Roco Z21 steam locos direction of travel

[70E]

I have just changed from a Lenz 100 system to a white Z21. With the Lenz system I could tell from the arrows on the LH100 or switch location on the LH90 throttles which way was forward and reverse with steam locomotives but not so easy with the Z21.  it possible to set up that the left directional arrow is always forward and the right directional arrow is always reverse and if so how do it?

 

 

[WIMorrison]

That is exactly how it should work, if you are finding that a loco is going the wrong way then you will need to change CV29 on the loco. If you read it and it is even then add 1 to make cv o odd, if it is already odd then subtract 1 from the value to make it even

[Phil S]

Whether 'Left' or 'Right' or 'Up' or 'Down' is 'Forward' is not a 'fixed' situation !!!

Now ALTERABLE WITH A SETTING IN Z21 APP - SETTINGS 'Driving Direction Reversed' [On/Off]

 

Perhaps from AC 3-rail beginning  - where a Push / pull back below zero, TOGGLES direction - the knob always increasing clockwise,   or whether buttons are pushed,  knobs turned or sliders slid ....  varies for all.      (Gas and Electric Hobs/Ovens turn their controls opposite ways - or used to)

 

This reminds me of a statement in the Hornby Select Manual, as I recall ; 'Forward' is the Left facing arrow because trains run to the left'  or similar meaningless statement 8-) !!

 

Whilst this was claimed to represent a typical train at a platform .... but assuming UK rules of driving on the left, and an outside platform - it would be the opposite for an island platform, some countries whose railways were not built by British engineers, or those running over public roads, and all Terminal Stations half the time ....

 

[I recall a 3-level station in Brussells with trams-below ground, metro below ground on the middle level, and mainline railways on the lowest level .... the direction of trams and mainline being opposite ( can't recall about the Metro )

 

With the default setting  and historical path though Multimaus > Multimaus Pro /MCP > Z21 with Multimaus and WLANMultimaus, Forward has always followed the principle of Western Writing ... ie from left to right >> Right arrow = forwards, and left facing arrow = reverse.   Tape/Cassette Decks similarly; the international Forward symbol is an Arrowhead to the Right

 

Zimo handsets use a vertical slider.... but a 'BBC' Audio mixer faded the opposite way to all others... so that if you  collapsed over the controls, you faded OUT not UP !

 

I was not, originally, aware of Lenz being 'different' as their original Maus1 - used by Roco Arnold and LGB, and maybe more, behaves the same way ... Forward = Right Arrow.

BUT THEN I bought an early escape/release of Massoth's Xpressnet adapter and found it 'reversed' 'Left/Right' point settings  

... but then there is yet another problem or option ... Normal or Reverse !

 

When using a touch screen (Rocomotion, RR+Co, iTrain etc) a single Click is usually used to change (toggle) a point ....so  whether a 'left or 'right' command is 'not relevent' to the USER once it is configured to be 'in phase' with the point,   it will respond correctly whether operated from a handheld or the touch screen.  With Multimmauses, or a phone/tablet - the direction of loco/point is shown graphically.

 

The on-screen <=> Speed control of RR+Co matches the Roco Handsets - in my experience.... I got nowhere suggesting he offered a vertical option to avoid the 'left' / 'right' confusions...

 

When points were connected with 'analogue' solenoids driven by Decoder outputs - they were easily corrected at installation to be left/right or whatever, as desired - the wires, or Roco plug being symmetrical allowing reversal.

 

Roco Digital Point Motors used with their Rocoline-with trackbed  Double Slips FORCED the use of 'Normal v Reverse' symbolism of point control .... matching the handset graphic of I on the left button and r on the right button  (Straight and deviant/reversed)    ... otherwise also readable as l for left, and r for right  8-)   ....

 

Then Veissmann released their 4550 alternative digital point motor, and for the Rocoline .. it worked in reverse to the Roco standard   (so I used them where I WANTED 'reversed' operation by default because of the way I paired crossovers ... otherwise having to use an analogue point motor for the problem point).   Their later release provides the user with an option ... very useful.

 

(The NEW release of Roco Digital Point Motors for Rocoline with Trackbed is now RAILCOM COMPATIBLE - but the old type are not. The Veismman 4550's all have Railcom responses available. I cannot recall whether the new Roco Digital Point motors allow the phasing to be reversed.

 

Back to the original Left / Right question ....  Many people have an oval layout ... what is to the left in the foreground is to the right in the background.... the steam loco will be visibly pointing the other way.

 

  With wireless handsets we walk around our shunting puzzles/ linear layouts  .... but the perspective of 'direction' changes from each viewpoint, and is not always immediately obvious with diesels, electrics and MUs which way is 'forward'. Something in common with Loco Shunting in Sweden...

 

(We learnt this summer, that in Sweden, the Red and Yellow striped marker on a loco is NOT an 'end of train' or 'do not move' marker,  but is  used to identify the 'FRONT' end for all hand-shunting commands. [or the red light at the 'rear' ]  (They also do a lot of wireless shunting - with the driver carrying an R/C set and jumping on and off wagons...)

 

So the conclusion is... there is not set 'correct' indication     CV29 odd/even is one option for loco change

or use 'Driving Direction Inverted' in the Z21 settings App   ... for the loco

 

But for points / signals  ... the App only offers the config/mapping screen on a point by point basis.

 

Edited September 30, 2019 by Phil S
addedtape decks, std fwd symbol

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

14 hours ago, 70E said:

I have just changed from a Lenz 100 system ... With the Lenz system I could tell from the arrows on the LH100 or switch location on the LH90 throttles which way was forward and reverse with steam locomotives...

While I found it was very easy to become 'unconsciously competent' with the Lenz 100 handset it does have an amusing visual inconsistency. The display has direction indication vertically oriented, up arrow forward, down arrow reverse. But the key that toggles direction change has the arrows left/right.

 

It's only a direction change key, and the display shows which way the loco is going to go, so no problem - for me and probably most folk. I probably would never even have thought about this aspect, but for one of my friends finding it a deal breaker. I had to put a sticker on the key with up/down arrows on it to eliminate his angst when using the Lenz. (He eventually went for a ZTC console, because it was 'much easier'. Different strokes and all that.)