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Proto-Coupler  Operation

This locomotive is equipped with one or more coil-wound Proto-Couplers for remote 

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uncoupling action.  Because Proto-Couplers are controlled through the Proto-Sound  
3.0 microprocessor, they do not require an uncoupling track section or modification to 
your layout to function. You can fire a coupler from neutral or while in motion.  Use 
the code shown below (and in the chart on p. 21) to fire the coupler(s).

Rear Coupler:

To fire the rear coupler, quickly tap the Bell button once followed by three quick taps of 

the Horn button, allowing approximately ½ second to lapse between each quick button 
press.  The sound of the liftbar and air line depletion will play, and the knuckle will be 

released.

Front Coupler:

To fire the front coupler (if your engine has one), quickly tap the Bell button once 

followed by four quick taps of the Horn button, allowing approximately ½ second to 

lapse between each quick button press.  The sound of the liftbar and air line depletion 

will play, and the knuckle will be released.

 

Horn

Horn

Fire

Rear

Coupler

=

Horn

Bell

Horn

Horn

Fire

Front

Coupler

=

Horn

Horn

Bell

Tips on Using PFA

•You can terminate PFA at any time by turning off power to the track for 15 seconds.
•You do not have to be in Forward to use PFA. At the conclusion of the full sequence, 

the train will pull away from the station or yard in whatever direction you were going 

when you activated the feature.
•You can use PFA even if you are double-heading with another engine. If the second 

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engine is not equipped with Proto-Sound  3.0, you must remember not to leave the 

throttle at a high voltage level once you have stopped the engine to run the PFA. 

Otherwise, the engine without PFA will begin vibrating on the track as its motors strain 

to move the train, since they cannot be automatically disabled during the PFA cycle (or 

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if an original Proto-Sound  engine, PFA are triggered differently and that engine's 

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motor-disable feature will not be active when you run PFA in Proto-Sound  3.0).
•PFA can be triggered from Neutral.  It will operate the same as if triggered while in 

motion except that, at the conclusion of the PFA, the engine will depart in the next 

direction of travel, as opposed to the direction it was traveling before entering Neutral.

RailKing 4-8-8-4 Big Boy Steam Engine

12

Summary of Contents for 4-8-8-4

Page 1: ...rack system including M T H s RealTrax or ScaleTrax or traditional tubular track It is also compatible with most standard AC transformers See pages 46 and 47 for a complete list of compatible transfor...

Page 2: ...of Contents Before you Begin 3 Set Up Checklist 3 Lubrication 3 Priming the Smoke Unit 3 Placing Engine On Track 4 PS 3 0 Enhancements 6 Conventional AC DC Start up Shut down 6 DCC Switch 6 Programmin...

Page 3: ...from squeaking Use light household oil and follow the lubrication points marked L in Fig 1 Do not over oil Use only a drop on each pivot point Priming the Smoke Unit When preparing to run this engine...

Page 4: ...bar is connected to the engine chassis with a screw and should not need any attention Optional Long Drawbar is required for O 31 operation In order to mate the connectors of the drawbar and the tender...

Page 5: ...ilment where the engine or the tender would turn over and the other unit would remain upright If the drawbar is not properly connected your engine may exhibit erratic or no operation If this happens t...

Page 6: ...me ONLY applies to conventional AC track power Once the headlight shuts off the engine will play its start up sounds and all the lights will come back on simultaneously Smoke too if you have it turned...

Page 7: ...OTE Requires a TIU w version 4 20 or later firmware and requires Consumer Loader version 2 30 or later LED Lighting Gone are the incandescent bulbs Your new PS3 0 equipped engine has LED lighting MTH...

Page 8: ...ard and speed will increase as the throttle is advanced If there is another interruption in track power the sequence will change to the neutral position again The engine will remain in the neutral sta...

Page 9: ...e Bell button To turn the bell off press and release the Bell button again The bell will continue to ring from the time you turn it on until you press and release the button again to turn it off Horn...

Page 10: ...ion Reset to Factory Defaults 1 Bell 1 Horn Whistles 1 Bell 2 Horn Whistles 1 Bell 3 Horn Whistles 1 Bell 4 Horn Whistles 1 Horn Whistle 2 Bells from Neutral only 1 Horn Whistle 3 Bells 1 Horn Whistle...

Page 11: ...train will not move as you use the Direction button to trigger the sounds Proto Sound 3 0 has disabled operator control over the Horn and Bell buttons until the full PFA sequence is complete After wai...

Page 12: ...upler Horn Bell Horn Horn Fire Front Coupler Horn Horn Bell Tips on Using PFA You can terminate PFA at any time by turning off power to the track for 15 seconds You do not have to be in Forward to use...

Page 13: ...urn it to the other condition You will want to do this during the initial neutral upon start up if you ever couple this engine to another engine that is not equipped with speed control to avoid damagi...

Page 14: ...A sounds cannot be initiated in conventional DC Only the engine sounds smoke squealing brakes and idle sounds will function Operation of your MTH Proto Sound 3 0 engine in conventional DC is very simi...

Page 15: ...to the engine at start up the engine will not move This is normal We refer to this as Anti Jackrabbit and this feature prevents your model from taking off at high track voltages Simply lower the trac...

Page 16: ...control station manufacturer s manual for more information on how they handle F Function buttons Your MTH PS3 0 equipped engine s default short address is 3 So all you have to do is power up your DCC...

Page 17: ...egin ringing 2 Slowly reduce the throttle until the train stops at the desired location and speed reaches zero Press the F4 button twice toggle F4 on then off again and the bell will stop ringing You...

Page 18: ...erse Signal Pressing F10 twice toggling on then off will sound the Reverse Signal This is three whistle horn blasts Grade Crossing Signal Again just like a real engine you can trigger the Grade Crossi...

Page 19: ...ing on then off The Extended Shut Down is very similar to F3 in that the engine will ultimately shut down but in the case of Extended Shut Down you will hear the crew talking back and forth about how...

Page 20: ...to add realism F24 Single Whistle Horn Blast To play a Single Horn Blast press the F24 button twice toggling in on then off This plays a single short horn blast F26 Brake Sounds Pressing the F26 butto...

Page 21: ...ard Signal Reverse Signal Grade Crossing Smoke On Off Smoke Volume Idle Sequence 3 Idle Sequence 2 Idle Sequence 1 Extended Start Up Extended Shut Down Labor Chuff Drift Chuff One Shot Doppler Coupler...

Page 22: ...rt DCC address The default Short address is always 3 The default Long address will be 3333 To change your engine s Short Address using PoM 1 Call up the engine s current address on your DCC handheld 2...

Page 23: ...han 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...

Page 24: ...u are just telling the DCC system to start talking to engine address 55 You will want to make sure that no other MTH engines are on the rails or any other manufacturer s engines with an address of 55...

Page 25: ...1 F8 for the active consist Defines active functions for FL and F9 F12 for the active consist bit 0 1 will tell an engine that you want it s FL control to operate under the consist address bit1 0 bit2...

Page 26: ...ternate Speed Curve Step 23 Alternate Speed Curve Step 24 Alternate Speed Curve Step 25 Alternate Speed Curve Step 26 Alternate Speed Curve Step 27 Alternate Speed Curve Step 28 Reverse Trim User ID 1...

Page 27: ...number IS NOT the F Function number you d use on your DCC handheld It is used internally in the engine SOUNDS Bell Brake Sounds Cab Chatter Clickety Clack Coupler Close Coupler Slack Drift Chuff Engin...

Page 28: ...your 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 F...

Page 29: ...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 e...

Page 30: ...engine 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 t...

Page 31: ...u 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...

Page 32: ...amming Track differ it is recommended that you use a DCC Programming Track Booster to perform functions on the programming track Simply put try to program or read back the address of an MTH engine on...

Page 33: ...mple 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 s...

Page 34: ...onal grease until after 50 hours of operation or one year whichever comes first To access the gear box and axles do the following 1 Turn the engine upside down 2 Remove the boiler by removing the body...

Page 35: ...n cloth on the rails Thereafter keep an eye on the track and clean it when it gets dirty to ensure good electrical contact and to lengthen the life of the tires Clean any type of track with this heavy...

Page 36: ...with a 5mm nutdriver Clean the groove using a cotton swab and denatured alcohol Make sure the old tire has been completely removed from the groove in the drive wheel using a razor blade or small flat...

Page 37: ...ockwise Position located under the tender body Failure either to add fluid to the unit or to turn it off may damage the smoke unit heating element and or wicking material When the smoke output while r...

Page 38: ...y not be sending enough power to the track to power the engine Rotate throttle clockwise to increase track power Coupler Solution When I try to fire the coupler PFA starts The Proto Coupler won t let...

Page 39: ...engine doesn t go into reverse When the PFA enters its last sequence the bell automatically comes on When PFA is enabled pressing the whistle and bell has no effect I push the direction button but the...

Page 40: ...der Full CW Max volume Check to see if a screw or some other material hasn t lodged itself in the underside of the chassis or tender Make sure smoke volume pot is turned full CW Make sure smoke volume...

Page 41: ...pply power to the track my engine starts up lights and sound but it won t move My engine hesitates at slow speeds Lower the track voltage then raise it again The engine should start moving If you appl...

Page 42: ...ress the F21 button again to turn Doppler off Your engine sounds will now return to normal Check to see if a screw or some other material hasn t lodged itself in the underside of the engine Smoke Solu...

Page 43: ...ing This is normal dial up the speed on your DCC controller to make your engine move PFA Solution I hit F4 to start the PFA but the engine just keeps ringing its bell that s all it ll do Bring the eng...

Page 44: ...again to turn Doppler off Your engine sounds will now return to normal When I apply power to the track my engine doesn t do anything No lights no sound I get an error when I hit Start Up DCS is polar...

Page 45: ...by itself after the PFA is over Press the DIR button Your engine will stop and begins the arrival sequence Pressing the DIR button will cycle you through the next 3 PFA sequences This is normal The e...

Page 46: ...0 Watt Standard Lionel 1063 Lionel LW Powermaster U A U A U A 8 17v 8 18v 8 18v 60 Watt 75 Watt 135VA Standard Standard Electronic All Trol Left Terminal Right Terminal 0 24v 300 Watt Electronic Dalle...

Page 47: ...1 18VDC on Supply 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...

Page 48: ...Proto Sound 3 0 engines but does not turn off the input power to the TIU One Touch Global Mute UnMute Single button mutes or unmutes all DCS controlled locomotives sounds Proto Dispatch Operation Publ...

Page 49: ...vice 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 Retai...

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