Updated Railpro Products


H

hamltnblue

Active Member
Hello All
After a year away from the hobby (not my choice) I'm gearing up to jump back in when the dust settles.
Catching up on some reading in MRH I noticed that Railpro had updated projects since this time last year. The controller was updated with better battery, memory and processor.
The decoders were also re-designed and shrunk by a significant amount. I decided to pick up the HC-2 controller and a pair of LM-2S decoders to try out.
The camera batteries are charging but the new sound decoder looks like it will fit most loco's. It's shorter and the same thickness as the Tsunami TSU-1000.
I will be installing the decoders in an 2 Atlas GP40-2's One Silver series and One Gold.
 
I think you are gonna like your RailPro. I have the latest controller and LMS-2decoders which I am really impressed with. I hard wired one LMS-2 sound decoder into an old Atlas/Roco GP-40, this loco runs much better than it ever did. Worked the first time right off the bat, LED lights and all! Unusual for me! You mentioned you got the HC-2 controller and decoders, I hope you got PWR-56 or the larger PWR-75 power supply too. I got the starter kit which included the power supply. This system is easy to install and operate and a lot of fun.

Mel
 
You guys suck!!!!!
I finally buy nce starter set & you guys show me the cool new toys now,
Well I guess im not the coolest kid in the sand box.... :( ;)
 
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To an earlier question, it is not dcc, however you can run it on a dcc layout. The controller has direct communication with your loco's. The loco's also communicate between each other during consists.
I didn't get their power supply since I can run on dcc track power. One nice thing about the power supply though is that it doubles as a radio repeater.
If I decide to do a full switch over I can take my time since both DCC and railpro can be run at the same time.
Another thing that intrigues me is that rather than have a separate decoder for each loco type because of specific Prime mover, horn, light configuration etc, railpro lets you download the components and you pick from a menu.
Feel like adding a beacon on your loco cab? simply download the beacon light effect and assign it to the output. By the way there are now 6 lighting outputs vs 4 in the past.
 
Yes, Railpro ignores the DCC signal and simply uses the DCC as a power supply, just like a DCC loco does.
When I take it to the club, which is digitrax with 5 boosters and full DCC signaling, i'll be able to run my loco's on the layout like everyone else. The track detection will still pick the loco's up since they're drawing power. One benefit is that when there is a lot of traffic the railpro stuff won't add to the DCC traffic.
Soon I'll be getting off my lazy butt after coffee and start taking pics. I'll do pics of the install of the 2 loco's as well as download, and startup for the first time.
 
Thanks mate and this is becoming more and more interesting. I especially like the idea of being able to "download" features, that makes life so much easier for technically challenged people like me :)
 
Looks neat, but total cost wise it would have cost me twice as much as my current system.
Their chart throws a lot of negatives at DCC that aren't valid anymore about the programing of the CV's. But it IS their chart.

Yes it runs on either DC or DCC powered track.
It does require the Rail pro decoders, wont talk to DCC decoders
Operates at 2.4ghz (WIFI) range.

If a person was into a lot of traveling to different clubs, it would be perfect to have with you, as it wouldn't matter what system the club you were visiting had you could run on their system.

I looked at this back when they first started, it was quite expensive and limited back then, Looks a lot better now, they've done a lot of improvements.

I think the most negative for me is the $299 each for throttles. I have 4 now plan on a fifth. $299 x 5 = $1495. but then the ENTIRE system is wireless.
I'm happy with what I have now, but you never know about tomorrow...Maybe in a few years.
 
You can run RailPro on any DCC layout that already has signal and turnout control. All you need is your controller and your RailPro decoder equipped loco(s). People with DCC equipped locos can not control your RailPro locos. Another feature that I really like is the real time loco performance readout that tells you how your loco is running, amps etc, plus engine temperature, this feature will shut down the loco without damage if it gets too hot.

For those that have already made a large investment is DCC RailPro may not be a good choice, but for those that are switching over from DC or building a new layout I believe RailPro is the way to go. DCC is twenty year old technology, RailPro is state of the art.

Mel
 
Great! Now what do I do with my old LENZ system and all the decoders I currently have in my locos. RailPro looks like a great system.
 
If you like it you can switch them over a little at a time and run them on the Lentz layout. That way you can run both.
Another thing that is interesting is that you can change things on the fly that usually would take a cv change on DCC. You can also monitor loco current, heat etc.
I'm sure it's not all cookies and cream. I'll be running another thread with pics covering my first couple of loco's and learning the system.
 
1. Operates at 2.4ghz (WIFI) range.
That is something I haven't heard of anyone having issues with but will be tested out for sure.

2. I looked at this back when they first started, it was quite expensive and limited back then, Looks a lot better now, they've done a lot of improvements.
I think the most negative for me is the $299 each for throttles. I have 4 now plan on a fifth. $299 x 5 = $1495. but then the ENTIRE system is wireless.

Those prices are list. I paid $229.00 for the HC-2 and $75 bucks each for the sound decoders which is competitive. the standard decoder is a bit high at $46.00
 
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