RailPro Frequently Asked Questions

Where can I buy RailPro products?

Walthers is a distributor for our products and many other hobby shops sell our products. For a complete list click here. Hobby Shop List. Not all resellers listed stock RailPro products. All shops listed can order RailPro products. If you send us an email we can recommend a shop in your area that specializes in selling RailPro products.

If I link different types of locomotives will they run well together? (This is often referred to as Consisting or MU'ed)

YES. In fact you will only need to set one adjustment to get locomotives with even different motors and gear ratios to work very well together. The one adjustment that needs to be set has an auto set feature. You can actually setup different locomotives to run well together in under a minute. All you need to do is run the auto set feature for the Motor Full Load Current adjustment on each locomotive.

The way RailPro links locomotives together is patent pending and unlike any DCC system. Direct Radio allows RailPro locomotives to communicate together almost instantly to be sure that each locomotive pulls its portion of the load and runs smoothly together. Any DCC system that we are aware of, only allows communication to locomotives and the locomotives cannot talk back. Ring Engineering's Direct Radio allows all RailPro products to communicate in both directions at full speed! Two way, full speed communication is key to many of RailPro's easy to use and unique features including the way linked locomotives run together.

If my club is DCC can I run RailPro on the club layout?
YES. You can take your RailPro equipped locomotives and Handheld controllers to a club that has a DCC layout and run it on their layout. You can run your RailPro locomotives on the same tracks and at the same time while other club members are controlling their DCC locomotives. However, you will only be able to select and control RailPro equipped locomotives and you will not be able to control DCC locomotives. DCC cabs will not be able to control your RailPro locomotive because RailPro locomotive modules only respond to Direct Radio commands from RailPro controllers such as the HC-1 handheld controller.

Why doesn't RailPro control DCC locomotives?
Short Answer: Because the goal of RailPro was to create an 'easy to use' system and we did not want to bring the complexities, limitations, problems, and extra expense of DCC into our RailPro system. Click here for the long answer.

Why should my club use RailPro instead of DCC?
There are lots of good reasons for a club to run RailPro instead of a DCC system.
1) Ease of use. RailPro is so easy to use that it will be easy to get those who only want to run analog to use it! The RailPro handheld controller with Direct Radio has the feel of an analog controller. RailPro has the power to do more than DCC systems.
2) Passwords - Each locomotive, turnout controller, etc, has its own password. So you can set up your system any way you want to allow access only where it is needed. This does not exist in DCC systems.
3) Response speed - Because of RailPro's use of high speed DirectRadio, its communication speed is magnitudes greater than DCC. Therefore, you will get better response with many simultaneous users compared to a DCC system.
4) Mass programming problems - With DCC systems, it is possible to accidentally program every loco, or the wrong loco, on the layout. These problems do not exist in RailPro. This alone should be enough reason for a club to use RailPro.
5) Clean track - We are confident that running DCC makes it necessary for you to clean your track more often than with RailPro.***
6) No addressing limits - It is common for clubs to have more than one member that wants to run a loco with the same road number. Since DCC users usually use the road number to address the loco this means only one at a time can be one the layout or the users have to set the address to one that they will need to remember. This is not an issue with RailPro because there is no 4 digit addressing limitation.

Is RailPro DCC compatible?

YES and NO. You can run RailPro locomotives on any manufacturers DCC system** using our HC-1 handheld controller. Our locomotive modules can use DCC as power source and respond to commands from RailPro controllers such as our HC-1 handheld controller with Direct Radio. Further, our locomotive modules are electrically compatible with the DCC plug found in many locomotives to promote easy installation. However, our locomotive modules respond to RailPro Direct Radio commands only, they DO NOT respond to DCC commands, and cannot be controlled or setup with any DCC system. Our RailPro system does not control DCC products.

Our RailPro system is more capable and can do things DCC systems cannot because of Direct Radio, and it is much simpler to use than any DCC offering.

** The DCC system voltage must be less than 20 volts peak and only consist of the signal specified in NMRA standards.

How does RailPro Compare to the typical DCC system?
Click here to see how "RailPro with Direct Radio compared to a typical DCC systems."

How far does the Direct Radio signal reach?

You can control locomotives on huge HO scale layouts with outstanding control using Direct Radio. The Direct Radio signal can reach over 100ft in an open environment. When properly setup, you can achieve fast and dependable control that has the feel of being directly wired to your locomotives.

If you want to control your trains from the far side of your layout, we recommend a repeater every 15 ft for areas divided into small rooms. Our power supply has Direct Radio built in and can be used as a repeater. With one PWR-75 in the middle of the layout, you can expect outstanding coverage for a 30 ft x 30 ft layout while transmitting thorough multiple walls. If the room is open, it may work well for 50 ft x 50 ft or even larger areas with only one repeater. The current program in the handheld controller lets you use up to 4 repeaters for outstanding coverage on huge layouts.

You can run RailPro without a repeater. For example using only a handheld and locomotive equipped with a RailPro module. If you follow your trains (staying within 15-20 feet) you will not need a repeater and you can expect fast and dependable control. Every Direct Radio equipped product is tested at a range of 40 feet. However, if transmitting through multiple walls, you might find that at some angles you will loose communication at 40 feet away. By adding repeaters as necessary, you can get fast and dependable control from over 40 feet away through multiple walls.

Since RailPro is all wireless and can transmit over 100 feet, can anyone control my train set?

No. RailPro has a simple solution for stopping unintentional or unauthorized users from controlling your equipment. You can set a password in each piece of RailPro equipment. For example, when you set a password in a locomotive module, then only the people that you share the password with will be able to control your locomotive. This is a great feature in a club or model train show environment because you can have complete control over who can control or adjust your RailPro products.

If I set a password in my locomotive module, will I have to type it in each time to control my locomotive?

No. Your handheld controller and locomotive module will remember the password so it is not necessary to keep typing in passwords.

Is the response time good?

YES. The response time is so good that you feel like you are connected to the locomotive. As soon as you change speed, the locomotive instantly responds. The touchscreen is so fast that you feel that there is no detectable delay from pressing the screen to seeing the action on a locomotive such as the lights turning on or off. The exceptionally smooth speed control knob gives you the feel of using an analog controller!

How many locomotives and handhelds controllers can be used at the same time?
There is no limitation on the number of locos you can have on your layout. The handheld can have hundreds locomotive pictures loaded into it. For each handheld controller you have you can set 12 locomotives in motion. You can be driving 12 trains with a single handheld. If you have a second handheld, you can run 12 more trains for a total of 24 trains running. There is no limit on the number of handheld controllers that can be used. With 40 handhelds the response time should be just about the same as with one controller. As you get over 40 the response time may or may not slow down. Our Direct Radio is much faster than the DCC signal so RailPro's response time will be much better than any DCC system.

How many turnouts can be controlled?
There is no realistic limitation on the number of turnouts that can be controlled by a RailPro system.

Do you plan to make a non-sound locomotive module?

YES. We plan to make a locomotive module without sound and it will be lower in price and smaller in size. We expect its MSRP price to be about $49.99. Please keep in mind that it will have 2.4GHz Direct Radio transceiver, the ability to store its own picture, do our patent pending RF consisting that can be setup in seconds, will have down loadable light effects, output short circuit protection, motor overload protection, fault reporting via Direct Radio, and much more not found on low cost DCC modules.

Will I have to wait forever for the HC-1 Handheld Controller to startup from a power on?

NO. The HC-1 is ready to control locomotives in about one second from pressing the power on button.

If I install a RailPro locomotive module in a locomotive that I already own, what do I need to do so the handheld controller will display a picture of my locomotive?

Since Ring Engineering does not know what locomotive you are going to install a locomotive module into, our locomotive modules are preloaded with a generic locomotive picture. You can change the picture on your locomotive module to match your locomotive. Pictures need to be downloaded from Ring Engineering�s Internet site. If you find a picture of your locomotive on our Internet site, you can load it to your locomotive module for no charge. If you cannot find a picture of your locomotive, then you can take a picture of your locomotive with a digital camera and email your locomotive picture to Ring Engineering. Ring Engineering will convert your picture to a RailPro picture and then you will be able to download it from our Internet site. For each locomotive module you buy, you can get one picture converted to RailPro format for no charge. Please go to www.RingEngineering.com, Login, select RailPro Page, and read the Help for more instructions. If you are a new user to Ring Engineering�s Internet site, choose �New User� on the Login Page.

Is it difficult to get files like pictures, sounds, and light effects from Ring Engineering's Internet site?

NO. Basically you use your PC's browser and select from a list of pictures, sounds, light effects, and programs available from Ring Engineering's Internet site to download. Start the Ring Engineering Internet Access program on your PC, and then connect your handheld controller (HC-1) with a USB cable. Go to the Software Update page on your HC-1 and press the big button (Get files from the Internet). The HC-1 will copy whatever files you selected from Ring Engineering's Internet site onto your HC-1. To send a file to a locomotive, you select Copy File, choose the picture of the locomotive you want the file to go to, and then choose the file to copy. It really is that simple.

Before you can access the Internet, there is a one-time setup required on your PC and your HC-1. You will need to enter your email address and password into your HC-1 and load a special program onto your PC. The program that loads onto your PC needs no setup at all and you can get it for free from our Internet Site. Please go to www.RingEngineering.com, Login, select RailPro Page, and read the Help for complete instructions.

Is your software to get pictures, sounds, etc, from the internet compatible with Microsoft Windows?
YES. Our software can run on Windows 7, Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 2000.

Is your software to get pictures, sounds, etc, from the internet compatible with Macintosh?
No. We currently do not have Macintosh compatible software.

Is the locomotive sound quality as good as the best DCC suppliers?

YES. Several of our customers have told us that our sound quality is as good or better than the best DCC sound decoders that they have heard.

Does Ring Engineering plan to offer more locomotive sounds?

YES. It will be one of our highest priorities to make more locomotive sounds available for download from our Internet site. Currently we have available Steam Engine sounds and Diesel Engine sounds including the EMD 645 non-turbo and EMD 710. Also available now is a sound for the GTLE turbine locomotive. Further, we have recordings for the GEVO, GE 7FDL-16, EMD 645-16 turbo and EMD 645-20! We plan to have all these prime mover sounds available to update your locomotive modules soon. This is enough prime movers to cover most of the locomotives in operation today. Of course we will continue to add more.

Does Ring Engineering plan to offer more Light Effects?

YES. We can create different light effects quickly. There are almost no light effects that we cannot offer. If you want a particular light effect that is not already available, then please send us an email. It would be best if you can send us a link to a video on the Internet of the light effect you are interested in. We can then see exactly the light-flashing pattern that you would want us to make. Please keep in mind that when new light effects are released, you can simply download them to LM-1 locomotive modules that you already own.

Does Ring Engineering plan to offer steam engine sounds?

YES. We now offer steam engine sounds that can be installed in a LM-1 locomotive module. Currently all locomotive modules are shipped with Diesel Engine sounds preloaded. You can simply delete the Diesel Engine sound files from the Locomotive module and load the Steam Engine sounds. See the user manual for complete details.

Does Ring Engineering plan to offer larger Scale locomotive modules?

YES. We do plan to make locomotive modules for O and G gauge.

Does Ring Engineering plan to offer N Scale locomotive modules?

Currently we do not have a locomotive module designed for N Scale. It was a real challenge to put a radio transceiver, sound, etc. into a small enough module to fit into an HO locomotive. We are sure that some day it will be possible to make an N scale locomotive module but we do not see this to be likely in the near future.

Is the HC-1 Handheld Controller comfortable to hold?

YES. The HC-1 has a rounded back and corners to feel comfortable in your hand. Since, the HC-1 only weights about 4 ounces more than the typical cell phone, it is heavy enough that you know it is built well and light enough to easily hold for all day fun.

Do HC-1 Handheld Controller screens actually look as good as on this Internet site?

YES. The screens are actual screens from an HC-1. In fact, the screens on the HC-1 are better than on this Internet site because the screens on this Internet site are compressed so they will load faster on your PC's browser. The HC-1 screen graphics are very bright and clear.

Is there a fee to download sounds or pictures?

You can load all the sounds, light effects and programs as often as you want for no charge.
Further you can load as many of the existing pictures that you want for no charge.
Each locomotive module comes with a picture conversion code to convert one 'custom' picture for no charge. If you have a custom painted locomotive you will be able to get one picture for each locomotive module that you bought for no charge.
Also, if:
- We do not currently have a picture of your locomotive.
- You plan to send us a picture of a completely assembled stock locomotive. Not a custom painted one. i.e. one that other users may be interested in using.
- The picture is oriented like ours and is of good quality.
Then we will be happy to convert it for no charge to increase our amount of available pictures for other users.

The only reason for the picture conversion code is to keep someone from buying one locomotive module and wanting a large amount of �custom� pictures converted for no charge. We think it is unlikely that any user will need to ever pay for picture conversions. One instance where you might need to pay for a picture conversion is if you own only one locomotive module and move the locomotive module from one custom painted locomotive to another custom painted locomotive.

We plan to always offer the latest version of programs for all RailPro equipment for no charge. However, we may ask a reasonable fee to enable a completely new feature like a �fast clock� added to the handheld controller.

What about reversing loops?
Reversing loops, 'Y's, and turntables will need to be handled by auto reverse modules. Our PWR-75 can be configured as an auto reverse power supply. However, most will think that buying an extra PWR-75 for a small 'Y' is not too cost effective. We do plan to build a RailPro auto reverse module this year. We expect our auto reverse module to retail for about $39.99.

What about RF interference?
Our RailPro system uses advanced technology like cell phones where many can be in use at the same time in the same area. Our products are not like the easily disturbed RF products found in many toys. This makes it unlikely that you will experience any interference. Our products have worked successfully around wireless computer networks cell phones etc. Any RF product may have, or cause, some type of interference but because of the technology that we use it is very unlikely.

Can the locomotive module fit into all HO scale locomotives?
No. We believe that our locomotive module can be installed in most of the HO scale locomotives. Although our locomotive module is small there might be some locomotives that it will not be practical to fit it into. There is no standard for the size of locomotive module that can be installed in locomotives. Not even DCC ready locomotives have standards for the size of module that can be installed. Each locomotive manufacture has a different amount of room to install locomotive modules. There are many shops that do locomotive module installation work. We would be happy to recommend a shop for you if you would prefer someone else do the installation work. We do plan to make a locomotive module without sound that will be smaller in size.

What is a Direct Radio Repeater?

Repeaters are an important part of a RailPro system. Your controlling devices, such as a Handheld Controller, can send commands directly to your products or your controlling device can send the commands to a Direct Radio Repeater first, and the Repeater can send the command on to your product. By using Repeaters, your RailPro system can have multiple paths for communication providing dependable communications to your locomotives, turnout controllers, etc.

The number of Repeaters you should use depends on the size of your layout. If your layout is 30 ft x 30 ft or less, then one Repeater will be enough. The RailPro power supply, PWR-75, can be used as a Direct Radio Repeater. See the HC-1 User Manual for more information on Repeaters.

What frequency is Direct Radio?

Direct Radio works in the 2.4GHz frequency band.

Is using a tablet or touchscreen phone with a train control App like using RailPro?

No. Not at all. We started our development with an off the shelf generic touchscreen handheld computer. Shortly afterward we realized that was completely the wrong direction and would never make a good product for the user. What we realized was that we needed to develop a handheld controller from scratch with the goal of controlling your model train layout. Some problems with the off the shelf touchscreen computer that we encountered included:

1) We found that using a touchscreen for a throttle was unacceptable. The problem is that you needed to be looking at the screen to adjust the speed accurately and the feel was poor at best. You need to be looking at the train engine to properly connect couplers etc. This is why we included a real knob on the RailPro controller. So you can have your hand on the speed control knob and still be looking at your train. What is the point in having a controlling device that is not actually a good throttle?

2) Our handheld is designed to be held all day so you can follow the action around. In our opinion holding a tablet all day to run a train is unacceptable.

3) We had problems where other apps would pop up or interrupt the train app and the train app would be inaccessible or would cause communication problems. If the app becomes inaccessible you cannot stop your trains! This does not happen with RailPro because there are no other apps to interfere.

4) Typical consumer computer networks are not guaranteed real time. The response time can be anywhere from good to no control at all. With RailPro, at least 40 simultaneous users will have guaranteed fast response and hundreds of handhelds are likely to work very well.

5) Product instability is a problem with off the shelf computers. The odds of you buying the same product only a year later is unlikely. So it may be necessary to support different software programs, different OS's, different networks etc.
6) Network setup with RailPro is as simple as pressing the Find Product button. Any PC network we have ever dealt with is far more complicated and problematic.

7) Nobody wants to wait until their PC's booted and make a wireless connection just to drive a train. With RailPro the handheld is ready to control trains in about one second. Who would want typical PCs problems involved in operating their train set like software crashes, reboots, hard drive failures etc.?

8) With RailPro you do not need a PC down by your layout. You do not need to buy a PC just for your layout.
9) Don't you think that buying products from many manufacturers, instead of just one, is much more likely to have problems? Also, if you have a problem don't you think that it will be more difficult to fix? For example, if you get a touch control product from manufacturer A, software program for the touch control product from programmer B, PC from manufacturer C, wireless network product from manufacturer D, PC to train control system interface product form manufacturer E, software for the PC to train control system from programmer F, and the train control equipment from manufacturer G....then who is going to be responsibly for fixing a problem with a system like this???

Ring Engineering's RailPro system has color touchscreen controllers, outstanding software, and a complete easy to use system available from one source. Further, it is available today!

10) Battery life was too short. Our Handheld controller can run up to 12 hours* on a single charge for all day model railroad fun.

Therefore, what we learned is that you need proper hardware and software to make a better train control system. It takes years of software development to obtain a well written, dependable, and easy to use interface like RailPro has. Because of the high level of technology in our controller it took years to develop the handheld controller. Further we tested it for years to be sure it worked very well before it was sold. RailPro has been in development for nearly a decade and we are confident that it shows in our RailPro product. Because RailPro's base hardware and software have been completed, future products can be developed much more quickly and easily.

Will RailPro work in brass shell locomotives?
RailPro was designed for plastic shell locomotives. RailPro locomotive modules might not work well in metal body (brass) locomotives because the RF signal may get attenuated. However, the Model RR News installed one in a die cast locomotive and told us that it worked well. The die cast locomotive had a full metal shell. We have not done any testing so far so we do not know if RailPro is going to work well in metal shell locomotives.

Is RailPro available to other countries besides the USA?
No. Currently Ring Engineering only ships RailPro products with Direct Radio to the USA. RailPro products were designed to pass worldwide communication standards including USA, Canada, Australia, Europe, and Japan. However, currently we have only had RailPro tested for compliance with USA standards. RailPro is compliant with USA FCC standards. Also, current RailPro products are designed for use only with USA standard wall voltage of 110Vac @ 60 Hz.

Why doesn't RailPro control DCC locomotives?
Long Answer: Because the goal of RailPro was to create an 'easy to use' system and we did not want to bring the complexities, limitations, problems, and extra expense of DCC into our RailPro system.

We did not want to incorporate the problem of the DCC signal causing you to clean your track more often than RailPro's pure DC track power***. Also, we did not want to incorporate a programming track that DCC requires. With RailPro, all configuration is simply done on the layout. Further, DCC has many built in problems that we did not want in our RailPro system. One example is DCC support for multiple speed step modes and no means to report problems related to improper use. We accidentally set our DCC system to some speed step mode that the decoder did not respond to. There was no indication of what the problem was and the DCC equipment gave the impression that it was not working. This type of problem is not possible in a RailPro system.

We wanted to avoid variances in manufactures control variables. One manufactures CV does this and another does something different. With DCC you really need to know what manufacturers module is in what locomotive before you can confidently adjust CVs.

We did not want to incorporate DCC's 4 digit addressing limitation.
We did not want to incorporate the added complexity of DCC's multiple programming modes.
We did not want multiple consisting modes. One consisting mode is not good because the communication slows down. In another consist mode communication if faster but you can not control the lights on the consisted locomotives. With RailPro, there is only way to consist. Direct Radio assures high speed, and as you would expect and you still have independent control over all the consisted locomotives' lights and sounds.

* More than 12 Hours of battery life with screen at lower brightness setting. Battery life of 8 to 9 hours is typical with a bright screen setting.

*** When we were developing our End of Train Device products, we accumulated a lot of testing hours running on analog and DCC power sources because it was important to know that our products would work well with both power sources. What we discovered was that we constantly had to clean the DCC track to keep it running. We cleaned the DCC test track multiple times more often than the analog track. The theory we can up with as to why the DCC track needed cleaned more often is because on a DCC system, the current pulses into the module (through the wheels) at higher peaks than with an analog system. We know that if we put no current through the wheels, then no arcing would happen. We also know that if we put hundreds of amps through the wheels, they would arc and leave black burnt residue on the track. Therefore we are confident that higher currents cause more arcing and deposits black residue. The reason why DCC current pulses at higher peak currents than analog is because the DCC signal constantly changes polarity. That means that there is a time that the DCC voltage goes to zero. This constant high frequency switching causes the current to pulse into the locomotive instead of flowing more smoothly as with analog. And since RailPro uses pure DC, it is expected that RailPro runs even cleaner than analog! Even though analog does not go to zero volts, it still increases and decreases voltage at 120 cycles per second (rectified 60 Hz from wall power) where in comparison RailPro's DC power is steady. We ran a small RailPro test track for about a year and never needed to clean it! We finally cleaned the track just to see if the RailPro system was going to run any differently, and it did not. We are confident that we would have needed to clean the track several times if it were powered by DCC.