APT Fan

Wiring looms and resistors in. Also rear cab wall added using plasticard (thanks for the link).

Why are the Realtrack sound decoders so expensive? I mean, you are forced into buying two decoders due to the DMU setup but that shouldn't justify a charge of £160-£180 just to add sound when the actual hardware costs are what £20 maximum? I understand time has gone up to make the sound files etc. but these prices are way over the top just for the sound. That's on top of purchasing the actual model which is arguably justifiable due to its quality. £400 plus for a two car DMU with sound seems an awful lot to me.

It is a Coastal DCC decoder! Its very good, although I would like the horn sound to be longer. I have another Mainline 56 on the bench ready for DCC conversion, make a good candidate for testing this when its ready.

I haven't had the sound fitted 56 for long, I've never had sound before. When you say 'settled', is it just a question of listening until the engine sounds like it 'idling'? I get the impression that mine has a brake release and consequentially a slight delay too before moving off. I will pay a bit more attention the next time I run it.

Well the acceleration (CV3) has been discussed in the thread, and I suspect that was my main issue when using two different decoders. I do know what you mean though, I have another brand new Hornby 56 with a Loksound 5 sound decoder and it won't do anything until its been through its startup sequence. Even when I turn the throttle, I'm not exactly sure when it will take off or how long it will take to get the desired speed.

Bit of an update. The two Locos are both Mainline 56's and both have Zimo MX637P22 decoders fitted. On the test track, starting them on opposite sides of the track, they are pretty evenly matched but eventually after quite a few minues of running one will catch the other. When coupled together startup can be a little irratic with slight differences in when they take off and kind of nudging each other which can result in a momentary loss of power. I'm a little disppointed with this as they've both got stay alive but the cap's probably aren't large enough. If I pay careful attention lining everything up I can get them to pull nicely at slow speeds, it isn't 'perfectly' smooth though and I do fear for de-rails. I will say that the test track isn't great, its a mixture of steel and nickel rails and the curves are first radius, so on the positive side there should be scope for improvement with properly fitted track. These do look pretty evenly matched, is it possible to get an exact speed match?

Interesting read this thread, I've just had a go at a consist with two identical Class 56s. They are on addresses 5 and 6. I've set them up with an advanced consist by setting CV19 to 20 (consist address) in both decoders and set both CV21 and CV22 to 255 so that the consist has control of all the functions for now. So far so good, address 20 operates both locos together and addresses 5 and 6 operate them independently still. However, surprisingly the speeds are slightly different and when I checked they have different makes of decoder fitted. I'm going to change the decoders to two identical types to see if that could be an easy fix before getting involved with the speedmatching side.

Yeah I was thinking along those lines, what is the best material to use? I've seen plastic card being advertised, but I wouldn't know where to start in terms of what to buy.

It looks like the cab insert on these locos does not extend all the way to the ceiling, so I guess this will cause light bleed into the engine compartment? Is there a solution to this?

I think its probably a mistake to use white paint to prevent light bleed, the idea was to prevent the yellow warning ends darkening from black background paint. I can go back over any areas with an issue though, part of the learning experience. I had problems gluing the LEDs onto the back of the fibre's, so I'll probably prefix them next time. Just sizing up the resistors now, I'm probably going to need some 20k resistors as headlight lenses are passing loads of light, much more than the 56s I'd converted earlier this year.

Right, so the rear light fibre optics are in now and I'm just fitting the LEDs to them. The optics have been painted red to improve the look when they are not lit. I thought I'd have a quick check to see how they look using a diode tester. Looks reasonable in terms of light bleed into the yellow warning area, but I am conscious that they will be significantly brighter when power is applied. Normally I'd go 10K for rear lights but might go 20K this time. I'll see how they look on test and decide from there.

I've had to have a re-read of this thread a few times now and I think I get it in terms of that replacement motor and assocaited bogie. My question is whether the motor can just be replaced with an improved one in the existing bogie with the existing wheels? Thanks

I have a Lima Class 47, it isn't particularly spectacular or eye catching so I thought I'd have a go at some modest improvements. I've added a DCC decoder and connected the motor to it. Removed the Headcodes and added LEDs. Added cab lighting. ...And also drilled for and prepared fibre optics ready for the rear lights. Then there are a couple of other other details such as painting hand rails and wipers.

Very impressive model which seems to have been completed in record time! You should be proud of yourself, well done. I'm not a fan of weathering, I guess its a personal thing as I just don't get. In my mind, my loco's have just left the depot after being through the washer.

I've added some more detail, electric flashes and a littel bit of paint! I've actually painted some of the inside of the cab area white to give it a bit of internal reflection from the cab light. I'm probably now at the limit of what can be improved given the level of detail of the original model and my own abilities. I still haven't decided how to tackle the rear steps. Tell you what, its got great low speed running, its been happily crawling around a less than perfect loop for the past hour. I think its helped giving it a bit of high speed running first.

Looks good, I like the buffers!

Which bits were you thinking of? The large logo will look very impressive in 7mm scale I think. Could you please tell me what colour you have used for the electrical connector? I have some older Lima loco's which could do with a coat.

I have a few 56's but they are all OO gauge, I haven't come across an O gauge version from any of the main manufacturers (I have now seen Dougal's thread). However, I have noticed that Heljan are due to release a 56 model early next year. Looks an interesting project, especially the 'provision for a smoke unit'. https://www.hattons.co.uk/newsdetail.aspx?id=597

I'm a bit confused? You've used a bag of OO ballast and then formed it into a mound using PVA glue? I'm guessing that isn't the final colour? Thanks.

Hi, Could you please tell me who the manufacturer of the '56 is? Thanks.

Great thread Dougal, please keep the picture updates coming. Have you decided on a livery? BR blue with large logo everyday for me with the Class 56.

So the only solution for the lighting to be fully authentic is to use four outputs for the four LEDs. For me it would mean losing my cab lighting function as its only a four function controller.

HaHa! looks almost identical to my workbench, cutting board, crocodile clamps, brushes etc. even a shunter in the background! A couple of questions, was this loco factory fitted with two motors or have you added the second? Also I'm very interested in how you are going to backlight the headcodes, have you bought replacement units? I have a couple of Lima Deltics which have painted on headcodes and I'd like to backlight them but haven't decided how to do it yet. Thanks.

I think this has turned out to be a much neater installation than the previous 56, soldering the 1206 resistors wasn't too bad after all. I like the Plux22 breakout connector, much easier to bring all the wires in as there are now 11 wires including the stay alive circuit. I'm not sure the stay alive is working very well, it measures 13v but then drops rapidly to like 2.5v within a second. However during installation a strange thing happened, I had a brand new unopened packet of 10000uF caps, took one out and fitted it. I've noticed since that the remaining capacitors are all marked as 1000uF despite looking physically large enough to be 10KuF, so perhaps its too small, I'll try a different manufacturer when I get the time. Does anybody have a preferred method of testing a stay alive circuit? Thanks.

Not sure I understand? Is the loco pushing a train, so you want the head lights off and the tail lights on? Is it a four function decoder? If so, I think its doable.