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BlueRail Trains - Bluetooth Locomotive Control


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1 hour ago, Ron Ron Ron said:


Unfortunately and sadly, Tam Valley Depot have suffered a couple of tragedies.

One of their small number of key employees passed away recently and the proprietor and designer of most of their products, Duncan McRee, has been diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer (he has never smoked either).

Combined with the shortages of electronic and other components, Tam Valley have had to drastically reduce their product range and output.

 

There’s no longer any mention of BlueRail Trains on their web site, as those products were handed over to Dead Rail Installs a long time ago.

I’ve no idea if Dead Rail Installs sourced the “boards” from Tam Valley Depot, who designed them, or from a third party manufacturer, but they are not currently available to order on the DRI web site.

 

This all leaves BlueRail Trains in limbo, with no product to sell.

The Tam Valley boards are not available and the announced BlueRail Trains equipped DCC sound decoders, haven’t appeared from the “well known” decoder manufacturer (thought to be Soundtraxx ?).

 

 

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Looks like i will do Locofi Then.

 

That is very tragic storys I've heard from any business.

Edited by Trainnoob
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7 hours ago, Trainnoob said:

Looks like i will do Locofi Then.

 

I have the now unavailable LocoFi Gen 2 board installed in my test platform F7A unit. It may be a few months (hopefully) before the Gen 3 boards become available.  LocoFi has included some very good design ideas including using a microSD card that can be used for upgrades and alternate sound projects. Be sure your install allows for access to the card reader slot on the receiver.   This is the same size as a microSD card for a phone. You can download upgrades/sound packages to a device with a microSD card reader and copy the files to the card for the receiver. 

 

Look at the installation videos and scrutinize their forum before you attempt an install. Plan the install carefully. I am not sure that the receiver will work in a cast metal tender common in UK steam engine kits.  I have asked about antenna  reception in brass tenders that are more common in North America but not had any definitive answer where someone has actually installed one in a brass loco tender.  Plastic steam tender or diesel shells are no problem. Unfortunately there is no plug and play with 8/18/21 pin decoder mounts on newer locomotives and the proprietary wiring and add ins by each locomotive manufacturer currently precludes a common plug-in. 

 

This was on their forum: https://www.wifimodelrailroad.com/forum/locofi-tm-general/locofi-for-the-uk which mentions alternate sound projects.

 

 

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Just another update: 

 

I had posted this on RMWEB in my Padstow blog. This is the install in progress in an HO locomotive. You can see the size of the LocoFi receiver and speaker.  According to the manufacturer, they have prototyped the new receiver and app and just waiting for components to arrive to complete manufacture of the new version with consisting (multiple engines running together as one), steam sound and steam throttle, app auto stop on connection loss, pressure activated emergency stop and many more performance improvements

 

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On 11/11/2021 at 03:06, Nearholmer said:

When this sort of tech will hit r-t-r H0 I don’t know, maybe NMRA DCC is so popular that there is no room in the market, but if/when it does, I think it will sweep the board, because it dispenses with so much fiddling and faffing to get high-quality running. It is dead easy.

 

MTH attempted to force their system (DCS) onto the HO market when they entered the HO market - they very quickly were forced into a retreat and had to add DCC compatibility to their HO models.

 

The HO market isn't going to abandon the open, multi-supplier ecoystem of DCC for some exclusive system that locks you into one supplier - and as a reminder why look at the panic that happened among MTH owners when MTH first announced they were shutting down and there was no (at the time) certainty on the future availability and support for the MTH DCS system.

 

Is there a demand for some sort of wireless system that bypasses sending signals through the track?  Probably - but as I said in another thread until an open multi-vendor system comes along it is going to be dead on arrival except for the few who may invest in it.  Bluerail discovered this when their product didn't expand much beyond a small number of Bachmann models and a smaller number of people who bought hardware.

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  • 8 months later...
On 05/07/2019 at 05:02, Ron Ron Ron said:

Some long awaited news from BlueRail Trains.

They have been working on two product developments, with two different partners.......

 

....One partner has been announced as Tam Valley Depot ( the makers of the Frog Juicer range, DRS-1 dead rail system and other electronic gizmos).

The other partner hasn’t been named yet, but is said to be an experienced DCC sound decoder manufacturer......

 

......The second project involves a range of DCC Sound decoders, with Bluetooth modules already onboard.

These will work with full functionality on a DCC layout, or via Bluetooth control on a DC, AC or DCC powered layout and when powered by batteries and are said to be fully bi-directional........

 

........It appears that the prospect of full DCC operation of trains fitted with regular DCC decoders, without having a DCC command station, is to be realised by these developments.

 

 

On 05/07/2019 at 08:12, wasdavetheroad said:

......I wonder who that high end sound decoder manufacturer is?

 

On 05/07/2019 at 08:21, Ron Ron Ron said:

If I was to hazard a guess, I’d say Soundtraxx.

 

 

At last.

After a 3 year wait........

It is indeed Soundtraxx who are to produce a range of BLUNAMI  DCC decoders, that can run on regular DCC, or via Bluetooth, without the need for a DCC system.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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2 hours ago, PaulRhB said:

Being discussed here under the Soundtraxx topic. Does this replace Bluerail or run alongside it? .....................

 

 

Thanks for the link.

Rather surprising that discussion has been taking place in that section of the forum.

 

The Blunami decoders will run alongside the BlueRail DCC decoders (boards) from Tam Valley, the original BlueRail Trains "BlueHorse" boards and Bachmann EZ-App fitted trains.

They can all be controlled in the new Blunami app and operated alongside each other.

 

The only thing that needs changing, is replacing the old app, with the new free, enhanced Bluerail Trains Blunami app.

(p.s. I don't know if the old app can be updated, or if it just needs replacing with the new app instead.)

 

Effectively, DCC control, without needing a DCC system and its Command Station.

 

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  • RMweb Gold
2 hours ago, Ron Ron Ron said:

Rather surprising that discussion has been taking place in that section of the forum.

Relevant to the US nature of the sounds 😉 I think both can co-exist on this but thought it would make a relevant link from this topic too if it mainly deals with the US loco side. 

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