Soul Survivor

Yes, there is room to fit an ESU sugar cube inside the loco - but only built up to 7mm high.

I went with the SWD soundfile blown to a Loksound V5, it gives you the option to run on a single engine or twin engines. I coupled this with a Zimo 55x22x9 dual speaker (4ohm), which fits easily into the available space for the speaker. It produces a decent bass snarl to the engine sound, with other sounds such as horns, coupling, etc. remaining clear. However, it won’t beat the sound produced by an EM2 speaker!

I fitted a Digitrains ALZ 23x20x8 (8ohm) speaker in the fuel tank (facing upwards) and a YouChoos 18x13x7 (8ohm) speaker above the PCB - wired both in parallel. This produces a decent bass led engine sound without muffling sounds such as horns. The decoder is a Loksound V5 blown with Jamie Goodman’s excellent sound file. Roads & Rails has a video on YouTube of the Heljan Class 33 featuring this sound file - worth watching and comparing against the Legomanbiffo sound file.

Hi, Sometimes when I find space too tight for the ESU power pack mini I use this Train-o-matic power pack (which is fully compatible with ESU decoders). I purchase these from Richard at Roads & Rails. Hopefully, this provides you with another option. Peter

Hi, Does this mean you intend to offer for sale ESU Loksound V5 decoders preloaded with your sound project plus your custom ESU speaker system separately? Thanks, Peter

Hi, I recently fitted these light boards into an older version of the Bachmann class 20. I figured out most of the wiring as follows: Cab end plug to PCB RK - Common positive (+) FL1 - White lights (-) RL1 - Red lights (-) L- - Cab light (-) L+ - Cab light (+) AY - see note Nose end PCB FK - Common positive (+) FL1 - White lights (-) RL1 - Red lights (-) Unmarked connection - see note Note - I was unable to determine what each of these wires was for, so never used them and no issues have arisen. Connected the wires to the decoder as follows: RK, FK & L+ wires to the blue common positive wire Both FL1 wires to the white wire Both RL1 wires to the yellow wire Cab end L- wire to the green wire (AUX 1) Even though there are resistors fitted to each board, I installed a 10k ohm (0.25W) resistor to each individual negative wire to make the lighting dimmer. This can usually be further tweaked via CV’s. How I did the wiring may not work correctly with some sound projects if they are mapped to control the lights by separating them out to other AUX outputs. As a matter of interest who’s Class 20 sound project are you using? Cheers, Peter

I use these stay alives with ESU Loksound V4 & V5 decoders, the run times I tend to get are between 2 to 3 secs (with sound and lights both on). A couple things I find help achieve this, I adjust the run time via CV 113 to suit the particular loco it is fitted to - Default = 40 (0.66 sec) Max value = 255 (4.0sec) based on ESU’s quoted figures. I also leave the loco standing still, with track power on, for a couple minutes before use to allow the the capacitor to take up the initial charge. Hopefully this may help. However, I do hope somebody with technical knowledge answers your question regarding adding another capacitor as I’ve often wondered whether this is feasible or not. Peter

I currently have one of these available for sale on a well known auction website. Unused, but I have attached the necessary wiring to each input / output, can control four functions.

I purchased one of the other split headcode models (D11) from TMC, it had the same problem. However, with the body off it can easily be resolved as follows: Remove the internal cab seating / control panel section by removing the two very small screws that secure it to the chassis This will expose the wiring running to the lighting which you will need to ease out of the way to access the screw which holds the lighting panel in place The lighting panel can then be lifted upwards away from the chassis (this will expose the two lugs that help keep it in position) There is a black panel held in place by two clips over the front of the lighting LED array - ease this panel off Turn the panel over and you will see there is a gap beside each of the clips, this is where the light is bleeding through I filled both gaps with a very small amount of black tack to each Once reassembled, tested to find no more light bleeding through to the tail light lens Even though I resolved this problem I remain disappointed with the way the light penetrates through the black section of the headcode blinds, as clearly illustrated in your photo. Not yet decided as to how I’m going to resolve that particular issue!

It would appear a potential issue regarding incorrect wiring of the latest release has been discovered by some owners. Richard from Roads & Rails has posted a video on YouTube showing how to fix the problem.

I have installed three Jamie Goodman sound projects - classes 17, 25 and 33. The class 25 (which I’ve actually installed in a class 24) and the class 33 sounds are both excellent, each has an impressive cold start feature and they replicate the range and depth of the Sulzer sound convincingly, especially when running at slow speed. Disappointingly, I found his sound project for the class 17 not as good. The sound reproduction is spoilt by a low level background sound which appears to affect the clarity of the (twin) engine sound. Despite having two speakers installed in this loco (2W / 4ohms) I had to reduce the maximum volume level to keep the background sound from being so intrusive. The range of functions is not as comprehensive as those of a Legomanbiffo sound project, for example none of the three projects are set up with active braking and the sound to accompany this action. Which is a shame as all of the projects are loaded onto Loksound 5 decoders which allow three different braking actions to be set up. Like all sound projects they need to be paired up with decent sized speakers to extract the best possible sound. Both Roads & Rails and Digitrains have videos of Jamie Goodman / Engineman sound installs on YouTube.

Couldn’t see any obvious speaker pads on the circuit board, just two sets of pads with pickup wires attached from loco and tender respectively, plus another set of pads for the wiring going to the motor. The speaker in the picture is wired direct to the decoder. I just placed a sound decoder with its factory attached speaker there to give people an idea of how easy a sound install could be - even though I’ll opt for a more complex setup by installing a speaker in the loco as well.

Sorry, didn’t take a photo of that area. Did look at the upper part of the frames though and they appear open, certainly not a solid block of plastic or metal from what I could see.

A couple of additional photos showing close up of fire box light wiring plus tender with 21 pin sound decoder and sugar cube speaker in position.

Decided to have a look inside the loco and the tender, as I’m planning to install sound and working lamps in the near future. As can be seen from the photos of the tender the installation of a sound decoder and sugar cube speaker would be very straightforward. A nice touch in the tender is the pre-installed speaker resonance chamber, which is of a decent size. Apply a 15x11 sticky gasket speaker and you are good to go! I also like the fact the resonance chamber is a separate moulding, held in place with double sided tape, so it’s easily removed leaving space for a potential L25xW15xH13 twin speaker upgrade. Moving onto the loco. I found there is plenty of empty space towards the front of the smoke box (approx. L28xW15xH14mm). I may consider fitting a second speaker in here if I keep the original sugar cube set up in the tender. Plus there’s room to position another decoder which can control the lamps and the firebox light (saves have to install more wires between loco and tender). Regarding the pre-installed firebox lighting, I noticed this is powered direct from the track pickup wiring and not separately wired from the PCB in the tender. To control this lighting effect when on DCC, plus synchronisation with the coal shovelling sound, will require detachment from the pickup wires and rewiring to a decoder auxiliary output. Installation of the working lamps should hopefully be easy as I’ve found the area above the buffer beam and the fire box door to be of plastic construction. Hope this helps anybody considering installing sound (or possibly working lamps!)

I can see the loco ran well on your layout, without appearing to suffer from any interruptions to the power supply. If all of the models in this release perform like that straight out of the box then that alone will be a huge improvement over the previous models. I accept there is a limit as to how far a manufacturer wishes go when upgrading an existing model and the impact this will ultimately have on the selling price. As an enthusiast of sound fitted locos maybe I was expecting too much from this upgraded model! However, I still believe some of the enhancements I mentioned could have been included, such as resolving the droopy couplings, including the screw link coupling as a user add on accessory (like the brake shoes and sanding equipment), installing the cab interior bulkhead as a non-glued interference fit to ease DCC decoder fitting. Sensible minor improvements which I believe would have added little to the overall manufacturing cost. It is good to see this model returning to Heljan’s range and I’m sure it will once again prove popular. Correction In light of the recent price increase to £169 I now actually don’t think it will prove that popular.

Interesting to watch a fairly positive review of the forthcoming ‘upgraded’ Heljan Class 14 re-release. How disappointing though to see how many of the previous issues with this model have not been fully addressed and the opportunities missed to enhance the previous model. The change from 8 pin to 21 pin DCC fitting is a good move as it allows easier and quicker decoder fitment. But still there’s no provision for the fitting of a decent speaker and/or stay alive (which this loco needs if running on DCC). As for having to effectively break off part of the cab interior to enable removing the engine cover to install the decoder, that remains as ridiculous as it was on the previous model. The head code box lighting and directional lamps are an improvement and look way more prototypical. The lighting on the previous models, though much brighter, are leds and not incandescent as stated in the video. Droopy couplings! Surely these could have been sorted out during the upgrade. Also it would have been an improvement if the screw link couplings were supplied as an unfitted accessory so they don’t interfere with any tension lock or kadee coupling when fitted. Supplying a small insert piece to fill the hole in the buffer beam when the NEM pocket is not used would been a nice touch. Yellow colouration to the inside of the buffer beam and shiny plasticky buffers remain as per the previous model, yet another let down. The model still appears to waddle at slow speed, both on the rolling road and on the track. There seems to be as much sideways play in the axles as on previous models, affecting not only the motion but maybe the wiper pickups as well - hence why this model needs provision for the fitting of a stay alive if running on DCC. I’m grateful this video has been posted as I was intending to purchase one of the these newer models. Based on what I’ve seen it just doesn’t deliver the improvements I was hoping for, such as better running characteristics and provision for a loudspeaker or stay alive. Therefore, I’m going to give it a miss and keep fettling my two previous sound fitted models!

I’ve only had the experience of two different controllers. My first controller being the Bachmann Dynamis, the limitations of which became quickly apparent so got rid of it. After visiting Digitrains in Lincoln, where they provided me with some very good advice plus demonstrations of different systems / controllers, I settled on purchasing the Digikeijs DR5000 command station. However, I didn’t purchase a controller. Instead I download the Z21 app to my iPhone so I could set up my phone as a wireless controller. Since then I’ve also done the same with my iPad. The simplicity and flexibility of the app is what I really like. It’s very easy to add a loco with all of its functions. Symbols and text mean there’s no more having to remember function numbers or rely on crib sheets. You can upload and add images of your locos, so they are visually easy to find, so no need to remember loco addresses. To activate a loco you just select it from the lower ribbon menu. To move between active locos you swipe the screen left or right. I’ve added some screen shots of the controller windows for my Accurascale Deltic to give you an idea of what it looks like. Gosh! I almost forgot to mention that you don’t have to laboriously remap function keys to get them into the order you prefer them in. Instead you just tap, hold, and slide them into the position you want on whichever of the controller screens you choose. Currently, I believe the Digikeijs DR5000 sells for about £200. As the app is free and I guess you already have a smartphone, you should have no further costs. This is just my personal experience and recommendation which I hope is of some help.

Hi Terry, I would suggest checking out Roads & Rails website. They sell Train-o-matic Smart Power packs (stay alives) in two different sizes, they come pre-wired with the three wires required to connect to ESU decoders. They can be installed, set up and controlled just like the ESU equivalent for half the cost.

If you have a Lokprogrammer you can read and identify which version it is. Alternatively here is a screenshot of the different versions (this information was originally posted by Richard at Roads & Rails). Note if the connected speaker has 100ohms printed on the back, the decoder will most likely be a v3.5. If the speaker shows 4ohms or 8ohms the decoder will either be a v4 or a v5.

On receipt of my loco I discovered one of its brake pads loose in the inner packaging. After investigation, with the aid of a torch and optivisor, I found it was relatively easy to manipulate it back into place with tweezers (without removing the bogie or the bogie frames). There’s a slot in the upper part of the inner bogie frame it fits into. Did a ‘dry fit’ trial first, then applied a spot of Deluxe Glue n Glaze and refitted. Job’s a good ‘un!

I would not advise changing the value of CV323 as it controls AUX 7. On the factory installed Loksound chip AUX 7 is mapped to F23 which controls the Yard lights on Deltics fitted with Wipac lighting.

I’ve not seen anything in the enclosed documentation or the Deltic section on the website showing this information. I read the following data from the factory installed Loksound chip using an ESU Lokprogrammer. F11 Tail lights - AUX 1 for No.1 end, AUX 2 for No.2 end. They are set up to change over automatically when loco direction is changed. F12 Cab lights - AUX 3 for No.1 end, AUX 4 for No.2 end. They are set up to change over automatically when loco direction is changed. They are not set up to automatically switch off when loco moves off. F22 Night lights (Wipac only) - AUX 5 for No.1 end, AUX 6 for No. 2 end.* F23 Yard lights (Wipac only) - AUX 7 for No. 1 end, AUX 10 for No. 2 end.* *As my Deltic does not have Wipac lighting fitted I forgot to check if these lights are set up as directional. I assume they are, but will double check tomorrow and edit post accordingly. F25 Engine room light - AUX 11 Hope this helps. I can confirm the Wipac lighting sets are set up for directional changeover.

Glad to hear you have everything back up and running again. It could possibly be the weight of the loco requiring the need for a higher start voltage. In my experience most of my locos seem to perform well with CV2 set to 1. However, I do have a couple that needed this value increasing. In particular one of my Heljan locos had to be increased to a value of 10 to get decent slow speed running!

Sorry hear you have encountered this problem. The default setting for CV29 is 30.