tarifa

It is very easy to remove the coupling and fit the valances. Pull out the coupling, them place the valance into the small recess and gently ease out the side valance and slip the the front in. A drop of glue applied at each side will ensure the valance does not move. The buffer beam detail can them be fitted. Mike

Sound fitted in model loco's is not essential, to some it is nice to have and in some cases neither, as to have or have not. I have sound fitted in all my loco's, it's not essential but for me nice to have. I can turn on the sound or turn it off as the mood takes me. I know the sound is not just like the real thing and it never will be but it does help with the illusion I want to achieve with my trains. I now find when watching layouts shutting backwards and forwards and going round and round without sound to be dare I say dead. And on my roundy roundy I can listen to the clackety clack. Mike

Nothing to do with me but this is an open forum so !!!. I'm curious as to why you would be personally offended by wombatofludham comments, is this the PC brigade, thou shall not say anything in case someone may be offended. Me, I would not buy 97201, it does not appeal to me. Mike

I run three Dapol "Westerns" and they run beautifully and IMO one of the better diesels made to date. I also own and run many other loco's form other manufacturers and they also run beautifully. As for bits falling off, they don't, if by chance they work loose I glue them on. It's advisable to handle models delicately to avoid braking the add on bits, just common sense . With my limited experience poor running is mostly due to poorly laid track.

The functions are really quite basic, it's only a "mess" if you don't read the instructions. If you care to check you will see that F0 to F28 is clearly indicated on all dcc throttles/controllers but I think garyd8004 was looking for help regarding function mapping as the above posts have attempted to do. Mike

The DCC80 is not product related and should work on any system.

A 4 function decoder obviously has 4 functions. F0 usually directional lights is function 1 (white wire is forward). F1 usually lights or something and is F2 (yellow wire). F3 on the controller is Aux 1 (function 3 green wire) and F4 is Aux 2, function 4 (purple wire). Either Aux 1 or Aux 2 will control the day or night lights. I fitted the express models lights to my Voyager with a similar arrangement for day and night running. You must ensure the function mapping for both decoders is the same although the CV's may not be the same. I think the express models instructions refer to Lenz decoders. So you should check your instruction sheets for both decoders to match the CV's.

That's odd as I have brought spares from Hornby with a prompt delivery and less expensive than Peters Spares.

It seems to me HM Gov is just following the recent announcement from the French. I wonder how the petrochemical industry will react.

Thanks Paul I should have been more specific. The ESU features are written into the Lokprogrammer software and triggered by functions. The chip software version (ROM) is updated automatically when loading a programme by computer. With Zimo I am required to trigger the decoder (ROM) update. Naturally one does so to load the latest features and fixes. I do prefer the Zimo triggering of coasting, I'm not required to design the drive steps. Best regards Mike

The ESU Full Throttle version of the software incorporates the features you have listed and include, Drive Hold, Run 8 or whatever the maximum throttle is, Coast, Brake, Dynamic Brake. It would seem that the sound providers do not incorporate the spectrum of features as listed. However I'm sure they will as in time. I am gradually amending my files to the full spectrum where I consider applicable. Essentially I do agree that the quality of the sounds is down to the quality of the original sound recordings. Comparing ESU to Zimo, the ESU features are software dependent and Zimo is basically retained in the hardware. From my viewpoint the Zimo feature where the throttle is reduced by one or two notches drops the sounds to the next level without the use of a function key. My 153 has the following features; F7 Run 6 (6 drive boxes), F8 Coast, F9 Drive Hold, F11 Independent Brake, F12 Dynamic Brake. Edit for spellings

Does this mean you will be pushing the envelope or getting more boxsets. Mike

Your best bet is to ensure you provide a steady state power supply. I use a laptop power supply for my larger layout, providing the amps is around 5to6 it should be ok. Mike

Visiting my local model shop I picked up Humbrol 23 Duck Egg Blue and 90 Beige Green, they are both very close matches and now it's testing time. Thanks for the attention. Mike

Nothing to do with Abbotswood so forgive Phil and to the readers of this column, any idea what shade of green the go fast strip on the side of the green Warship is ?. I'm attempting my usual bodge job. Thanks Mike

He (Shroomy) does have a point regarding the Class 24, maybe he is merely suggesting one should shop around.

My model 6002, is a beautiful runner from dead slow to top speed and now fitted with a LokSound decoder (my sounds). It really looks the part. Mike

I have been following this thread for some weeks as I was contemplating getting a King. Received my Hornby King 6002 for Christmas and at £104 from Rails is a steal. In my view the detail is better than that on the Castle. The running quality is king class and at both slow and line speed pulls 8 Hawksworth coaches without a pause. The colour does not bother me although that on the Castle appears to be right. However when it's lightly weathered I wont be able to differentiate. Just needs the sound chip fine tuned. Mike

Phil, Why not try this speaker installation over the dark nights to come. Mike

The major players don't ask for the goods to be paid for up front, can you imagine the outcry if they did. Other small manufacturers did not ask for "crowd funding", SLW produced their excellent Class 24 and then asked for payment if one wished to buy. I still think punters are daft paying for something that does not exist.(btw what is the cost of this model £150, £170 ?) and we are still waiting for the Hattons King OK it's pre -order I don't think holidays are quite the same thing as the not so daft people take full travel insurance in case something goes wrong and/or the company ends up bust. Mike

It seems a bit daft to me paying up front for something that does not exist. Mike

I don't know very much about the Class 59 other than I like to see it running so I'm very impressed with the comments on the Dapol photographs first EP (what is an EP). I'm sure Dapol will fine tune the model in light of the expert comments being generated. When it finally hits the shelves I will definitely buy one warts and all. Mike

I can't get upset about someone trying to make money and they will continue to do so as long as idiots buy them at the excessive amounts. Is there any truth in the rumour that the moulds for the Dapol HIA wagons are broken ?.

One would think that this being a very good seller that Dapol would produce more.

Successful transplants of the Bachmann Manor body to the Hornby Grange chassis has been achieved as shown elsewhere on this forum. I toyed with the idea of Bachmann Guild Hall body to the Hornby chassis. I thought it possible with a little butchery but decided against. The Hornby body has IMO a better boiler shape particularly the underside, the overall detail is finer hence the surgery to the Hall body. When its finished I will try to post some photos. Mike