SRman

I recently bought a Hornby factory sound-fitted class 56 with faulty lighting, for quite a reasonable price. I was not all that enamoured with the Hornby sounds, so looked to legomanbiffo for a reblow. The Hornby fitting uses an ESU LokSound v3.5, so it doesn't have many of the newer features that 'bif offers on v4 decoders, but I think it sounds absolutely spot on, although the video doesn't really do it justice. I placed the camera too close to the track at one point, so the locomotive does actually clout it as it passes! I still haven't fixed the lights - if anything, I made them worse in the attempts! However, I do have some after market lighting from Jason Edmonds to fit, which will give a bit more control over them as well. I also have some etched components to fit to improve things like the printed horn grilles.

If anyone is interested, I posted a short video of my pair of SLW class 24s in 'multiple' (that is, a DCC consist). To get everything working smoothly, I had to tweak a few CVs (through JMRI Decoder Pro) to allow certain functions to work on the consist address (i.e. to work on both locomotives simultaneously). The ones required were F2, to work the brakes on both locos (otherwise the trailing loco keeps on pushing the leading loco even when its wheels have stopped!), F1 to turn the sounds on for both locos, , F5 to switch both locos into light engine/light load mode, and F6 to send both loco engine sounds back to idle. Here we have D5000 and D5017 (renumbered from D5016):

I agree. They tend to rock on the centre axles. I didn't have a running problem with mine but was wary of them feeling like they were teetering on the brink of derailing, so elongated the centre axle holes using a drill in the dremel. Like the soldering iron trick, gently does it. I have added more weight in the tank to one of the seven I own, but the others seem to be a little more resistant to dismantling without damaging them.

If the loco and TC are used in a DCC consist, then sounds and certain functions can also be operated at the same time. Reducing the throttle to 0 (zero) should make both items slow then apply brakes, if the sound decoder is set up properly. I recently consisted two SLW class 24 locos which have the brake function on F2. By default, only the lead engine responded to F2, resulting in the trailing loco pushing the leader along after it had tried to stop. Using Decoder Pro (JMRI) software, I was able to easily select certain functions to "respond to consist address" by merely clicking in the checkboxes (much easier than looking up the lists of CVs to change). I set functions 1 (sound on/off), 2 (brake), 5 (light engine/rapid response), and 6 (return engine sounds to idle) to respond to function selections for the consist address. Once the TC sound decoders become available, we'll all be able to see what needs synchronising and what works without intervention.

I bought a second Sutton's Locomotive Works class 24, D5016 with sound, and it duly arrived in Melbourne. On test, it worked fine but emitted clicks and pops from the speakers whenever it was placed on powered tracks, programmed, or power was switched on when already on the track. There were a couple of anomalies with the functions but a decoder reset fixed those. Jamie from SLW suggested I swap the decoder into my previous SLW class 24, D5000, and D5000's decoder into D5016 and see what happened. The clicks and pops persisted with the decoder when in D5000, and the other decoder now in D5016 was silent when it should be, thus indicating a fault with the decoder itself. Jamie immediately sent me a replacement decoder, which arrived within a week, and all is now perfectly well with both locomotives. I cannot praise Jamie and SLW enough for their excellent, polite and very helpful follow up service. Having ascertained that I won't have to return the locomotive itself, I have now renumbered D5016 to D5017, which remained on the Southern Region for around three years, as opposed to D5016's stay on the SR which was only for a month. I removed only the 6's, using a wooden toothpick and a little moisture, then added the 7's using HMRS pressfix transfers - the height of the transfer numerals was slightly greater than the SLW ones, so I cut the bottom off the leg of the HMRS numerals to line up (one has a fraction too much lopped off, but I can easily disguise that when it dries properly). However, I may have to redo the other numbers because the HMRS ones are very slightly bolder, but it will suffice for now. I have reconfigured the headcode discs on both locomotives, but neither is yet sporting the extra SR lamp irons (or headboard brackets as SLW refer to them), although I have the etched components to fit. Anyway here are a couple of pics, the first showing the newly renumbered D5017, and the second showing the two SLW locomotives, D5000 and D5017 in multiple (i.e. a DCC consist). For running in consist, I modified the decoder settings to allow functions 1, 2, 5 and 6 to work with the consist address, thus allowing the sound to be turned on for both at once, the brake function (F2) to work on both (otherwise applying the brake only stopped the front loco, with the rear one pushing it on!), and the engine sounds of both to be returned to idle. Function 5 reduces the inertia/momentum to simulate light engine/light load running.

That thought did occur to me, Ian, but I didn't want to get bogged down in the finer definitions. You are certainly correct that it ceases to be "fictional" in the strict sense, once a livery has been applied to the real thing. I think it starts to get messy if we dig too deeply, though. Whichever way one thinks of these things, some of the 'might-have-been' liveries applied in preservation look very attractive. Then again, some of these fictional liveries applied to models also are very attractive; there is a whole topic devoted to model versions elsewhere on RMweb. One of those that stood out to me was a Western in DB red and black livery, as applied originally to their V200 locomotives. But that is digressing a bit. Regardless of whether it was an original livery, the class 14 in Railfreight livery would look very attractive to me, probably more so than the Loadhaul livery on the Hattons model.

The class 14s never ran in Railfreight colours under BR - they were all sold off long before that. If a preserved one is in Railfreight colours, then that, too, is a fictional livery, in much the same way as there was a preserved class 40 (was it 40 145?) running in large logo blue livery for a while ... and damned good it looked too (IMHO)!

Having played around with my early issue Hornby Hogwarts Castle by converting it to DCC and adding headlamps and flickering firebox glow, plus a crew, I was less than satisfied with the running qualities of the Airfix-derived chassis. Someone on these forums mentioned that the newest Hornby RailRoad County 4-6-0 chassis would be a good DCC-ready substitute, so I duly ordered one from Rails of Sheffield. The wheelbase is spot on, but on comparison of the two chassis side by side, I discovered that there are several discrepancies that would make the swap slightly more difficult, with the two major problems being the cylinder positions and the position of the rear combined tender drawbar and body mounting screw, which was slightly further forward on the County. After much head scratching, I decided that using the cylinders in the position of the County would be better as it more closely resembles that of a Hall, which is what the 'real' Hogwarts Castle is (Hornby didn't have a Hall model at the time, so used the Castle). I had already worked out that the chassis differences would not allow for an easy swap of cylinders and connecting rods. Allowing for the cylinders to fit under the Castle body meant filing down the depth of the footplate towards the front, which means that my Hogwarts Castle now has a shallow valance extending back to where the old cylinders sat. The repositioning of the cylinders also meant the 'S' shaped steam pipes were now leading from the smokebox to empty air, so they had to come off too; fortunately, they are separate mouldings which plug into holes in the smokebox and footplate. In the meantime, I pulled the TCS M1 decoder back out of the old chassis and resoldered the main track pickup wires (black and red) and the brush feed wires (grey and orange) back onto an 8-pin plug, but left the white, yellow and blue wires from the decoder soldered to the 3-pin connector plug I used to allow separation of the body from the chassis before. A quick test of the chassis showed that this was all successful. Back to the adaptation, I decided that the tender coupling should remain where it was on the Castle body, which meant that it didn't line up with the hole at the rear of the County chassis; I milled away a crescent shape at the rear of the metal County chassis to clear the screw while allowing it to set the chassis height at the rear, being hard against the rear of the chassis. The front mounting screw actually does most of the work of securing the chassis to the body. A few minor adjustments to the footplate, mainly involving drilling holes to clear bits of the County cylinders and valve gear, saw everything sitting nicely and running well. In all of this, I managed to dislodge the Hogwarts Express headboard, one of the headlamps, and the fireman I had previously glued in, so a quick session with the superglue saw all of those things restored to their 'correct' positions. I found some plastic tubing that was approximately the right diameter for some new straight steam pipes (maybe a teensy bit anaemic!), so set about trimming and fitting those by trial and error. I'm not too worried about accuracy: we are talking about a fictional engine on a fictional train, running on a fictional line from a fictional platform at Kings Cross to a fictional destination! With that in mind, a hybrid locomotive with an identity crisis really fits in! Poor old Hogwarts Castle doesn't know whether it is a Castle, a Hall or a County! Here are a couple of photos of it with the County chassis fitted but minus its headboard and steam pipes, no fireman, and with one headlamp pointing off into the scenery. And after the fixes were applied. The Knight Bus is one I hacked from two EFE models bought cheaply with the conversion in mind. I think I'm happy with it now, although I may restore the valance depth a little behind the cylinders at a later date ... much, much later.

Have they said anything about fixing the lighting (cab lights and directional ones) issues?

You will also need a sound backbone, because when you have finished, it won't be sound any more!

A couple more shots of the USATC tank with the front folding footplate and various pipes added.

A rather grainy photo from the earlier 1960s, showing an enthusiasts' day on London Transport metals. USATC 0-6-0 dock tank 30064 is prominent in the foreground, with a Bulleid set of coaches behind. To the rear can be seen a part of Derby type 2 D5000, LT No. 8 Sherlock Holmes, and a set of CO/CP stock. On the high level a train of LT F stock can just be made out.

The latest "Engine Shed" blog allays any fears about the wheel spoke flares. They state that the wheels on the pre-production models illustrated were from an older model, and that the wheels fitted to the production models will be the correct ones.

Joining in with the "me too" brigade, here's mine. There is a slightly fuller description in my layout topic (search for "Newton Broadway") but the photos here are the same as I posted there.

John: Peter uses an NCE Power Cab. Making and breaking consists is very easy to do with this. Peter: A consist would be the better way to go, but speed-matching the locos would be better done with different numbers under separate control. CVs to play with are 2 for the starting voltage, 5 for the top speed and 6 for the mid-voltage/speed. Also make sure CVs 3 and 4 are set to match so that acceleration and deceleration occur at similar rates on both engines. It helps if both locos have the same type of decoder fitted as the characteristics are easier to match up, but it is not impossible to do with different decoders fitted. If it is still difficult to get a close match, and if the decoders allow it, you may have to consider using a speed table, where each of the speed steps can be specified.

Yet another new locomotive has arrived, although originally pre-ordered back in 2013. Model Rail Magazine's ex-Southern USATC Dock Tank 30064 has arrived from Kernow Model Rail Centre. I asked them to include a Bachmann decoder in the box, but they actually fitted the decoder as well, so many thanks to them for the extra service. The front three-quarter view is actually stitched together from two photos with slightly different focus lengths, so forgive a couple of ragged edges - it's not the model or the modelling! It runs nicely, although there is a very slight stiffness still, even after running in both directions on the rolling road for an hour in total. A bit more running should cure that. The paint finish is superb. I have not added any extra bits yet, either, although you'd hardly think so to look at the detail already on the model.

A fairly simple task (albeit requiring steady hands) is to fit etched nameplates to locomotives to replace or cover printed ones. Two more of my class 73s have now had the printed plates covered with proper etched versions: 73 004, The Bluebell Railway, and 73 129, City of Winchester, both look much better now with their Fox Transfers etched stainless steel plates. Both are on Hornby chassis, but 73 004 has a Lima body. I mix and match bodies on the Hornby chassis - I have eight of the chassis but around 12 bodies of both Lima and Hornby origins. A banger blue Heljan class 47 also got the treatment. 47 508, S. S. Great Britain, now sports the Fox plates. Another class 73 to receive etched name plates and shields is royal locomotive, 73 142 Broadlands, with Shawplan plates. This locomotive has a Lima body and chassis, with a Modeltorque motor replacing the Lima 'pancake', and the addition of a newer Hornby unpowered bogie with its better wheels, extra pickups and NEM coupling pocket. I removed the printed Lima name plates and shields using a trick I learnt a long time ago: stick some sticky tape over the printed elements and press it on very, very firmly with a fingernail, then peel it off complete with the Lima transfers. I roughened the backs of the etched items then used some Krystal Klear glazing medium as a glue - any that squeezes out can be wiped off with a damp cloth. Not the best photo with limited light available, but here it is. And still on Lima class 73s, E6012 in early blue has a Lima body on a Hornby chassis. It also has legomanbiffo sound fitted. I tidied the roof grilles up, much as I did previously with green E6002. Once again, this emphasises just how fine the original Lima moulding was - pity about the mechanisms! (Edited to remove duplication if the previous blog entry).

That would also be a way of hiding a decoder for DCC.

just order a 92, remove the pantograph and sell the rest on!

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For the outside third rail, i centre the drill approximately 2mm in from the ends of the sleepers - I don't bother with a jig for this. For my fourth rail (LT lines), I made my own jig from some scrap brass, so I could get the rail exactly in the centre, and not zigzagging along. For some reason, the outside rail alignment is more forgiving. Edit: I should add that I use Peco code 100 track, so if using other track with more scale length sleepers, the measurement should be adjusted slightly to match.

You beat me to this, Simon. I found the picture yesterday in a fairly recent Modern Locomotives Illustrated, on DC Electric locomotives. Unfortunately, my home Internet is out of order at the moment (Telstra are working on the problem as multiple customers are affected, not just me).

You could also mention the Hastings 6L DEMU 1013 in the Tonbridge picture; it is also a first gen DMU in the literal sense.

Another idea occurred to me that would make the best of both worlds and keep the cost down. If Dave designed the PCB with tracks from the auxillary pins on the decoder socket/plug, and a solder pad (or two), that would allow the modeller to easily add LEDs for either pantograph, third rail shoes, or both, without adding to the manufacturing costs. Something like that would also suit the non-DCC purchasers, in that they wouldn't be paying for a feature they may never use.

While I like the idea of the switchable panto spark, I run third rail (and fourth rail, although that isn't relevant to the 92). Would you consider adding another switch to choose between third rail and panto sparks? As an idea of what could be done, this doesn't look quite right side on, but it does work well from most other viewing angles: http://s98.photobucket.com/user/jslynn/media/Rail/Class%2073%20Third%20Rail%20Flash_zpsif45um2h.mp4.html