ohmygoodnessme

First time I've seen the Märklin decoder mentioned in combination with the Cavalex 56 - up until now, 59619 and 59629 (nmra compliant) have been mentioned. I'm assumung you've checked that 59659 works and doesn't damage the circuitry connected to pins 4 and 13 in the locomotive ?

and n gauge. Agree with your sentiments in this Email but disagree with §8 of your post from Wednesday 16:46. I think Accurascale have done a really good job here and provided couplings which provide a 1 mm distance between Mk2b coaches at rest (what is wrong with that?) which will go round radius 2 curves and their couplings are aligned (height, tail length) with previous offerings, it would be great if they could supply a Buckeye magnetic coupler instead of the generic couplers which are pleasantly simple and robust (Westhill wagon works take note) and the same length as their other (Dellner, Bar) couplers and hopefully will be made available as spares. You do not say what your "standard" Roco couplings are, but my experience with Roco 40271 is that they are binworthy after initial use. Hornby R8220 (more reliable) will give you a 4mm gap between Accurascale Mk2b. I've also trial fitted Fleischmann (which is associated with which other manufacturer to which you allude?) 386515 couplings, perhaps the Accurascale supplied alternative nem pockets will enable these to be used (let's put this in perspective, which manufacturer has to date supplied alternative nem pockets....)

Thanks for the useful contributions to this thread, particularly from the the past few pages. I bought an Accurascale 2b with the aim of modelling an early Mk2c and particularly enjoy the “robust yet polite disagreeing agreeably” posts on colours. Food for thought as I think about a Trans-Pennine rake. Delivery: Try not to waste any time thinking about or chasing as I did as there is nothing you can do about it. I had a similar experience last summer. Sent with Anpost, the parcel definitely reached DHL Germany but it was sent back. Despite phoning DHL and actually speaking to several helpful human beings, they couldn’t tell me why I didn’t get the parcel, that the sender would be informed of the reason and I never did find out why. It took a couple of weeks before the parcel was resent from Ireland. Couplings: If you are mixing Accurascale 2b with Bachmann, a plug and play close coupling option is Hunt Elite C in the Accurascale and Hunt “Buckeye” for Bachmann (Mk1, 2a). The coupler steps down and compensates for the too high, too far back nem coupling on Bachmann coaches. Saves having to bolt a coupler (e.g. a Kadee) on the underside of the Bachmann nem pocket, historical bodge to couple Bachmann Mk1 and 2 to coaches from other manufacturers. This will get you close coupled coaches that will (in my case) happily run round radius 2 curves. Coach height: I haven’t found a height issue mixing Accurascale 2b with Bach 2a. Bachmann’s first generation Mk1 BG (e.g. 39-180, 39-181) sits too high but this isn’t a new issue. I’ve lowered mine, straightforward enough but there are pitfalls, a topic for another thread. If you're modelling Trans-Pennine, Bachmann's 39-181 is a useful starting point for a NEA. Roof hatch: To model a 2c roof from Accurascale's 2b, there’s a very useful brass etch Ref. P135 for Mk2d/e still showing as available at southernpridemodels.co.uk (you need to go to menu British Rail Mk1 then British Rail Parts 1). The business is winding down so how long do you have to get these? The Mk2f hatch is larger and Ref. P136, also still available. Roof vents; Thanks to Flood for the 2b to 2c mod. I did think the Shawplan etches looked the same shape but not high enough. I might try that. There are some GM style vents Ref. P129 at southern pride models but I’m not sure they’re the right shape?

Not quite: Railtec, Replica and Hurst electrification 80’s/90’s flash transfers cover the Bachmann 1:1. The fox transfer on Ref. F4214 is longer (taller). Rather odd. The data panel on 35-412 is in the wrong place for 47712. The Bachmann decals can be softened with white spirt and rubbed off gently with a cotton bud but this will leave you with a shiny spot. If you are thinking of adding the aerial which was in undercoat reddy orange on 712, I wouldn‘t use a 250 GBP model to practice fitting a Shawplan 45-39 to. My method is to paint the aerial whilst still on the etch, then cut off, hold in place in the middle and one end with blu-tac, swipe the back with superglue and press down. The builder plate is available as a 3D transfer from Railtec. Useful for renumbering 35-415 to 47712. The headlight lenses have a rippled effect on them which isn‘t prototypical for the late 1980‘s model but I‘d advise leaving these as they are.

Shawplan Ref. 47-06 for the marker light surrounds. Useful for modifying the Vitrains headlight surround which is a bit odd. Rail-tec transfers Ref. 9960 3D domino headcode dots. Ideal for replacing the oversized ones on the old Bachmann 47, useful if you need to alter the position of the dots (e.g. 47546), useful if you've lost one or both of the Vitrains 47 headcode domino inserts.

There are two. ESU Ref. 59629 is the 21 pin ESU Lokpilot 5 DCC chip. 59619 is the other 21 chip you can purchase and use, the rrp is slightly higher as it has Motorola®, Selectrix® und M4 capabilities, which we don't need.

According to Dapol's website, the 6 function decoder is 2 powered plus 4 logic (switch) functions. The imperium 8 function decoder is 4 powered plus four logic. The Dapol 121 has (amongst its other foibles) power transistors on the circuit board to power up the logic outputs. ESU has boards with amplifiers (e.g. 51968) to upgrade logic functions to powered outputs, which were useful upto Lokpilot 4 series (which had 4 powered plus 2 logic) but the Lokpilot 5 series has 10 (!) powered outputs and on the 21MTC, possible access to another 4 logic outputs, so if ESU are designing the circuity for a locomotive, presumably they are accessing these logic functions and possibly powering them up? It's an interesting situation. By having ESU onboard (no pun intended), Cavalex and Accurascale bring their expertise to exploit and push functionality that otherwise possibly wouldn't be accessed. If ESU has the opportunity to use up to 14 functions then why not, it will steer punters wishing to use the functionality to ESU's Lokpilot as well. There's a potential downside for non ESU users, in that anything above Aux 3 can only be utilised if you fit a decoder with at least the same level of functionality (which Dapol clearly aren't) and then you have to program it. If you bought a new car with 7 speakers that the manufacturer had designed with Kenwood, but the car came without the stereo, would you buy and fit a Kenwood stereo or would you pop in there another stereo that you just happened to have which had an amp for two speakers, preamps for another 4 and no functionality for the subwoofer? Maybe as a stop-gap. If anyone has both the Accurascale 37 and the Cavalex 56 in front of them, are there similarities (e.g. cab lights on same Aux number, engine room lights on the same Aux number)? Cavalex have thoughtfully made the Lokpilot file downloadable but I'm in the opposite situation to everyone else. I have an ESU chip and a file but don't have the model yet. Regards

So in case you need to do this or as a reference for anyone else, the screwdriver shows the side clips holes. The bogie frame is very flexible, even clumsy levering won't break it. But when levering the bogie frame up and off, push the wheels down to prevent stressing the clip. Here's a view from above showing a piece of plasticard bolted onto the bogie to replace a broken clip.

Before you go any further: Does the chassis run in both directions? If it does, it is unlikely that there is a foreign body in the gear boxes as even a tiny obstruction in a gear will stop it turning. A clicking noise is more likely the brake rigging (loosely fitted inside the bogie frame from underneath in line with the wheels, its got the brake shoes on it) catching on a wheel. The gears were well lubricated when new without being over lubricated. I have been using them since they were released and have never needed to lubricate one. Rich's 2nd post on the thread that he details further down has the key point here. If you're doing this for the first time, there is a risk of you breaking the clips that hold the bogie in the chassis block. There aren't just the clips on the ends of the bogie keeper/bottom plate, each keeper plate has two clips on each side (visible on the photos, between the wheels) holding it onto the bogie. I've bought several that have needed this repair. If you do need to remove the bogie keeper plate, hold the chassis upside down and pull the bogie into the chassis with one hand to relieve any stress on the aforementioned clips whilst levering the keeper plate off the bogie with a screwdriver. It's well worth blackening the wheels of any Vitrains model.