CFL

You won't believe this, I have 2 CFL 2-6-0 shunters / light traffic locos 1 made by Roco and 1 by Fleischmann. The fabled Fleischmann stud underneath was touching the wheels which have a lot of lateral travel resulting in a short circuit - this was the loco I used for testing. I put the Roco loco on and everything went swimmingly. Next question: how to remove the perishing stud? I had a similar problem on my granddaugters layout where the stud caught the level crossing, superglue sorted that but I think something more pro is needed here.

Agreed. But here is something strange: I put the power feed at the end of the 'main' track where power showed, move to the next section of track and zero! I put the feed in the middle and now have power all over. The loco won't run as it has an ESU chip where I reset CV8=8 but don't know what address the chip is set to (I know, should be 3, but it doesn't respond). Pass me another loco please...

I tried all this when I first got my Z21. Basically Roco messed people up by saying router (implying internet connectivity) but they should have called it a wi-fi system, which it is and other than being dog ugly does the job. It is true, though, that Roco should have paid the extra tuppence and put a wi-fi in the black box just for the railway.

Okay, the story so far. I had to move the board and main track (thanks to the wife) which must have made something move, today the blue / green lights work fine and according to my smartphone no short. I did drop the tablet so that has gone for a new screen, should be back tomorrow. Not so easy bit, I put a loco on the prog track, gave it a number then placed it onto a long piece of straight acting as the main line. The loco doesn't move despite the lights being blue / green and no short circuit signal. Weird. By the way, I checked the voltages and they were okay - even according to Roco - but I have ordered crococodile clip wires for the tester as every modeller knows 2 hands are not enough!

See above, looks like the Z21 is fine so tomorrow I will drag some cable out to attach the Z21 to the computer. If you don't hear from me again then the Z21 killed the computer...

When trying to programme there is a short click from the Z21 then a green programming light. Only when I try to run the loco does everything go haywire.

With nothing on the tracks all is well both on my Samsung smartphone and Acer tablet. Both run Android. Put any loco on any track and there is an instant short (the Z21 cuts out). The 'tools' are the Roco software, tested and up to date. Programming & reading via the tablet.

I have a Z21 bought to run HO and HOe setups. I made a up a plank with section of each rail glued down then wires soldered from the track to a connector block and from there to the green prog track connector. After problems with constant shorts I put down 2 sections of track wired to the main track port. I tried 1 loco at a time on the prog tracks then the same on the main tracks having to swap the green connector each time, I also disconnected 1 of the tracks from the prog joiner to see if my dodgy soldering was the cause. POM was also tried but no joy, and you get no readback from the chip unlike the tablet. As I'm using Roco track I have yellow & blue wires taking care to keeep them on the same side. I turned down the output to 16v from 20v to be safe. Not a hope, whichever track and whichever loco I instantly get a short circuit warning. Does anyone have an idea before 1 of my chips goes fizz-pop! As usual Roco will be pleased to sell you something but assistance? Nope. Thanks in advance, Ian

Bit late here, but Roco/Fleischmann have just put out an update for the WLANmaus whereby you can change the lights while the loco / train is stationary ready for setting off. As before the app needs to run via a 'virtual android' programme on your PC.

Actually this would be early post-war, the CFL didn't have much stock left so when they got ex-German locos (and anyone else come to that) there was no way they were staying satin black and red, it was straight out with the matt black and a big brush. Note this is a goods loco - we didn't have enough intact track for an express! I have two ex-Prussian T9s in HO with slight differences but both are CFL class 32xx, again matt black.

I hang my head in shame and plead guilty. I wasn't aware that the european VAT had been taken off the selling price and replaced with a UK VAT at the time of import. There again if I order something costly from the UK will the UK VAT of 20% be deducted and I pay the Luxembourgish 17% VAT? Purely hypothetical as I already bought the DCC control unit from the UK, everything else comes from Germany and is most often used so VAT paid.

The CFL cheated, although they did use yellow for the markings

I have read about this arbitrary 20% extra on another model railway forum (at first it was believed to be eBay but then it was found out to be the government), but I think the major worry for the UK is if the government puts this 20% on necessary items such as food, clothing and even raw materials. Going to get expensive up there.

So, in essence, poor old Sx is heading the same way as the dodo. Just out of curiosity are there Sx specific controllers out there?

I checked the Trix museum page for the loco, as you say discontinued and hard to find (expensive if you do find one) but what was interesting was that the loco came with a large panoply of sounds, these could all be operated under DCC but none under Sx. As you said earlier it looks like Märklin / Trix still offer Sx compatibility but as a legacy, not for modern or future offerings. I wonder if they will kill it off but there again what does it cost them to include the Sx?

It is a Trix HO 22180, I suppose the seller could have had it on a shelf for a while but the list of DCC operaple items is comprehensive. I really don't think it is an '80s leftover.

Well the PDF pretty well covered all the questions, it covers 6 D&H decoders supplied to various manufacturers. The chips can be programmed in DCC if attached to DCC control unit (like my Gaugemaster). The chips can be programmed in Sx if attached to a Sx control unit. The chips can be programmed in DCC and Sx if attached to a multi-protocol control unit (very expensive). The chips stay programmed as they were set but can be reprogrammed to another protocol later. If using a multi-protocol controller the chips can be switched from one protocol to the other - they do not do so automatically. The rest covers standard programming setups and CV's etc. So, that seems like my question is answered. Once again thanks for all the helpful input all, cheers, Ian

Sorry about the spelling, I must have been thinking of my kid brother's Scalextric. One thing of note is that the seller called it DCC - / - Sx which hints at it being both systems capable. Older Trix digital locos are all marked Sx, as if they only work with that system.

I'm wary of the word *should* as it used by second-hand car salesmen! Joking aside the loco is a modern one and the seller claims it to be brand new so I would go along with the idea of it being switchable and even switching itself automatically. In the meantime I have sent a mail to Gaugemaster asking their opinion, when I get a reply I will gloss over where they try to sell me one of their chips and put the rest of the reply here. Fingers crossed, I want that BR18 for my Rheingold Express.

Hi all, I just made a bid on a Trix loco which the seller marked as DCC-/-Sx decoder. Now I have a Gaugemaster Prodigy² to run my DCC layout but upon checking up I see Sx is Selextric and unique to Trix/Märklin. What I need to know, and can't find out is if the Guagemaster and Sx are compatible? If not I have a problem and may have to beg the seller to withdraw my bid. Here's hoping you can help, Ian

Bingo the grabhandles at the top of the door, they are tiny bits of plastic probably only tacked on with a touch of glue and I knocked them off with the wires when fitting the decoder. I shall send you a coconut forthwith!

And the Liliput:

Okay, sol is in the sky so I took some photos of the locos, the first 4 are of the Fleischmann which lost the 2 pieces (they look like covers or drop down steps but none seem to be missing) and the second 4, for comparison, are the 'same' locomotive by Liliput however as I mentioned before there are an awful lot of detail differences. If anyone wants a closer view of an area let me know and I will whip the Brownie out again. Cheers, Ian

Like I said it is the Fleischmann model of the generic T9.3 in CFL livery (3023), I have the same from Liliput (3003) but there are a myriad of detail differences, for instance the Liliput has an open coal bunker (awaiting real coal) but the Fleischmann has the bunker closed with 'steel' plate. Both were from before I lived, let alone in Luxembourg!

I was chipping my Fleischmann T9 CFL locomotive when two identical parts fell off at exactly the same time. I have looked at exploded diagrams of the loco but they do not seem to be shown. Both are metal (thus not broken) and seem to be hinged. If anyone knows then I would be keen to know where they fit, otherwise they have to stay in the box until I find someone with the same loco. Thanks,