Cavalex - all new Class 56 in OO

[David K]

2 hours ago, APT Fan said:

Oh dear I think I have a problem. I've been running in 56 093 and 56 120 this afternoon and whilst 56 093 seems okay, 56 120 is making what I can only describe as an intermittent grinding sound so I've stopped running it. I think it will have to go back which is the last thing I need after the week I've had, such a hassle. I assume the first port of call is the retailer?

 

But what could the noise be? Seems to be coming from the rear bogie and is more pronounced on bends or when there is a slight track deviation.

Mine did this but it was just the bogie tower top becoming unclipped on one side. You don’t have to take it apart to push it to

[atom3624]

I don't think any locomotive since the Hattons H66 was tested so quickly to this extent!!

So far it's definitely a win, win !!

Very well done CavAlex!!

Al.

[BritishRail60062]

Two of my model trains chilling tonight on my table. Sorry for the fuzz on the photo as when I try to use macro mode on my phone, it puts on the light and bleaches out the colors! 

[bradfordbuffer]

54 minutes ago, Rhysb said:

So had an afternoon testing the tractive effort of the Cavalex class 56’s. Helix and incline testing alongside prototypical train lengths.

 

 

Thanks

 

Rhys

Bit disappointed in there not been a un boxing!😁 ...if that real test don't convince the undecided what will...🙄

when the first loco was going up the helix I think I was holding my breath! And subconsciously tapping the power handle against the full power stop! I was back on a brace of 56s out of Gladstone Dock with 45 HAAs with 'wet imported coal' crawling over Regent Road level crossing at 5mph (Dock road) when clear getting stuck in to it for 20mph climb to Bootle junction finger on sanding button (hopping hopper is full) cresting the summit at just under 15mph ...swiftly easing off as line then drops down to Canada Dock old junction then back to warp power for the slog up to Walton in Anfield popping over the top at between 15 to 20 mph....depending on how good the locos where and the number of rubbish bags and detritus dumped on to track......and breath not the best place to fail and have to go track side.... natives where all ways watching for a ambush....the rest is easy going to edge hill!

 

Cracking layout and cracking locos

[Erixtar1992]

This has to be one of - if not the most positive thread of responses on RMweb i have ever seen to a loco in OO gauge. Awesome.

Edited January 29 by Erixtar1992

[ERIC ALLTORQUE]

4 hours ago, Erixtar1992 said:

This has to be one of - if not the most positive thread of responses on RMweb i have ever seen to a loco in OO gauge. Awesome.

Everythings done proper in Yorkshire............:)

[taliesin]

10 hours ago, Rhysb said:

So had an afternoon testing the tractive effort of the Cavalex class 56’s. Helix and incline testing alongside prototypical train lengths.

 

 

Thanks

 

Rhys

Looks like the ideal place to be testing the Class 60 prototypes 👍

[Dicky L]

16 hours ago, James Makin said:

Beautiful model guys!

 

I’ve had my first pair for just 24hrs now, so it seemed wrong not to, er, start ruining them..!

 

Here’s how easy the branding comes off with Humbrol enamel thinners - 

 

Nice big plop of thinners on the area, and leave for a good 30 secs or so, 

 

 

Then you can start to rub away, the printing takes a little bit of effort to get started but soon obliges…

 

Then just keep going, slowly and surely but with not too much pressure and here we go, a lovely blank canvas!

 

Maybe now time for a cup of ‘Big T’ 😛

 

Cheers

James

Good to see the sector logos can be removed without too much difficulty, I look forward to seeing your big T version. Do you have any particular loco in mind for that?

[Keith Simons]

On 25/01/2024 at 14:07, RBE said:

Please contact your retailer as the wheel sets were delivered with the locos. 

Hi Cav and Alex. I have received my 56049 from Rails, but they tell me that the EM gauge wheelsets have not yet arrived and are on back order. Do you have any idea when we will get them please? I’ve had her up and running on a rolling road and I’m very impressed, but I can’t wait to get her running on the layout. 
Many thanks. Keith. 

[Southwich]

15 hours ago, James Makin said:

There’s a very feint texture ghosting of the logo but based on past experience I’d be more than comfortable just varnishing over that and having as an unbranded loco! 

 

It was a real struggle to angle the loco under direct light to see it (you can just see a bit of the diagonal chevron on the lower grey) but even without varnishing it’s so hard to see, and once the other varnish layers go on, that’ll fully disappear!
 

Over time I’m planning a few unbranded and of course some lovely Transrail ones, pleased how smoothly the de-brand went, and the thinners was not even getting close to attacking the rail grey & flint grey - magic stuff!

 

Thanks for your experiments James! Funnily enough I had a spare hour for the first time in quite a while so also did a bit of tinkering - first testing a triple grey shell:

I used cotton buds and white spirit on both the tests.
 

And then moving onto a 120 which is a donor for ‘078 in 2003 condition - removing all of the OHLE stickers and numbers:

 

 

 

Ready for new numbers and OHLE stickers before weathering.
 

I think it goes without saying that I’ve now invalidated my warranty though  🤣
 

Kind regards,

 

Will

[WILLIAM]

12 hours ago, APT Fan said:

 

Yeah I was thinking either drive shaft or gears and it definitely isn't going away. Glad I had another model running in the opposite direction to compare it too. This was the one that had twisted slightly on it guides during transit, not saying it caused the problem but can't have helped. I think the packing could be improved as there is a void around the actual when screwed to the mount.

 

 

 

Have exactly the same noisey running problem with my 56008 which too arrived with one bogie not sitting straight in the cradle although this could just be a coincidence.

 

Quote

Mine did this but it was just the bogie tower top becoming unclipped on one side. You don’t have to take it apart to push it to

Could you expand on how to fix this please? Really don't want to send this beautiful loco back unless really necessary especially as I doubt they could replace it as the sound version is sold out.

Edited January 29 by WILLIAM

[Grimleygrid]

15 minutes ago, Keith Simons said:

Hi Cav and Alex. I have received my 56049 from Rails, but they tell me that the EM gauge wheelsets have not yet arrived and are on back order. Do you have any idea when we will get them please? I’ve had her up and running on a rolling road and I’m very impressed, but I can’t wait to get her running on the layout. 
Many thanks. Keith. 

 

Good morning Keith,

We will speak with Rails today and come back to you.

 

Hope that helps.

[RBE]

57 minutes ago, WILLIAM said:

Have exactly the same noisey running problem with my 56008 which too arrived with one bogie not sitting straight in the cradle although this could just be a coincidence.

 

Could you expand on how to fix this please? Really don't want to send this beautiful loco back unless really necessary especially as I doubt they could replace it as the sound version is sold out.

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.

 

Edited January 29 by RBE
typo

[David K]

43 minutes ago, WILLIAM said:

Have exactly the same noisey running problem with my 56008 which too arrived with one bogie not sitting straight in the cradle although this could just be a coincidence.

 

Could you expand on how to fix this please? Really don't want to send this beautiful loco back unless really necessary especially as I doubt they could replace it as the sound version is sold out.

Hello

 

with body off view the bogie tower clip through small side oblong opening in chassis. A strong light will be needed. It should be obvious if not seated. If clip is not  in place properly worm drive will not always engage with primary gear in corners. Mine was eased back in to place with thin plastic stick with slight audible click. Fortunately no gear damage on mine. 

 

if that doesn’t work you will have to dismantle and remove circuit board to remove and inspect bogie. There are no soldered connections at least. 
I think most will advise sending back

 

KR

 

Dave

 

[David K]

12 minutes ago, David K said:

Hello

 

with body off view the bogie tower clip through small side oblong opening in chassis. A strong light will be needed. It should be obvious if not seated. If clip is not  in place properly worm drive will not always engage with primary gear in corners. Mine was eased back in to place with thin plastic stick with slight audible click. Fortunately no gear damage on mine. 

 

if that doesn’t work you will have to dismantle and remove circuit board to remove and inspect bogie. There are no soldered connections at least. 
I think most will advise sending back

 

KR

 

Dave

 

See better explanation above 😭

[Garry D100]

16 minutes ago, RBE said:

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.

 

Thanks for clear instructions just in case.

My 56008 arrived with ine wheel set off the cradle but i do not have a dcc controller to test yet.

Can i do a simple mechanical test run using a dc gaugemaster combi ?

I ask as ive heard of people frying chips with feedback controllers but im pretty sure the combi isnt one of these but would prefer some reassurance before testing :-)

 

Many thanks

[RBE]

1 minute ago, Garry D100 said:

Thanks for clear instructions just in case.

My 56008 arrived with ine wheel set off the cradle but i do not have a dcc controller to test yet.

Can i do a simple mechanical test run using a dc gaugemaster combi ?

I ask as ive heard of people frying chips with feedback controllers but im pretty sure the combi isnt one of these but would prefer some reassurance before testing :-)

 

Many thanks

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.

[andyman7]

3 minutes ago, Garry D100 said:

Thanks for clear instructions just in case.

My 56008 arrived with ine wheel set off the cradle but i do not have a dcc controller to test yet.

Can i do a simple mechanical test run using a dc gaugemaster combi ?

I ask as ive heard of people frying chips with feedback controllers but im pretty sure the combi isnt one of these but would prefer some reassurance before testing :-)

 

Many thanks

The Combi is not a feedback controller so won't damage a decoder. The decoder will also need to have been configured to allow DCC running - I'm assuming that's as supplied?

[RBE]

Just now, andyman7 said:

The Combi is not a feedback controller so won't damage a decoder. The decoder will also need to have been configured to allow DCC running - I'm assuming that's as supplied?

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

[Garry D100]

5 minutes ago, RBE said:

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.

Good idea, thank you

[farren]

45 minutes ago, RBE said:

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.

 

Really impressed with the speed of fix for a possible problem others are experiencing which I had only seen one person enquiring about. 

I suspect checking the loco is flat and square on the base with the bogies straight before the screws are tighten.  will avoid coursing the problem in the future for owners wishing to transport their models from time to time. Might be obvious but in the excitement of removing my model I didn’t look to see if anything was fitted in a certain way to stop this. Ie dose the model have to be mounted in one direction or something. 

Edited January 29 by farren

[WILLIAM]

1 hour ago, RBE said:

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.

 

 

Thanks! Just followed these instructions and now fixed. I used a small flat head screwdriver through the access hole to re-seat the worm cover. Before and after photos below.

 

 

Edited January 29 by WILLIAM

[RBE]

3 minutes ago, WILLIAM said:

 

Thanks! Just followed these instructions and now fixed. I used a small flat head screwdriver through the access hole to re-seat the worm cover. Before and after photos below.

 

 

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

[LNERandBR]

Having noticed that my 56008 had both bogies misaligned with the packaging upon arrival, I took the top off before even running it at all. 

 

I found the same issue as above at the fan end, the bogie gear tower clip had come adrift. I clicked it back in but sadly there was a gear clicking sound when I tried it for the first time.

 

I therefore removed the PCB and removed both gear tower clips and gently reseated both worms. Upon putting back together and trying the click is still there but far less noticeable. I'm therefore hoping it will disappear with running in.

 

A question though, should there be sideplay on the driven axles? I've noticed that one bogie has sideplay on both driven axles whilst the other has none. 

[RBE]

3 minutes ago, LNERandBR said:

Having noticed that my 56008 had both bogies misaligned with the packaging upon arrival, I took the top off before even running it at all. 

 

I found the same issue as above at the fan end, the bogie gear tower clip had come adrift. I clicked it back in but sadly there was a gear clicking sound when I tried it for the first time.

 

I therefore removed the PCB and removed both gear tower clips and gently reseated both worms. Upon putting back together and trying the click is still there but far less noticeable. I'm therefore hoping it will disappear with running in.

 

A question though, should there be sideplay on the driven axles? I've noticed that one bogie has sideplay on both driven axles whilst the other has none. 

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?