scoomby

I now have several diesel locos with Legomanbiffo sounds and they are great. I am now trying to improve speaker performance which is difficult with the V3.5 loksound decoders as they use 100 ohm speakers and speaker choice is very limited. A lot of the factory fitted locos do not have the speaker sealed into an enclosure which will obviously improve performance. Does anyone know where I can find some 20x40mm speaker enclosures? I probably want to get about 10 of them. Thanks in advance. Steve

I've recently acquired an ESU lokprogrammer and was using it a lot over the weekend. What a great piece of kit and it's very easy to use including setup. It's so easy to adjust CV settings, upgrade firmware, download new sound projects, etc. One by one, I hooked up all of the loco's fitted with an ESU loksound decoder and discovered most of them required a firmware update, one of which fixed a sound bug in my Bachmann Class 55 Deltic with factory fitted sound!! I also discovered some new sounds on some of the ESU loksound fitted loco's that were undocumented (e.g. station announcements). For anyone that owns a reasonable number of ESU loksound decoders, I recommend buying this.

Do you know what loksound version you are using? V3/V3.5 requires 100ohm speaker

These are great and you can order them with lighting! Time to put in a pre-order for some with the GWR livery.

You have a very good point there Richard. With the V3.5 installations, speaker choice is very limited. Your youtube video showing the performance of different speakers was very interesting. What would be very interesting also is doing the same demonstration but this time with steam sounds. I would have thought that treble would be more important than bass with steam sounds so choice of speaker may differ for steam locos. You also made a good point about the factory fitted sound locos, I expect that not all of them are sealed so that is something I can check. With regards to the Olivia's sound loco's, I fitted them myself and I ensured the speaker was fully sealed which might explain why they typically sound louder than the factory fitted sound locos. In some cases, I had to reduce the sound level by adjusting CV63 as they were too loud! Steve

Thanks for the advice so far. It's helping me lean towards getting an ESU lokprogrammer just for the convenience of not having to take apart each loco and having to put the decoder in the post for reblowing!

In my opinion, Hornby TTS decoders when used in a diesel models are not too bad. However, for steam models, Hornby TTS decoders are noticeably inferior to the sound decoders from ESU and Zimo (e.g. chuff chuff sound is not synchronised to wheel rotation on TTS decoder). The Class B1 from Hornby is a great looking model and I recommend fitting a good sound decoder and speaker to it. If you can hang on until Black Friday, you might be able to get a good deal on a Zimo or ESU sound decoder then.

I read the same article in the latest Hornby magazine but when I searched on the internet, I couldn't find a sound project that I was after that could be installed onto a Doehler & Haass sound decoder. £70 is a very good price point for a sound decoder so popularity in the UK may help increase sound project availability. In addition, it might put a bit pressure on the sound decoder pricing from Zimo and ESU which can only be a good thing!

Hi All Due to ever increasing number of sound decoders that I have (mostly ESU type), I am thinking of purchasing an ESU lokprogrammer so I can reblow some of them to improve the sounds or move them into a different loco class. A lot of them are loksound V3.5 which are either factory fitted or Olivia's sound. Is it still possible to reblow the ESU loksound V3.5 with the lokprogrammer? If so, is it easy to obtain the sound files other than the limited offering on the ESU website? I heard legomanbiffo offer some of best sounds for diesel. Some of the locomotives that I want to reblow is as follows: Hornby R2803XS BR Sub Sector AIA-AIA Diesel Class 31 31233 - V3.5 (factory fitted sound) Hornby R3036XS BR RAILFREIGHT Class 08 Diesel Shunter DCC Sound Fitted - V4.0 (factory fitted sound) Bachmann 32-404DS Class 25/2 Diesel 25276 BR Blue - V4.0 (factory fitted sound) Bachmann 32-387 Class 37 Diesel 37506 Railfreight Red Stripe - V3.5 (Olivia's sound) Bachmann 31-475A Class G2A 49064 BR Black Late Crest with Tender Back Cab - V3.5 (Olivia's sound) Bachmann 32-802 Class 47 Diesel 47035 BR Blue Full Yellow Ends Domino Head Code - V3.5 (lifted from a Bachmann sound fitted Class 47) Bachmann 32-040DS Class 20 Diesel 'D8113' BR Green With Discs/Tablet Catcher - V3.5 (factory fitted sound) Bachmann 32-525DS Class 55 'D9007 PINZA' BR Two Tone Green With Sound - V3.5 (factory fitted sound) Bachmann 32-977 Class 66/9 Diesel DRS/Stobart Rail '66411' - V3.5 (Olivia's sound) Bachmann 31-426A 4 CEP CLASS 411 EMU LATE SR GREEN WITH YELLOW WARNING PANELS - V3.5 (Olivia's sound) Bachmann 32-481 Class 40 Diesel D369 BR Green Small Yellow Panel - V4.0 (Olivia's sound) I also have 2 x ESU's that I haven't fitted yet, an ESU V3.5 with Class 40 (Olivia's sound) and an ESU V4.0 with Class 37 sounds (lifted from a Bachmann sound fitted Class 37) I was thinking of using them in a Class 44 and Class 70 respectively. Any advice would be gratefully appreciated. Thanks Steve Coomber

Hi all. Just a quick posting to let you all know that I am still working on this layout. I haven't been able to do much on the layout due to having to work abroad for a few years although this will finish end of October this year. That should give me some more time to work on layout from November onwards. Things that I have done over the last couple of years is (which isn't much!): 1. Added brick effect to side of platforms to make them look more realistic. 2. Painted removable centre section and added water effect to lake 3. Started adding white lines to roads 4. Started adding walls to outer edge of layout 5. Added sound chips (mostly loksounds) to several locos 6. Updated firmware in Elite controller to latest version! Things to do next: 1. Install the new Heljan DCC turntable 2. Install point motors and wire up fully including CDU unit 3. Build 2 x drawers and install under layout. One drawer (on left of layout) for operating and one drawer (on right) for test/maintenance 4. Continue with work on scenery Regards Steve

Ha. I've used that airline aLOT !!! Seriously, I spent about 3 months in Poland last year !

What a fantastic looking loco. I must get one of these in the LNER livery Well done Hornby.

Looks great for a railroad model. I've noticed that all the hand-rails are not molded on (design clever style!) and the buffers are sprung. I'm certainly glad that I have pre-ordered one of these :-)

Cool. I have just been fold that mine is coming tomorrow :-)

Can you do a factory reset on the Select?

Hi Gordon I have the Hornby Elite and Select. I can try setting one of my locos to address 3 using my Elite and then see if the Select can control it if you like? Regards Steve

Hi All I have made some real progress on my layout over the last 3 weeks. All track underlay has been installed and track has been pinned down (except for the additional siding that is on a separate base board). All electrical feeds to the track have been installed and it is proving to be very operable with DCC. I have also installed 3 sets of gaugemaster buffers to the sidings with LED lights that are power fed from the track. Access to both sidings is a breeze and it's easy to move wagons into the inner siding and maneuver locos into the outer siding. The design really works. Thanks to all that have helped me with the design of this layout. I have also temporarily positioned buildings on the layout roughly were they will be placed and I will be working on the scenery very soon. I've still got the point motors to install although the holes have already been made for them. I will also be adding lighting to the layout and maybe scenery sound although the sound from some of the locos may be enough. I did have to make a change to the track layout very recently as the PECO crossing at the rear of the layout was causing electrical shorts sometimes when a loco passed over the crossing, especially when it was moving slowly over it. The super detail pullmans sometimes caused a short on this crossing as well. I have heard that other RMWeb users have found the same issue with this crossing. I have now changed the crossing for a PECO double slip and the shorting issue has completely vanished. It also makes the layout a bit more operable with the outer sidings. I need to get another 2 points motors for it though! Attached is some more photos showing how it is progressing. Sorry for the blurry first photo. Regards Steve

Hi all. It's been a while since my last update but, believe it or not, I have been making progress. I have reworked the siding as advised and I have now added DCC to the layout. I have also reworked the turntable a bit so it sits in the corner better. I have almost completely painted the top of the baseboard and gravel effect sheets have been laid down (I will probably put gravel on top of this anyway). I have also made a start with the track underlay (easier than ballasting) and I have made holes for the point motors and added several electical feeds around the layout (lots of wires dangling under the baseboard now!). See pictures below: The next steps will be to complete the electrics and complete installing the underlay. I will then add the point motors and run the wires to some switches and install a CDU to prevent the point motors burning out. Steve

Just a quick update. Last night I added an additional cross-over at the back of the circuit. It was the only place I could put it! I will re-work the siding tonight. Steve

That is what I thought. Thanks Jon

I am planning to do some minor track updates this week to introduce a second trailing crossover between the inner and outer tracks and extend the inner sidings. These modifications will allow for better shunting and loco swapping. With regards to shunting, is it best to resort to manual uncoupling or is auto uncoupling the better option? Thanks Steve

Hi All I have been out of country for business hence progress has been slow. However, I have managed to get a couple of good weekends on the layout and below is some further progress photos: The next step is to finish marking up the layout and complete the painting. Virtually all of the baseboard painting is guide only and will be hidden under proper scenery. I will then add the back scene and then build the walls to stop the trains falling of the edge due to a derailment! I noticed that you can get flexible walling from Javis. Is it any good? Thanks Steve

Thanks seahorse and Mark for your responses. With regards to the refinements, I do have trailing crossover between inner and outer tracks between the 2 platforms that cannot be seen in the photo. I could add an additional crossover at the back of the circuit as there isn't enough room to the sides of the layout. I will also have a look at moving the point to the inner siding as advised. With regards to the Pendolino, it is the only train that does derail although it is rare. I mostly run it on the outer track which is 3rd radius with some flexible track. It is worth checking your back to backs on your wheels if you haven't done so already. I found a couple of wheels on my rolling stock that were derailing due to incorrect back to back settings. I read somewhere that the back to backs should be approximately 14.5mm. What radius is your track that you using? Steve

Hi All I have some work in progress photos below. It's been a busy Christmas and New Year but I managed to fit in some work to the layout. The final layout is based on Jon's first plan. The second plan is better but reduces the space for scenery so I have stayed with the first one. A picture of the layout is below. Note that nothing is pinned down but it running very well with very few derailments. The majority of the track is Hornby set track but there are a couple of Peco points and some flexible track. There is some remaining track work left to do that will provide access to the fiddle yard. There are also a few buildings placed roughly where they are planning to go. The hole in the middle is going to a be green with a small lake that will be hinged to allow access. The next picture shows the fiddle yard baseboard that I have just built today. The legs for all of the baseboards are also shown and these have been cut to just below waist height (just under 3ft). I have also put up a display cabinet :-) The only question I have, is it worth painting the top of the baseboards in green or brown before putting any scenery on them? Thanks Steve

Hi Jon Many thanks for the revised track plan. It does look very good indeed. Do you have a sharper image to hand as I can't read some of set track numbers? Thanks again Steve