RFS

Come April 1st it'll probably still be for sale .....

These coaches have pickup bars on the bogies similar to those fitted to the Bachmann EMUs, with two prongs extending into the underside of the body. On the EMUs these engage with copper tabs to conduct the current to the internal electronics. However there are no copper tabs on these coaches as there are no electronics inside. However these pickup bars do have an impact as I have discovered. I was reversing a 3-set into a station platform against an electrofrog point (my error) and was surprised that the leading coach's bogie caused the DCC system to trip. The pickup bars mean that the two wheels on each side of the bogie are electrically connected, so as soon as the bogie straddles the IRJ it's going to cause a short. This brought to light another issue I'd noticed with DCC automation. When the bogie straddles the IRJ between two monitored blocks it's turning on the occupancy detector in both of them momentarily. Not actually causing an operational issue as far as I can see, but I didn't at first understand why these detectors kept coming on. Now I do. It now looks very easy to create resistor wheelsets if need be, simply by adding a resistor across these pickups. Alternatively, the pickup bars look to be just screwed to the bogie side-frames, so if you have a small enough screwdriver it should be easy to remove them.

Before spending a lot of money on detectors, and wiring multiple sections per block, I would recommend reviewing the RR&Co Traincontroller software. The Silver and Gold versions, although they seem expensive, are quite sophisticated and will allow you to run full automation using just a single occupancy detector per block. The saving in hardware, not to mention complexity, can easily exceed the software cost. With the single detector, all your brake and stop markers are "virtual contacts", and you can have multiple sets of these as required (eg for short and long trains) and in both directions. I started out with Silver and only recently upgraded to Gold. The Gold version has added management of long trains in short blocks which makes scheduling very easy. I've always operated with just a single detector per block (one rail gapped only). You can run the TC software in simulation mode on your PC free of charge so you can get a feel for how it operates. The download page for the software and documentation is here - http://www.freiwald.com/pages/download.htm

I would suggest the Roco 40287 coupling, being approximately the same length as their normal coupling, will be too short for Bachmann MK1s.

I used Symoba close-coupling system for my Bachmann Bulleids, and these also are height-adjustable. You choose your own coupling and I've used Hornby-Roco ones, making it easy to connect the Bulleids with MK1s. See http://www.dccsupplies.com/search/results/?search=symoba

The Bachmann MK1s close-couple extremely well with the Hornby Roco-coupling, the genuine Roco one being too short. I close-couple all my MK1s in sets and have Kadee 19s or 20s on the ends. You get a pair of Hornby-Roco couplings "free" with every Maunsell, Pullman coach etc. The fact that the pockets are too high is of no consequence internally within sets as both coaches have matching height differences. They will not auto-couple - you have to sometimes lift the two bogies off the track slightly to get them to engage. But once engaged they work faultlessly.

Link only goes to the index page, not the topic itself.

Regardless of what the prototypical usage of single and double slips may be, Peco are producing products for the model railway market and no doubt their historical sales figures for these slips will tell them which one is the most important as far as modellers are concerned.

I asked Hornby a while ago about this as there was no capacitor to snip out that I could find. It transpires the suppression is partly on the blanking plug and partly this C1 component. This is what Hornby said - S15 suppression components. Other locos have motor suppression components fitted external to the socket/plug within the actual wiring. Therefore it is easy to remove any component. The S15 blanking plug does indeed carry some of the suppression components.. but note, the actual 8 pin socket board is also fitted with suppression parts. The capacitor (C1) in the bottom right of the picture below is connected directly across the motor of the loco. It is usually this capacitor that users will remove from their locos.

Has anyone fitted a DCC decoder to this model, and if so were there any problems? Looks like it may be the same tight fit as the M7. Just wish Hornby would move forward and start using 6-pin decoders for such small models. Fitting a Lenz 6-pin to the Bachmann E4 was a doddle.

Tried a full reset but over the weekend it happened twice more. That was over a month ago, so I decided to replace the decoder with a Lenz Silver mini (wires soldered to 8-pin plug for convenience). Since then, despite extensive running, it's never happened again. Will be sending an email to Zimo asking for their opinion on the problem.

You say it's an older Bachmann loco, so is it a problem with power draw? What make of chip are you using and what's it's output rating?

Are you operating your points with NCE Switch8s? In which case you can have problems with them not responding if Railcom is enabled on your DCC Command Station.

Yes I've seen similar problems. A pair of 2-BILs fitted with Lenz Standard+ decoders. Both worked absolutely fine individually, but when together in a consist one of them became extremely jerky whereas the other was fine. Took the capacitor out of the jerky one only to find it made no difference. Only when I took the capacitor out of the other one, which had never exhibited any problems, did the second one behave properly in consist. Also with a Bachmann 2-EPB fitted with a Lenz 21-pin Silver. When a Hornby M7, again with Lenz decoder, was trundling up the branch into the station, the 2-EPB standing in an adjacent platform, wouldn't budge until the M7 came fully to a halt. Again the fix was a case of relieving the M7 of its capacitor rather than the 2-EPB. I now take capacitors out wherever possible although strangely it makes no difference to Bachmann EMUs. I've done a couple but it's major surgery as you have to completely dismantle the motor coach to get at the 3 capacitors which are inside the housing under the motor.

I think the back-to-back of 14.2mm was fairly standard for early China models and not just the Light Pacifics. I purchased 34067 Tangmere a few years ago and I've never had a problem with the connecting rods. But I did have a problem with intermittent DCC shorts when traversing code 75 slips, the problem being around the frog area where the wheel touched the opposite rail of the centre diamond. Easing the wheels to 14.5 mm (all of them, including tender wheels) solved the problem.

I would also recommend using a decoder that has short-circuit protection to guard against this sort of problem. For example, the Lenz Standard+.

Interesting that 21C1 only took the train out of Victoria: by the time it reaches the Kent countryside a West Country has taken over and can be seen later arriving at Dover....

The GM500D looks to have these diodes already (there are 3 on the circuit board) so should work directly with the LS150 but best to check with Gaugemaster first.

The Gaugemaster GM500D should do what you want - http://www.gaugemaster.com/item_details.asp?code=GM500D&style=main&strType=&Mcode=Gaugemaster+GM500D

Roxey Mouldings do an etch of 16 discs for £2.50 - http://www.roxeymouldings.co.uk/product/463/4a109-sr-locomotive-headcode-discs/

More precisely it's the "Windows 10 Fall Creators Update" (version 1709). The original "Windows 10 Creators Update" was last March (version 1703). I now have it across all 4 PCs in our house and it really was a bit of a non-event. Wife's PC happens to be the fastest and it was all done in 22 minutes. Seems MS are getting reasonably proficient in doing these big updates now. If you don't want to wait for Windows Update to give it to you, which may take some time as MS are rolling it out in stages, then you can go here and select "update now" https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

There are pickups on every coach, but only those on the motor coach supply power to the motor/decoder. Those on the 3 trailer coaches just manage the returns for the lighting. The two wires provide separate feeds for head codes and interior lighting. On the 2-EPB Bachmann messed up, and head codes and interior lights work in tandem on F0. The fact that they blink when you change direction implies Bachmann were thinking about making them directional. On the Thumper the head codes are directional and both they and the interior lighting work off F0. However, you can turn off the interior lighting independently but that's via a switch on the underside of each coach.

Bachmann's earlier 4CEP has a 2-wire bar coupling but only needs a single decoder for the whole unit. However, although you can operate the head codes and interior lights independently, the head codes are not directional as on the 4-TC nor can you switch one end off. Also the 4TC has full current pickup on all 4 coaches, unlike the 4CEP where only the motor coach has this. I've also found uncoupling the 4-way connector easier than with the 2-bar coupling which is a tight push-fit affair where it's all too easy to dislodge the close-coupling mechanism. In my view the 4-way coupler is much superior and I wish my 4CEPs had them too.

My only real gripe about the 4TCs interior lighting is the extent to which it puts my 4CEPs in the shade - literally! As per my post #917 .....

Full list of head codes here - http://www.semgonline.com/headcodes/eheadcodes.html. There are separate lists for each SR section.