226 g Overall Weight 664 g Wheel Flanges RP 25 Electrical Input Voltage 0 24 VDC Current Draw w smoke lights sounds 230 650 mA Lighting LED Rule 17 Fan Driven Smoke Yes Operating Modes Analog DC Yes DCC Digital Command Control Yes DCS Digital Control System Yes Default Addresses ...

Page 40: ...pply 0 18VDC at Controller 240 Watt Electronic MRC 6200 0 18 5v 60 Watt Electronic Not Recommended For 70 3001 1 J3a Not recommended for 70 3001 1 J3a RECOMMENDED DC TRANSFORMERS Notes On Use Use 22 volts maximum track voltage when operating a MTH locomotive equipped with Proto Sound Loco Sound Proto Sound 2 0 or Proto Sound 3 0 Crest CRE 55460 Power Supply w CRE 55401 Controller 0 24v 180 Watt Co...

Page 41: ...er Smoke Solution My engine isn t smoking at all Make sure you ve got the smoke switch ON If you just filled it with smoke fluid sometimes the fluid can make a seal in the stack Blow down the stack to clear the air bubble Check the Tender Boiler drawbar connection You ve got to have them locked together My engine s smoke output is low If you ve been running your engine in DCS or DCC mode the smoke...

Page 42: ...ts and sound but it won t move Lower the track voltage then raise it again The engine should start moving If you apply greater than 9VDC quickly the engine will just set there Lowering it below 9VDC then raising it will get the engine moving Check the Tender Boiler drawbar connection You ve got to have them locked together My engine hesitates at slow speeds An engine may do this right out of the b...

Page 43: ... of the tender When I run Doppler I can hear the Doppler shift but then the engine sounds fade out and I can t get them back This is normal You will need to press the F12 button again to turn Doppler off Your engine sounds will now return to normal Smoke Solution My engine isn t smoking at all Make sure you ve got the smoke switch ON It must be ON for the smoke to operate in DCC mode Press F8 on y...

Page 44: ...ines even after they are lubricated may take a little bit to get everything run in Be a little patient and let it run for a bit It should clear up shortly after lubricating and running Check to see if you have any kind of binding on the side rods There may be a chuck of your favorite perfectly scaled pine tree stuck in there PFA Solution I hit F4 to start PFA but the engine just keeps ringing its ...

Page 45: ...h may have the same address Take one of them off the rails and try it again Sound Solution When I press the Whistle Button on my DCS remote or DCS commander the whistle doesn t blow Check if the playable whistle is active On the DCS Commander there will be two dashes on the right side of the LCD if it s active Press A1 twice to ensure it s turned off On your DCS remote press the SPW button twice t...

Page 46: ...e Check the Tender Boiler drawbar connection You ve got to have them locked together My engine hesitates at slow speeds An engine may do this right out of the box if it has not been lubricated Follow the lubrication instructions Now go ahead and run it New engines even after they are lubricated may take a little bit to get everything run in Be a little patient and let it run for a bit It should cl...

Page 47: ...rvice Centers If you need assistance at any time email MTH Service at service mth railking com or call 410 381 2580 Limited One Year Warranty All M T H products purchased from an M T H Authorized Retailer are covered by this warranty provided the product was manufactured within five years of the date of purchase This warranty is for the original purchaser and is non transferable See our website ww...