SRman

8 hours ago, Soul Survivor said:

Yes, there is room to fit an ESU sugar cube inside the loco - but only built up to 7mm high.

From way back when the current ESU LokSound version was the 3.5, and needed 100 ohm speakers, I was fitting two 25mm round speakers in a Heljan class 33: one in the loco body, with a severely cut-down sound chamber, angled down towards the bogie tower, and one in the fuel tanks with holes drilled in to let the sound out (as also mentioned by Keith). The sound chambers were sealed properly, and the volume reduced to compensate for having them in parallel, but this was still more than loud enough, and the two slightly differing sound chambers contributed to the depth and richness of the sound.

Of course, with LokSound 4 and 5 decoders, or Zimo for that matter, there are many more suitable speakers available in the 4 and 8 ohm range, including the sugar cubes mentioned by Charlie. You could also look at the range of speakers available from Roads and Rails, with several variations on bass enhanced types and also some iPhone and tablet speakers for tight locations. That's not to mention the better (and improved) sound quality from the current decoders and from the suppliers of the sound projects.

17 minutes ago, Richard RK3 said:

 

Well to make it an even playing field, I have decided to go for one of each, I already have a Hornby version (31147) and will be getting no: 31319 from Bachmann and no: 31276 (the Key Model Special Edition) from Accurascale. It will be interesting to see how all three versions compare with each other, despite the Hornby version of course almost twenty years old! 

 

I'll probably do a similar thing with the Accurascale and retooled Bachmann Class 37s and have them go nose to nose as well! 

I, for one, will be very interested in your comparisons. I'm sure all will be good, but will there be a clear "winner", or will it be a case of "swings and roundabouts". Of course, there's also value for money.

It'll be an expensive exercise, but if you are buying the various models anyway, it will be worthwhile. 

Brush type 2 D5623 (as it is now!) is back on the workbench. Following the success of simply overlaying the existing numbers with the Replica ones just on one cabside, earlier, I have now done it with all the remaining numbers and the 'D' prefixes. The Replica numbers were a little whiter and a tiny fraction larger than the Hornby originals, but not so big that the number underneath really shows. The only slight down side is that I got a couple of them slightly out of line. I could fix them, but maybe later.

22 minutes ago, St Enodoc said:

The difference in size would bother me more than the difference in colour.

I think I'll have to do the rest as well. If you look at the right hand cabside in the second photo, I actually overlaid the Replica numbers over the originals, so that one is all the same size, except for the "D".

I have been doing smaller, fiddly jobs today. One Hornby class 30 renumbered, and two (relatively) cheap sound conversions, using Soundtraxx Econami 21-pin UK Diesel sound decoders. These have six different engine sounds and nine different horns available just by changing CV values. The sound quality is nowhere near as good as that which we can get from ESU and Zimo decoders from the usual suppliers, but the cost is around two-thirds that of an ESU or Zimo decoder, and reduces to almost half if you factor in buying the sounds as well for the latter two brands ($AUS130 with postage as opposed to $AUS165 plus postage, and up to $AUS210 pick-up locally, depending on the supplier here, for blank ESU decoders). ESU and Zimo still remain as my top picks and preferred sound decoders, but for less-used items of stock, it makes sense to use the less expensive decoders.

The Hornby Brush type 2 needed renumbering because its logical DCC address clashed with another locomotive. I have a Hornby Railfreight sectorisation class 56, number 56 127, which following my DCC TOPS addressing convention becomes 5627. Unfortunately, the BR green Brush 2 was D5627. Now normally the two would not run together on the layout since they are both from entirely separate eras, but I thought that at some stage I really should renumber one of them. I decided it was a safer bet to renumber the class 30, so that is now D5623. Checking online showed that D5623 spent a few years pottering around the London area between 1960 and 1965 (or later), either at Stratford or Finsbury Park, with a stint in March as well. It didn't get converted to class 31 status until 1967, so that fits in well with what I wanted.

In doing this, I tried an experiment in using MicroSol decal setting solution to remove the unwanted 7s, using a wooden cocktail stick to rub the numbers off. It worked a treat, leaving a small shiny patch where the number had been. the new numbers were rub-on types from Replica Railways, and are just a tad whiter than the Hornby originals, but I really didn't want to do the whole numbers on each cab corner. I might have to after all, but I'll see whether it annoys me in the longer term.

For the sound conversions, I bought two 21-pin Soundtraxx Econami UK Diesel decoders. One has gone into a Bachmann class 47, 1764 in green with full yellow ends. It's not too bad a model, but I originally bought it with sound already fitted, but I wanted that for another locomotive and had something else in mind for the "de-sounded" loco, and it hasn't had a great deal of use to date. For the speaker wires, it already had the speaker attachment "prongs" at the side of the PCB, so that was easy to arrange. I used a smallish 8 ohm iPhone speaker from Roads and Rails, knowing that these can push out some quite decent sound. This fitted very easily within the recess on top of the chassis block.

The other sound fitting was also a Bachmann locomotive, this time a 66/9, First GBRf 66 725 "Sunderland".  This one had also had an older ESU v3.5 sound decoder in that was used elsewhere, and still had a 100 ohm speaker inside, so that had to come out, and a small 20 mm square 8 0hm speaker from Roads and Rails was put in.

I'm not quite sure how tolerant the Soundtraxx decoders are to having speakers of different impedances (i.e. 4 ohm or up to 16 ohm) like the ESU and Zimo decoders, so I have been careful to stick with 8 ohm speakers for the present. The temptation with the 66 is to put two of the smaller speakers in series (to make a 16 ohm impedance), because there is space to do this, but for now I'll resist that temptation.

4 hours ago, 25kV said:

 

Oh that suits very well!  Shoulda thought of it myself.  😁  

I'm agreeing with you that the livery suits it very well, not that you shoulda thought of it yourself!

(You really shoulda, though!) 😜

On the subject of brakes: all of the Australian cars from the 1950s and '60s had drum brakes all round. Holden/Ford/Chrysler also had 6-cylinder engines (and even V8s), so those drum brakes were not really ideal. Having experienced driving such cars through minor flooding, it's not just brake fade from multiple higher-speed stops that cause problems, but after they got wet, the brakes were almost non-existent. I have on several past occasions had to drive along the highway (very carefully!) with my right foot on the accelerator and left foot on the brake pedal, drying them out.

Cavalex 56:
Front Light = Headlight Front

Rear Light = Headlight Rear

AUX 1 = Markers Front

AUX 2 = Markers Rear

AUX3 = Fan #1

AUX4 = Fan #2

AUX 5 = Tail Front

AUX 6 = Tail Rear

AUX 7 = Cab Front

AUX 10 = Cab Rear

Accurascale 37:

Front light [1] = White marker Front

Rear light [1] = White marker Rear

AUX1 [1] = Red tail light Front

AUX2 [1] = Red tail light Rear

AUX3 = Dashboard Front

AUX4 = Dashboard Rear

AUX5 = Headlight/Day Front

AUX6 = Headlight/Day Rear

AUX7 = Night Front

AUX8 = Night Rear

AUX9 = Cab Front

AUX10 = Cab Rear

AUX11 = Top Front

AUX12 = Top Rear

AUX13 = Top Rear

AUX14 = Engine Room

Bear in mind that not all of the 37 variations have all of those lights available, with some only applying to the WiPAC fitted versions. Also, locomotives like the 56 would have no need for engine room lights, at least in model form, because there are no side windows.

In short, we are not entirely comparing apples with apples.

On 15/02/2023 at 02:50, JSpencer said:

 

I believe they are the same except all my nine 33s run better than my one 27. Not sure why that would be. They all hmm a little but fair quieter than the Lima growls we used to have.

I have eight of the Heljan 33s of various ages and variations (33/0, 33/1, 33/2), and only one has a slight gear whine, the rest are dead silent, so all that one hears (with sound off) is the clicking of the wheels on rail joints. Replacing the early brass wheels works wonders for the electrical pickup on those early releases.

On DCC I found that Zimo decoders introduced their own hum/buzz, but that doesn't seem to be a problem with ESU or Lenz. Several have sound fitted, with various sound decoders - ESU v3.5, v4 and v5, and Zimo.

I also have one class 26 (hiding in the middle of the 33s in the photo!), and the same comments apply to that. 

All of these run beautifully.

15 minutes ago, Luigi Taveri said:

 

We did a (very enjoyable) trip to Gothenburg and Copenhagen via Oresund Tag last September, and in the style of SRman above, these were Mrs Foxy's favourite trains due to their colours.......

 

Foxy 

 

I rather liked those too, although I didn't get to ride in any.

There were also other colour schemes applied to the same design units running around.

With the much older ESU LokSound v3.5 decoders, recommended speaker impedance was 100 ohm, but ESU tacitly approved of running two 100 0hm speakers in parallel, reducing the impedance to 50 ohms, but the proviso was that one had to reduce the volume to below 50 (out of 64 which was the max for v3.5 on CV63). In practice, I found that many of my dual speaker locos with v3.5 decoders were perfectly loud enough at values of about 25 to 30 in Cv63. All are still running happily today.

ESU do seem to build in a large tolerance for going over their "safe" recommendations, having done these things in their own locomotive products too. As DougJUK suggested, if anyone really is panicking about this, fit an 8 ohm speaker into the bay instead of the EM1/Accurathrash speaker.

I have done this in one 37 with an alternative sound file installed, where the bass of the Accurathrash was a little too much. Even so, that can now be toned down by adjusting CV196 for bass and Cv197 for treble with the latest ESU firmware.

For the record, none of my Accurascale 37s are running at full volume anyway, because I nearly always find that a little too loud for my tastes. Many non-Accurascale locos with ESU v4 and v5 sound decoders are running at volumes between 90 and 130 (out of 192), which renders them satisfactory to my ears.

Bouquets to Cavalex: I contacted them through their form on their website with a query regarding the LokPilot settings on behalf of a friend (yes, really!).

Alex got straight back to me with a response: there is a downloadable file on the ESU website for the Cavalex class 56 LokPilot settings, which I have duly downloaded and saved - the link is https://projects.esu.eu/projectoverviews/8 

Said friend has received his DCC-ready 56 and is buying a suitable LokPilot 5DCC decoder locally here in Melbourne. I have the LokProgrammer so I said I would be more than happy to put the settings onto his decoder.

On 12/02/2024 at 17:53, atherton said:

I'm sure that it's a class 30 as there's no grille in the bodyside door which was put in at the time of conversion to a 31 with the EE engine. Also it's a toffee apple with the white window surround which will need to be  painted to include the yellow panel, although I have seen a pic of D5515 with SYP and white window surrounds. Happy to be corrected on any of these points, but the have certainly put me off buying one!

I did all those things with my early Hornby version, as well as renumbering it to avoid an address clash on DCC. The one thing I didn't do was repaint the eggshell blue bands to off-white, a change that happened fairly early on with the Brush type 2 livery. I must fix that '2' that has partially rubbed off again. The crack apparent in the lower corner at left (in the photo) was the result of the dreaded mazak rot - Hornby sent me out a new chassis block. I was lucky to be able to catch it before more damage was done to the body. This also has an early attempt at the Mirrlees sounds from Howes.

1 minute ago, St Enodoc said:

I prefer the first bit, with the hair spray.

I agree. I want to duplicate that effect from now on, if I can.

A second, cut-down section of hedgerow was done, again experimentally, using a spray-on glue rather than the sticky hairspray I used for the first one. The texture has come out a little differently, even though I was using the same materials. The new bit is on the right, behind the signal box. It looks more like a green blob. The photos were taken without the layout lighting on first, and with it on for the second., 
 

On a different tack, I assembled a 1960s/70s Freightliner train for the camera, after working on some containers and also adding another Bachmann FGA twin-set to the rake. I managed to locate a new pair at Simon's Trains online, although they were for the newer era with more modern containers. The existing set of five (pair of FGAs and three FFAs) was split to give visually better sets of three plus four as opposed to five plus two. Some of the containers are old Triang ones resurrected, others are Bachmann, and the rest are from C Rail. The more modern insignia on the newer-period wagons barely show when in service like this.

7 minutes ago, dasatcopthorne said:

 

I don't think you can.

 

Although thinking is reverse may do it. Have the lights on function activated and in the Function mapping have them turned off if the loco is not moving but on if it is moving, then have a delay in the loco moving off.

 

It might work.

 

Dave.

That sounds entirely feasible.

During our power cuts yesterday evening, I got working on ideas for the hedgerows. As I've stated before, I'm not happy with the results of previous attempts at a hedgerow along the road past the garage, and taking some inspiration from a 'Making Tracks' video, I used some cheap scouring pads as the basis for this one. there are actually two pads glued together for the width, with some polyfibre and Noch leaves glued on with hair spray. 

Overall, for the position I have posed it in (it's not glued down), it is too high and too wide, but this piece can be moved up the road a bit for a better effect there, and a thinner, lower piece put along this stretch. I'm thinking in terms of leaving the garage more visible.

I am much happier with the effect of this technique, though.

The delays can be set. this is shown using LokProgrammer software, working on the function outputs. I'm not sure quite what you want for the turning on: simply press F0 (or whatever other function is needed) before starting to drive the loco would seem to be the obvious answer, but possibly you have something else in mind.

2 hours ago, NHY 581 said:

My waspy BR green 12100 finally landed today. 

Overall, very impressed. Even before running in it was smooth and capable of very good slow speed creepy crawly performance. 

Only question I have is that on DC, irrespective of the direction, all four marker lights, red as well as white seem to be illuminated. I intend popping in a DCC decoder so I do wonder if this will sort it. 

 

Otherwise, very impressed. 

 

Posed on Ewe..

 

 

 

Shunting on Sheep Dip...

 

 

 

 

Rob

For shunting the usual lighting set up was to have one red and one white light showing at each end, permanently set while the shunting moves were taking place. It saved changing lights every time the locomotive was reversed during the manoeuvres.

To that end, on DCC, I have set both my Heljan class 07 diesels to have the lights permanently on at both ends with F0 on, rather than being directional.

Here are a couple of shots of the wagons 'before and after'. They both have the same running number at present; I must get around to renumbering one or both of them.

On a slightly different note, I received some 3D printed London Transport wagon bits from Kim Durose. they form "dog ear" door bumpers. I have three suitable Bachmann wagons straight off, bit ordered enough of the parts to do twice that number.

I just had to try one straight away, and this is the result. The left hand bumper has moved slightly, but I'll straighten it up again. The parts are very cleanly printed and only needed a minimum of fettling to get them to fit between the solebar channels.

I was fiddling with the function settings on my Kernow class 41 A1A-A1A Warship a couple of days ago, and while I had it on the test track, I drew a couple of silver arrows with a Sharpie pen under the battery boxes indicating which way was forwards. While that won't help me when the loco is on the tracks, it will assist in getting it the way round that I want while setting up a train.

Of course, for normal viewing distances, the tiny numbers or letters near the cab doors are not readable, even if they are there.

I don't know why the aerial at one end of my 56 120 seems to have been more vulnerable than the other, but I kept knocking the #1 end and bending it. It ended up with a break, not completely through, and gluing it repeatedly failed as I kept bumping it again, so I cut it off flush, masked the surrounding cab roof and drilled a hole where it had been. Some brass wire of the same diameter as the aerials was stuck in with superglue, and any gaps filled with Glue n Glaze, which had the added benefit of strengthening it.

Once it was all set properly, a quick coat of Humbrol RC422 grey nicely matched the roof colour. The aerial at the #2 end has remained unsullied and pointing up, exactly the way it should. I'll have to be more careful now as any accidents with the #1 end could now be rather painful for me. 😬 😂

2 hours ago, Wickham Green too said:

Pretty much - but then you have the oddballs with two engines, radiators etc. thrown into the mix to confuse everybody !

Yes. I still have trouble with those! 🤣

In those cases, turn on the lights if it has them and see which end lights up.

I can think of quite a few classes of diesel that are difficult to tell. Sometimes there is one asymmetrical feature, such as a boiler port, but I still have difficulty remembering which way is the #1 cab end (or the 'A' end on Western Region locos).

Such classes include class 41, 42 and 43 Warships, class 52 Westerns, class 53 'Falcon', and Class 55 Deltics. There may be others I have missed.