Rapido Trains SW1200RS Operator's Manual - 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 really want them off, press F10. We suggest you be a rebel and just leave them
on. You would be a Rebel WITH A Cause. And that cause is lit number boards.
F11 Cab Light
No crew should have to write orders in the dark. Or eat their lunch in the dark. Or
venture into the depths of the cab fridge (included on all SW1200RS models) in the
dark. So give your crew some light by pressing F11. Pressing it again turns it off. We
won’t judge if you want to have a disco light show in the cab
F12 Switching Mode
If you press F12, the headlight and rear light will both be on dim. This is appropriate
for switching operations or for running light on the mainline. Press F12 again to turn off
the switching mode lighting.
F15 Brake
In 15 years of making model trains we have met about three people who use the brake
feature on our locomotives (we found a new one last year). So we’ve shoved this to a
higher function button. If you are one of those three people, you are clever enough to
remap this feature onto a lower function button by following the instructions in the full
ESU Select Decoder manual, which can be downloaded from the SW1200RS page of
the Support section of the Rapido web site.
Functions F16-F19
These are not used. Don’t press them. Also don’t lick your locomotive.
F20 and F21 Sarco Valve (Spitter)
These functions turn on or off the Sarco Valve. On the real SW1200RS, it’s always
going. But you often can’t hear it from a distance. In contrast, if you are close to the
engine you can hear the Sarco valve pretty prominently. We feel that on many sound-
equipped engines, the Sarco Valve is way too loud. So we’ve included two versions of
it, controlled by functions. You can choose whether or not you hear the Sarco Valve, and
you can choose how fast you want it to spit.
If you press F20, the Sarco Valve will be heard intermittently. If you press F21, it will be
heard less intermittently. Make sure you turn off F20 first.
If you have a silent SW1200RS and you want to recreate the Sarco Valve effect, please
aim away from the models. Your SW1200RS warranty does not include malfunction
due to accumulated saliva. Your locomotive is also not equipped with a real Sarco valve
either. Sorry.