Revolution Mike B

I'm coming along to cause some havoc Chris......Pete said I can crash drive some trains.....in between us both celebrating promotion ...... SEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEA WEED!! (It's a football thing )

We really do need an 'Awesome' button for this....don't we! The biggest shame with this is - it'll never get out on the exhibition circuit! Some of the best modern image modelling I've seen to date.....

I thought that may be the case! Although having said that, I bet you'd shift a few judging by their popularity...

My guards whistle only comes from one end.......but then I asked for it as a special

I'm really pleased with the EM2s - they really make the 37s sound (almost) real. Bif / Steve / Charlie - Have you asked the speaker company if they could reshape the enclosure yet? I'm still scratching my head on how to get the EM2s in to the other stuff I've got! It's getting addictive

That gantry looks top notch!

Thanks Dave That 66 I got from you runs like a dream now that I've modded the bogies. It'll have sound in it next week Mike

Well I took full advantage of the nice weather yesterday and managed to get all 4 boards joined together for the first time. I'm amazed that it actually all works and there's only two pieces of track that don't line up 100%! There is a downside of putting all of the boards up though - it highlights the fact there's a lot of plywood showing and that I've still got a long way to go to get it remotely finished. The backscene boards have been cut down by 2 inches to make things easier for operation (read as - Dave won't need an Orange box to stand on), and for logistical reasons, and I've also decided to make them removable for the time being to aid the build process. So until the next update.....HST anyone?

I know it may seem a lot of effort to some people, given the fact that this is, in reality, only a trainset, but by taking the time to lay the track with super elevation and as near to prototypical practice as possible, it has totally transformed the way the trains run. Peco track can do a lot more than you think it can with a bit of thought and tinkering - ok, it's never going to look as good as 2fs but that hasn't sopped us trying! There's still been a lot of trial and error in places and I've had to take stuff back up because it didn't look right but to say I'm pleased with the result is an understatement.....and it's not even my layout! The pictures of Dave's station don't do it justice at all because it's absolutely huge! Can't wait for the Pendos to turn up and then it'll really come to life.

Looking great!!

Just a few more feet of track to lay!

Believe it or not, the roof on the real one is a semi gloss.....it just looks matt because the train wash can't get to it!

Good luck with the new build

The EM2s won't leave you disappointed. I'm not affiliated in any way to the Mad Yorkshireman, Bif or Steve but to say they've got a good thing going on here is an understatement. The only downsides are a) I'm sat here scratching my head as to how I can get them to fit in to everything, and b) it's gonna get expensive!

Let me know how you get on with a 67 please Steve. I reckon I already know how but it'd be interesting to see how you'd do it

I've loved reading though every bit of this thread - jeez, I've got a long way to go yet! The tail lamps are great. I got some from Modelu but I couldn't drill them out without them breaking! I need some like yours. Keep up the good work Mike

Well no-one can say that Hornby aren't trying to get things right (which is more than I can say for a number of other well know manufacturers). The gloss green looks pretty good and with the decision to make the roof matt, it kind of works quite well. Personally, I'd like to see the roof in satin (because the real effort is gloss) and after speaking to Paul at Ally Pally, I may be able to convince them to try it. There's were a few errors with the body shell, such as the earlier power car windows showing through the moulding and the fact that the cooler group seems to have acquired two fans instead of one (we're in the process of checking this). The main thing to come out of this though is Hornby's willingness to engage their customer base which can only be a massive tick in the box for customer relations!

If you get the chance to hear an EM2 in a 37 you'll almost think it's a real 37 that's been shrunk! My original bass reflex speak in the tanks sounded much better that a 20x40 in the factory location but the EM2 takes it to another level! As Charlie says, the EM2 won't just drop in - see Steve's or my post in the Earthmover fitting thread.

I forgot that bit Steve

I'll have to get a copy of that book I think Kevin. I'm OK with my trial and effort attempts but it'd be really nice to see how it's done properly! Having said that, there was a guy at Ally Pally that models the most amazing buildings and when I showed him my 'toilet roll' rock cutting, he was gobsmacked! Every day is a learning day and I'm thankful to people like yourself that can pass on ideas and experience. Cheers Mike

Steve removes the circuit board completely and throws it away - the chip is then hard wired. To fit the speaker, he mills the chassis out so that the speaker site inside the loco body. Hope that helps. Mike

Its one chamber Bob, with one powered speaker and one non powered.

I'd be interested to see how good that would sound as the enclosure is a specific volume for the passive radiator. It's easy enough to separate the speaker plate from the rest of the enclosure but you'll still need to narrow it by 1mm

For anyone that's interested, here's how to squeeze an EM2 in to the tanks of a Bachmann 37. Before we start, this is just an alternative to Steve's (Merlin DCC) method and if I'm honest, I'd probably use Steve's method next time for reasons you'll see below! Firstly, strip down the loco - 6 screws to remove the body and then literally dismantle everything. Bogie towers off, circuit board off, unsolder the lighting wires, remove the plastic chassis, and then you're left with this... Next up, chop the mounting lugs off of the EM2 and offer it up.....you'll find it's too large for the tanks! Now this is where things can go terribly wrong and you'll stand a good chance of wrecking a perfectly serviceable Bachmann 37, or £22.50 worth of EM2....or both! The EM2 is 3mm too long, and 3mm too wide to fit in to the tanks so first up, remove all of the plastic that forms the base of the tanks, and then file the inside of the whole area flat, so you end up with.... So now we have the hole, but no speaker, and the next bit is going to make Bif and Charlie very rich.....because either way, you'll be buying more EM2s...... due to the fact that a) it sounds great, or b) you'e destroyed it! Using a Dremmel and a file, I removed a load of material form the sides of the EM2 so that it would slot inside the now vacant space in the tanks...and this is critical as it's very easy to end up with an enclosure full of holes! Once the EM2 is a snug fit inside the hole, the metal chassis needs to have the locating lugs filed down so that it'll mate up to the plastic one because the speaker is in the way...and it's probably a good idea to pop the motor out before you start filing the lugs to avoid swarf stuck to it! All that remains is to solder some wires to the speaker terminals and then put the whole lot back together. I've glued the speaker in to the tanks to keep everything square (which makes the speaker almost impossible to remove if it blows) so just beware if you decide to try my method. It does work, and sounds so real, I had it on tick over for nearly half an hour just listening to it. The EM2s give so much more depth to the sound and the thump from the loco is unbelievably real....considering it's size (cue the comments that it'll never sound real because it's a model, it's impossible to scale sound, you're wasting your time with sound etc etc - who cares, there's a whole load of other people that think the opposite!) Just don't hold me responsible if you end up with £130 worth of scrap!

Good to see your layout again at the weekend Nick. Didn't say hello as you looked really busy! I have to say it was one of the best there. Mike