Salmotrutta

Hi John! Here's some photos of the installation in Ge 6/6 II. For DCC I now remove all the wiring and gubbins from the circuit board like in the pictures as I re-purpose it to connect the chip and other wires, sometime cutting the copper tracks in places to create solder pads. I then remove the roof and put the body back on - then using a marker draw where there are gaps in the body for wires and resistors. This model is worse that the Ge 4/4 II as there's hardly any room. The 1k ohm resistors are under the board where there's space in the transmission. 760 ohm are a better choice as the lights are pretty dim. The micro leds are from China at about $20 for 20 warm white (off eBay). They're attached to the little metal plate using 3M black putty (Blu-tak works too) - then placed where the bulb went. There's a light pipe at the front of the light bulb hole for top headlight - that needs to be secured with PVA or similar to stop it coming loose. The longer side faces towards the hole otherwise the light is dim (found that out the hard way). I used surface mount resistors in the Ge 4/4 II installation. I will post a picture when I can. If you like the installation then let me know as I'm in the UK next week and I can post you some resistors and a couple of LEDs. Richard

I just got a second-hand BEMO Ge III 4/4 644 in "neu-rot". It does look subtly different from the older red. When did this start to appear? I think it was around 2005.

You will need to remove the bogie - which is actually quite simple. There is a steel pin that goes through the chassis and you can gently "drift" that out. I use a smaller diameter drill bit and tap it VERY gently to remove the pin. You might then be able to get an iron onto the pick up - if you are VERY careful. If at all unsure then you could remove the grey plastic keeper plate; I haven't done this but it appears to be a clip fit underneath the bogie - 2 little black pegs. It looks like you have to push the plastic to one side of the bogie to release it. It might be easier to do this before removing the bogie. If I do another one I will probably remove the plastic keeper plate as I did melt it a bit when I did mine (it was a railcar but they are the same construction). I just installed DCC in one of these and if you like I can share pictures of the installation - I also installed LED lamps.

Really sad news. When I lived in Allschwil in the 1990s it was my go-to store. There were at least 4 model train stores in Basel at that time. My Swiss friends tell me that because of the relative strength of the CHF to the Euro people mail order stuff to a postbox just across the border. When I was in Allschwil last year I was surprised at how many empty shops there were.

That's because they are sitting in a box "waiting for that job that I never get around to".

If anyone can make it to Springfield Mass in January 2019 we would be delighted to host a British layout on the European Train Enthusiasts space. PM me for more information!

The orange - colour boxes are older - I bought my stuff in Switzerland from 1994 onwards and by then they were all the solid maroon colour boxes. As DM says the wheels are available as spares - if BEMO doesn't have them it's worth looking at different deal websites.

Interesting that you found the ESU "lacking"; I just got an ESU switchpilot to operate PECO PL-10 motors; initially I couldn't get them to work off of the ESU LokProgrammer; but once I connected 16V AC from an old controller to the "PWR IN" they worked - although there isn't the same sort of "thud" that you get from a CDU! Seems that they take a lot of current and are thus very sensitive to the available power; the Lokprogammer just doesn't supply enough current. But if I was starting afresh with new point motors I would go with something like the DCC concepts motors like you suggest.

Our European Maerklin show layout sometimes has the "gremlins" for no apparent reason which requires a reboot of the Central Station. We just tell the public that we are running French trains and they are on strike again. It usually buys us enough time to get it going again.

Oh dear what have I started? Sorry for de-railing the Broad gauge thread. I hope the OP doesn't go nuclear...

I'm on the same side of the pond as you up in Massachusetts. There is a "local" club, "The British Railway Modellers of North America" http://brmna.org. I also model Swiss and I'm a member of the European Train Enthusiasts ete.org. There are also some Brits in that club too. For DCC I use the ROCO z21 as I like the fact that you can add a photo of each engine and operate it from a phone or tablet. I also find that having pictograms of each function is easier than trying to remember which F function does what. I use a ROCO multimaus at shows which is fine as I usually don't have the sound on as it is either inaudible or annoying. There are a number of new systems available that use tablets or have their own controller (ESU) which have the ability to use icons instead of just buttons. If you are happy with using an laptop and are planning a "one engine in steam" layout you can build a DCC system using Chinese Arduino parts for about $20! Not exactly user friendly but certainly cheap! Your best bet is to go to a show or dealer and try some hands-on controlling a sound equipped loco - then you can see if you are happy with buttons or don't mind splashing out a bit more to have a more visual system. With UK sound chips most of them come pre-loaded; if they are ESU based you can write our own with the ESU LokProgrammer but most of the UK files are proprietary so cost about L15 plus the chip. ZIMO also do a lot of UK sound. I power lights from a separate 16V AC supply and reduce / rectify the voltage with some components I get direct from China which cost a couple of $$ - I have also used the DCC output from the track on my show layout. I recently sold my UK layout with code 100 PECO track - I'm likely to replace it with either code 83 or 75 when I get around to the next layout because it does look better IMHO. Hope that helps a bit......

Thanks for sharing! I wasn't aware of his walking stick!

Too true - it would be a great engineering solution. However making it safe and foolproof enough to satisfy society would be a challenge. Another "Lac Megantic" disaster that included a nuclear reactor just doesn't bear thinking about.

A long time ago one of the customers in the model shop I was working in bemoaned the demise of broad gauge "as by now we could have nuclear-powered trains". Mankind dodged the bullet on that one methinks....

I use Vallejo FS 31310 / 71.085 "Ferrari Red" which is close enough to use on the hand rails but not an exact match to the BEMO RhB red. According to "Farbanstriche und Beschriftungen an RhB-Fahrzeugen" the colour is between RAL 3001 and 3020. (You can find this document on the internet). If you go to www.acrylicosvallejo.com they have a downloadable pdf guide to all the equivalences between paint brands.

Very nice stuff!

At your distribution depot you could perhaps have some mixed gauge track? I was at the SRS meeting in Derby and Cotswold rail had some Tillig track on display with points and dual gauge track.

Hi Dan! Thanks for sharing your lighting method! I asked the lights question and it's in this forum - RhB locomotive lights - Which lights and when? Has all the answers you need (I had red lights on during running when apparently they are only used when stopped as a warning - the RhB do things differently!)

Me too - except mine is ready mixed and described on the German label as "Moos"... However you might want to experiment with how light or dark it is depending on the background - what looks good against open scenery can be invisible against a rock wall which sort of defeats the purpose..

Hi Steve, I use Micro Kristal Klear to fix my bits on - a bit runnier than PVA so less of a "blob" around the parts. It's water soluble as well in case you make an error. A word of warning on the Ge 4/4 III, the handrails by the doors go too deep and catch on the chassis if you are not careful. I trim mine after one popped out and gouged the door... I also leave off a lot of the piping as it's very fragile. I also paint the nose rails in body colour - if you want I can let you know what are the colours I use to match the body.

X-19's decomposed spectacularly fast in the UK. A shame as they were an attractive car.

I use Buck converters https://www.ebay.com/itm/DC-DC-Adjustable-Buck-Converter-5V-12V-3A-Voltage-Step-Down-Regulator-Module/302473175701?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649 for both coach lighting and building lighting. They cost about $1 each from China and enable me to adjust strips of SMDs until I get the brightness I want. I had never heard of them before and found them by accident but I find them easier to use than fiddling with resistors. And you can go back and fiddle some more if you decide to go brighter or darker. I run a full-wave rectification from the DCC track voltage with 4 diodes in one end.

How did you do the lights on the tractor? I have thought about this but it looks tricky even with the smds you can get. Like the plan - I would be tempted to widen the baseboard a bit and have it run at a slight angle to the front rather than parallel. I wish I had done that with mine!

although it says slugs there is a picture of a snail. Looks like they aren't repelled !

I have fitted one of these to a BEMO RhB Steurwagen and used the ability to add an extra LED to do the headlights in this "cab-car". I have a ESU programmer and have set it up as "fluorescent" with a "dodgy" strip in the parcels section. Quite interesting watching the strip lights flicker on. However for most of my coaches I just rectify the track voltage from DCC and use a buck converter and SMD strips as this casts a fraction of the price of the ESU unit (but isn't as flexible or controllable).