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The loco hasn't arrived yet, I'm expecting it at some point in the next week. I'll update then. Cheers

Hi, I recently picked up a cheap Hornby 66 on eBay, it was listed as a non-runner and I intend to use it as a donor unless I can get it running and dependant of how the custom directional lighting looks and works (the cabs have green leds in them as cab lights by the looks of it). It appears in the eBay photos that it is fitted with a sound decoder which got me thinking, I am able to identify the decoder easily but how about identifying the sound project? Are there ‘project identifier’ CVs and are these consistently used? Cheers

The crossing/bridge at Bishton (South Wales) is interesting to look at. No photos myself but the bridge is very low, not necessarily what you’re looking for but maybe something to think about for a future layout. Cheers

One of the best features I see in DecoderPro for this task is the ability to backup one ‘version’ of CV values before changing anything. This has helped me, particularly, with LokPilot/LokSound decoders due to the huge number of CV’s available. I use a sprog with DecoderPro and do a full read before changing anything that I’m not 100% sure about. Cheers

There is a brake van here, long disused on a long disused line. Haven’t been there for a while so no photos I’m afraid. Dropped pin Near Unnamed Road, Frome https://goo.gl/maps/HyrLDdsRMUC2 Cheers

Upgrading a Ringfield motor Hornby Class 56 with a modern spec DCC lighting system. About Built between '76 - '84, the Class 56 is a heavy freight locomotive. They are now only operated by GBRF and Colas however my model is in EWS livery and will be staying that way. The model, with it's ringfield motor, has a huge amount of space inside which makes working with it very easy - I hope. It was originally fitted with filament bulb lights which I removed many years ago when originally fitting a decoder. Hopefully this mean I will be able to reuse the existing plastic lenses which means I can use the #1206 LEDs I acquired for my OFF & RA indicators project previously posted. What do I want to achieve? I want to bring this model to modern standards with LED lighting in the cabs and as head/tail lights. I want the ability to separately control marker, head & tail lights as well as DCC controlled cab lights. I want to complete this project without buying any more components or equipment (apart from some solder, I'm running quite low!) I want to run the marker, head & tail lights from a LokPilot FX. The cab lights will, for now, be left unconnected pending the fitting of a sound decoder in the future. Fitting & Wiring a speaker ready for a future sound install. Construction With one of the cab units out, it should be fairly simple to pop an LED onto the roof before slipping it back in. It could do with a lick of paint to make it look more like a 1970's locomotive and less like a space ships cockpit. Looking at pictures from Google, the cab is more of a 'light grey' than 'space-age metal'. As it turns out, I have no grey paint so in the spirit of having nothing left in the modelling budget, space age metal it is. I will however add a few details in black on the desk and paint in a door at the back of the cab. After looking at the light pipes, I have decided to use the original light pipe with one #1206 LED for the tail lights, one #1206 LED for each marker light and a 2mm Tower type LED for the headlight - this fits perfectly and is easier than squeezing the smaller led in the right place above the tail light pipe. The surface mount #1206 LEDs were secured with PVA before being surrounded by 'White Tack' to prevent light bleed. The 2mm Tower LED was a perfect fit for the headlight hole so the Hornby lens was dispensed with. The Cab light LEDs are the same small LEDs as the marker & tail lights and is just resting in the top of the cab. I then simply used electrical tape to secure the wires past the motor, now I can begin construction of a 'circuit board' with a small piece of stripboard. With one end now wired up, I have to say that the fine wires on the #1206 LEDs are very fiddly to solder when you have 8 to do! On that note, with half of the LEDs wired in and no solder left; it is time to call it a day until I can grab some more solder to start work on the other end. With the solder, speaker & decoder here it's just time to wire it all together. I've mounted the speaker, a base reflex from Roads & Rails, onto the top weight with just a thin film of PVA glue, this should make it easy to remove if I ever want to change the speaker. Then it is just a case of setting up the 'Decoder Lock' in DecoderPro and get some function mapping done. I love the logical interface for programming ESU decoders which is why I chose to use the LokPilot FX. Function 23 gives me a 'hazard warning light effect', no idea if this ever existed in this form on a 56 but it gives me a change to play with the decoder settings. Final Outcome Marker & Headlight: Tail Lights: (Showing a little bit of light bleed, I will use a cocktail stick to push the white-tack higher up towards the cab) Marker Only: Cab lights will remain inoperable until I fit a sound decoder, I have also left the motor un-wired for now after removing the Bachmann decoder. In the future, I will look to re-motor the loco by adapting a more modern Hornby motor bogie.

The creation of working OFF indicators & RA repeaters in OO Gauge, mounted with Next Train indicators just like you see at the station. About OFF indicators are used to aid Guards & Despatchers during train despatch, they are used when signal sighting is obstructed due to platform curvature, length or placement. When the signal is displaying a proceed aspect, the OFF indicator will illuminate. RA 'Right Away' repeaters are used to despatch DOO trains - either ECS or service trains depending on location. They too are used when signal sighting is obstructed so the driver can easily see the indication. NTI 'Next Train Indicators' displays are the three line displays usually found on the platform that indicate the next trains departing. I was going to post a prototype picture here from Bristol Temple Meads but it was complete before I had a chance to get one. I may come back and pop one in here, we'll see. Here I will recreate a island platform NTI display with OFF and RA indicators, for this I will use the 3D printed versions from Mainline Models - they have been designed using technical drawings from Unipart Dorman, a major provider of signalling infrastructure to Network Rail. They are made available through Shapeways, a 3D printing marketplace based in The Netherlands. Links: OFF Indicator, RA Repeater. They are shipped from Shapeways as printed, in a clear 'Fine Detail' plastic. Shown with Peco Code 75 track for scale. Materials To contruct the structure I will be using: 4.8mm Square Tubing (Available from Evergreen Scale Models & Plastruct among others) Polystyrene Sheet (Plasticard) Next Train Indicators printable kit (Purchased from ModelRailwayScenery.com) Pre-wired #1206 SMD LED's (Purchased from eBay) Black Paint (I used Tamiya Dark Iron) Construction (Time to compelete 4 Hours) Once I received the Indicators from Shapeways I saw that some of the holes had webbing over them so the first task was to push a thin needle through those holes to ensure they were open, then I could begin painting them black to match the prototype. Following the painting, again I pushed the thin needle through the holes to ensure they hadn't been bridged by the paint. The plastic does take the paint reasonably well but does require 2-3 coats to get complete coverage - I used Tamiya Dark Iron. It's helpful to paint the inside first, this way you can hold it up to the light and easily see any gaps in the paint. When the indicators are held up to light the effect can be seen (before the back and sides are painted) - the close-up photo shows scratches from the needle when I was clearing the holes, I didn't notice these when I was checking them so I am confident they won't be seen from 'viewing distance' - or even with the naked eye from a normal distance! Now to think of the LED's, here is one of the #1206 pre-wired LEDs. This is the size recommended by the designer in the Shapeways product description. Personally I think it looks a bit small but I will need to get a power supply set up and see how it looks - if needed there is space for up to three LEDs per indicator. I don't have a bench power supply - I don't even have a proper workbench - so I will use a spare 12v wall plug and wire it to some veroboard putting a resistor in line with the LED, this will also let me test the brightness and pick the best resistor value to use. Maybe I should invest in a breadboard for things like this so I can leave the soldering iron away for testing but for now it will do. I started out with a 1K resistor which was much too bright and made me realise I needed to touch up some of the paint on the back and sides of the indicators! I then tried a 10K resistor which was rather dim compared to what I needed. I settled with a 4K7 resistor and facing the LED 'backwards' - that is to say facing away from the holes - in the indicator, this value gave fairly consistent lighting of the indicator. Each indicator has a small slot in the bottom for the LED to slide into. I am using 12v to power the LED although other voltages can be used, the required resistor value can be calculated using the formula: Volts / Current (0.0025) = Resistance (Ohms). The current value of 0.0025A was calculated from my values of 12v and 4700 Ohms. For example, to power the LED from a 5v supply the resistor value would need to be (5/0.0025=2000) 2K. Next, I moved on to the NTI Displays. Like many printable card kits; the Next Train Indicators kit contains a template page which needs sticking to card before cutting out, I used an empty cereal box, and also has a 'wrap' page which needs printing and wrapping around the carboard structure built with the template. I stuck the template page on to a cereal box using Pritt stick before using a sharp scalpel to cut around the edges - before doing this I did draw some 'flaps' onto the template to stick them together to provide a solid 'base' for the wrap around. The parts look quite a bit smaller once they've been cut out so I opted follow the instructions properly and use the wrap to hold together the template pieces, it's almost as if someone has thought about this! After the first attempt using card, I gave up on it. The card I was using was too thick and it is all I had to hand so I went on the search for something else I already had and that I could use that was thin enough. That's when I found some thin Plasticard I could use, this seemed ideal as I could easily bond it to create a solid base to put the wrap over. So I set out cutting out these shapes again for the second attempt. I achieved a much better outcome with the polystyrene sheet with two cut and prepared in the same time as I managed one crude cardboard version, on to the wrapping. After wrapping the first display I noticed a couple of problems, mainly with my cutting accuracy. When I make more I will be taking more time and care, I will also probably discard the coloured wrap and just paint the plasticard instead and stick to using the kit as a scratchbuilding guide. I will however be using the orange text in future builds. I'd still highly recommend the kit but again, recommend it as a guide rather than a kit. Finally, on to the mounts. As I mentioned I am using 4.8mm square tubing, which, to be honest, does look a little over-scale once cut down to size but not to a huge amount. In future builds I would probably reduce this to 3.5mm - 4mm tubing. I chose to use tubing as it would allow me to run the wires inside to I only have short lengths of it to tidy up. This will mean I need to cut a small section out of the bottom of the horizontal part for the wired to run through. I used a spot-face cutter as I had it on the desk from making the LED testing circuit. Because of the sharp turn the wired would need to take, they needed to be fed through before sticking the two parts together. Ample wire was provided on the LEDs for this without having to extend anything. The screens and indicators are attached to the mount with thin strips of plasticard - I am using Pritt Stick to attach them to the displays and Loctite to attach the painted indicators, I am using liquid poly to attach to the mount. Once the indicators and screens were fixed to the mount, I pushed the LEDs into the indicators before securing the wires by adding some PVA glue, just around where the the enter the bottom of the indicators, with a cocktail stick. Then it was just time to paint the whole assembly before wiring it up for a test run. Final Outcome Overall I am quite impressed with what I have created in a relatively short amount of time - no more than 5 hours over two days! I am very impressed with the appearance of the 3D printed OFF and RA indicators and will definitely buy and use them again. As I said above, next time I will use the Next Train Indicator kit as more of a guide and only use the orange text screens on a plasticard base. This should give a cleaner looking display as well as a stronger build and I can use liquid poly to hold everything together rather than Pritt Stick. I think I would also look to fill in the slots of the RA and OFF indicators after the LEDs have been fitted, this way I can paint the bottom black too. Also, looking at the illumination, maybe it would be wise to use two LEDs per indicator for a more even light. Here is the final outcome: and here is a video of it working: VIDEO - Apologies for the screaming three year old background noise, she was jumping on the bed pretending to be 'SuperLucy'. This is something I will re-visit when I have space and a plan for a layout, then I will work on ironing out some of the inadequacies of this project. Cheers Fred

Particularly at the moment, with the HSTs on the way out, there is a mis-match in some cases. There was even some declassified First Class in the middle of a couple of sets a few months ago. As said by Steadfast, they do tend to stick a new 'letter sticker' on the coach so physically it might be coach 'D' but will have 'E' on it - sometimes with pink stickers on a green coach & sometimes a silver sticker on a blue coach. Cheers

I've created this new blog to keep all of my projects together. I'll continue to update my 142 blog but any other projects will be kept here. Click here to view the 142 upgrades blog.

The second vehicles lighting unit is wired up so just some photos of the set as it is now. Still no directional lighting fitted - I can't put it off too much longer though. Both vehicles with saloon lights on & BILs illuminated Cab light on Inter-vehicle wiring I think that the inter-vehicle wiring needs a bit of a rethink - possibly with a couple of holes in the floor and running some of them that way rather than having them all running through the corridor connections. Looking at the photo of the cab, I think a bit of rebuilding of the desk is needed to make it fit better - the original is rather undersized. Cheers

I've tried to create a universal function map for all of my stock, sound & non sound. All of my stock is diesel of varying types. This does mean that some functions in the middle of the range don't do anything. It will however help me to remember what each function does without the help of prompt cards for each model. Some of the sounds admittedly never get used and I may 'unmap' them to free up space for other lighting features such as separating head and marker lights for 'depot driving'. Cheers

Thanks Suzie That's definetly more than I could hope to use across all the stock I ever have and will own! It will be interesting to see how it is implemented across decoders and command stations indeed. Cheers

I'd have to agree with that statement. Often on sound projects you hear things that would never be heard from the same viewing distance on the prototype. I like to see sound as an enhancement whereas others, it seems, see it as a main feature. Each to their own, but I prefer sound to be a bit quieter than it is often presented at exhibitions. I still think that in the coming years there will be demand for more than 28 functions. On more modern stock there is more equipment to make sound, I'm not sure if - in reality - this all has to be manually switched or should be played randomly. Perhaps a project creator can shed some light. Cheers

I think the way forward, for me, is to thin out the sounds - I don't feel I need the driver guard buzzer sound, in most cases you can't hear it outside of the train anyway. Along with other sounds which aren't heard outside the train, I think the number of functions mapped can be reduced. This gives me enough free functions to add DCC uncouplers if I want to in the future when they are more common. However, many people like to use these sounds on their models. With each one taking up a function I can see them being used up rather quickly - I'm sure there are some sound projects out there that push close to the limit, and that's before any lighting functions are added, let alone uncouplers and pantographs. Cheers

I find that the sound alone takes up 10 or so functions, there are also 'virtual' functions such as shunt mode, momentum off, braking - not all of them I use - but they quickly add up in my case. I enjoy tinkering with electronics and enjoy squeezing in as many features as I can so maybe I am in the minority here! Cheers

Wasn't sure where to post this, but seeing as how many functions sound can use I think it's best placed here. As in the title, is 28 functions enough? With lighting at either end of a vehicle/MU and potentially cab lights and internal lights combined with sound functions and increasingly available DCC uncouplers and pantographs is 28 functions enough? Have you experienced a shortage of functions in any of your models? I'm adding lighting to a 142 and am wiring it for the separate control of head & tail lights, this combined with cab, internal, hazard lights and sound is pushing me ever closer to using all 28 functions. If I ever wanted to add separate marker/head light control and uncouplers I'd be maxed out. What is the future of DCC? Cheers

Progress has been ongoing - albeit not well documented on my part! The LokPilot FX has arrived and has been wired in along side the LokSound and a Zimo speaker in each vehicle. I am using the 'Decoder Lock' feature of many decoders to program (this uses CV 15 & 16 to ensure only the selected decoder responds to programming commands). Zimo speaker in the trailer vehicle All of the lighting works as hoped in the motor vehicle, a bit bright but when it is all together this can be adjusted through the decoders. Internal and Leading Cab Light on BIL Lights on I have had to lengthen the toilet area to house the decoders as the roof is taken up by the lighting boards and the Pacers don't have a lot of hidden space with their large windows and open seating area. Lenthened toilet area with decoders and wiring visible before glazing is installed I have used thin wire between the two vehicles which mean it is now permanently coupled. Most of the remaining work is simple to do - Fitting NRN Radio pods, creating a floor for the motor area, adding head/tail lights and fitting a functional coupling to either end.

I have now produced two lighting boards - one for each vehicle of the first unit. Each board powers one vehicles Cab light, Saloon lights & BIL Indicators. I have used stripboard so I can mount all required LED's & resistors directly to the board to avoid any difficult to hide wiring. Unfortunately with this board in place the standard glazing unit won't fit back in completely so that has had to be cut down with a sharp scalpel and carefully snapping it. I haven't been too picky with the resistor values as, if the lights are too bright, I can dim them through the LokSound or LokPilot FX decoders as appropriate. I plan on mounting both the decoders in the powered vehicle and using small JST plugs to connect track power and lighting wires through to the other vehicle. I have some Express Models tower LED's to fit head & tail lights - I plan on creating the lew style light fittings with bi-colour Marker/Tail lights, firstly because this is easier but also as this is what probably would have been fitted if GWR still had any 142s. Once the head and tail lights are in and my LokPilot FX is here I can start to work on wiring in the decoders and connecting everything together. After the decoders are in and it all works there are just a few cosmetic things to sort out - Rebuild parts of the interior, fitting of the NRN radio pods, painting the seating & cutting a hole in the front skirt for future coupling fitting (I hope Bachmann offer their new 158/9 coupling as a spare so I can fit all my 14x, 15x & 17x fleet). Oh, and then there's another one to do before I move on to my next project!

My two arrived today from Derails. A well applied livery in my opinion - one of the tanks adjacent to the motor bogie had fallen off of each, that's down to the Hornby packaging not being supportive enough I think. Nothing a little glue won't fix in a couple of minutes though! Now to start thinking about rewiring them for separate Head/Tail lights, internal lights, cab lights and sound - I should probably finish my 142's first though! Cheers

My Howes sound chip has arrived and it's time to remap the functions! The 142 isn't ready for a chip yet - lots to do - but I couldn't resist having a play with the chip. At the moment I am using a ViTrains 37 body and using the standard speaker that is supplied with the LokSound 4. I am using the Howes sound project. I started by reading all CV's using DecoderPro so I have a backup file in case it all goes pear shaped, it took around an hour to read all of the CV's. I used this, along with the provided function sheet, to establish which sound slots associated with which sounds. Then I began remapping the functions to a 'personal standard' so all of my stock will use common functions (this is in the notepad file at the top), the function mapping tab of DecoderPro is also in the gallery. I'm not too sure about having door open and close on the same latching function - this means that the door close sound plays whenever track power is turned on and also seems to play whenever I select speed-step 0 from anywhere above 50%. For now I think it's time to return to the 142 and get that ready for decoder fitting before settling on function order and volume settings! Cheers.

The Hornby website suggests this is now in stock.

Thanks for your help, Just need my new soldering iron to arrive after my last one gave up on me! Cheers

Thanks, this is the speaker with just one driver at 8Ohms so two wired in parallel should be fine with a Loksound 4, I think? Cheers

Thanks, they are 8Ω speakers, the plan is to wire them in parallel to give a total impedance of 4Ω for a Loksound 4. Looking forward for all my LED's and components to arrive so I can hear it! Cheers

Hi, I'm brand new to DCC sound other than having a go on other peoples layouts. I am planning to fit two Zimo Optimised '3D' speakers (L26x20x08) to each of my Hornby 142's - one in each vehicle. I am planning to put them in the space which houses the weight. The question is if I drill holes in the bottom for the sound to exit, which way up do I mount the speaker? Cheers