tlm

56043 arrived with a missing buffer beam step. I notified Cavalex, and Alex responded with a spare by return. Great comms and first class customer service.

Greetings NBL - with reference to your post on Wednesday, it looks like I'm vying for the title of the upgraded idiot ! The attached shows the main problem with my 56023. As you can see from the image the bogies had spread on both inner ends. On first opening the box, I noticed that both bogies had their outer ends facing outwards, due I suspect to the fact that the cradle securing screws were loose, with one close to coming adrift. I didn't notice the bogie spread issues at first, but on putting the loco on to the track, it moved a short distance, the motor over revving with a gear miss-meshing sound, and then derailed. It was then that I discovered the bogie spread issues and that both bogie securing clips were loose. Attempting to recentre the axles back into the bearings and press the rear of the bogies back together with the loco sitting in the cradle as per the photo didn't work, not helped by the pick ups also having bent. I appreciate that I could have returned it, and have nothing but praise for Alex for his comms and feedback, but I decided not to wait however long while it went back by post to the supplier, then from them to Cavalex for repair, and so on, and so ended up removing the bogies, cleaned and degreased the gearing, lubricated very sparingly with some high quality light machine oil, and rebuilt the bogies, resoldering the wiring in the process - call it a Nigel Burkin F Exam if you will. It also gave me the chance to see just how superbly these have been designed. 023 now is now the best runner of the lot.

Now that mine have settled in, I thought I'd share a few observations. The only issues I have had were with two of the locos that arrived with the bogies skewed at an odd angle. With both of them, the screws holding them to the cradle were slightly loose which might explain the issues. Both had the bogie retaining clips loose, and on one of them unfortunately one of the clips had a vertical crack. On one loco the bogies themselves had come apart towards the rear. However, all of these issues proved easily fixable and Alex has kindly offered to supply me a replacement clip when these become available, although my repair with superglue seems to be holding up okay for the moment. None of the others were similarly affected, no bits had fallen off, they all worked perfectly and continue to do so, and the only changes I have made are tweaks to several CVs such as 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, mainly further to vary acceleration and deceleration, and those for minor changes of lighting, volume, and adjustment of base and treble to vary the sound effects slightly between locos. All but two were DCC sound, and of the two DCC ready I'm toying with the idea of buying the aftermarket decoders already available, or waiting to see if Cavalex make their own DCC sound decoders available for retrofitting, in which case I suspect I'll stick with those. Overall, absolutely superb in every respect, and yet another raising of the bar. These run like a dream, and with CVs sent to appropriate levels really give the impression of driving a 123 ton loco. Yes, the cradle derived issue with the skewed bogies was a slight annoyance, but proved to be an easy fix and the feedback from Alex has been superb. With the moderator's permission, as others have raised DCC systems in recent posts in this thread, and as these locos have functions beyond F28, I wonder if I could ask a question. I use NCE five amp systems and, apart from one upgrade chip, with major developments in locos and decoders in the meantime there really doesn't seem to have been much in terms of development of the controllers in the many years that I've had these. I prefer the NCE systems, but the main limitations for me are recall of only six locos maximum, and no access to anything above F28. Does anyone know of any aftermarket mods or software tweaks, or if NCE is planning any further upgrades ?

I echo the comments from several others about the guys at Cavalex possibly producing 56074 as running from the second part of 1982 for several years, possibly as part of a second run. For those not in the know, the livery is an interesting variation on the original rail blue but with the large logo style light grey roof, the nameplate centrally mounted over small double arrows in the centre of the bodyside (named Kellingley Colliery on 14 June 1982), and with flashing beacons sitting on a circular mounting at either cab end, roughly in the same location as the later aerials. The beacons were for dedicated remote unloading operations at Eggborough power station which as far as I can recall was eventually superseded by the radio control equipment, and while I'm not sure when this took place, there are good 1987 images with the beacons still in place, although by that stage it may have lost the light grey roof. 56073 was similarly fitted. The fact that the 56s have all but vanished from stockists’ shelves is no surprise to anyone who's managed to get their hands on one and testament to a truly superb model. I suspect the guys at Cavalex are already considering a second run, or at least I sincerely hope so. If so, perhaps we will see either 073 or 074 in this guise; alternatively perhaps as a limited edition by one of the distributors. Sign me up definitely.

Many thanks to RBE for such a detailed response. I have to admit that most of the time I don't bother with the brake function, having reset CV4 to a value of 150 (or 200+ if it's loaded MGR's) which allows for a controlled stop over a measured distance, using drive hold as necessary to extend which also switches the brake sound in and out, although it's nice to have the brake function for more abrupt light engine braking manoeuvres on the depot layout. Like SRman I use NCE Power Pro 5 amp systems which have their own little niggles, although I've yet to find a better system - just personal preference again I hasten to add. Once again, I emphasise that none of what I said was in any way a complaint, so please RBE don't consider changing any of what you've already done as I think it's an excellent compromise; I love what you've done with this loco and on winding it up from rest as it proceeds from an almost imperceptible crawl with a heavy load at full chat, you can shut your eyes and it is every bit unmistakably a 56. Superb. On a slightly different note, I mentioned last night my thanks to Elliot at Ultimate Model Railways. I would like to add another thumbs up for his excellent customer service. Having caned the credit card with two large payments late yesterday evening, I discovered this morning that the Bank had regarded these as potentially suspicious payments and blocked the card ! After a few anxious moments worrying that the orders might not have been processed at all, Elliot responded to an email, it seemed almost within seconds, not only to confirm that all was in order, but also to confirm that they were already packed and would likely be dispatched today. Highly recommended. Finally, with the moderator's permission I would like to add a quick slightly off topic Class 56 plug. The next issue of Railway Modeller contains an in-depth article on Mick Worrell's (Durham Trains of Stanley) huge O gauge Eastfield layout which is going to be the centrepiece at Model Rail Scotland in Glasgow on 23rd to 25th February. For Class 56s et al an action, don't miss it.

I had all but given up on certain DCC Sound variants, so mega thanks firstly to Southwick for pointing me in the right direction, and secondly to Elliot @ UMR who has made me a very, very contented modeller. Anyone wavering about whether or not to go for a DCC Sound Cavalex 56 from this first batch - do it - it's another step up in DCC Sound and coltrollability to yet new heights, but don't hang around, they are vanishing fast. I really like what the guys have done about "drivability" but the issue with having to swap F2 between brake and two tone can be a pain. I like the two tone but I also like an F2 brake functon, a la Zimo. It's not so bad on a continuous run, but on the depot layout engaging drive hold, then reducing the throttle to coast, then faffing to change the keypad to turn on F25, then going back to disengage drive hold and then operate the brake, is a pain, and I've had to hit the red button on occasions. If you don't throttle back before the operation, it will also come to a halt under braking but with the revs still high if you dont remember to hit F6 also. I might have a play with a minor remap on the Lokprogrammer on that one. The only, and I do mean the only, element of the sound file that I found a little disappointing, and I'm definitely just nitpicking, was the flange squeal. I thought the SLW Class 24 was good in this respect, but for me the Accurascale Class 37 is the dog's you know whats for flange squeal currently. I hasten to add that this is just personal preference, and others will doubtless take completely the opposite view, but then isn't that one of the joys of this hobby of ours. On the other hand, personal preference also tells me that this is probably the very best RTR 4mm diesel model yet.

In answer to RBE, I've reduced the cab light intensity just based on my own pics of several examples at Gateshead MPD many years ago, setting CVs 326 and 350 to a value of 4. If I can echo what a couple of others have said, it would be great if you would make the DCC sound decoders available. Of the others I have on order, two of them I could only get as DCC Ready, and I'd prefer to stick with a DCC Sound decoder with the same functions already mapped. On that subject though, I'm not clear from the manual if there are speakers pre-fitted in the DCC Ready versions. Page 11 of the manual appears to refer to the speaker in the DCC Sound version only. Admittedly I've not removed the body from the first one yet to investigate.

My first one, 56070 in original blue, arrived from Rails today. Only changes I have made are CV2=1, CV3=200 and CV4=150 - and dimmed the cab lights. It runs superbly, and looks and performs like a 123 ton loco should. The sound files are excellent with plenty of bass and volume. The horns are worthy of note with just the right amount of echo, and even the shut down procedure is complete and doesn't fizzle out part way as many others do. Get one while you can. Well done Cavalex - just wow !

Attention to detail - cab interiors. No matter which era I happen to be running, I keep spotting little details on my AS 37s that I've not noticed before. Having parked 37402 and 37610 close to each other today with cab lights on, I noticed that there was a difference in the cab lighting between them. On closer inspection, and checking some of the others, I noticed that AS have modelled the cab interior with the bulkhead correctly forward of the cab door on the 37/6s, whereas the 37/4s and others have the cab interior with the bulkhead to the rear of the cab doors. I thought the cab interiors were good, but this really is impressive. On the other hand, having not spotted this before does show that I'm way behind with the crew fitting project !

As recent posters have confirmed, it is the Deltic speaker clips that need screws whereas those for the 37s are simply a clip fit, albeit that a little black tack to tighten these further definitely helps. The separately available speaker clips for the Deltics unfortunately come without the necessary screws that hold them in place. This was also the problem with some of the original Deltic batch which had vibrating speakers; several of the DCC Sound versions I received came without any speaker screws fitted at all - QED. This is an issue about which AS are fully aware, and I have been badgering Support since June 2022 about this. There are incidentally actually two different screw sizes required. In their most recent response on 16 November 2023, over five weeks ago, I was told they would be on the way shortly. The curious reason given for the continuing delay was that there weren't enough previously to fulfil my order (ordered August 2022), and it's most frustrating that after all this time they've still not arrived. I hesitated about adding this but, following the recent somewhat negative theme, I have no problem admitting that all my posts here also have to be moderator approved for publication, presumably because of a criticism I raised in the past, which is a shame as I am a huge fan of the AS product. I have no objection at all to editorial approval, although should emphasise that nothing I have said, including in any unpublished posts, could be construed in any way as misleading, inaccurate, or plain wrong. However I can most sincerely assure AY Mod following his comment yesterday about 3 being blocked from this topic, that I am neither an idiot, nor do I have any agenda.

The motor issue and the videos now appearing remind me of when my father taught me how to service my terrible running 3 month old Triang Jinties (I was 8 at the time). At one time both had run very well, but had suddenly deteriorated. To be fair they had been subjected to many hours of high-speed running, being the only way to get their somewhat primitive smoke generators to produce an appropriate amount of clag, albeit that in the process I also managed to burn out several smoke generator heating elements. He showed me how carefully to remove the gunk from the brushes from between the commutator segments, how to replace the brushes (similar to the attached image), how to clean and degrease the remainder of the motor and drive, and how to lubricate relevant parts with the tiniest drop of quality oil, resulting in completely transformed locos. In a way we seem to have come full circle, albeit that it's a rather more difficult task to dismantle and service an AS 37 than was the case with my old Triang Jinties and most of the locos that followed in those early years. Although I have not had this issue with any of my AS 37s so far, I suspect that is likely to be because they don't have enough running time as yet, and probably won't for a while. While I would be the last to try and draw any comparison between a Triang Jinty and an AS 37, I would far rather have something that was user maintainable, as opposed to a sealed unit that is not. Full marks therefore both to AS, and to those here producing guides to show how this maintenance is best done. I have sent a note to Support to see whether or not replacement brushes can be made available, perhaps via the Accessories section on the website. However, knowing how good AS are at listening to feedback and modifying as required, I would not be at all surprised if a slightly different specification for the motor brushes might already be under consideration to extend the required maintenance intervals.

Sorry McC, and while of course I defer to you as these are your babies, in response to it being a no no to remove the sugar cube speaker, I have noted that with the sugar cube removed, the reading I get on the Accurathrash speaker on the two I've tried so far is 4 and 4.1 ohms respectively, with 4 ohms being the ESU recommended minimum level for a V5, and both locos will start up at full volume without the inevitable immediate sound cut out you get with higher CV63 settings with the standard two speaker set up, even with the loco capacitors filly charged having sat with lights on for anything up to half an hour. While I appreciate that the circuit boards are also ESU boards, and as you say that the set up is an ESU design, I can't help thinking ESU must be aware of the issues (the cut out in particular) with the current factory two speaker set up running at essentially half the minimum recommended level for a V5. If I can also hijack my post to answer Melton Works, querying why issues are not raised directly with AS, in fact many of us who post here do contact AS regularly. Such feedback is often what leads to improvements in subsequent product batches, as we will be seeing with the next batch of Deltics - cant wait. That's not to say that AS don't regard some of us as pains in the proverbial, as I have no doubt they do ! Also, personally, I read this forum avidly, as the information here and on related RMweb forums is second to none, and I am immensely grateful for the excellent suggestions and guidance that get posted, and have learned a great deal. One spectacular example that for me personally made a huge difference, is that my Deltics (and now my 92s and 37s) all move off from an almost imperceptible crawl as opposed to the out of the box DCC Sound jerk start reminiscent of a TTS decoder set up, thanks entirely to the CV sequence adjustments suggested by RMweb contributors far more DCC savvy than I will ever claim to be. Don't get me wrong, the now discontinued TTS decoders were excellent for what they were, and some have very good sound files - the 31 remains a particular favourite of mine, but getting the most out of a far more advanced set up thanks to what others are prepared to share on the subject is a real buzz.

Sorry Corbs but I have agree with gpplumy, although I hasten to add that I too have never had an issue with any of the otherwise simply stunning UK or North American Rapido product - that is until the 15xx. While I suspect I was simply unlucky in ordering mine directly from Rapido at full price and presumably getting one of the early ones that seem to have been more beset with problems, I have to say that the absolute refusal to supply either a replacement chassis or even a spare wheelset so that I could carry out remedial repairs myself surprised me considerably. When the Rapido US Turbo Train original gearboxes were found to be, choosing my words carefully, not up to scratch, Rapido manufactured replacement much improved gearboxes and these were made available to customers to deal with the replacement themselves. I asked for and received mine without question. What was wrong with doing this to deal with the chassis issues on the 15xx ? I have had some frankly abysmal results in warranty responses and repairs from other manufacturers, although not I hasten to add from Rapido for whom I've always had great admiration and from whom until now have always received great customer service, but I simply don't want a warranty repair as I'm not convinced after the experiences of others. I'm a sufficiently competent modeller that I'm more than happy to do the work myself. To add insult to injury, I even offered to pay for the replacement parts, but was still refused. The fact is that my loco will never run properly without new wheels, and gpplumy's experiences, mindful of the fact that his has been back more than once, essentially tells me that I made the right decision. Come on guys, great customer service is what brings the customer back again and leads to future orders. There are a lot of happy 15xx customers who were fortunate enough to receive better locos, but for the minority of us who plainly didn't, what we are left with sours the customer experience, and frankly isn't likely to prompt a rush of pre orders from us for the latest batch of otherwise exciting announcements, unless and/or until our after sales experience is much improved.

I confess to having an obscene number of AS 37s (for some reason my wife thinks I've become an obsessive . . . !). I have made several posts in this thread, including the CV adjustments to obtain maximum engine volume. I have also dared to be critical (albeit more particularly of another manufacturer's product), which has resulted in my posts now having to be approved by a moderator before publication. Yes, these 37s have their issues, but I love em. Each time I operate any of them still running with the standard DCC Sound factory set up, my first step before engine start-up, even if they've been sitting with lights on for a while, is to reduce CV63 to at least 150, and with some of the locos even to a value of 100 as there is variation between individual locos, though whether this arises from individual decoders or from some of the individual locos' own circuitry I don't know, but then let's not forget that the real thing isn't just switch on and drive off. During the few minutes after start-up I then gradually ramp up the sound, usually in two stages, and as a quick reminder to those who haven't yet tried it, the ultimate sound values for the engine (power unit) itself using the standard factory fitted twin speaker set up are CV63=192, then CV 32=1 and CV 259=255. For other sounds see page 94 of the Loksound v5 manual. As others have mentioned, there are several potential reasons for the sound cut out on start up with the CV (particularly CV63) values too high. Speaking personally, and I'd be the first to acknowledge that I'm no expert, having experimented with different speakers and in particular disconnecting the sugar cube speaker, it's the sugar cube for me that is the issue. The decoder is meant to work with speaker(s) at a minimum of 4 ohms, but I measured the factory fitted setup with the Accurathrash and sugar cube together running at 2.1 ohms to 2.4 ohms - hardly surprising then that there's an issue which simply isn't there with the sugar cube disconnected. With the base and treble adjustments included with the latest V5 firmware it's easy to adjust the reproduction on the main speaker to suit and to give subtle variations between locos. Looking forward to the next batch.

Missed out on the DCC Sound 6704 so decided to retrofit the DCC Ready version. Unfortunately AS are currently out of stock of the Accurathrash speaker, so I decided to try ESU's current 4 ohm Passive Radiator speaker, which is exactly the same size including in respect of the lugs and slots at the end, which means it can make use of the AS speaker clips to secure it. The only problem I had was that the circuit board in the loco had a slight convex shape, and is consequently higher in the centre which shows up reasonably well in the first image. This meant that when the decoder and speaker were fitted, the removable roof section would not sit properly. However, this proved to be a simple fix with two small plastic shims slotted beneath the cantrail lip on both sides just to the right of the centre roof magnet in the first image, and which depressed the circuit board just enough to make it level. The second image shows the installation before final tidying of the wiring out of the way. The speaker comes with an attached lead with the correct size JST plug. The leads are a little long but neatly curl flat. The sound reproduction is very similar to the Accurathrash speaker with perhaps a little more top end; just enough to sound slightly different when run running two together.