Accurascale's First Steam Locomotive; GWR Collett 78xx Manor Class!

[Accurascale Fran]

1 minute ago, BroadLeaves said:

That's now been changed on the web site to say

"DCC Sound locomotives have speaker mounted in smokebox and speaker in tender"

The old version is there on archive.org (snapshot taken in March this year). but presumably it was changed some time after the 25th of this month. Not sure how I feel about that. I very much doubt anyone would have purchased or not based on the presence or absence of a third speaker, but changing (lowering?) the spec after payment has been taken and then not (as far as I can tell) making any announcement about it seems... ...unusual.

Maybe someone from Accurascale would like to comment? Perhaps it was just a genuine mistake in the web copy, and nobody at Accurascale noticed until you pointed it out. Has the sound quality been affected in any way? 

 

 

Hi Broadleaves,

 

It was a mistake in copy and we offer our sincere apologies for that. Of course, if anyone is not satisfied they can simply return their loco to us for a full refund which will be honoured. 

 

Overall the feedback on our first steam locomotive has been fantastic and has encouraged us to broaden our gaze in the steam area of the market. 

 

Cheers!

 

Fran 

[Harlequin]

@Accurascale Fran

On future steam locos please make allowance for the biggest possible speaker(s) you can practically fit so that the sound is up to the standard of your diesel locos.

Thanks.

 

[Accurascale Fran]

10 minutes ago, Harlequin said:

@Accurascale Fran

On future steam locos please make allowance for the biggest possible speaker(s) you can practically fit so that the sound is up to the standard of your diesel locos.

Thanks.

 

 

Hi Phil,

 

Noted of course. Believe me, we tried to get an Accurathrash speaker to fit in the manor tender, but it was no dice. Again, something we can't physically do with the buckjumper either, but we do take the advice on board and will look to see what we can do to unlock the quality of the sound file.

 

Cheers!

 

Fran 

[TimberValleyRailway]

Well my Erlestoke arrived today, and to be frank I'm horrified. The detail is lovely - far better than anything else I've ever seen, but the performance is dire. Slowing right down to a crawl on 3rd radius curves - at 40% speed, no crawling capapbility whatsoever - anyone else had this issue?

Edit - should probably add that i'm already in touch about Torquay, but will also mention Erlestoke!

Edited August 29, 2023 by TimberValleyRailway
More info

[jonnyuk]

4 minutes ago, TimberValleyRailway said:

Well my Erlestoke arrived today, and to be frank I'm horrified. The detail is lovely - far better than anything else I've ever seen, but the performance is dire. Slowing right down to a crawl on 3rd radius curves - at 40% speed, no crawling capapbility whatsoever - anyone else had this issue?

Edit - should probably add that i'm already in touch about Torquay, but will also mention Erlestoke!

yep i've got this, b2b looks fine, can't see anything obvious binding, stay alive is also not working at all. spoke to my retailer and returning today for a replacement. fingers crossed the replacement is good or i shall be having a refund.

[TimberValleyRailway]

Quote

yep i've got this, b2b looks fine, can't see anything obvious binding, stay alive is also not working at all. spoke to my retailer and returning today for a replacement. fingers crossed the replacement is good or i shall be having a refund.

Glad it's not just me, i'll test it at my model club tonight to see if the issue persists.

 

Any other analogue users on here, what's your experience been like?

[McC]

Just now, TimberValleyRailway said:

Glad it's not just me, i'll test it at my model club tonight to see if the issue persists.

 

Any other analogue users on here, what's your experience been like?

 

Obviously the stay alive will not work on Analogue, and we'd always recommend a good run-in, but if you are having any issues that are not immediately obvious, do talk to your retailer, or us if you bought direct and we'd be delighted to help.

[MikeParkin65]

24 minutes ago, McC said:

 

Obviously the stay alive will not work on Analogue, and we'd always recommend a good run-in, but if you are having any issues that are not immediately obvious, do talk to your retailer, or us if you bought direct and we'd be delighted to help.

Very happy with mine on DCC so no complaints from me but if the DCC ready ones have the capacitors fitted could it be they are sucking up current and therefore causing a voltage drop which is why @TimberValleyRailways example slowing? Cure therefore being either remove capacitor or upgrade power supply to layout?

[Harlequin]

51 minutes ago, Accurascale Fran said:

 

Hi Phil,

 

Noted of course. Believe me, we tried to get an Accurathrash speaker to fit in the manor tender, but it was no dice. Again, something we can't physically do with the buckjumper either, but we do take the advice on board and will look to see what we can do to unlock the quality of the sound file.

 

Cheers!

 

Fran 

 

That's good to hear, thanks.

 

In tender locos you might consider making not just the coal load removable but some or all of the tank top as well. That would allow people not interested in sound to have a partly-filled coal space if they want and for those who are interested in sound to remove the tank top to give more room under the coal load for a big speaker.

 

[Mallard60022]

1 hour ago, TimberValleyRailway said:

Well my Erlestoke arrived today, and to be frank I'm horrified. The detail is lovely - far better than anything else I've ever seen, but the performance is dire. Slowing right down to a crawl on 3rd radius curves - at 40% speed, no crawling capapbility whatsoever - anyone else had this issue?

Edit - should probably add that i'm already in touch about Torquay, but will also mention Erlestoke!

Nope. Running mine on DC with 9 Coaches (Baccy Portholes and crappy Dapol MR Gangway Stock re-wheeled) and with  an old H & M Controller on almost all 30' curves off stage. Thoroughly smooth and with great speed control and zero wheel spin even on starting on curves.

Sorry.

Phil

[KeithAnthony]

6 hours ago, Rugd1022 said:

June 2007...

...and seven years later 

[Free At Last]

3 hours ago, Harlequin said:

@Accurascale Fran

On future steam locos please make allowance for the biggest possible speaker(s) you can practically fit so that the sound is up to the standard of your diesel locos.

Thanks.

 

 

3 hours ago, Accurascale Fran said:

 

Hi Phil,

 

Noted of course. Believe me, we tried to get an Accurathrash speaker to fit in the manor tender,

 

Cheers!

 

Fran 

A Stanier tender should have enough room.

[MikeParkin65]

2 minutes ago, Free At Last said:

 

A Stanier tender should have enough room.

Yep  - an earth mover definitely fits in an 8F tender ;)

[Cofga]

I finally ran mine up my 1.86% 30” radius helix and it pulled an Accurascale Siphon G plus 3 Hornby coaches without issues. Compare that to a Hornby King class pulling the siphon plus 5 coaches. The King manages 2 extra coaches because the engine is 19g heavier and its tender is 68g lighter. The keep alive does a great job but as expected only works with a DCC decoder installed. 

[IOW O2]

3 hours ago, Mallard60022 said:

Nope. R.... on almost all 30' curves off stage. Thoroughly smooth and with great speed control and zero wheel spin even on starting on curves.

 

30" radius is approximately of what would be 7th radius, Timbervalleyrailway was asking about 3rd radius which is 20" curves, I would be most interested whilst I await mine if anyone has issues on 3rd radius, as I have a 3.5 radius (21" 1/4 ) one end and a 4.5 radius (23.5") at the other.  Thanks' 

Edited August 29, 2023 by IOW O2

[KeithAnthony]

25 minutes ago, IOW O2 said:

if anyone has issues on 3rd radius,

No issues on 2nd radius if that helps.Have left the cylinder cut away as delivered.

[melmerby]

4 hours ago, MikeParkin65 said:

Very happy with mine on DCC so no complaints from me but if the DCC ready ones have the capacitors fitted could it be they are sucking up current and therefore causing a voltage drop

That's not how capacitors work

An ideal capacitor will not suck up current when fully charged, if indeed they are even in circuit on DC with blanking plug. (which I doubt.)

Edited August 29, 2023 by melmerby

[The Stationmaster]

4 hours ago, Harlequin said:

 

That's good to hear, thanks.

 

In tender locos you might consider making not just the coal load removable but some or all of the tank top as well. That would allow people not interested in sound to have a partly-filled coal space if they want and for those who are interested in sound to remove the tank top to give more room under the coal load for a big speaker.

 

Phil one noticeable thing with 'Manors' in BR days was that they tended to have quite a large heap of coal in the tender.  often level with the top of the cab windows and sometimes higher at the peak of the heap.  Difficult to find GWR era photos which show this but there are one or two which do.  So that.  might offer a possible route to finding or creating a bit more pace?

[IOW O2]

1 hour ago, KeithAnthony said:

No issues on 2nd radius if that helps.Have left the cylinder cut away as delivered.

Thanks, reassuring.

2 hours ago, Cofga said:

The King manages 2 extra coaches because the engine is 19g heavier...

I thought Accu said the loco would be 400g on its own.  My 2017 Hby King weighs in at 320g (DCC ready) which makes the manor at 19g less at 301. Which makes it the same weight as the bigger W/C spamcan with a plastic body.  Will be interesting.🙂

Edited August 29, 2023 by IOW O2
added - Hby King-

[McC]

31 minutes ago, IOW O2 said:

Thanks, reassuring.

I thought Accu said the loco would be 400g on its own.  My 2017 weighs in at 320g (DCC ready) which makes the manor at 19g less at 301. Which makes it the same weight as the bigger W/C spamcan with a plastic body.  Will be interesting.🙂

 

The Manor is 420g including tender so the numbers sound a little out :) 

[IOW O2]

12 minutes ago, McC said:

The Manor is 420g including tender so the numbers sound a little out :) 

Thanks', I added that it was a 2017 Hby king at 320g, I await with bated breath.

[jonnyuk]

8 hours ago, TimberValleyRailway said:

Glad it's not just me, i'll test it at my model club tonight to see if the issue persists.

 

Any other analogue users on here, what's your experience been like?

Swooped my manor today, my new still slows on the curves but no where near as much as the first one, you can hear the pitch of the motor change as well, wonder if it lacks torque. Anyway happy with my replacement 

[McC]

10 minutes ago, jonnyuk said:

Swooped my manor today, my new still slows on the curves but no where near as much as the first one, you can hear the pitch of the motor change as well, wonder if it lacks torque. Anyway happy with my replacement 

 

The loco can pull over 40 coaches so it’s definitely not torque. Make sure the tender is in the ‘tight’ curve setting further away from the loco?  Assume running with the 2ns radius cutouts in place still too?

[Cofga]

9 hours ago, IOW O2 said:

Thanks, reassuring.

I thought Accu said the loco would be 400g on its own.  My 2017 Hby King weighs in at 320g (DCC ready) which makes the manor at 19g less at 301. Which makes it the same weight as the bigger W/C spamcan with a plastic body.  Will be interesting.🙂

I misspoke as the King tender was only 32g lighter not 68g. My King came in the Bristolian set about 2020 direct from Hong Kong via eBay so I figure it came out the back door of the factory or warehouse. I weighed them out individually and the Manor engine was 316g with a 100g tender=416g total. The King engine weighed 335g with a 68g tender=403g.  So The important thing is the heavier tender on the Manor along with it’s lighter engine reduced it’s pulling power compared to the King by a couple of coaches.

[Dunsignalling]

21 hours ago, Cofga said:

I finally ran mine up my 1.86% 30” radius helix and it pulled an Accurascale Siphon G plus 3 Hornby coaches without issues. Compare that to a Hornby King class pulling the siphon plus 5 coaches. The King manages 2 extra coaches because the engine is 19g heavier and its tender is 68g lighter. The keep alive does a great job but as expected only works with a DCC decoder installed. 

Do bear in mind that all locos gradually gain haulage power as (a) the mechanism beds in, and (b) the shine gets knocked off the wheels so they become less prone to slipping.

 

Both these vary considerably according to how the model gets "run-in", especially the latter, which only happens on track; a rolling road does not provide the necessary friction. Also, what usually takes a few weeks or months on a continuous-run layout can be expected to take much longer on a terminus/FY set-up.

 

In order to optimise the process, the loco needs to encounter both right-hand and left-hand curves in approximately equal measure which, on most layouts, will mean regularly turning it. 

 

In my experience, my "highest mileage" Bachmann locos can handle about double the loads they could manage when new. However, reaching a performance plateau took a surprisingly long time, suggesting that "complete" running-in can be a very protracted process. I find that Hornby locos similarly improve as mileage accumulates, though the difference between "before" and "after" tends to be less pronounced.

 

How the Accurascale Manor will compare, remains to be seen, but I never expect any new loco to develop "maximum grunt" straight out of the box and overloading is likely to be counter-productive in the longer term.

 

My 7802 will therefore only be expected to deal with 5/6 coaches to begin with, which I shall gradually increase that as it reaches a similar speed on a lower controller setting than before.  

 

John

 

 

Edited August 30, 2023 by Dunsignalling