uk_pm

Here's my first; 50 013 Agincourt. Great model, with a superb paint job. As usual, fitting a decoder was a bit of a faf. The pickups and motors are easy, but the lights are less so. To assist, the headlight wires are yellow (+)/blue, the head code lights and cab lights are the same LED and are white (+)/blue and the red marker light is green (+)/purple. Space in the body for two large speakers. Terrific.

... and in O gauge too: https://www.jandmhughesogauge.com/copy-of-rtr-2

... and, sadly, the shape of the roof.

Any chance of offering the Mk 2 coaches with factory-fitted DCC lighting?

Thanks Bernd, I have done likewise. Can’t wait to see the signal in action. Peter

Can anyone advise on a DCC decoder for these signals? I think that the decoders recommended for the earlier N and OO gauge signals are not appropriate for these signals - but I am not sure. All suggestions gratefully received. PM

Can anyone advise how to make these signals controllable with DCC?

Thank you. I hope it was a good - and well attended - show. I live in Kent, so it was too much of a hike for me, alas.

I’m looking forward to it too. I’m sure it has errors - but no more than those on my JLTRT fleet, lovingly, but cack-handedly constructed by yours truly over many hours and and at substantial cost. And it will come with the superb Heljan chassis and mechanism - the best in O gauge and OO by a country mile. One thing though; I notice from the CAD drawings that one end only has the pronounced hang-down above the buffer beam and below the head code. I think that is correct for locos which once had front-end doors, and later were converted so as to carry the head code box, but I think that locos built with the centre head code box from new had a flat-bottomed front end (as does one end of the CAD). Am I right? PM

Any news/sight of these at MIOG? PM

Any news/sight of these at MIOG? PM

Gosh. It isn't until you examine the prototype with a really critical eye that you appreciate all the subtle details in its shape. I have looked a little more critically than I have before because the CADs above simply do not look right. I agree that the dome above the cab appears too shallow, and so too angular (indeed, it reminds me of the available O gauge kit of the 56 which has never looked quite right) - though I appreciate that perspective is important (although it looks too shallow in all the CAD shots, to my eyes). Neither am I certain (from the attached photo) that the windows are parallelagrams; is the upper edge parallel to the lower edge? I am not sure. But also wrong, surely, is the sudden change of angle in the cab sides, just below the cab side windows. On the CAD there is a distinct line, where, on the prototype, no such line exists. That attached photo, I think, demonstrates the mistake. Note how the gradual taper of the cab is apparent in the line immediately behind the cab door (although I appreciate that the angle may become more pronounced towards the top). Note also that the bottom of the cab "dome" is rounded, whilst the top of the windscreen is flatter - creating a deeper recess in the middle of the cab windows (where the windscreen wipers are mounted) than is present at their outer edges. I can see that it is a really tricky shape. But I do hope that they can get it right, since this could be a model with real presence. On a different note, what, I wonder, is that device in the centre of the chassis behind the circuit board (and what are the plugs for in the chassis)? Smoke? Finally, and as always, the cab appears to be a work of art. I'm very excited about this one; I do hope they can get it spot on. PM

Sound projects are so subjective, but my view is that Legomanbiffo’s recordings and set up are the best on the market. As for fitting the decoder and speaker, it is a relatively simple wiring job and there is plenty of space in the body for one, and possibly two, really chunky speakers. Fantastic!

I've just been reading this thread and cannot go further without complimenting you on your beautiful AM10. Great modelling. Is there any footage of it running under the wires?

Having set this particular hare running, I'm interested to come back to after a few months. I'm still very dissatisfied with the acceleration capabilities of the Loksound 5. There is a real risk that I am being a complete moron (quite a high probability, in fact), but my experience suggests that CVs 3, 4 and 5 are, in fact, unusable in the Loksound 5. I say this because Bit 4 of CV 29 allows the programmer to choose between using these CVs (set to 0 - for the Loksound 5 DCC only, according to the manual) and 16 (speed curve through CV 67 - 94). It is, in fact, impossible to select Bit 4 of CV 29 to 0 in a European Loksound 5, so we are stuck with CVs 67 - 94. As far as I can tell, that also means that we are stuck with 27 speed steps. So, returning to my initial post, I have set CVs 67 - 94 so that the initial speed steps are set to low values, and I can have a nice slow initial pull away. But the quid pro quo is Concorde-like acceleration from around a scale 25 to 100. I'm sure there are many superior features of this decoder, but it doesn't feel like progress to me.

Thank you. As it happens I’ve had no success whatever (including when I attached a small motor to the white and blue wires), so I have used a loco decoder instead.

Thank you!

Many thanks for your helpful response, Nigel. I feel very thick asking this, but where do I connect the small motor (or resistor) on a decoder that has no motor outputs?

I have just acquired 2 MX680 function-only decoders - which are probably overkill given that I only want them to power a tail lamp in a freight train. However, I can't get them to work. I have wired up a red LED which briefly flickers when I connect the track power, but I am completely unable to program the decoder (using my ESU 50200), or read its settings. The manual does not assist, so I am wondering if someone on here may be able to. All assistance gratefully received. PM

Apologies. The emphasis in my question was meant to be on the word "current" (the majority of the activity on this thread being more than 2 years old). It may be that there have been no developments since then - which s a pity, since the class 50 made a wonderful din, not yet captured on any DCC project IMHO.

Lovely vids. With an O gauge 50 due in a few weeks, it’s worth restating the original question at the head of this thread: what is the current state of play with class 50 sound decoders?

A huge thank you to Wolf for replying to my original question so promptly on Saturday. I was not expecting what was said in that reply and share the frustration, disappointment and incredulity of others on here to discover that the wonderful, prototypical acceleration achievable on the Loksound 4 was a mere bug which has been expunged from the new generation of decoders. I'm afraid that I consider the loss of that function as serious retrograde step. There was no discernible increase in acceleration times when I adjusted CV23 to 127, as advised above. As matters stand, I will steer clear of the Loksound 5, at least whilst I can. PM

I have just acquired 3 Loksound 5s. 2 are for Deltics. On the Loksound 4, I set CV3 to 255 and immediately have a fantastic slow departure and leisurely acceleration to a scale 100. The same setting on the Loksound 5, and the loco races away and is doing a scale 50 before the train is off the platform. It appears that CV6 does not operate at all, and CV23 appears in the mix as well - but lack of decent English instruction manual complicates matters. Any suggestions as to how I manage a slow take off and acceleration without the tedium of a speed table? PM

I agree; Bif’s blows the others away.