Summary of SW1200RS
Page 1
Operator’s manual franÇais au verso.
Page 2: Contact Us!
2 sw1200rs locomotive product guidelines thank you for purchasing this model of the quintessential canadian road switcher, the sw1200rs. Since the infancy of rapido, this has been one of the most requested locomotives by our customers. We are certain you will not be disappointed. If this is your fir...
Page 3: Table of Contents
3 table of contents prototype history..................................................................................................... 4 break-in ................................................................................................................. 5 how to hold your sw1200rs ...........
Page 4: Prototype History
4 prototype history what exactly does the “rs” mean? In short: road switcher. The sw1200rs is equally comfortable in the yard or on the mainline. As produced, the gmd (general motors diesel division in london, ontario) sw1200rs differed from the standard sw1200 by having distinctive flexicoil trucks...
Page 5: Break-In
5 brought an end to dar steam operation. In september 1960, sw1200rs no. 8171 had the distinction of being the final new diesel locomotive delivered as part of cpr’s dieselization. It also proved to be the final example of the model to be built. Cpr’s locomotives shared the front number board/headli...
Page 6: Missing Or Damaged Parts
6 side of the lower edge of the fuel tank. Always make sure your hands are free of shmutz before touching your engine. If you are taking your sw1200rs to the club all the time and regularly handling it, stuff will break off. Sorry. The little bits are made of plastic and metal with glue, which is al...
Page 7: Removing The Shell
7 happy to. But if you do send it back to us for us to put that one part back on and other stuff falls off when we send it back to you, then tough tooties. We’re not fixing it again. If you see some grab irons are missing and they are not floating around the packaging, let us know and we will send y...
Page 8: Operation – Dc (Silent)
8 • turn the locomotive back on its roof and you may see the 5 tabs holding the long hood shell onto the body (two on each side, one under the front air intake). They are kind of hidden, or you may have kind of broken them. Push the two tabs closest to the cab inward (5), then slowly tilt the hood f...
Page 9: Operation – Dc (Sound)
9 install a 21-pin decoder. Your chosen decoder should have eight function outputs. At the time of writing, we recommend only the following 21-pin decoder: • esu #54615 - lokpilot v4.0 dcc with 21mtc we feel the 21-pin connectors are superior because there are enough pins to ensure that all your lig...
Page 10: Operation – Dcc With Sound
10 sw1200rs destroyed by a 1300 or any other “train set” dc controller. “train set” dc controllers should not be used with sound-equipped locomotives. Buy one less sound-equipped locomotive (from another brand) and use the money to buy a proper controller instead. The only lights that work in dc are...
Page 11: Locomotive Address
11 locomotive address your rapido sw1200rs comes from the factory with a decoder address of 3. We’re not sure the origins of this, but we have a feeling it’s related to the origins of video games when you had to turn the dial on your television to channel 3 in order to experience the magic and wonde...
Page 12: Functions
12 idling along. However, if someone else selects your locomotive’s number and f8 isn’t pressed on his or her controller, the sw1200rs will promptly shut down. He or she will need to press f8 again. “she?” you ask. “you mean there are female model railroaders?” yes there are and you better believe i...
Page 13
13 f4 full throttle esu’s “full throttle” feature allows you to play the prime mover of your sw1200rs like a musical instrument, even if you’ve never played a musical instrument before. When you press f4, you turn on “drive hold.” this keeps the speed of the engine constant at whatever speed step yo...
Page 14
14 f10 turn off number boards the number boards are lit by default, a big improvement over many of our early models. It was annoying when you’d lose power because of a short somewhere else on the layout and then you had to go through the tedious task of turning your number boards back on. If you rea...
Page 15: Horns
15 f22 sarco after shutdown on real engines you can hear the sarco valve after the engine shuts down, but again it is not really audible unless you are right beside it. So the default for this is “off.” if you want to hear the sarco valve spit for a minute after shutdown, make sure f22 is pressed. F...
Page 16: Factory Reset
16 very important: before you change any of the volume control cvs, please make sure that cv 32 is set to 1. Cv 32 is used as an index selection register and if you don’t set it first then we are not responsible for your resulting rage and the fact that you will probably throw the locomotive against...
Page 17: More Information
17 programming on the main. Make sure your locomotive is in “forward” and that you have lots of room in front of it on your mainline. You may have to set up pylons or a work block to keep other errant model railroaders from entering your territory. Set cv 54 to a value of 0. Then get out of programm...
Page 18: Acknowledgements
18 video, or any other damage caused by you that we haven’t been able to cover here is not covered by the warranty. However, if catastrophe does strike and your locomotive gets damaged, please give us a shout and we’ll do our best to help you out. Yes, even if it was your fault we will try our best ...