Fredashay

Ah, so ECoS allows you to name your trains in addition to using photos -- solves that problem! And since this tangent was caused when I asked what DCC addresses to assign my two E-trains, I think we're technically still on topic :-p Thanks again, Craig! You too, Opelsi!

Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. I've been using DCC addresses 4 and 5 (I already assigned 1 to Thomas, lol), so I'll use 1122 and 1523. And, yes, I want to get an ECoS system someday, but I have too much invested in my NCE system at the moment to just toss it in the bin... Also if you select your loco by picture, what if you have more than one of the same loco? The E-train isn't the only train I have more than one of :-/

Yes, they are numbered like that, so that's a good idea. The only complication is that I bought two of them and some extra coaches so I can keep one true to the prototype and run the other in passenger service on my layout. My NCE system can assign numbers from 1 to 9999. I guess the E-train was never given a class designation, so I suppose 1122 and 1123...

I'm wondering if E-train had a numeric designation? I don't see any designation other than TC1 on the lead locomotive. Craig and Kit: what DCC addresses did you assign to your E-trains?

...and I just noticed something, ahem, bizarre. The discocar came with a small baggie full of assorted HO/OO figures in various dancing poses. I thought nothing more of them and set them aside and ignored them until now when I thought it would be a good idea to glue them inside the carriage as seems to be their intended purpose... Well, there's one figure of a woman lifting her top and showing her boobs! Really, Marklin?!?! Does that sort of thing go on in nightclubs in Germany?!?!

Thank you! Also, these were included on the Micro SD card inside the carriage: Google Translate did a pretty good job of translating them to English:

Anyone know where I can download instructions in English for the discocar?

Well, now that I have both Marklin and Trix discocars in my grubby little hands, this whole thread is now pointless. I ordered that Trix Class 217 loco that Craig linked me to https://www.maerklinshop.de/en/trix/trix-h0/locomotives/diesel-locomotives/56903/class-217-diesel-locomotive . And I can replace the wheels on those DB coaches that haven't arrived yet, or order Trix versions if I come across them in the future. So I'm happy and delirious :-) Nonetheless, I had set a few brain cells to the task of solving that problem with the points. I had planned to cut the rails to the points, themselves, so they are electrically dead. This should not cause a problem for any of my locos except for something like a Class 08. I rarely run shunters on my main line, so it's a limitation I could have lived with, unless someone here thinks of a problem with that idea that slipped my mind -- and as you all may have noticed, my mind is rather slippery.

Yes. Thank you! That Trix Class 217 is a nicer loco than the Marklin Class 139 that I bought. I had started to search for Trix stuff, and am finding that Trix wheels, locos, and coaches are all out of stock everywhere I look, regardless of the livery. It was sheer dumb luck that I found one single Trix discocar available straight away. I was about to go back to my original plan to convert part of my layout to 3-rail operation as having a Marklin AC train is actually a welcome addition to my collection of weird trains, so I don't regret buying both AC/DCC and DC/DCC versions of the discocar or the two DB locos. So those links all helps greatly :-)

Yeah, I didn't know Marklin and Trix were actually two brand names used by the same company, and that Marklin was the AC version while Trix was the DC/DCC version of the same items. I never purchased any Marklin or Trix trains before this week. Also, being as I collect rare and unusual trains, it has happened to me time and time again that I see something I want but wait a day to mull it over and find it's gone. It took me quite a lot of searching online among countless out-of-stock Märklin trains before I found a loco, coaches, and discocar all in the same livery from various shops. That's especially true that the particular livery used by the discocar is rare in itself. So I've got in the habit of snapping things up that I've been searching for when I see them, especially when they seem to be rare. So now that I ordered a Trix version of the discocar, I only need a Trix version of a DB loco in that livery. I'll take your advice with the normal coaches and just swap the bogies. Or, if I order Trix versions of the DB coaches, I'll have a complete Märklin DB train set with locomotive, three coaches, and discocar all in the same livery, all new in box. That has got to be a rare thing to come up for sale on eBay!

Oh! I'm an idiot! I assumed the Trix and Märklin products would be the exact same item just with different branding on the box. I just ordered the Trix version of the discocar from here https://www.amazon.co.uk/Trix-23490-WGmh824-Disco-DCC-Sound/dp/B015OGTMHG I guess I'll turn around and sell all the Märklin stuff on eBay when it arrives... Or maybe I'll keep it. I denno...

The pick-up under the discocar is a skate, but I haven't received the loco yet or other carriages, so I denno about them. Good point about the switching. I wonder if I can modify the train slightly to use only one running rail for return? That way I can put AC between one running rail (common) and the center studs, and DCC between the two running rails (just making sure that the same running rail is universal common for the AC and the DCC). Or will that just blow up in my face Addams Family style?

That's perfect! Apparently, other people have the same problem, lol. In fact, I see it's just a long narrow strip of thin copper foil. Can be made easily! But it would still require ripping up my track and laying it back down again with the strip under the sleepers.

I just today bought a Märklin Class 139 locomotive (Märklin #37406) fitted with DCC and sound, and train set (Märklin #43867), because I recently bought the infamous discocar (Märklin #43868) a few days ago, but my layout uses conventional 2-rail HO/OO track. But rather than convert the train to run on 2-rail track and possibly ruin a very expensive locomotive and train set, I plan to convert a portion of my main line to 3 rail. But I don't want to rip up all my track and replace it with Märklin track. So I bought a couple of pieces of Märklin C-rail track this afternoon to discover how it works. They are very creative in hiding the center rail. There's a tiny metal stud in the center of each sleeper that provides power to the center pickup under the loco, while the two running rails are earth. Brilliant! This method solves the whole reversing loop problem. So I plan to hammer tiny metal studs between the sleepers in the center of my existing track and power them through a new feeder wire under the layout. I'll also have a switch and relays on the control panel to configure the 3 rails to run in standard 2-rail mode or 3-rail mode in which the 2 running rails are shunted to earth and the center rail is powered. Alas, this means I can't run my Märklin train and my other trains at the same time, or at least not on the same loop of track. Small price to pay I suppose, since I don't intend to convert my entire layout to this bodge idea. What do the rest of you think? Workable idea? Or just convert the train to run on 2-rail track?

Got 'em! Someone on eBay was selling a set of coaches in the same livery as the discocar for about £180. I'm gonna have a huge credit card bill next month :-( Anyone know what locomotive I should use for this train? Edit: Before a moderator yells at me for being off-topic, I started a new thread about my Märklin adventures in http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/131603-running-marklin-3-rail-equipment-on-conventional-hooo-track/

That's great news! I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to get additional coaches in the same livery and have to get out the airbrush and stencils, bleh. BTW, I use the NCE ProCab DCC system (it's an American system, but it's really good -- much better than either Hornby Select or Elite).

I just want to mention to Craig that I happen to come across one of those Trix/Marklin entertainment carriages on Hattons today and snapped it up! I don't intend to use it to kitbash my E-train with it like Craig did. I just thought it was a unique carriage to add to my collection of unusual trains, and so I now have a new mission to buy the rest of the set and make a complete matching train, though I don't know much about German railroading, lol.

It might not be 100% perfect, but if you can take a photo of the module with a good camera under a high quality photography white light source, then print it out on a color printer and hold it up against the module, and then tweak the color in Photoshop a few times until it matches closely, you can then take that paper to any number of shops that will mix paint to that exact color. Most shops can then give you a color code for that custom color so someone else can take a train ride to that shop to purchase a jar of that paint. Hint-hint...

Same here. I'd like to be able to purchase a jar of that paint for when I make my "dining car." But in the absence of "E-Train Blue" paint, I'll probably do the same thing and mask the inside of some of the windows with black electricians' tape. Besides, that's less destructive anyway.

OMG! You're that Mr. Tilt?!?! That explains a few things! You must think I'm an idiot... I'm honored that you replied to my original question :-) But, again, I'd rather not take a scalpel to my train, not even the 2nd one that I plan to run in passenger service. I'll just pretend that you did actually put the hydraulics underneath, and that that box in the coach is a vending machine, lol. I might sacrifice one coach to make a dining car, but that's all. Do you think that you'll ever give excursion rides in it, even if it's just for a click or two once or twice a year? Oh, and here's the video of the disco party carriage...

Thanks for all your feedback (I gave both of you "Likes," UP4000 and MrTilt)! Since the APT-E never entered revenue service, I'm not gonna worry about being uber realistic. Like I said, I've left one train true to the prototype, and I want to run the 2nd train as a real passenger train and I just want to add several more coaches and not use the computer car; i.e. the consist will be: PC-1, a bunch of TC-1 coaches, and PC-2. Since TC-2 is the computer car, I'll not be running it on the 2nd train. Look back through this thread? Uhm, you do realise this thread is 171 pages long, eh? Do i plan on adding coach seats to the interiors of the TC-1s? No. Since this is such a rare and expensive train, I don't plan to make any destructive modifications to them or even weather them. I'm impressed at the detail that Rapido put into these trains as they are! Get rid of the tilt mechanism to make the model more authentic? No. I'm not gonna try to remove, modify, or disable the tilt mechanism (I wouldn't even know how to begin to do that -- you're a braver man than I to even plan to make such changes to your train). Though I am tempted to take one of my extra TC-1 coaches and turn it into a cafe or dining car by removing a window or two (if only I could match that blue paint exactly). And I also saw a video where someone installed a disco lighting system in an APT-E coach, lol. One of these days, I'd love to go to the NRM and learn more about the history of this train, though that picture book that came with my 2 trains was fascinating to read!

I had purchased two Rapido Locomotion APT-E trains. I've kept one true to the prototype with PC-1, TC-1, TC-2, and PC-2 in that order. The 2nd train is still in the box unused. I'd also ordered several extra TC-1 coaches and plan to assemble the 2nd train into a full passenger consist in revenue service. I would like to run the 2nd train without the "computer car," but the way the model is constructed I'd have to remove one of the "pancakes" from one of the TC-1 coaches to eliminate the "computer car" from the consist (otherwise I have an extra bogie where two carriages join together which obviously can't work). Anyone who owns one of these trains knows what I mean by all that. Are the "pancakes" bi-directional and can one be removed from one of the carriages entirely and set aside? Or are the "pancakes" built into the ends of the carriages? I don't want to sacrifice one of my coaches to find out the hard way.