Sentimental Journey: DC Power Packs

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My first HO set came with a MRC Power Pack that had a pusle power switch that could slow your train to an absolute crawl.

I was coming off a Lionel O Gauge train that required 2 pushes of the direction button to change direction, unlike the HO that had a slide switch forward or reverse. That took getting used to.

]I remember my dad setting the Lionel up around the Christmas tree. Back then, icicles on the tree were made of real metal, leaded, I believe, and if one should drop on the track, it would short out and kick off the circuit breaker on the transformer. Memories...
 
When I was a kid my father brought home a Mark stream loco O gauge three rail then later bought a store layout that have more cars and track. As many may know in order to reverse direction you had to turn the huge silver control pointed down then back up. That thing would get so hot even with one loco.

I got my first power pack in the early 80's when I had a small lay out and got a MRC Tech II with pulse power maybe a 2400 , I still have it think it had 3 lights and I have a MRC Tech II 1400 it is just on/off and direction and a green light that gets brighter as more power is applied. I still have 2 copper colored MRC power packs. One is the size of the later Tach II's and in great shape. I took it apart to see what was inside and replaced the old selenium rectifier with a full bridge 2 amp maybe 4 amp from radio shack since the old disc selenium was falling apart. Later I found another copper MRC power pack, I think it was a later model , it has a volt and ammeter and I think two control rheostats much larger and more switches , it might have all 4 . I don't recall without looking what their model numbers are. Later I used a radio shack 2 amp 12 VAC power supply and a wired sort of walk around transistor control I found how to build in a rail road magazine using radio shack parts.

I even used the home made transistor control with the copper MRC power packs , it seemed to work better for all speeds. If I recall the small one is a wire wound rheostat don't recall what the large one has. They also at least one has a short circuit reset button, I'd have to look and I know exactly what box they are in since I went through all of them looking for Athearn worm gears which I never found.

I bring this up because I just put together an Athearn SW7/S12 frame with a motor I still had and motor mounts I had and the frame and power trucks two of the late ones and two of the older metal side frame ones and universal joints I had in my parts box. At first it would not run then it started to and once it did the motor got hot at least close to to warm to touch. Since I robbed the worms out of a PK2 GP30 which had split axle gears I removed the worms and the motor barely got worm , well PK2 uses to thick of shims one at each end of the worm so there was no play. I had NWSL shims .010 &.005" and got just the right amount of play also had 4 new axle gears since the ones in these trucks were not split yet loose enough to turn the wheels. I had three side frames and one was in the box I was sent with the frame and S12 shell and assorted parts. Two side frames the pins were so loose they would not stay on , I toyed with using ACC to build up the pins then thought I had a spare gear case half late type so I took a paper towel separated the two layers , placed a small piece over the rivet then pressed the pin in , pulled the side frame off and the paper was not pressed onto the pin and then I pressed them on the power trucks and they now stay firm. This is just a temporary fix or if they stay they stay. I have plenty of Athearn BB side frames for the Alco type BB trucks I can cut the pins off and cut the worn area off these and use ACC and a brass wire to secure them , or just ACC them in place as is and last resort buy 4 new ones. I could use the old metal outside bearing trucks yet only have two of those axle gears unless I rob one of my 5 Athearn trainmasters which I really don't want to do. The metal side frames are not as detailed yet many times I do feel the old metal frame power trucks roll better by design. I'm not sure if Athearn made the change to make things less expensive , more detailed or less parts that fit more products. I feel one reason Kato trucks run smoother is because of the more modern outside bearing truck plus of course the direct hard wired setup they have and better motor , still feel the kato trucks modern out side bearings had more of an affect. These are the first Athearn SW7/S12 metal side frame power trucks I've seen. I bought quite a few blue box SW7 and S12's in the early 80's all were the plastic side frame except the trainmaster and PA's . I've had a few metal side frame dummy units that I got the bearings ' wheel sets and gears and made power trucks from them maybe 3 EMD's and one train master.

Back to power packs , I don't know a thing about DCC and probably never will , I don't have or plan to build a layout even a small one , I do have a test track 8 feet long. My only layout had at least 20 Switches one was a three way switch by roco and all had switch motors I added when I could afford them and all was Atlas nickel silver rail an Atlas turn table and a 4 spur switch yard , out side was 22" and inside was 18". Cork road bed and two openings so I could reach. It sat on 4 folding legs since it was in our bedroom a small bedroom covered half the bed so it had to be foldup and weighted a lot took two people to lift it. I don't recall the size maybe 8' x 10'.

If anyone is interested I will post photo's of the two copper MRC power packs once the rain lets up.
 
Saved up for one of these bad boys as a kid, and boy was I proud of it! I could run two trains at once now.

1586202922376.png


Of course in those days, DC was the only option. but my layout was divided into blocks, with toggle switches controlling which throttle you were using as well as the direction, which allowed for reverse loops. Lots of fun wiring that up, using some old copper telephone wire somebody gave me. It was a huge bundle, and each one was color coded, so that was pretty handy. It may have only been a 4 x 12 layout, but it was set up pretty fancy.

I still have one of the copper power packs, though 40 year in the damp Pacific Northwest have not been kind to the copper coating, looks pretty sad these days. Still works fine though, I think I used it for my G scale Christmas train.
 


Anyone remember that up through maybe mid 60s, all stores closed at 6pm and were open til 9 on fridays..I believe the one exception was 7/11 stores which, at that time sold mostly ice only (maybe milk and cigs)...and the only 'big box' then was the A&P (Atlantic and Pacific Tea Co.) supermarket. There were separate lumber yards and hardware stores; no Home Depots...Did you have a Lafayette Radio store near you ? I went to the one (if not only) in Queens, NY on Hillside Avenue..Boy those catalogs they had with all those hundreds of prints of their electronic components had a mysterious attractive air about them...I wonder if the word 'digital' even existed yet (other than maybe relating to the fingers and toes...M
 
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The one is a throttle master 550 has 2.5 amp , pulse and full switch , on/off, direction reverse loop & direction main line. Volt and amp gauge, both light up . One rheostat old wire wound type with the crank handle like the Tech II and two internal self resetting circuit breakers and 5 big diodes and a huge transformer. Connections are track DC , accessories AC, fixed DC & reverse loop. The gauges both function proper sort of nice to be able to see the voltage and current readings. I looked at the back panel and it states output 16 VDC and 18 VAC total output 33 VA.

Seems sort of risky because both have a two prong power cord plug even though they have circuit breakers at least for the output and have the metal housings. By todays standards I doubt this would fly.

The other is a throttle pack 500 also has an old rheostat no crank handle on the control knob . Also has on/off , full & pulse and direction . Don't know the amp rating. No lights and a tall red button to reset the circuit breaker. Connections are variable DC , 12 VDC & 16 VAC. I did clean up the ThrottleMaster after I took the photo's , it's in pretty good shape the Throttle Pack is so so . I can't find the Tech II with the pulse , I know I didn't toss it out , it's hiding somewhere like a lot of stuff I know where it's not .
20200406_132813.jpg
20200406_132828.jpg
 
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bob said:
Saved up for one of these bad boys as a kid, and boy was I proud of it! I could run two trains at once now.

View attachment 46098

Of course in those days, DC was the only option. but my layout was divided into blocks, with toggle switches controlling which throttle you were using as well as the direction, which allowed for reverse loops. Lots of fun wiring that up, using some old copper telephone wire somebody gave me. It was a huge bundle, and each one was color coded, so that was pretty handy. It may have only been a 4 x 12 layout, but it was set up pretty fancy.

I still have one of the copper power packs, though 40 year in the damp Pacific Northwest have not been kind to the copper coating, looks pretty sad these days. Still works fine though, I think I used it for my G scale Christmas train.
Click to expand...

I remember that model , that's what I thought I had yet was confusing the gauges with two controls.
 
MHinLA said:
Anyone remember that up through maybe mid 60s, all stores closed at 6pm and were open til 9 on fridays..I believe the one exception was 7/11 stores which, at that time sold mostly ice only (maybe milk and cigs)...and the only 'big box' then was the A&P (Atlantic and Pacific Tea Co.) supermarket. There were separate lumber yards and hardware stores; no Home Depots
Click to expand...
And almost everything was closed on Sundays?
 
Blues909 said:
The one is a throttle master 550 has 2.5 amp , pulse and full switch , on/off, direction reverse loop & direction main line. Volt and amp gauge, both light up...
Click to expand...

Ah, that's the one I was remembering. Those were pretty dang cool looking back in the day with the pretty copper body and the light up gauges. You were definitely running some nice equipment if your layout had one of those!
 


riogrande said:
Even though I bought a Digitrax Chief system, what little I've used it - it has been not very user friendly.

On my current layout I've been using a DC power pack called a Star Tec Hogger. It was produced in the 1980's when walk around throttle were getting popular. It has a RJ type phone jack on it so you could install a bus around the and plug in at various points to follow a train, and the wire to the plug is coiled so it can stretch some. Still using it and thinking about getting an NCE eventually when I can afford to make the switch.
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So you don't use the Chief system? Are you planning on selling the Chief if so let me know. What year did you buy it? What Chief set did you get with it as far as other accessories?
 
bob said:
They had a model with gauges two, though I think it was the single. Here's the more modern version of it.

View attachment 46126
Click to expand...

What do the momentum and brake do? Are they like pulse = momentum and brake is like coast instead of a quick stop? I never got past using Pulse and never cared how it made most loco's sound , they were harsh sounding at least on the Tech II ones . I found my Tech II with pulse , fell behind a plastic cabinet in a closet. it's a Tech II 2400 it just has pulse and a yellow pilot light to tell you it's on and a red power overload light and the same green power monitor the Tech II 1400 has just one more switch and two more lights of the Tech II 2400 and two more connections for direct DC I guess for a wired rheostat or street lights . I don't recall how the older copper MRC ones worked on pulse yet they both have it. I was sort of surprised they both had this feature so long ago. even the Tech II's are old school now. They all work. The Tech II's are not all that powerful one is 13 VA the other 17 VA.
 
Momentum smooths out the transition between the current throttle setting and the new one. Instead of an abrupt change, it was gradual.

Brake I’m not certain of. It slowed the train down, maybe for going downhill? So you could leave the throttle setting at the speed you liked, but momentarily slow it. Mine has it, but obviously I don’t use that feature or I’d know how it’s supposed to work. :)
 
I entirely missed this Thread the first time around.

My first Power Pack, not counting the Lionel Transformer, was a MRC Throttle Pack which I still have and use for testing when needed. Its has been a reliable piece of electronics.

MHinLA: Speaking of store hours in the past. When I started in the shopping center business in 1973, the largest mall in Milwaukee was open 10:00 AM to 7:00 PM Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and 10:00 AM - 9:00 PM on Fridays. Closed on Tuesdays and closed all day on Sundays. I'm at a lost why they were closed on Tuesdays, but that changed later in the fall of 1973.

Greg
 
I had a Lionel pack with the first Lionel stuff I had and eventually picked up an older one (which I let go when I traded the Lionel stuff for HO). I got a Spectrum power pack at that time and when it started having problems (Broken plastic switch) I started using an older MRC 501 Throttlepack which has now been retired (but not yet tossed). Something telling me to keep it for the AC side.
 
Wow this is a trip down memory lane!
I don’t remember my first pack but it would have been this one:

8FDFDCA6-1C8F-4B28-AE11-1EC28009E57B.jpeg

I do remember my second one tho, it’s a radio shack experimenters box with a nine volt battery and a dpdt switch. No speed control, just alligator clips on a wire, couldn’t be simpler. I made it to run on a tiny 3’ portable switching layout with only one turnout.

4C2BEA6F-3509-4D3B-9C16-69F8F0D9EF96.jpeg
 
I found an MRC Model 3 among my auction buys...

s-l400.jpg

But mine is in worse condition and I've never plugged it in.
 
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