The Official Rapido APT-E Thread

[Keith J]

Another DCC sound version arrived. Left outside my back door by UPS but luckily, as I'm away at the moment, was spotted by my vigilant neighbour who has taken it in for safe keeping - phew! He's not into trains so there's no danger of him playing with it before I get back home. Just can't wait now to get back so I can start playing trains. 

[roundhouse]

Can someone please say what F16 is? Those of us who didn't purchase are beyond teased now I believe.

Its good!

[47137]

Here is some advertising copy for a fresh listing on eBay, which probably says more about the writer than they really intended:

 

Why am I selling ???- Easy No OO layout, never built one.

I collect put in loft and sell when feel like I need to. (over last 15 plus years), some occasionally on a shelf on display.

Also since ordering in 2014, I have decided to build a small layout - N gauge as feel I may actually have the space needed to do something and quality is fairly good now.

Last one sold for £606, so at £600 or very near offer I am asking for only what the market dictates at present, If it does not sell, no problem, goes in loft, so forget low offers, they are automatically rejected.

 

... somehow, I get the feeling they are a frequent reader of these forums :-)

 

- Richard.

[Holgate Junction]

Can someone please say what F16 is? Those of us who didn't purchase are beyond teased now I believe.

Can I ask that we keep this a secret for at least a few more weeks? I expect that international orders will be shipped last by Locomotion, in about a week or so, and then will sit in customs for several days while they decide if such a heavy box could be a "toy train". Then there is several more days for the delivery to reach the Northern extremities of Ontario (i.e. anywhere North of Toronto). I am almost losing my mind waiting for my sound fitted version so please don't spoil the only surprise I will have left by the end of April.

 

P.S.

Hint to Sandra; If I don't get an e-mail about delivery I really do hope it isn't shipped all the way back to Shildon if I am not at home.

 

Matthew

[lochlongside]

Tilt it 10 degrees,line it up then bring it down as you slide it in.

Hi there follow on to my query I messed around to 1 a.m and got PC1 and TC1 connected then thought I would sleep on it - this a.m I put strong light magnifying glass, pliers (!) and micrometer onto it and got the remainder connected but had a bit of faffing around to do so - took around two hours - I took some photos of problems and will put them in a separate post later today  - none are insuperable but they may be useful to others who have had connection problems (I know at least one poster earlier did)  and to reiterate what others have said a lovely model - I am happy its certainly not going back !! , the sound is excellent and on strength of this I will be converting my Stirling order to a sound model (if Sandra lets me !!)

[RedgateModels]

 

 

I have no lowered the overall volume (taking note of the warning about adjusting individual sound levels in the manual) to a CV value of 120.

 

 

 

Mines down to 128

[No Decorum]

The only dilemma now is deciding its DCC address. PC1 is not allowed!

I was wondering the same thing. Inspiration has suddenly struck (with its usual hollow ######). There are PC1, TC1, TC2 and PC2. Answer: 1122.

 

Edit: what on earth is the matter with d0ng?

 

Second edit for spelling. Jason’s instructions are messing my brain up. At the end he says, “He [Kit] is undeniably a living legend.” I understand and agree with that bit.

Edited April 6, 2016 by No Decorum

[47137]

Mines down to 128

 

I feel sure there should have been a "196" setting

 

 

- Richard.

[298]

Much like the super rare Hornby APT-P where you can buy one off eBay any day of the week you like.

ISTR there were about 30,000 APT-P's made, roughly an even split with or without black windscreen surrounds.

[RedgateModels]

Still fetch good money though, even for spares or repairs sets.

 

I've still got my "first Christmas after release" plain windscreen set (no box, track etc, but I do have the pan) and a couple of black windscreen shells I got off Andy Dell if I ever fancy a change

[AndrewC]

ISTR there were about 30,000 APT-P's made, roughly an even split with or without black windscreen surrounds.

Yes but how many thousands of those has Andi Dell butchered.

[grandadbob]

After complaints from"The Management" I promised to turn mine down and I did. It's now set to 191.

 

Not sure how long I will survive but it's fun trying.  

[Hamish1068]

I'm picking my DCC ready one up on Friday from Shildon, £225 was a stretch for me to buy and the sound one at £325 was out my price range, if funds allow at a later date does anyone know if the DCC ready one can be retro-fitted with sound?

[lochlongside]

Tilt it 10 degrees,line it up then bring it down as you slide it in.

 

 

Sadly they won't help Lochlongside.

 

 

Connection problems –possible problems and my (!) solution

Crit alert – what follows is not a criticism !! – If I could afford it I would like a 12 car rake tomorrow - it simply reflects what I encountered – and more importantly how to sort it. This info is based on assembling my 4 car unit, and disconnecting some factory made connections in the process. It worked for me – and the 4 car unit is still in one piece and has been running brilliantly (and noisily) for an hour. However I hope it also proves useful to anyone having problems connecting up.

Attached are two photos  - first shows how one connector arrived on my APT-E

 

 

The 2^nd annotated one  shows two of the connections for the APTE and is referred to below. First note that it is virtually impossible to see the pins clearly whilst making the connection and applying the requisite pressure (force? to overcome the resistance of the connectors, partly because the top (alignment?) tongue C1 in diagram covers the connectors partly because the gap between the pins engaging and the point at which you need to apply pressure to engage the physical connector is very small (10 degrees?) – as the instruction book says, there is a knack to it – and I did not have it !! and even worse Jason advises you can mess up the pins if you use force e.g. if you incorrectly think pins are aligned and that you are just overcoming physical connector resistance.  Therefore if you coaches are being awkward make sure that the pins and the holes are central in their mounting. I had two complete sets (out of the three) which were slightly off and as a result the pins and the holes did not align – in one case the pins were biased right and the socket left to such an extent that the LH pins aligned with the holes in column 2 and the RH column with plastic outside the 5^th column of holes – e.g. no alignment at all. See point A1and A2 in photo 2 above – the cure for A1 is at top of bogie is a very small Phillips screw B1 loosen this a fraction and re-align socket centrally then tighten it up. On the inset half (A2 in diagram 1 it is not possible to access screw without dismantling the trailer. Note that tongue C1 appears to align the pins/sockets centrally to align with the opposing connector. If it is off-centre the pins (see A2) will be as well. Instead use a fine screwdriver and a small pair of smooth jawed pliers. The screwdriver can be used to shift the connector across on its base (if necessary – it isn’t here) and if you use the pliers at 45 degrees and twist (carefully!) you can shift C1 relative to the already centralised pins and base – as I had to here.

 

The next issue I had was the physical connectors – the slots are slightly tapered across the jaws but measured 1.16 to 1.23mm at their narrowest, however the knuckles measured 1.53 to 1.57mm so in worst case the pressure required is needed to overcome nearly 0.5mm of tough plastic, but even worse there is also give in the bogie towers/connectors so they flex/twist a trifle worryingly as you apply pressure, and the only bit to really hold onto is the tilt mechanism (!!). I knew the factory fitted bogies connected up so I disconnected them (sharp small screwdriver in slots above the connecting knuckles/jaws and multiple alternate side twisting until the popped off) and instead connected the bogies to the recalcitrant connectors; this enabled me to apply pressure behind the connector as per diagram halfway down page 6 of instructions. Even so some of the connectors were reluctant. At this point true engineers should look away – I sorted it out by putting a large screwdriver gently into each jaw and very gently slightly twisting it to improve access !!. I even found this necessary even for one of the factory fitted connectors when I came to re-assemble the bogies to their temporarily disconnected parents (make sure you do connect them as per original way round). Health warning: You do this at your own risk - Do not overdo this as I am not sure how much spring there is in the plastic jaws

Finally each time I connected a bogie I tested the unit before attaching the next one.

 

Now all I have to do is turn the sound down !!

[roundhouse]

Good description of what I thought made fitting the last connector together as the top plate was slightly out of line which I used my fingers to try and push it back as I connected them pulling my fingers out of the way before I trapped them!

[Mark G]

Just managed to get mine together and it runs a treat with a Hattons 21pin DCC decoder in the power car...HOWEVER....the red tail lights do not come on when running in either direction, the white marker lights are fine and they light in the correct way when i select the direction, anyone else come across this issue and if so, know how to solve it.

 

Mark

[b33fy]

Huge thanks to Sandra and the team at locomotion, my order turned up today,, very timely as its my sons birthday tomorrow so he can open it up and take his pick and add one to his collection of half chewed brio models, then sell it on the bay for spares in six months time..

[The34097]

Hi Jitman  thank you but in nicest possible way thats exactly what I have been doing - as per booklets instructions - you can just about see that the 2 pins on the LHS are possibly engaging to go in on one side of socket but on the other side they appear to be misaligned and are hitting the plastic around the socket - however they do not look bent when I look at them under a glass. Problem is compounded  by the socket mounting twisting up as it tries to engage. As I said I do not want to force them hence I want to see how an expert does it - i.e. the youtube video..... if it exists yet.

Hi

 

I had the same problem with the connector from TC1 to TC2 not engaging properly so that the connection could be completed.  It looked as if the pins in TC2 were slightly out of alignment and when connecting to the bogie the socket mounting was lifting making it harder to complete the connection.  After several failed attempts including one where everything seemed to have slotted in only to be presented with weird noises coming from the speakers i decided to step away and have a think. 

 

My solution was to disconnect the bogie from TC1 which I knew was seated correctly and connect this to TC2 where the pins seemed to be misaligned slightly. Once this had been done I then reconnected TC2 to TC1 and everything went home fine.  Tested the connection and lights came on and sound worked perfectly.  Thankfully there were no issues connecting TC2 to PC2 and since then the unit has been running perfectly around my slowly under construction layout.  One word of advice though if you try this approach read the section in the manual on disconnecting the various units to make sure you do not damage any of the connections!

[reevesthecat]

Hi

Can I ask those who fitted their own decoder how easy it was and was the nose in danger of being flicked across the room as the power car body came apart?

Thanks

Mark

[DavidBird]

Can I ask that we keep this [the sound on F16] a secret for at least a few more weeks?

 

Yes please.  I've not received mine yet, but I have had a helpful email from Sandra saying she will delay sending mine until he end of the month, as I will be away on holiday from next week.

 

Waiting patiently...

[Wolf27]

omg omg omg omg omg omg omg omg

Its here!

 

 

Untitled by Shane Wilton, on Flickr

[Mr_Tilt]

Control yourself Shane! 

[Wolf27]

I cant!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I'm just going to look at it for a bit tonight and assemble it tomorrow.

[Andy Y]

Hi

Can I ask those who fitted their own decoder how easy it was and was the nose in danger of being flicked across the room as the power car body came apart?

Thanks

Mark

 

Mine's a sound-fitted one but a look inside may ease any worries; bags of space and easy to access the relevant bits. The nose stayed attached to the body.

 

[Removed a/c]

Just managed to get mine together and it runs a treat with a Hattons 21pin DCC decoder in the power car...HOWEVER....the red tail lights do not come on when running in either direction, the white marker lights are fine and they light in the correct way when i select the direction, anyone else come across this issue and if so, know how to solve it.

 

Mark

Do you not need two chips for this, one in each PC.