The Official Rapido APT-E Thread

[shreds]

Hi all,

 

While I have enormous respect for the work done at the RTC I think it would be hard to turn back the clock and recreate it.

 

Nowadays, in motoring, railways and aviation, research is done by the vehicle manufacturers, not the customers.  Their incentive is the commercial advantage they have with superior products, in a market place where the customer is free to choose.

 

cheers

 

Ben A.

 

In those days BR was customer, manufacturer and researcher. As you say, the world has moved on (not necessarily for the better). 

Edited May 21, 2016 by shreds

[UP 4000]

Just got another 3 coaches wired, 4 more to go! then for the decoders. Also adjusted the lighting in TC-1 & 2.

 

This is the both of them now working,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1r7Lpa0oNU

 

Regards Craig.

[Removed a/c]

The lighting on the instrument bank is much more impressive when the main lighting is off. Great job ! 

[UP 4000]

It really is, It is a shame the coach lighting is on all the time, and so bright, it does detract from some of the finer detail of the model. It would have been nice if it was controllable, But I have said this before, for a single decoder to cope with 2 motors, 2 speakers, a massive sound file, cab/directional lighting and sound running at 150% would never have coped with coach lighting as well.

 

It has been worth it doing the modifications for me, but at £50 to do it, plus time would have pushed the E-Train a bit to far for most, Having said that, Ebay prices are pretty much double!!!

 

I do think the more subtle lighting does emphasize the interior better, and do feel that for HSDT, Rapido do enforce some sort of link to make this easier for us to control, At our choice by adding either a switch, decoder or potentiometer.

 

Just wait until "service use" is done, I have a couple more ideas for this, plus that will have fully controllable lighting, I hope it is going to be one awesome unit and push the limits of what is achievable, need to speak with Ian (legomanbiffo) to see if this is possible, All in good time.

 

Regards Craig.

[Ian J.]

Now all you need is to add a dimmer switch for the lighting

[Hilux5972]

I don't own an APT-E ( having umm'd and ahh'd for too long and now refusing to pay the astronomical eBay prices) but Would it be possible to wire in a resistor to the lights?

[John ks]

UP 4000

The easiest way to dim LEDs is to add more resistance in series with the LED

The lighting board in the trailer cars will have several LEDs in series with a current limiting resistor and may have several banks of LED-LED-Resistor in parallell and look something like this.

 

 

If you want to permanently dim the lights then just add a resistor in series with the lighting board. To get the right brightness experiment the resistor values till you get it right for you

I would start with a 1k ohm. If it is still to bright keep adding 1k resistors in series until you get it right

If it is to dull the replace the 1k resistor with smaller resistors eg 470 ohm or 120 ohm or 56 ohm

The resultant circuit will look something like this.

 

 

To get two or more levels of brightness, a circuit something like this should work.

F 1 on = full brightness

F 2 on = medium brightness

F 3 on = low brightness

F2 & F 3 on = medium to full brightness

For F2 to work as an on/off switch you will need to program the appropriate CV

The diodes are any 1A 100V or similar diode EG 1N4001 or 1N4004

 

 

 If you want to save on accessory decoders the you could wire 2 or 3 coaches to 1 decoder & it would look some thing like this.

 

 

John

[aptp]

Perhaps the One Show is to coincide with the following book being published next month?

 

 

Rob

 

 

APT: THE UNTOLD STORY - A STUDY OF A CONTROVERSIAL PROJECT AND ITS DESCENDANTS

 

 

The story of the APT is one of ultimate failure. The pioneering project for a tilting train was headline news in the 1970s and 1980s but it failed as much for political reasons as it did for technical reasons.

 

The story is still controversial, and many still see it as a missed opportunity. Yet the legacy of the original APT project is that tilting trains built by foreign competitors run almost unnoticed on Britain’s railway network today and much of the power car technology heavily influenced the design of the later InterCity 225s and the Class 91 locomotives.

 

Now David Clough has delved into recently released archive material and has unearthed a story never before told. He reveals some of the top-level thinking behind the APT project, internal politics and some of the real reasons for APT’s eventual, and expensive, demise.

 

Analytical and balanced, this is a fascinating read for those who would like to know more about what happened behind the scenes of the doomed APT project.

 

Ian Allan Ltd. ISBN 978 0 7110 3824 0 David N Clough © 2016

Edited May 22, 2016 by aptp

[Mr_Tilt]

That's a thought Rob, you could well be right there.

 

David Clough spent quite a time emailing and chatting to me on the phone while he was writing the book and I met him for a much lengthier chat later on. I gain the impression that his book will major much more on the political and financial area of the project rather than Hugh Williams' testing and engineering approach.

 

Jason wanted to re-print Hugh's book to go with the model but when I phoned Ian Allan's man about it they flatly refused and I suspect that triggered off their idea for a second book, knowing that the model was about to appear. It also resulted in Paul and I doing our bit on the book that finally did come out with the model!

[stadman]

What were the main stumbling blocks about the apt-p apart from the so called motion sickness reported by the press?

 

From what I understand after speaking to a retired RTC employee (he was active when I first knew him) only one person suffered fro motion sickness. Of course the UK press liked that and amplified the story.

[dibber25]

Cheapo electrification,pacers and the APT killed were all down to ONE particular government. Since privatisation the rail industry has not experimented with anything preferring to adapt often inferior foreign products for this country

Yes, and I'm afraid we're unlikely to do so ever again. APT-E was pretty much the last fling - except for the 91 speed record, I suppose. Unless we go for a couple of jet engines on top of a 153 as the Americans did! (CJL)

[russ p]

Is the RDC with the B47 jet pod still the fastest traction to ran on US rails?

[Mr_Tilt]

Is the RDC with the B47 jet pod still the fastest traction to ran on US rails?

 

I believe that still is the case, yes. I still can't figure out how they did it with such archaic bogies (trucks in the US.....) without it hunting like crazy.

 

The UAC Turbo-Train (also modelled by Rapido of course  ) managed 168 mph on test runs, and the current Amtrak Acelas, effectively tilting TGVs, managed around the same speed too.

[russ p]

It also amazes me that the track wasn't exactly the greatest, I don't thing the whole thing was ever the safest high speed rail experiment. Good job the B58s were still in service or it may have had a pair of J79s on roof and gone faster still!

[298]

Is the RDC with the B47 jet pod still the fastest traction to ran on US rails?

If you want to be pedantic, some of the NASA/USAF rocket sleds are on rails and have reached some fantastic speeds.

[Mr_Tilt]

If you want to be pedantic, some of the NASA/USAF rocket sleds are on rails and have reached some fantastic speeds.

 

Indeed so, USAF Col. John Stapp, a certified nut case if ever there was one, was loaded on a rocket sled in 1954 and reached 632 mph! 

 

That seems to have been the fastest manned rail borne speed to date, although our own RAF Wing Commander Andy Green made it to 763 mph in a 'car' in 1997.

 

The USAF and NASA have run unmanned rail borne sleds at some SERIOUSLY ridiculous speeds though, up to 6400 mph, but neither they nor John Stapp's sleds used wheels.

[Colin_McLeod]

 

The USAF and NASA have run unmanned rail borne sleds at some SERIOUSLY ridiculous speeds though, up to 6400 mph, but neither they nor John Stapp's sleds used wheels.

Sure Santa Claus was doing this with his sled hundreds of years ago.

[Wolf27]

 

The USAF and NASA have run unmanned rail borne sleds at some SERIOUSLY ridiculous speeds though, up to 6400 mph, but neither they nor John Stapp's sleds used wheels.

 

Is this the thing that hold the record for the fastest land based vehicle? Think I remember seeing a programme about it once, it was filmed at night which meant you couldnt see anything worth while and that it may have melted the sleds

 

cheers

 

Shane

[Mr_Tilt]

Is this the thing that hold the record for the fastest land based vehicle? Think I remember seeing a programme about it once, it was filmed at night which meant you couldnt see anything worth while and that it may have melted the sleds

 

cheers

 

Shane

 

That's the one.

 

There's a Youtube vid of it, but all you can see is the rocket exhaust and the impact explosion. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5bPu58fSc0

 

Not exactly a thing of beauty, is it?

 

[russ p]

That's the one.

 

There's a Youtube vid of it, but all you can see is the rocket exhaust and the impact explosion. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5bPu58fSc0

 

Not exactly a thing of beauty, is it?

 

That thing , bizarrely looks like a 19th century American loco! Even has a massive headlamp

[shreds]

That's the one.

 

There's a Youtube vid of it, but all you can see is the rocket exhaust and the impact explosion. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5bPu58fSc0

 

Not exactly a thing of beauty, is it?

 

 

Thunderbird 1 strapped to a ZZA Independent Snowplough perhaps.....

[newbryford]

That's the one.

 

There's a Youtube vid of it, but all you can see is the rocket exhaust and the impact explosion. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5bPu58fSc0

 

Not exactly a thing of beauty, is it?

 

 

 I wonder if I could get away with one on my layout version of the RTC?

 

Cheers,

Mick

[Jitmen]

I wonder if I could get away with one on my layout version of the RTC?

 

Cheers,

Mick

Rapido's next model

[Abadacus Zokonta]

Just opened my box to put together my sound version APT-E and noticed I have two of PC2 but the instruction booklet mentions PC1.

[Mr_Tilt]

 I wonder if I could get away with one on my layout version of the RTC?

 

Cheers,

Mick

 

You'd have to paint it yellow though................ 

 

And don't forget those sled things don't have any wheels.

 

 

Just opened my box to put together my sound version APT-E and noticed I have two of PC2 but the instruction booklet mentions PC1.

 

That could be a problem as PC1 has the decoder. have you tried running it yet? 

Edited May 23, 2016 by Mr_Tilt