SRman

38 minutes ago, JSpencer said:

 

Thanks for the consist settings. That is indeed something I'm looking at for a full boat train. Great video.

Thanks also. 😊

I don't know if this will be relevant to your mode of operating, but for ease of consisting, and standardisation, I equip all of the Bachmann units with Kadee #20 couplings at the cab ends. If your curve radii are a little easier than my minimum 3rd radius, you may be able to reduce the gap by using #19s.

And hot on the heels of fitting sound into the class 52, I have now done a Hornby class 50, 50 045, the one that featured in the last video I posted. This one has an 8-pin interface, but the speaker wires are pre-attached to the decoder, so soldering a speaker to them is not really a challenge at all. Speaker choice this time was a double iPhone speaker from Roads and Rails, and the sound quality from it is very good. The ESU/SWD sound file has some very good sounds and also a few rather naff sounds. There is a very thin, reedy spool down from the turbos at some points, and the top end thrash is a little inconsistent, but the spooling up sounds and thrash are really evocative.

I had to cut away part of the fan mechanism's housing to fit the speaker in easily.

Seeing as these are unlocked files, I may be able to do a few edits and tweaks further down the track. For the time being, it will do nicely.

Continuing my drive to replace non-sound decoders with sound ones over time and as funds allow, I have fitted a LokSound 5 DCC decoder to my Dapol class 52, D1030 ' Western Musketeer', and loaded the free ESU/SWD class 52 sound file onto it. I tried an Accurascale Accurathrash speaker in it, which meant breaking away the moulded speaker well along one side to get it to fit. However, the result was a tad underwhelming, so the next step was to look up Roads and Rails fitting guides to see what they had used: a 25mm square x 7mm deep speaker was duly substituted, and that sounds somewhat better. I can't say it sounds the best it could, yet.

I'll persevere with this one for a while, and if I don't think it cuts the mustard, I'll try a pair of them in series next - they are 4 ohm impedance speakers. I did tweak the bass and treble settings, which helped the sound quality as well.

Thanks for the review. They are still lovely looking units, and the livery applications are still well done by Bachmann.

I would draw your attention to the original units actually did have a space for fitting a speaker - there is a removable section of seats in the middle of the powered car in all of the variants, right from the first releases.

I was seriously considering getting one of the SWT 3 CEPs or NSE 4 CEPs but in the end, plumped for a non-sound jaffa cake 4 CEP, which has all the good and bad features you have highlighted in your unit. Like you, the expense is just too great at present to buy two or three of these units in one hit. I did post a video on YouTube of the refurbished unit running with an original blue/grey unit and a jaffa cake MLV.

I have never been impressed with previously available sound files for the SR EMUs in general, so your comments regarding Bachmann's sounds are of great interest to me. Is there a chance you could post a video to demonstrate the sounds at all?

All of my current 4 CEPs and MLVs have Lenz Standard + decoders (v1 and v2) fitted, and all will work happily together in consists without any adjustments having been made, although I do alter the inertia/momentum settings on all of them: I standardised long ago on CV3 = 25 and CV4 = 18.
 

I decided to do a bit of troubleshooting and a minor overhaul of a Network South East class 50 (Hornby 50 045 'Achilles'). It was intermittently shorting on left hand curves and any slight humps in the track, but not consistently, plus there was a hint of bearing shriek coming from somewhere inside. I traced the short to a pickup wire having dropped off the bogie tag and touching the chassis just occasionally. To fix that I had to dismantle one of the bogies, which also meant I could lubricate it properly. It also resulted in much swearing until I realised the wire was caught up inside the chassis and left a little short at the bogie end. I fixed it once, then fixed it again!

I oiled the motor end bearings and the worm drive bearings as well, then put it all back together, and this time it ran beautifully. While I was working on oiling the bearings, I removed the fan drive belt but left the fans in place. I suspect they were responsible for a bit of drag on the motor drive shafts and also for the bearing noise. There's no sound in this one, so it runs very quietly.

The Mark 2 coaches are mixture of Bachmann Mk 2A and Accurascale Mk 2Bs, and the magnetic close coupling can be seen to good effect here.

32 minutes ago, maico said:

I had enough reward points at Accurascale to get a free pre-programed Deltic Lokpilot decoder. Can I reset it to ESU factory standard via an F no. for use elsewhere or is it locked?

Thanks.

The LokPilot would not be locked. If you have the facility to do so, you should save the settings for possible reuse later on. 

Only the sound file on a LokSound would be locked to that decoder's serial number, but even so, you would be able to reblow it with someone else's sounds. You just would npt be able to restore it to the factory sounds later.

I decided to do a bit of troubleshooting and a minor overhaul of a Network South East class 50 (Hornby). It was intermittently shorting on left hand curves and any slight humps in the track, but not consistently, plus there was a hint of bearing shriek. I traced the short to a pickup wire having dropped off and touching the chassis just occasionally. Long story short, I put it all back together, and it ran beautifully hauling my NSE rake of mixed Bachmann Mk 2A and Accurascale Mk 2B coaches. The effectiveness of the magnetic close couplings can also be seen here. The train ran continuously for several minutes without fault, but I only videoed one complete circuit.

13 hours ago, Kaput said:

Factory sound will be a Loksound 5 DCC.

Having just done a quick read of mine (factory-fitted), I can confirm it's a LokSound 5 DCC.

20 minutes ago, JhornG201 said:

I note from the specs that the lighting is directional. I’m assuming therefore that this is a straight re-run and no changes are being made so head and tail lights are independently controlled? 

Andy's first post shows it as being an 8-pin interface, so I would hazard a guess and say you would be correct.

19 hours ago, Roy Langridge said:

I think all the time people argue that poor models are ok the drive to do better is diminished.

 

The 45, people argued that the flat sides were ok, they are not. The 25’s cab shape and doors are incorrect. The 18100 has beading missing, the PWM was badly designed and assembled. 
 

All this, but you still get some saying there is nothing wrong. Or do some modelling. I am not against doing modelling, but at today’s prices the base model should be correct. 
 

Roy

 

I'm not entirely agreeing with you, but also partially agreeing.

I still have several of the original Bachmann class 24s and 25s. The cab shapes have long been a source of dissatisfaction, of course, and they were criticised for that. It took a long time and some competition before Bachmann launched the current models. On the plus side, the mechanisms were streets ahead of the old Hornby model with its ringfield motored model, and the running qualities are still well up to current standards. Later, lights were added but no visible improvements were made to the shape. There was a minor improvement to the relief on the side hatches. Also on the plus side, several of the Bachmann models were bought with sound at bargain prices - pretty well a sound decoder and speaker with a £20 locomotive thrown in.

Heljan's model is an improvement on Bachmann's 25, but I don't find the cab front convincing enough to buy one at present day prices, I'll stick with the old Bachmann ones for a bit longer. SLW really shook thinks up ... at a substantial price, but well worth it for the vast improvement in accuracy and quality, plus a new standard in sound reproduction. I bought two of the class 24/0 locos with sound. However, I can't see me buying the SLW 25s, beautiful as they are, unless I can sell most of my Bachmann class 25s to fund one or to SLW versions.

For the time being, for all their visual faults, I am prepared to accept them because they are still very decent runners. It's the art of compromise, and everyone has their own variations on how much compromise they will accept.

Bringing this back to the class 47, I still have a couple of the original tubby Duff Heljan 47s and also the 57s. Again, the running qualities are superb, and I don't mind the appearance as taken from viewing distance on my layout. They don't sit so well against the earlier Bachmann class 47s, which have their own faults. I'm not entirely convinced by the current Heljan frontal appearance on the new 47s. It is so typical of Heljan: they are very hit and miss with their models, with some like the Hymek being very acceptable even now, yet others missing the mark to varying degrees, some quite badly, others very nearly right.

I am not buying a new Heljan 47 or 57, much as I like the superb looking finish on the NSE 47. 

5 hours ago, Halvarras said:

 

Slicing to make sandwiches would be closer to one of its nicknames........!

Wonderloaf?

First go with the control panel for the upper level: I rerouted the Dapol signal wires and buttons and drilled the necessary holes to mount them. A couple of holes didn't quite line up properly because of the makeshift arrangement I used, but the principle is great. I had in mind that this first attempt would be expendable, at least for the laminated diagram. I can very easily print another and laminate it, and use this one as the guide to get all the holes in exactly the right places. That will eliminate a few wrinkles in the laminated diagram. I'll also find a way to mount the diagram on the acrylic a little more firmly.

Eventually, after a lot more wiring, there will be metal studs for point control in the diagram as well, plus a few more signals - whether they be semaphore or colour light is yet to be determined.

10 hours ago, dj_crisp said:

 

That's interesting. Did you use the standard coupling with the magnetic coupling? When i tried the supplied magnetic coupling i had a much larger gap whereas yours looks great on the straight.

I didn't change the pockets and just used the supplied magnetic couplings straight out of their packet. Initially I used some Hornby short magnetic couplings which also worked well but left a very small gap on the straights. What didn't work with the Hornby couplings was the Bachmann to Accurascale join: the levels of the pockets were different and I had to mix the coupling lengths as well. Accurascale do supply alternative pockets which are set further back, but I haven't experimented with those at all.

I have been using the Accurascale supplied magnetic couplings on the Accurascale Mk 2Bs, and Hunt couplings on the two Bachmann Mk 2As that are currently forming my West of England rake. The Hunt couplings with a combination of lengths are now forming the connection between the Bachmann and Accurascale coaches. The set has been running like this for a few days now with no problems to report. The corridor connections are touching on the straight sections.

With the BRMA meeting due at my house in less than a fortnight, I am continuing to tidy the room up and complete small improvements, while all the time trying to ensure that nothing will stop the trains from running on the day.

I have tweaked how the track sits on the revamped viaducts, keeping an eye on the very tight clearances at the curved end of the Wills viaduct. I removed a short section of the wall capping and filed a slight downwards slope on that end of the wall, but I will have to do something better with it later on. For the present, everything clears it properly. I also adjusted the rail lengths to eliminate a couple of excessive gaps at the joints.

On the other end of the layout, I have added more railings alongside the goods yard to protect the main lines. I have used some modern key clamp style fencing, which is bright safety yellow, but I will eventually paint it all in a more neutral grey or silver-grey to suit the 1960s, which is basically what the layout is intended to represent. For the modern image stuff I'm currently running, the yellow is correct.

Also in the last couple of days, I have printed out a track diagram for the upper level control panel, laminated it, and cut a section of acrylic sheet to mount it on. While there is no way I'll have any of the point motors wired in and connected for a while, I will be able to mount the Dapol signal control buttons in the panel. At present, they are hanging loosely off the edge of the layout below the running lines to the left. With the Underground control panel, I mounted the laminated sheet behind the clear acrylic, but that was prone to collecting the swarf from drilling the holes for the point control between the laminated sheet and the acrylic sheet. This time, I intend to mount the laminated printed sheet outside of the acrylic, so the acrylic being clear becomes a little academic; it's there purely for support.


 

5 hours ago, Goodnight Sweetheart said:

Happy snaps…very very impressed indeed. 

 

 

 

 

I have to say the maroon grilles accentuate the superb detail that black paint on all the others tends to hide.

6 hours ago, Southernman46 said:

It was worse - the signs actually said "Crewe Kerne"  with a definite gap too

I don't know if this counts as a mistake or a historical change, but Leeds has a suburb called Cross Gates, but the station signs all say Crossgates as one word. I have seen it referred to elsewhere with both versions of the name.

3 hours ago, zr2498 said:

I adjusted the bass and treble on a newly install V5 for an MPV. A big improvement. Can I assume that I would need to update the firmware on Acc 37 decoders if I am to adjust CVs 196 and 197. I do have a Lok programmer so that should be easy enough.

You would most probably have to update the firmware. I had to with all of mine. As you say, it is easy enough, and quite painless! 😁

1 hour ago, Rich Papper said:

Hello. Have you tried the cranked version of the Hunt ones? The NSE coach above looks like it has a straight one in. I’ve found the cranked ones work a bit better on the Bachmann Mk2s as the straight rubs on the lower edge of the buffer beam. I’ve not tried connecting to the Accurascale yet though.

Rich

Hi Rich. I haven't tried the cranked Hunts, and don't actually have any here. A pity I didn't have that in mind when I put a recent order in with them for lineside items.

What I am finding is the slight angle of the straight one caused by the Accurascale being slightly lower seems to alleviate the rubbing problem between the Bachmann and Accurascale coaches. I did note a slight scraping with the two Bachmann coaches but it doesn't seem to affect the running of the coaches at all.

I didn't intend doing the next stage of the viaduct conversion until after Sunday's meeting, but I changed my mind, thinking it wouldn't be too hard. While it didn't turn out to be really difficult, it did need a bit of manual labour, which my still very sore neck and shoulders didn't like. The main part was removing a little bit of the mdf track bed from the curved end bit to make room for three full arches of the Wills viaduct.

The viaduct itself is being modified to have two arches in a straight line, and a third arch at an angle to lead the track into the end curve. This means I have to fill a gap in one side (the outer side) and also in the track bed. I haven't decided what to do with the pier under the widened bit, yet. There are three possibilities:

1. Cut the pier down the middle and widen the outer end and fill all the consequent gaps;
2. Add a section to the outside of the pier and blend that all in;
3. Build an entirely new pier, using the old one as a guide to the style.

Anyway, I have it all in place, but unfinished, so all trains are suspended and a replacement bus service might (or might not) be running. I can guarantee that currently any long bogie vehicles will not clear the side walls of the viaduct at the curved end. I'll have to anchor the track carefully, and also probably lower the ends of the side walls.

The photos show the stage it's at now, but I had to suspend operations because my neck was causing me problems and I was getting too shaky to continue (try positioning fishplates with very shaky hands ... it's a recipe for the Chinese bamboo under the fingernails torture, using fishplates instead of bamboo needles!. 😂😂

Work will resume once I have rested a while.

While photographing the track, coaches and couplings, I also swapped the class 56 off the NSE coaches and put a Hornby class 50, 50 035 'Ark Royal' in Large Logo blue. I had actually intended to use an NSE liveried 50, but that hasn't been run for a while and was playing up just a little on curves, with pickup problems - that could be a loose wire somewhere. As I have a meeting here on Sunday, I can't spare the time for fiddly repairs to the loco, preferring to make sure the layout will run reliably while I have visitors. 56 120 is now on a mixed freight (Speedlink?), replacing 92 009 'Marco Polo', which posed for a photo just before being removed from the layout.

Firstly the track shot.

92 009 'Marco Polo' on the goods train taken over by 56 120.

50 035 'Ark Royal' on the NSE set.

43XX 5320, visiting Newton Broadway, has picked up a couple of Southern CCT 4-wheel vans, possibly to carry more bananas than would fit in the dedicated banana vans. I should add some milk tanks to provide some cream to go with the bananas! 😅

Test running and minor track improvements have continued. The older bridge that runs diagonally over the Underground tracks is refusing to sit down properly at the inner end, creating a bit of a bump upwards for trains on the inner circuit. I have ground the rail heads down a little, and packed the adjoining track end up slightly. That has improved things considerably, but there is still a slight but noticeable bump as trains travel over it.

All this testing also allowed me to test the close coupling arrangements on the Accurascale Mk 2B and Bachmann Mk 2A coaches. I have swapped the Accurascale ones to their own provided magnetic couplings. The Bachmann pair caused more problems though: within the pair I used a matched pair of Hunt magnetic couplings, but the join between the Bachmann and Accurascale coaches was more difficult due to the differing heights of the coupling pockets and also the different distances they have between the pockets and the outer edges of the corridor connections. I tried a pair of Hornby magnetic couplings, one short and one long, but that caused the accurascale bogie to lever upwards and derail on certain curves. The current arrangement has one medium and one short Hunt coupling, which seems to be able to cope with the slight height difference better than the Hornby set did.

The coaches do look good with the close couplings, with almost no gap at all on straight tracks.

2 hours ago, Ian Rathbone said:

I was given a set of transfers for a LNWR Motor Car van with ‘London North Weston’ as the company name.

 

A non-railway error in the next village is Athelstan Road, except the signs say Althestan Road. Apparently, once registered with the post office and given a postcode it can’t be corrected.

 

Ian R

For many years the main shopping street in Gladstone, Queensland was the subject of arguments: some saying it's Gondoon Street, others insisting it's Goondoon Street. Which one was correct seems to have been settled now as all the signs say Goondoon nowadays. Google Maps also agrees with that.

 

On 29/03/2024 at 05:51, TomScrut said:

Accurascale 37s in DRS blue £135 at Bure Valley:

 

https://www.burevalleymodels.com/p/20924/ACC231237605---Class-37-6-37605-DRS-Blue

 

https://www.burevalleymodels.com/p/20926/ACC231237607---Class-37-6-37607-DRS-Blue

 

2 of each left at each time of posting

No analogue ones left, but they still have the sound-fitted DCC versions for £210 each.

I got energetic for a while and got everything back together and running again. The outer track alignment needs a minor adjustment, more for appearance than anything else. Everything runs nicely on the new stuff, and the Underground S Stock has more clearance on the other side at the lower level (it was very, very close to the pier caps on the Wills viaduct before). 

Video posted to YouTube: