RBE

But is it so stark when not under a bright overhead light? As shown before it looks darker here.

The problem is you are saying that our 60 will not have realistic running, but it will. As I said, it will haul whatever the prototype can. The number of driven wheels doesn't equate to realistic running.

As I have said before, we are not preaching that it will be the most powerful loco in the world, we are saying it will be more sure footed in OO, and especially the finer scales, because of the design which to us is more important than brute strength. As long as the loco can haul in model form what the prototype can in real life that's what matters, and it will.

I was there when I first started driving it, now it's the most fun I've had with a DCC controller!

Yes it will be. Road holding is paramount.

You aren't driving F6 correctly that's all. I didn't like it at first until I spoke to our actual driver. The description that I gave to tlm above describes how F6 works and there is also a section in the manual under driver experience that spells it out. Regarding the engine sticking, that's part of it and is to simulate the driver giving it amps to charge the compressor proper to releasing the brakes. Again that is explained on the post above and in the manual. I love doing heavy train moves now but it's not a press F6 and forget function by any means.

Yes and that explanation just shows how hard it is to please everyone. Your set up is exactly opposite to our philosophy. We chose marker lights and tail lights on as default as that the loco starting in the yard in a morning, and as we said, we consider the manual drive mode as the exception rather than the rule that you can turn on if you want that. Again we have to choose one side of the other. 🤷

Hi tlm, I'm glad that you like the loco we are very proud of what we have achieved and it's great to see that customers are also enjoying the model. Onto your comments regarding DCC setup and driving. I think the issue here is that you are not driving the loco as we intended it to be driven. We took the decision early on to do our own thing rather than follow convention. The other issue is that not all people like to drive the same way and to cater for all is a hard task which is what led to the 'manual drive mode' F25 key to give effectively two set ups in one. In my opinion the best way to drive this loco is with F25 off and just use the throttle and drive lock but we were aware that some people like the manual brake so have added that in as an option rather than choose one or the other. If you are switching between F25 on and off while trying to drive then that is the issue right there, the intention is that you choose your poison and stick to it. Those that like manual brake etc keep F25 on at all times and those that drive throttle should keep F25 off. Of course F25 locks you out of manual flange squeal and two tone horns but we had to make a sacrifice somewhere and as we don't like driving with brake we made that the secondary mode so to speak (we had to choose one 🤣), we chose F2 for the two tone because on the Prodigy it is the only function that is none latching and the playable horns can be hard to play when having to turn them on then off and then the other on then off. But this of course clashes with the brake function. Driving with throttle either in yards or on the main couldn't be easier. Set the loco moving move the throttle to the desired speed and drive, if you want to coast hit F5 and throttle back the loco will spool down and rattle along the track, once at the braking point simply hit F5 again and the loco will re-aquire the set throttle speed, if that's zero it brakes, if it not it will slow down or speed up to whatever the throttle is set to. In this scenario the F5 key kind of works like a brake anyway. On manual mode you simply drive it the same way accept that you don't have to wind the throttle back but instead just brake with F2. If you are doing a drive lock coast then you don't have to disengage F5 but use the brake instead to stop, however if you did disengage F5 then it would still brake anyway so for me I prefer to not use the brake at all and leave F25 off. Just a note on F6, this is heavy train mode and should be off if shunting light in the yard. F6 as a mode has a high revving idle to simulate the loco being given amps to charge the compressor ready to take the train brakes of and move a large train. There is no need to be juggling F6 when doing yard moves. With F6 on the revs will never die to a proper idle as it's charging the compressor. The correct way to use F6 is to use it when you are about to get a heavy train going. You set F6 and wait for the revs to build up. Once revving you then notch the throttle forward and get the train going, once moving you add power and you will find the inertia slow to respond but the engine working hard with both fans spinning. You can leave F6 on whilst getting the train going or simulating the train working hard but if you then intend to stop or coast the train you should disengage the F6 and then do either F5 and throttle back to coast (and then brake if you are in F25 mode) or throttle back to slow the train in normal mode. The drivability of the loco was based on our real driver consultant's instruction of how he drove the real loco's so we wanted to replicate that. It takes a bit of a play to get used to how to drive it properly but once it all clicks it's crazy fun. Regarding the flange squeal, I would like to know what you dislike about it? The only issue that we have is that the hall sensor for auto squeal wasn't set sensitive enough for our liking by ESU and it wasn't discovered until too late that the sensitivity is hard coded in a chip on the main board (this is set to change on all future locos, as new chip tech allows this to be changed in CV programming which the older chip didn't) so was locked in, this prompted the addition of a manual flange squeal function to complement the auto activation, I don't think the manual option is a bad idea anyway as it allows it to be applied as and when needed. I witnessed a class 60 and train flange squealing in the yard at Willesden a few months ago when it was on the straight, so all good to apply just when you fancy a bit of track noise. As for the sound of the flanges themselves, they are speed sensitive so change sound dependent on speed and these were actual recordings from 56105 on the yard at Shrewsbury. To us they are the most realistic sounding flange squeals that I have heard to date, your mileage may vary. Anyway it's always good to get feedback and of course we welcome all comments, how else do we improve on what we deliver?

They do work, 100%. Just don't know the AUX at the mo. Will update when I get chance to play with the set up.

They are but I will have to get back to you on that.

Ok for the lighting. Front Light = Headlight Front Rear Light = Headlight Rear AUX 1 = Markers Front AUX 2 = Markers Rear AUX 5 = Tail Front AUX 6 = Tail Rear AUX 7 = Cab Front AUX 10 = Cab Rear

The box on the twin pack is twice the size. You don't want to cut it as it's a special box with ltd edition artwork on it.

Shame you didn't have an 098 to go with it!

It depends like any model how keen your eye is I guess. Obviously a lot of extra detail parts etc and state of the art internals but general shape is as similar as your eye makes it. We think it's a massive improvement.

The screwing in of the model is fine it's just the potential for damage if not done right. We are looking at a redesign of the cradle to illiminate the risk currently.

The bottom keeper plate has 4 clips, one at each corner and locks the sideframes on. If that is unclipped then the side frames can slide out on 4 rails to release the wheels. The pick ups are in the sideframes.

Front and back of the bogie and against the gearbox. There certainly shouldn't be any difference in play between the two.

There will be a small amount of side play but there shouldn't be very much. Are the bogie side frames correctly seated or is there a gap between them underneath?

Yep that's exactly it. Thanks for sharing your fix with us. 👍

The sound chips are configured to run on DC as well as DCC.

I can find out what ESU recommend however you could also do a visual check through the access port with the body off just to see if the cover looks to be correctly in place.

Update for all with gear issues. It looks like after testing a fraction of the locos were packaged but not always correctly positioned on the cradle before screwing down, this pivots the bogie unduly under the pressure of the screws and appears to have popped the worm cover (part 31 below) off of the offending bogie causing this issue. It's an easy fix but one that requires in the first instance to take the body off and attempt to clip the cover back on though the access holes in the side of the chassis block (69 below). Whilst easy it can be fiddly and if it proves a problem the tower can be accessed by removing the circuit board above and clipping the cover back on. We can understand if you do not want to do that and instead prefer the retailer or ourselves to do the work but in the first instance doing the job yourself is the fastest route to resolve the issue.

Have you got a sound version? The second fan should kick in once the loco has been under load for a while at slightly higher revs to simulate the engine and turbos getting hot. It's worked fan on all the ones we tested so should work on yours.

Good idea with the screws. We will see what we can do moving forward.

Yeah one of the reasons we didn't bother with illuminated dials was that our consultant driver said not to bother as you couldn't see them in the cab let alone from outside it!! 🤣