I've got an MTH Railking PS2 C&O YellowBelly Hudson (30-1412-1).
I've used the engine at two recent National Capital Tracker shows with DCS. Both shows have been in December. I've noted that after a while, the engine just gradually slows to a stop without any command to do so (we are running DCS). The remote still shows the speed I was running. If I notch the thumbwheel, it starts running again just fine. When it stops, it doesn't shut down. It just stops gradually and sits there until I tell it to move again.
Today, at the B&O Museum, not only did it once again stop on it's own a few times but it stopped and went totally silent. Hitting start-up gave me Engine Not on Track messages. Putting it on the programing track, it ran fine. When I got home, I ran it on my home layout (conventional with Z1000 transformers) and it runs fine. I've been unable to reproduce the issue at home but admittedly, I really haven't tried very hard. I did have the boards replaced about 3-4 years ago in this engine and have put several thousand miles and hours on it since. As mentioned, this is the second show in a row that I've had this engine perform this way. I seem to remember it doing this more often on curves but am not 100% certain if that was the case in each case.
FWIW - I also have a Rugged Rails F3, from 2004 with 3 volt boards (#30-4109-1) that also acts similar. It will run and either totally lose control and sound/lights or stop dead with no response under DCS but fine in conventional at home. My understanding, from the forum, is the F3 is a known issue that requires board replacement. I hope this isn't the same with the C&O Hudson!
Any input on this? Am I looking at another set of new boards? If so, I certainly WON'T be doing that "repair"!
