Kaput

You do know you can just lower CV3 and 4 and make it not coast for miles if you want....

Being they are models of two completely different railcars thats a bit of an odd comparison.

Poop, I'll need to find a bigger display case somewhere. The ones I usually go for are only 340mm internally.

Sounds like a candidate for a follow up model....

Done some random testing with my N gauge board (its a lot easier to get out) and so far I'm at 5 decoders on the track (3 Zimo, 1 ESU, 1 LaisDCC) and Railcom is working normally.

Bit of a random question but how long is the entire rake of Thunderbolt, Dan's House/Loriet and the Brake van? Trying to make sure it'll fit in a display case

Its one of the odder choices from Farish that they've literally never done a second run of the new tooled Castles. Unless you count the Castle Pullman set as a second run since it was much later released, amusingly enough the Castle in that set seems to have traction tyres to help with the haulage.

Nothing else connected to bus. I only have 4 point motors on the entire board (Peco surface mounts) running off a separate DC supply with nothing fancy (no polarity switching etc).

Use Z21 app. CV Programming Loco (POM) Pick a Zimo decoder loco and let it read the driving data (address, accel/decel etc) Or Manual > Program on Main > Enter address of loco > read a CV Without the suppressors in place the above works perfectly fine (as long as not more than 2 or 3 locos on track and correct type of decoder) and the CV's are read as expected. With the suppressors in place the above just results in the app reporting "no loco at this address" or similar. Did a quick test with the track plugged into the program track output and with the suppressors in place even programming track reading doesn't work correctly, the values it gives for trying to read CV's are basically random. Try it with a completely separate programming track and it reads fine.

Railcom works perfectly fine when the suppressors are removed from the bus. The only oddity there is it seems to have a limit of 2 or 3 locos with decoders on the track at once or it stops being able to read via Railcom. It also works fine when hooked up to my N gauge board which uses Kato Unitrack so doesn't technically have a bus, just a few daisy chained Kato 3 way adaptors. 90% of my decoders are Zimo or ESU so they support Railcom perfectly. Only a handful of locos (and Caroline) use anything else.

I have a Z21 and before getting it I had the DCC concepts bus suppressors fitted to the ends of my main bus wire https://www.dccconcepts.com/product/new-bus-suppressors-terminators-2-pack/ I can't seem to get Railcom on the Z21 to work (the Z21 won't read any CV's at all on the main and even on program track mode it doesn't read properly) with the suppressors installed so I removed them. However since removing them I've managed to end up with a total of 3 new models develop an issue with the motor randomly speeding up/slowing down (2 Accurascale 37s and now a KR GT3). It could just be bad luck but I'm getting a little paranoid. Questions: Could the Z21 be buggering up motors without the suppressors fitted to the bus? Can railcom be made to work with these suppressors fitted? Do the suppressors even do anything useful? I am thinking of rewiring the layout (its only a 6x4 board so nothing major) since a number of my droppers use little spring loaded connectors to extend the wires to reach the bus and I'm honestly wondering if the wiring just isn't good enough to handle the Z21's power output (old controller was a PowerCab so much lower power).

Did the loco actually work on DC before you started this adventure? The part about only having an old controller that might not be up to running it on DC makes me ask the question. If all else fails try applying DC power directly to the motor to rule out any PCB issues.

Could be worse, could be like the Class 320 where the switch to turn off the interior lights on the powered coach is inside one of the hardest to remove bodies I've ever had while the trailer cars have a sensible external switch on the bottom. The MK5's could probably have done with a switch to disable the lights entirely for folks that don't want them although I'm not really sure theres any room for one in N gauge. How feasible is it to disconnect the lights without damage? Especially for the TPE MK5s (interior lights only, the directional lights on the DT would still be wanted)

The 810's are shorter I believe. The 805's will probably be quite similar to 802's since they need to run long distances on diesel.

Taking out one of the speakers is more likely to save the decoder's amp than leaving them both in since the combo technically puts the resistance below the official specs of both Loksounds and Zimo's. Yes I know ESU helped with the electronics so they are probably telling Accura the Loksound can handle it but it does beg the question of if they can handle it why isn't the offical spec 2-32ohm instead of 4-32? The low impedence of having both speakers is probably one of the main reasons for the reports of low volume (physics, volume needs to be lower for lower impedence or the amp won't like it....) Wonder if would have been a better idea to get a custom 8ohm EM1 style speaker than could be comfortably wired in parallel with a sugarcube. Anyhoo, hurry up and announce 37401 or 37403 in their current condition so I can try for 3rd time lucky on one 😄

Revolution have pretty much said the terms of the license means no ordering until the first of the real ones is actually in traffic (I think).

What would probably be of more use and isn't something that changes between individual models would be a database of sorts listing what exactly each function output is connected to.

In fairness, its difficult to sell something as "never removed from box" if you in fact removed it from the box to take a picture of it.

Baby steps, even one light being controllable on DCC is progress for Hornby steam locos....

I have a KR Models GT3 fitted with Legomanbiffo on a Loksound 5. When the GT3 is on the track with power on there is a noticable buzz coming from it. No other locos seem to do this and other types of decoder (Tried a LaisDCC and another Loksound) don't make any noise, only Loksounds (Maybe ESU in general but I don't have any 21pin LokPilots to try). The GT3 runs perfectly normal and the sound works fine. Controller is a Z21 with track voltage set to 14V. Any ideas on cause and/or if its something to be worried about?

CV59 = 1 should enable the fluorsecent flicker for aux 1 and 2 only. Setting it to 2 should enable it for all function outputs. Doesn't seem to be any other options.

Didn't the last O gauge 22 attempt basically kill the company that tried?

This is precisely what Decoder Pro has as the CV's to control the lights on a LaisDCC 6 function decoder (i.e. the Imperium 2)

Think its less taboo and more just not really got any point. If the stay alive isn't enough for reliable running then its either fix the track issue (ideal solution but not always possible) or put a bigger stay alive on. The LaisDCC stay alives can keep the average OO locomotive running without track power for far longer than is generally considered a safe idea.

Having some thoughts around the voltage discussion (and voltage spikes) it dawned on me I removed the DCC Concepts bus suppressor things (https://www.dccconcepts.com/product/new-bus-suppressors-terminators-2-pack/) from my layout shortly after getting the Z21 to try and narrow down a Railcom oddity so they've never been fitted while I had a 37. Not in the slightest bit sure if the suppressors actually do anything but thought its worth a mention as food for thought.