to an existing loco for about $24 (assuming there’s space).
        
        
          That means I’d need about $1200 to equip 75% of my loco
        
        
          fleet with KA-2 keep alive.
        
        
          Equipping the problematic locos in my fleet with keep-alive is
        
        
          not only less costly in this scenario, I also get the advantage
        
        
          the locos will run better across other problem areas like turn-
        
        
          out points or even areas of hard-to-reach track for cleaning.
        
        
          Thanks to these modern developments in DCC, we have a lot
        
        
          of choices with frog juicers and keep-alive. But to apply both
        
        
          is overkill. If just a few frogs are giving  you trouble, then
        
        
          clearly frog juicers are an easy answer.
        
        
          But if like me, you’re finding you have some loco power-
        
        
          pickup issues, adding a modern super-capacitor keep-alive
        
        
          can be just what the doctor ordered to get reliable perfor-
        
        
          mance from your locos.
        
        
          
        
        
        
        
          MRH-Dec 2014