Eveannessant

There's a photograph of D1062 Western Courier in Maroon with yellow buffer beam, no location is given. But as it's preserved on the SVR, I suspect that it's a livery applied in preservation? There isn't as far as I can tell any record of the this livery having been applied to this loco during BR service. Is it photo'd somewhere near the rear of Kidderminster SVR Diesel depot? But there's that Guy in a BR uniform pointing...............................

Ha ha ha, a thought just struck me; it would seem that two Maybach motors have been removed and have been replaced by a single Sulzer.........😂 Eveannessant

Halvarras you must be the worlds most fanatical Warship fan ever........! With regard to your Epoxying :-), should it ever fail, I'd recommend trying Bondrite Adhesives S1300 or even better S1500 MMA's they're structural adhesives, much better than epoxies. https://bondrite.co.uk/adhesives/structural-methacrylates-epoxies/ Thanks for posting your brilliant story. Eveannessant.

Thanks Patrick, good of you to share. Cheers, Eve

Hi Patrick, good of you to commit to posting a circuit diagram, thanks. I've always found Zimo decoders to be better than ESU, not quite so much on diesels, but especially so on steam outline locos. I've had bad experiences with Bachmann's Hall, even the quick auto fix CV didn't work and in fact made matters worse......never had any troubles with Zimo's. Having said that I do have ESU Loksound's, mostly in some of my diesels, and they seem to be ok. I guess I'm just a Zimo fan! I have Zimo MX644D sound decoder's in both my Warships, they run so very smoothly. Eve

I really admire your dedication with the old Mainline version of Warship. I can't quite make out on the photo whether or not the second motor is wired up, or indeed, whether or not it is a motor? It's been so long ago when I had a Mainline Warship I can't remember what the non powered bogie looked like. Anyway getting rid of traction tyres is always going to be a benefit. I might have done similar if a late Bachmann chassis hadn't come along at a bargain price. A circuit diagram of the vero board components would be nice if you would be so kind as to post it, can't make out the resistor values, trim pot values and what the integrated circuit is. To me the value of this information would be for application to other models, as I already have two sound enabled later Bachmann Warships. Maybe it might be useful for older Hornby models with pancake motors etc.. Eve Wallis

Thanks for a very useful posting. Do you know if a class 42 shell from a later 21pin chassis will fit on the class 43 chassis? This information would pretty well complete most of the options available for Warship fanatics :-) Cheers, Eveannessant

I know that this thread is old, but there's an important point being missed if an NCE UTP is used with a 12vdc source, the instructions MUST be closely followed, with the incoming RJ12 lead (from the NCE Power Pro or Power House) being connected to the correct RJ12 socket as is marked on the UTP PCB. This stops 12 vdc being back fed in to the Powerhouse or Power Pro controller, which apparently can cause major issues that can only be resolved by NCE. Presumably the same is true with the Powercab and SB5 booster combination? I've used the DCC Concepts Alpha Panels, but I cannot find any documentation regarding this issue, nor is the PCB marked in any way. I'm very tempted to add a NCE UTP in my cab bus at an appropriate place if it ever needs more power, that way I can be certain. As is stated above DCC Concepts "manuals" are at best confusing and in some cases misleading. I think that there's far too much sales bull**** and not enough facts. That being said the staff at DCC Concepts are some of the most helpful people that I've come across, and the company's after sales care is second to none.

Oh,........ itseems that TCS UK has been discontinued? Shame, John Russell was always very helpful. Now I do have a UWT 100, it's better than an iPhone with wiThrottle, but no better than a iPad with wiThrottle IMHO. I find the screens on smart phones too small. The most annoying thing that I've found with my UWT 100 is that it doesn't display 28 speed steps, ok it will still control any loco with whatever speed steps entered into a decoder, but it only ever displays 128 speed steps. If anyone else knows how to alter this, I'd be very thankful for the information. Other than that it's fine, a good easy to use simple and intuitive throttle, very similar to an NCE Procab / Powercab, both of which I love using. However because of the speed step issue I rarely use it, because it makes controlling an express train really frantic, having to keep turning the thumbwheel or push buttons repeatedly........................If I want an untethered throttle I'll use my iPad. Regards, Eveannessant

Hi, I know that this thread is old, but so am I........... I've neaarly finished building a Comet Std 5 chassis, I have a Bachmann body for it, but I'm after a BR1F tender for it, so that it can represent one of the 73110 - 73119 batch of loco's. What RTR models used the BR1F tender other than some of Bachmann's std 5's ? Is there a Hornby BR1F tender? and is there a version with decoder mounts inside at all??? Cheers Eve

The delays to producing 00BH slips, diamond crossings, med rad turnouts, after the availability of 00BH streamline track (is it 4 or 5 years now?), must have caused many to build their own items, as I have........................so there's a silver lining to many a cloud. Necessity is the mother of learning new skills. Peco double and single slips? I'll believe it when Hattons and Rails have them in stock.

Hi, love your alias name! If you read my post again, you'll see that I stated that it was the encoder that was at fault. This is the electronic device that the knob controls................ Actually, if it wasn't for the very common encoder fault, for the price the MRC / GM PA2 would be good value.

I know that this thread is way old by now, however for the benefit of others in the future that may be faced with this dilemma I will add my own experience of both. Originally when first setting out on the DCC path I chose a Gaugemaster (GM) Podigy Advance squared (PA2) this is a rebadged MRC product. At first I was very happy with it, but after a short time the speed control knob wouldn't work properly, I eventually had 3 of these located around my layout plus I also had a wireless version too. All 3 wired versions had the problem with the speed control knob at some time or other. In the meantime my layout grew ever larger, and I purchased DCC Concepts alpha power and alpha box with a alpha central points control unit, and all the cross over conversion cables to enable running with PA2 system. I soon got tired of paying for posting back handhelds to GM, and requested they post out the defective part replacement (an encoder) which I could easily replace my self. They always refused to do this much to my annoyance, and although they would always repair or replace without charge, the fault would recur 8-9 months later. So I sold all of my GM PA2 stuff, I'd had enough of it! Maybe GM & MRC have now replaced their awful encoders with more reliable versions in later years, maybe with the back lit version of their handheld??, but my expereince with them was for over 6 years. I then purchased an NCE Power Cab and integrated it with the DCC Concepts alpha items, this is so very, very, much easier to do with NCE equipment, no converter cables needed. But I needed more hand held throttles etc., and soon upgraded to the full blown 5 amp Power Pro system, and have since added a Wi Trax WFD 30 card and a TCS UWT 100 Universal wifi throttle to my system as well another NCE Booster when I divided my layout into two power districts. I have never been happier than I am now with my NCE system. Oh and the very versatile PowerCab is used as another throttle or to program accessories and dcc equipped locos on a separate programming track. I also noted soon after purchasing the PowerCab, that the encoder manufacturer, part number and where to purchase from is shown in the owners manual, I got mine from RS, they're pretty much "cheaper than chips". No I haven't had to replace one yet either, they're there just in case. I'd also add that the DCC Concepts Alpha Boxes are now redundant for the time being because the Alpha Central unit just plugs into the NCE command bus in exactly the same way as any other NCE piece of equipment does. The Alpha boxes are now going to be used as a booster, BUT to control separate DCC layout accessory buses. Bottom line in my experience is this; No matter if I hadn't had any problems with the GM throttles, I'd still have been be better off with the NCE equipment. I should have purchased NCE when I started out with DCC. Cheers, Eve

Great stuff, but a common crossing jig would be a most useful tool, perhaps similar to the 00 gauge DCC Concepts jigs, which I've found to be exceptionally useful. Now building 0 gauge I find that it's such a struggle to find equivalent items that I just took for granted in 00 gauge. Yes 0 gauge is enchanting and I'm slowly turning............... Cheers, Eve

Anyway I posted earlier that I'd be taking the loco apart to look for errant issues........... Well, I ran it today and the short circuit with momentary stalling issues seem to have gone, so I'll leave well alone for the time being, until I purchase an 0 gauge rolling road that supports all 3 driving wheels and I'll leave it running for a couple of hours to bed all the components in. I will admit tht we're supposed to run the loco's in DC first, but I have never done so with my other locos to any detriment at all. I did run it for 20 mins or so, up and down my test track before fitting the decoder, and it seemed to not be very smooth at low speeds. Cheers, Eve

Thanks for your comments John, I have refitted the errant gears supplied by Howes (I know that Gaugemaster are now the UK agent) on my Hymek, and I'm aware that someone other than Ultrascale manufactures brass replacements, but for the life of me I can't remember who, I'd like to know though if anyone else could inform us. Don't want to be aggresive at all, but unlucky or lucky?, sorry but this shouldn't really be an issue at all, considering the prices of locos, stock, and decoders. My experience with Loksound decoders are that they're ok in my 4mm diesels, not a worry at all. However as explained to me by "Wheeltapper" steam locos generally have much larger driving wheels and slight irregularities of currents to and from motor and decoder are much magnified at slow speeds. I had other locos e.g a 4mm Manor with Comet chassis and mashima motor and ran "ok ish" with a loksound, but the Bachmann Hall with only a 3 pole motor was an absolute mess. As I stated earlier, it also ran "ok ish" after rebuilding. I've never had an issue with a Zimo sound decoder in over 50 locos. This includes other Bachmann locos with 3 pole motors. Cheers, Eve

There seem to be a lot of Loksound issues on this thread, most of which I've experienced on a 4mm Bachmann Hall loco, I found the Loksound 5 totally infuriating, the self tune up just made matters worse, eventually it came to a choice of either a new Zimo decoder or a Comet chassis, I couldn't ascertain whether I had a mechanical fault or an electronic fault. A Comet chassis, Mashima motor, Branchlines multi box, and Markits romford wheels solved the problem to a certain point, BUT it still didn't run as smoothly as my Zimo equipped locos. I only use Zimo now. I've started to get into 0 gauge and have a Heljan Hymek which had gear problems, a Dapol pannier which is wonderful, and now a 43xx which stutters and shorts going forwards and runs perfectly in reverse..........Great to see all the posts in this thread to now know that seems normal for this model !, ugh, I won't be buying Heljan again. I fitted a Zimo sound decoder from You Choos and it's not a very difficult task, all the solder pads are marked on the original PCB and the Zimo board is also marked and has better markings on the accompanying leaflet. Interestingly the Zimo MX644D decoder is a little lightweight for 0 gauge at 1.2 amps continuous, but the adaptor board is actually a booster which can give out 1.8 amps continuous, and also has direct connection ability for stay alive. I'll be removing the loco body later today the see what the cause of poor forward running is. Cheers, Eve

Both my class 42 Warships are of the later type with PCB's, I have installed both with ZIMO MX 644D sound decoders from You Choos, and I haven't noticed any roughness when starting or running at any speed. The decoders are just plugged into the onboard 21 pin socket. Only the speaker wires needed to be soldered to the foot of the socket. Maybe the decoder CV settings on your Zimo MX 638D could be the cause of any roughness? Cheers, Eve

Thanks Ray and Chris for continuing this thread, it is indeed food for thought. Oh & by the way, on the class 42's I found that by removing some of the plastic lumps opposite the attachment lugs on the inside of the body, the body will sit down on the chassis better so that the issue with the cab steps is dealt with. Cheers, Eve

Well it looks as if you have a 1424! If you've measured across the curved sides it should actually be 15.75mm, now if you measure across the flat sides (midway along the length) it'll measure 13.79mm or very close to it if you measure the length it'll be very close to 24.53mm. Many people including dealers call this a 1424, some call it a 1424 flat can, but to be pedantically correct as Mr Mashima designated it, it's a 1624. When using it with a Branchlines MultiBox, the motor is usually mounted with curved sides top and bottom, flats to either side. It can be confusing............

Hi, I'm also having problems with a non split chassis Bachmann Hall (32-001 6937 Conyngham Hall). It ran ok with a TCS decoder, but I've now fitted an ESU Loksound V5 decoder and double Ice Cube speaker. The model now runs very poorly, even after removing the capacitors, I've tried the ESU auto tune with CV54 and it ran worse, I've followed the ESU V5 manual, and altered CV's 51 to 56 and 116 to 119, and it still runs very poorly, I do think that the problem is with the 3 pole motor. I've removed the motor and it rolls along very smoothly, so I'm pretty sure that there's no mechanical faults. I've also used the same decoders in two other models equipped with Mashima 5 pole motors and got them to run quite smoothly, other Bachmann & Hornby steam loco's have Zimo sound decoders and they run silky smooth, and in my honest opinion are a much better decoder than the Loksound. Has anyone else had the same or similar problems with this model and decoder combination, and has anyone got a set of CV values that cured the problem? Before I commit to major surgery and fit a Mashima motor and Branchlines gearbox to this model......... I know that a Mashima 1424 (confusingly called a 1624) flat can fits in the Bachmann Std 5, so it might just fit the Bachmann motor mounting.

Oh yeah, it works now, maybe Hornby was doing something with it earlier? Thanks anyway for your posting. Cheers, Eve

Thanks RAF96, Unfortunately the schools file was unavailable on the Hornby link when I tried it. Thanks GWRtrainman, That's great, I can now see which function key is "supposed" to do what! I've only just fitted this old V3.5 decoder into my "Blundells" loco, after having to wait for a 100ohm speaker to arrive through the post. Kind Regards Eve

Hi Ray, No I don't think that sound has been compromised, it's not really possible to mount the speakers under the chassis in fuel tanks on the Warships. Space to mount speakers is very limited. I haven't used BluTack, Black Tack has much more adhesion, if I was really worried I'd have used a structural MMA (Methyl Methacrylate Adhesive) such as Bondrite S1500. Anyway you can see the roll of black tack in the first photo, it can be a bit of a pain to cut some off the roll, and the backing paper. I got my roll from You Choos. Going back to your photo's of the class 43 chassis, it's struck me that the class 42 bodies might well fit, maybe after altering the under body in the cab footstep areas. I don't have a need to do this, but I'd be interested to know if anyone has done it or not. Is the Class 43 body any different to the class 42, with respect to grills and exhausts etc? If it's the same , a simple identity change might be a much more sensible option. Cheers, Eve