Train direction

[EnGee]

I have just had my select controller upgraded to V1.6 and one of the things I was hoping to 'cure' was the direction the train travels. Yes, I know tradition dictates that the left arrow goes forwards but this seems bonkers to me! Every tape player, video clip, CD player, YouTube clip, remote control, etc, etc, etc, has the right arrow going forwards. I just want my trains to behave like everything else!

 

In the Select manual it explains how to adjust 'locomotive direction' however this has never worked. I assumed it was because I had V1.2 controller. But now I have the latest version and it still doesn't work.

Is this because the instructions in the manual are now redundant due to the new firmware? Is there another way of setting it? Is there a CV number that can be changed?

 

Any help greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[Chrissaf]

Now that you have 1.6 firmware you now have the ability to change CV29 which you didn't have before.

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Just add 1 to your current value of CV29 to reverse the motor control. So if CV29 is currently 6, write 7 to it.

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Yes, I know tradition dictates that the left arrow goes forwards but this seems bonkers to me!

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Personally I don't have any issue with the default arrow directions.

[EnGee]

Brilliant, all sorted. Thanks again Chris.

 

But I repeat what I said in my other thread, How do you know this? Is there a list of what each CV does somewhere? (If so, I can't find it!)

.Personally I don't have any issue with the default arrow directions.

Each to thier own, it just annoyed me!!

[walkingthedog]

If you stand by the track, trains going forward on the line nearest you usually go from right to left so the arrow is correct. To the left is forward. 

 

On Gaugemaster DC controllers there is a forward and reverse switch, forward is to the left. 

[Howbi]

Tapes, videos, CDs etc can only be played in one direction whereas vehicles, such as trains, can be played forwards to the left and also forwards to the right.........or was that already obvious?......... 🤔..........HB

[Chrissaf]

Is there a list of what each CV does somewhere?

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That will depend upon the decoder brand and model and will be listed with the documentation that came with the decoder.  Most CVs adhere to the National Model Railroad Association (NMRA) standard.....see clickable link further below for a full list of NMRA standard CVs, but manufacturers do deviate from the standards to meet their own specific requirements, hence the need to look primarily at the decoder manufacturers datasheet. CV29 is one CV where the NMRA standard is pretty much adhered to by all the makers. Not all NMRA CVs are implemented on all decoders.

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Hornby R8249 Decoder CV datasheet

Hornby R8245 Decoder CV datasheet

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Using links above, PDFs download in the background to your nominated download folder. Note that the Hornby Standard R8249 decoder has very limited CV support shown for it in its downloadable datasheet.

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NMRA Standards for CVs

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On line CV29 Calculator.

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On line C17 & CV18 Calculator (long DCC addresses, i.e. addresses above 127)

[EnGee]

If you stand by the track, trains going forward on the line nearest you usually go from right to left so the arrow is correct. To the left is forward.

 

Good point, I hadn't thought of that! However looking at a real train is a bit different to looking at 2 little arrows on a controller!

[walkingthedog]

But you don’t need to look at the arrows. You know which way is forward so just throw the switch, swipe the screen etc.  😆

 

All the other machines you mentioned are wrong.  😆

[EnGee]

Tapes, videos, CDs etc can only be played in one direction whereas vehicles, such as trains, can be played forwards to the left and also forwards to the right.........or was that already obvious?......... 🤔..........HB

 

Not quite sure what you're trying to say. Any tape, video or CD player I've ever seen has 2 little arrows on it. One for going forwards (play) and one for going backwards (rewind)!

[EnGee]

But you don’t need to look at the arrows. You know which way is forward so just throw the switch, swipe the screen etc.  😆

 

But I do need to look at the arrows to know which button to press!!

I didn't know which way was forward before, but I do now!! 😀

[walkingthedog]

My car has a picture of a headlight that light up when the headlights are one. The light is pointing to the left. So the left is the front/forward. 

 

On DCC isn’t forward always the direction the loco is facing, so forward should point both ways, and reverse. 

[EnGee]

Chris, Thank you for those links, I will print them out and put them somewhere safe.

 

Apologies for stirring up a hornets nest about train direction! I still think it makes more sense to have the forward (right) arrow making the train go forwards, which I can now do, yipee!!

But as i said each to thier own - it'd be a boring world if we were all the same.! 😀

[walkingthedog]

Wasn’t a hornets nest, perhaps a small fly.  😉

[96RAF]

UK convention - full size and model as stated above and in the various blurbs is left forward.

Right is wrong.

[ellocoloco]

I have re-read this a number of times to follow what has actually been said.................

 

@RAF96 - are you suggesting that the Select is set up for UK left hand running? If so, are the ones listed in the Electrotren catalogue set up for Spanish right hand running?? (& Rivarossi, Jouef, etc...)

 

I use a multimaus - centre off - and right is forward. The way it should be.........!

[walkingthedog]

A centre off knob is different. It is clockwise for forward not right. Some centre of knobs are turned from the bottom which is still  clockwise but to the left. Anyway the OP wanted forward to be switched to the right, his choice, his railway, go for it. 

[96RAF]

@eloco

...quote from the Select manual page 12

Note: Locomotive DirectionIt is a commonly accepted practice in the United Kingdom that when a locomotive is in operation, other than when shunting, the front of the locomotive normally faces to the left.

Its not as if its a national secret. Its been in the various books for years, even British Rail abides by the right to left rule at most of its stations.

[EnGee]

 other than ........................ normally .....................

. most ..................

 

The above quote (well, bits of it) demonstrates my point perfectly. There are so many variations from the 'normal' that you never know if you are coming or going!

I can still abide by the standard convention of right to left but my logical solution of how to control that is much easier to understand.

 

If you want to go forwards you press the forward button! - Simples! 😉

[96RAF]

There are exceptions to every rule NG.

I tend to stick to convention. I find it helps when driving if I am on the correct side of the road going the right way, regardless of which country I am in.

Same for my trains.

[EnGee]

 

I tend to stick to convention. I find it helps when driving if I am on the correct side of the road going the right way, regardless of which country I am in.

 

Same for my trains.

I also tend to stick with convention. I don't know what car you have but I find it helps when driving if I always use the going forward pedal to go forward, regardless of which country I am in.

 

Same for my trains. 😉

[Paulali]

Am i missing something here? what happens if its a hst set with locos both ends,i stand in plymouth station,trains going down to cornwall go left,trains going up the country go right,versa visa the other way if standing on an opposite platform,somebody please explain

[96RAF]

@paulali

Double ended trains were invented by the bean counters to avoid the need to provide turntables at each end of a railway, but as you point out the train still comes in from your right, which is UK convention except for those stations previously listed years ago in this very forum where the platforms have reverse or bi-directional approaches.

[Chrissaf]

Everything is taken from the perspective of the platform you are standing on onto which the passengers of a train will embark and disembark.

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So if you are standing on the down platform waiting for a train to Cornwall, then the train travelling forward towards that specific down platform is arriving from the right and departing to the left.

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If you now cross the platform bridge to stand on the up platform waiting for an upcountry train. Then the train arriving on that platform is also arriving from the right and departing to the left when travelling forward.

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For the purpose of this descriptive exercise, your view of the trains is limited to the view from the platform you are standing on. Thus you are blinded from being able to see the train arriving and departing on the opposite platform line. It is just a cerebral exercise and not supposed to replicate your real life physical view of the world around you.

[walkingthedog]

So you are saying the trains don’t always come from the right when on the track nearest to you. Well that is often the case in stations with multiple platforms. A lot depends on the layout of a station and how many tracks there are.

[96RAF]

@WTD

Terminal stations with multiple double sided platfroms are a typical rule exception, but as I said folk have pointed out there are UK stations where the train comes in from the left, typically I would suggest single platform single track line stations.