Hound Dog

18 hours ago, DIRTY DIESEL said:

I received my 6 coaches and they all run freely on straights but come to a stand on curves with a slight binding noise, they also short out going though points, even my Peco express points, plus the lights will always be on when I turn the layout on even after being turned off previously.

I’ve contacted support any waiting a response, I haven’t taken the wheels out as didn’t know how easy this was with all the brake rigging around them and didn’t want to damage them.
 

As it looks like they just lift out looking at your photos, I’m wondering if I might have the same problem?

 

Thanks for sharing…

I had a similar problem with 2 of the 7 x coaches I purchased, which I noticed when the train kept separating at the same locations on my layout……. I swapped bogeys over with “good” coaches and the problem followed the bogey……… I initially felt the brakes may have been the cause, but this was not the case and the wheels were not fouling the underside of the coach.

At the weekend, I removed the wheels and found the back to back gap to be a very sloppy fit with my gauge - ah that will be it and I closed the gaps down……. Wrong !……refitted and the problem got worse if anything.

i checked a “good” wheel set and the back to back distance is very generous, so I opened the “bad” wheels out to suit and the problem went away…….. not sure I fully understand it, but there is clearly a marginal tolerance issue with certain rad 2 curves ( mine were also on an incline)…….

In the process of investigating the above, I concluded that as aesthetically pleasing as they are, the Accurascale magnetic couplings are not as strong at the West Hill Wagon work types.

Hope this helps

ps - Fantastic coaches all the same !

2B or not 2B - that is the question…… Any update on when these might actually appear ?

44 minutes ago, tlm said:

Got both 6702 and 6703 unboxed and on to the test track for the first time this evening. 6703 had one of the headcode box fronts loose in the box, both tiny securing pins broken unfortunately, and both had the annoying sound cut out before the start sequence is complete. Do I care ? Nope - not a bit.

The headcode box front secures with a couple of tiny dots of pva, and after draining the capacitors (lean the loco off the track until the lights go out), then sort the sound by reducing CV63 to 150 before restarting, let it rest for a minute or so, then set CV63=192, CV32=1 and CV259=255 and wowzer - absolutely stunning.

I also had the sound cut out during the start sequence and had to reboot my DCC controller before it would recover - will try the changes you have described over the weekend and see if that helps…… to be honest I need to turn the volume down altogether as too loud for me alone in the garage - must be getting old.

The dates given in the July update for the BR Mk2’s have come and gone……Are Accurascale able to give more info on the likely delivery timescale now that we are well into Q4.

Thanks

I haven’t read thru all 147 pages relating to this topic, so apologies in advance if this has already been covered……… Whilst I eagerly await my new Accurascale Mk2 BR coaches, I would really like to see a range of similar high quality Mk1’s in BR Blue and Grey to run with my various Green, Maroon and Early BR Blue diesels………. 

Disappointed on two counts…….

Firstly I would have preferred to see a Green SYP class 31 with sound - which I would have ordered right away, and

Secondly - at the weekend I was tidying thru some old stock and thought I must get around to selling the Lima EWS 31466 that I have……. Not going to gather much silver on this anymore .

Hi Folks,

It has been a long time since I posted any update on my layout, but I can now finally claim to have completed the major build of my layout around the full 360 degrees.......for sure lots of small aspects to finish and improve, and plenty of detail still to be added, including signals and lights etc, but the major construction which was started with the first wooden frame in July 2017 is most definitely over !

To celebrate I have packed my Blue BR diesels and my Montrgreenan theme layout away for a few months, and turned the clock back to enjoy Portencross in the early 60's and the introduction of Diesel traction, and Diesel Hydraulics in particular

To best show the completed layout, I have made a new video where the environment is overtaken by the sound of the two Napier engines in Deltic 9020 "Nimbus" as it hauls a holiday special, whilst Western Diesel Hydraulic D1000 "Western Enterprise" heads an express service, although it is almost completely overwhelmed by the more powerful (and infinitely more noisy) Deltic.

Hope you enjoy the video and as always any comments or feedback welcomed........Happy New Year to all.

Cheer Richard

On 10/12/2022 at 22:30, zoomer1979 said:

Got my D600 in good time and it's all set for my Dad. I'm guessing he would eventually get a sound chip for it. Who do we reckon has the best guess of the sounds? Wheeltappers? Roads And Rails? Olivia's Trains? Digitrains? The Soundguy? Anyone else have a suggestion?

Neil.

I have Richard’s ( Road and Rails) Sound file installed in mine and it is really good, but he has since developed an upgrade which I think is even better……. Intend to get mine reblown when I have chance……. I think he has a video of it posted somewhere.

4 hours ago, The Ghost of IKB said:

Surely you're not going to criticise Accura for poor communication?

They're better than every other brand at letting us know what's going on.

I hope you haven't preordered an SLW 25, their communication frequency might cause you significant problems. 

Sorry but that is not what I implied - it is the very fact that Accurascale are so good at communicating ( and I agree miles ahead of the pack) that makes the project status change of a few weeks ago and the lack of any associated update so noticeable……. However it appears that the guys expect to issue an update by the end of the week, so all will become clear very soon.

4 minutes ago, Roy Langridge said:

As I said when you made that assertion above, they are already listed as Q1 2023 on the projects status page:

https://www.accurascale.com/pages/project-status

 

Don’t know why I bother sometimes. 
 

Roy

My comment was more in respect to the speculation on what the news would be rather than the date change which is fairly obvious……. That said when Accurascale are usually so good at communicating, it would be a little disappointing if the date change was only communicated via the project status when only a few weeks ago Fran was indicating “no change to the Q4 date”

oh, and if you don’t know why you bother sometimes, then perhaps you shouldn’t……

I think all the wishful thinking is probably in vain as I very much suspect the news next week will probably only be to say the current batch are delayed from CY22 Q4 to Q1 next year…….. happy to be proved wrong however.

I guess with the Mk5’s and Class 92 all arriving on 12th Dec, the likelihood of the Mk2’s being shipped out as planned in CY22 Q4 is receding by the day……. Or do I need to keep the faith some more ?

Does anybody know the latest status of the Mk2b coaches ?……. Last update I could find was Q4 22.

It is going to be torture listening to many rave about their new 37’s between January and my Green version arriving in April…… might have to crank up the CV settings on my Deltics to drown out the noise - LOL

1 hour ago, Accurascale Fran said:

 

Hi @Hound Dog,

 

Many thanks for the feedback and we can confirm that a slightly modified design based on this feedback has been taken into future locomotives.

 

Cheers!

 

Fran 

Thanks Fran - that is excellent news which will hopefully address a very marginal issue and make great models even better ……… unfortunately not all layouts are perfectly laid and with wide gentle curves etc ( certainly mine is full of compromises) and so a more forgiving configuration will surely be welcomed by many.

The profile on the kinematic coupling is too extreme and when there is a higher than normal degree of sideway load on the follower, it simply cannot traverse around the point and locks, thus causing derailment.

Smoothing the profile cures the problem and makes the arrangement more forgiving of certain layout conditions, eg curved points, R2 curves or curves on an incline / decline.

I hope Accurascale take this onboard for future models as they seem intent on sticking with the Kinematic coupling , but I for one do not want to see this issue on the Class 37 or 31’s that I have on order !

Guys,

pls see my posts of several weeks ago re modifying the point on the Kinematic coupling cam…….. no issues at all since doing this on R2 curves and inclines

7 hours ago, thetrains said:

 

Thanks, sounds like the mod didn't work.  I'm giving up.

The mod works fine….. you just need to take care to read the posts in both the order and in relation to the comments I was being asked to respond to.

27 minutes ago, boxbrownie said:

Mines gone back to AS for fettling or something now, out of interest just how difficult was it to get to the coupling, was it a complete body off, bogie off etc ?

In order to investigate and eliminate the cause of my derailments I stripped off the buffer beam, fuel tanks, body and finally the entire coupling mechanism so that there was nothing out with the basic chassis that could foul the bogie…….. in this condition it ran beautifully.

Reintroduced the coupling mechanism at one end only and the snagging reoccurred.

Getting access to the coupling is easy if you first remove the buffer beam - no real need to remove the body…….. my previous comments about how you remove and reinstall the coupling ( ie slide in and out onto a firm flat surface) are critical to not dislodging and potentially losing the spring to the carpet monster.

33 minutes ago, thetrains said:

Can you say what you actually did, it looks like you have filed them down, if so by how much?  After a week of no issues, mine yesterday is now periodically derailing on R5 curves after coming off of either R2 & 3 in fiddle yard.  What I can see is the kinematic is staying stuck over.  I wonder if a weeks wear and tear has caused this.

 

My initial issue of snagging had been solved by rounding the corners of rear of NEM pocket so it did not snag on bogie, however on one end the NEM pocket is removed after detailing b/beam, but i can see kinematic gets stuck.  Many thanks.

Hi - I just filed down the centre point until just before I reached the boss on the centre screw location and then just smoothed out the run off into the corners of the coupling to try get the profile as “flat” as possible - the picture shows it best.

A word of caution - when removing the coupling be very careful with the little spring as they have life of their own and can be challenging to refit…….. best to remove buffer beam first and reassembled the coupling on a flat piece of wood and then offer this up to the loco ( upside down) and slide the coupling into position - if you try to lift it over, the spring will surely pop off.

I also filed down the lugs at the rear of the coupling base plate as I felt the bogie gear housing was perhaps coming into contact with it, especially if the bogie was well off the horizontal.

hope this helps.

On 26/06/2022 at 23:01, Hound Dog said:

I also did extensive testing of the Kinematic couplings this weekend with my two Deltics …….. with the entire Kinematic coupling mechanism removed at both ends, both locos ran for 40 minutes on each loop and in each direction without a single derailment.

 

Refit the kinematic coupling to one end only and without the tension lock inserted, then both derail consistently……..there is definitely a snagging somewhere within this mechanism, which as I have previously posted is not helped by my R2 curves and inclines……. However all my other non- kinematic coupled locos seem to be able to tolerate any peculiarities within my layout.

 

Currently I have two light engine Deltics in the stabling yard pending a cunning plan on an alternative way to mount a coupling.……. Any and all suggestions welcomed.

Good news - I have cured my coupling snagging problem by changing the profile and increasing the clearance on the supplied Kinematic couplings - see picture for before and after

Both Deltics now run faultlessly on my layout with the couplings reinstalled at the trailing end, and tests coupled with coaches have seen no derailments.

Just the crew and many loose pieces to be fitted and both locos can be released to service !

Late BR Deltic crew just arrived this morning - will need to crack on the heater in the cab as their skin is blue with the cold !

35 minutes ago, McC said:

Fixing a coupler to the bogie creates other issues and mkre compromises. The kinematic system has been extensively tested and while not designed to be able to couple on bends without the hand of god helping out it should not cause any derailment unless perhaps there is a conflict with what it’s pulling?

 

 

I also did extensive testing of the Kinematic couplings this weekend with my two Deltics …….. with the entire Kinematic coupling mechanism removed at both ends, both locos ran for 40 minutes on each loop and in each direction without a single derailment.

Refit the kinematic coupling to one end only and without the tension lock inserted, then both derail consistently……..there is definitely a snagging somewhere within this mechanism, which as I have previously posted is not helped by my R2 curves and inclines……. However all my other non- kinematic coupled locos seem to be able to tolerate any peculiarities within my layout.

Currently I have two light engine Deltics in the stabling yard pending a cunning plan on an alternative way to mount a coupling.……. Any and all suggestions welcomed.

54 minutes ago, kevlar47 said:

Anyone had to return theirs yet? My 55011 arrived today and gone back same day due to what sounds like a square wheel in one bogie… happy days, at least Accurascale are quick to respond to arrange returns….

I will probably get massacred here but I have running issues with now both of my Deltics following the arrival of Nimbus today……… I believe the matter to be a layout / loco compatibility issue, as I have some 2nd radius curves on inclines, but in such instances the bogies snag’s the coupling mechanism when the bogie is not on the horizontal………. my Westerns, Hoovers and Peaks all seem to be able to live with it, so it is not entirely a big loco on tight curve situation.

Away from the layout I can get the bogie to snag on the coupling mechanism if the bogie is tilted, as it would be climbing an “acceptable” incline.

I have stripped off the chains, fuel tanks, body, buffer beams and finally the entire coupling mechanism and I am more than happy to report that Nimbus successfully flies around the layout like, well a thoroughbred racehorse .

I can live without one set of couplings, but not both and so I will need to gradually re-assemble and test to see where the snag occur’s, but I suspect the two raised lands immediately behind the coupling mechanism outer screws……. Hopefully filing or removing this might effect a cure for what is clearly a very marginal situation that the majority of users will not experience…….. however I will check and discuss with Accurascale before doing anything permanent.

I mention this for info purposes only and because prior to derailment there is typically a click like one might expect with a “square wheel”,  as mentioned in the post above.

regards, an Ardent Accurascale fan !