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Can't be 100% certain Bob, according to my info the R2169 is slightly earlier and uses service sheet 248B that is not available online. The R1038 is DCC ready, my guess is that the R2169 is more or less the same loco drive chassis without the DCC socket, but without access to the service sheet I can't be sure .......

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Just found a copy of SS248B on t'internet and it confirms that as far as the loco is concerned the only difference is the lack of DCC socket in the R2169. Tender is slightly different, weight attachment and coupling to name two but the tender to loco coupling is the same part. The later loco has NEM pocket couplings as opposed to the older wider bar plug in ones (like the old Dapol ones)

 

HTH ;)

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I DCC'd my MNs at the same time(US Lines and Holland-Afrika). One was DCC fitted and the other not. I don't remember there being any differences in the way that the bodies fitted, unless it was a very subtle change.

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Can anyone tell me if the chassis from MN model R1038, United States Line, from a box set.

 

Will the body shell of R2169 Clan Line fit onto that chassis with no issues.???

 

Thanks...........Bob

 

Pretty sure the Chinese MN bodies are interchangable, chassis mounted motors, 8 pin DCC sockets...have a few new ones too - are you in the market for one Bob ?

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Certainly the original airsmoothed West Country / Battle of Britain chassis are all interchangeable - I don't think any of mine are under the body the came with. So I can't see any reason why it should be different for the MNs. I don't beleive any of the Bulleids have aquired that stupid white loco / tender plug thingie that's on many new models such as the T9.

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Certainly the original airsmoothed West Country / Battle of Britain chassis are all interchangeable - I don't think any of mine are under the body the came with. So I can't see any reason why it should be different for the MNs. I don't beleive any of the Bulleids have aquired that stupid white loco / tender plug thingie that's on many new models such as the T9.

 

Thanks Chris....by the way, did you not see the pm I sent you earlier this week.???

Bob.

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Guest Belgian

You have a PM

The US Lines bodyshell was a slight improvement on the original one which include the Clan Line ones (two versions, with different smokebox doors), it has better detail on the top of the firebox for instance, but the chassis fitting is the same. The paint finish is also slightly different and, of course, the tenders are totally different.

 

JE

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The US Lines bodyshell was a slight improvement on the original one which include the Clan Line ones (two versions, with different smokebox doors), it has better detail on the top of the firebox for instance, but the chassis fitting is the same. The paint finish is also slightly different and, of course, the tenders are totally different.

 

JE

 

Hey, thanks JE, it is the confirmation of the chassis fitting directly the Clan Line body shell that is my priority.

 

Thanks for adding to the confirmation...thats good news.

 

Bob

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Guest Belgian

I have had a couple of pics sent to me of the MN I am looking at, i.e. United States Lines R1038.

 

The valve gear around the area of the slide bar looks a bit reddish, is that normal.

 

Sorry about quality of pics....not mine.

 

Bob

No, the complete valve gear is unweathered (nickle?) silver. As a matter of interest, Hornby have never produced a weathered version of the MN or the original Light Pacifics, just one Rebuilt West Country ("Plymouth"). Similarly, one M7 and one N15. Does that mean that weathered engines don't sell too well?

 

JE

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No, the complete valve gear is unweathered (nickle?) silver. As a matter of interest, Hornby have never produced a weathered version of the MN or the original Light Pacifics, just one Rebuilt West Country ("Plymouth"). Similarly, one M7 and one N15. Does that mean that weathered engines don't sell too well?

 

JE

 

Thanks again JE.....but have I heard somewhere that there was a model MN made at some time with a copper coloured slide bar.??

Bob

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Sadly, Bob, there is some misinformation in this thread. The earlier MNs have different bodies and chassis to the later DCC-ready models.

 

A while back I found a source of inexpensive early non-DCC-ready Clan Line/ Bibby Line bodies and had a considerable number of them professionally renamed and detailed only to find they do NOT fit DCC-ready chassis as the underside of the smokebox area is not cut away to fit the longer DCC upper chassis.

Neither is it an easy job to cut this area away to make it fit. For one thing I found it impossible to remove the smokebox weight to allow access for cutting without separating upper and lower halves of the body. It can be done but it is a major hatchet job, putting at risk the finish and detailing.

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I have had a couple of pics sent to me of the MN I am looking at, i.e. United States Lines R1038.

 

The valve gear around the area of the slide bar looks a bit reddish, is that normal.

 

Sorry about quality of pics....not mine.

 

Bob

 

I have US Lines as part of the original VSOE set. There were two versions of the set available. The one from Hornby dealers has US lines with the larger high sided tender. The other set which seemed to be mail order only at the time, has US Lines with the smaller cut down tender. Prototypically, of course, US lines wouldn't have pulled these Pullmans. Both sets are DC. There is a DCC set now. Early reviews suggest that the mail order set did not have any weight in the smokebox and that this modification was added to the dealer sets. I also think that the mail order set loco didn't have the speedo drive.

 

AFAIK US Lines has never been made available separately from the VSOE set.

 

When I opened up my US Lines to chip it, the smokebox weight is attached to the body and needs to be removed to make room for the decoder. This can only be done with surgery to the body ( removal of a plastic boss ) and this weight needs to be replaced or the model will porpoise when running. I used a small amount of lead as far forward as it will go. Originally, I stuck Blu Tack up there and buried the Lenz decoder in it. Problems with overheating of the decoder followed. It now has a CT SL74 in a little lead strip cage and the speaker on top all tacked down under the funnel.

 

When I came to do Tangmere, I found a similar weight attached to the chassis and holding down the valve gear crosspiece whereas the MN has it's own screw. The weight screw now holds down lead sheet and this runs forward under a standard ESU speaker to put the weight back in the nose.

 

As to the tenders, it is plain from even the smallest amount of research that these SR tenders were swapped about with gay abandon and, in some cases no records kept. It would be a brave MPD foreman who red carded a perfectly good loco for the lack of a bigger tender when a smaller one was available and he knew the loco would be back with him soon enough to be reunited with the bigger tender when the leak or whatever was fixed.

 

I would think that the two versions of US Lines might well be different chassis. I know I have the DCC ready one and I can vividly remember E mailing Hornby about the DCC readiness of US Lines and receiving a distinctly vague reply.

 

It is accepted that I have used an MN and a light pacific as examples above and that their bodies would not interchange anyway. I am also aware that the real MN's were a foot longer than the WC?BB class but I haven't made a study in detail of the two models I have.

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Nice timing everyone!, just about to put a decoder in my dcc ready united states. Can one of you tell me which decoder is best? Not doing sound at this stage tho..

 

many thanks as always for your help :D

 

My US Lines was chipped four years ago when chips were a lot bigger than now. The MN has a motor and gearcase, then the DCC socket and then the weight. So the DCC socket is sort of sandwiched and this limits the choice of decoder. i found that the Lenz Gold was too wide and thick to go down the side of the weight in the smokebox so I removed the weight. A straight decoder like the TCS one that just plugs in would probably do the trick and the weight can stay but some careful measurement is needed. Sometimes it is the excess wiring that can cause clearance problems and this is one loco that that would be a problem. Sound decoders will need the weight removed or the whole lot in the tender.

 

My US Lines didn't have pin numbers. I plugged the decoder from the left side.

 

Watch out for the valve gear. Mine got out of synch due to a loose screw on the valve gear crank and mangled itself. The speedo drive doesn't detach from the body and you will need to unscrew the con rod from the wheel set. Watch out for the flats and check that these engage with the two corresponding flats on the screw and that the speedo drive is not actually moving with wheel rotation. Don't be tempted to try any other method for this drive or you will break it and possibly the footplate as well. There is no substitute for a well fitting spanner for these screws and you will be surprised how tight they are.

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Yes, the TCS DP2X-UK plugs straight in for the DCC-ready version.

 

 

 

 

For the older non-DCC-ready ones I would recommend the TCS M1 for a hard-wired job. these are small but give good smooth running and have plenty of power-handling ability, plus they have the TCS "goof-proof" warranty so if you blow it up, through your own fault or otherwise, they will replace it, no questions asked.

 

 

 

 

There are plenty of other small decoders with good power ratings, from TCS, Lenz, Digitrax and more, now available but I have used the TCS M1 and DP2X types for quite a few DCC fitments now with no problems to report (aside from me blowing one up through my own stupidity!).

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