murphaph

Did you notice much variation within a class Noel? Would the horns have been of American design on the GMs?

The X is the "target" whatever that means. Sounds like a signal to me. Otherwise it's the red lamp on the gate I suppose: http://www.railsigns.uk/overseas/ireland3/ireland3.html

Are these just a "repeater" for the X on the gates? Are the X's the actual signal or how does it normally work?

I'm curious about the evolution, if any, in the sound of horns since dieselisation began on CIE. Have they evolved or always sounded the same? Did the horns ever sound American on the various GMs? Who supplied the horns in the A Class and GMs? Looking forward to any information you might have!

Be nice to be able to order empty flats from IRM.

From more googling it seems that ESU dropped the FT suffix on v5 project files because ALL v5 projects do indeed have FT by default through logical functions. The FT suffix was required for v4 files because FT came out during the v4 lifecycle. It was a way to identify new and upgrade v4 files but isn't necessary for v5 as it's a standard feature. This is good news. Just need to get suitable US loco and modify the horns & lights to use the Irish sounds and use this as a template rather than using a v4 MM file as a template. In time all relevant prime mover sounds will be available as v5 types. ESU really do themselves no favours in how they get the information out there. Most of what I've found has been on forums. There's an obvious disconnect between ESU GmbH and ESU LLC. A lot of information seems to slip through the cracks.

Another source of confusion here is ESU's documentation, or lack of it. It is fairly clear to me now, that (at least some) v5 LS projects do NOT implement drive hold (interchangeable with "drivehold" in ESU manuals so watch out when searching!) in the same way as v4 ones did. In the v4 projects I believe drive hold was always a sound schedule in sound slot 2. I had all sorts of strange runaway behaviour when trying to use the 12cyl 710 v5 file with the 201 on a v5 chip. I decided late last night just to blow the whole unaltered project from this loco to my v5 and it worked fine. Hmmm I thought. Upon closer inspection it's obvious that there is nothing in sound slot two, yet the decoder was responding perfectly to F9 as if drive hold was active. The other FT features were however in the sound slots as before. I looked at the function mapping and there under F9 is a logical function "drive hold". It is not a sound schedule in a sound slot. The logical function seems to be directly able to alter the frequency of playback for the prime mover in sound slot 1. There is one reference to this in the v5 manual but otherwise very little information on the internet that I can find. Perhaps my googling skills need improvement. I'll play around a bit more when I get some time. I suspect the v5 can do this but the v4 cannot, hence a project file that has all the FT sounds but relies on a logical function for the crucial drive hold feature, will not be marked as FT because on the v4 it won't work as expected. The v5 is still very new to the US I think so information on the internet is scarce and most European modellers don't seem to care for the features. Edit: Bit more info here; https://groups.io/g/Loksound/topic/full_throttle_and_v5/73288281?p=,,,20,0,0,0::recentpostdate%2Fsticky,,,20,2,120,73288281 https://groups.io/g/Loksound/topic/loksound_5_0_and_full/74538055?p=,,,20,0,0,0::recentpostdate%2Fsticky,,,20,2,80,74538055 Quote (pertaining to v5 only): "The typical default arrangement is: - Drive Hold is now a Logical Function, not a sound slot and is mapped to F9. - Run 8 is mapped to F26 with Logical Function "Shift Mode 2" and no sound slot. - Coast is mapped to F27 with Logical Function "Shift Mode 3" and no sound slot. - Manual Notching Logic is mapped to F28 with a special sound slot, typically 27."

Thanks a million John. That is a hell of a lot more than I had bargained for but there's almost no stock from that era that I don't need, it would seem! When you say 42' 9" flats, are these the same as the IRM 42' flats? The molasses came in via Foynes, right?

Hi all, As some of you may know, my long term plan is to model the LJ-Limerick line at waist height, showing hints of the WRC, Nenagh, Foynes and Castlemungret branches and the continuation of the LJ - Waterford line (all off scene but with the correct sort of traffic coming from and going to each branch/line), with the Cork-Dublin (north of LJ) mainline occupying a second level, shelf layout at eye level and using Helixes to pass through LJ on the main level before going off scene on the way to Cork. I'm trying to ascertain exactly what sort of wagons I need to be collecting over the coming years. The layout will be nominally set in 1995 but "mid 90s" is good enough. I believe in the 1990s you had at least the following movements in this area: Foynes-Ballina coal & oil (oil still carried or just coal at this stage?) Castlemungret-Waterford bulk cement in cement bubbles Kilmastulla-Castlemungret shale trains in bogie shale wagons Barytes trains from Silvermines to Foynes Gypsum from Kingscourt to Castlemungret but via LJ or Nenagh? Ammonia from Marino Point to Shelton Abbey via LJ What else? There was a container yard at Limerick. How was this served? Liner trains? to/from where? Kegs presumably came as far as Limerick but in a block train or attached to a liner train? Same for ferts? What about bagged cement out from the cement works? Any timber trains? Thanks for any and all help!

It's actually quite cheap. I paid €40 for mine. Great for this sort of task. It can be used for decoders from any manufacturer I suppose as it simply takes the place of a loco. Could be used independently of the Lokprogrammer as well if you use something like the JMRI DecoderPro probably.

You don't strictly speaking need a PCB but it saves a lot of space. I have installed decoders into older locos with no PCB/no decoder socket and it's a right pain. Each wire needs soldering and insulating etc. and then you need to squeeze the lot inside the body. A PCB is much better and costs next to nothing. They are largely generic I think. If the particular loco doesn't have function z, then nothing gets soldered to the pad. A simple PCB is actually extremely unlikely to cause any problems that you wouldn't otherwise have with a bundle of wires. Even on DC a PCB is preferable to a load of wires IMO.

Cheers Noel. Appreciate the input but I'm really committed to the DIY/learning approach on this. I will have too many locos to pay for pre-blown sound in them all, which is the end goal. I've got the Lokprogrammer and the ESU 53900 "test bench" (which I can recommend for this sort of desk work-see attached image). I just watched an ESU LLC video. Interestingly Matt Hermann states that the "Drive Hold" sound MUST be in sound slot 2. That's possibly why something wasn't working for me earlier. I'll try that later.

Cheers. I'm guessing then if the logic for the drive hold etc. is actually fully self contained within the respective "FT feature sound slot", then an alternative method would be to keep the 201 (etc.) file as is, then just add the FT sound slots, drive hold, run8, brake, coast? I assumed (obviously incorrectly) that the actual drive sound needs to be "FT compatible" but if the logic for drive hold isn't in the drive sound, then virtually any diesel loco can be given the FT features I guess? I must say I have been wondering why several ESU files are not marked FT and are missing the drive hold slot, but DO have the other FT features. In the description it always says for these files "this is a normal idle project". I assumed because of this that the drive hold feature was not simply an additional sound slot, but required modification to the actual drive sound, hence the lack of "FT" in these files descriptors.

Thx for responding. Appreciate it. Do you also delete the donor horn sounds and replace with the 201 horns?

Sure. I ordered a few relays but somehow managed to order ones too large for this job so they'll go in the spares box and I'll order smaller ones.

They're only worth what someone is willing to pay for them. Rather optimistic on the seller's part I think. They've been up a while. Many sellers put stuff up at exorbitant prices and just keep relisting until some fool is prepared to part with his money.

It's just a pity so much of the network had/has TSRs that mean hardly has a train accelerated to 100 it is braking again for the next restriction. Nowhere on the network has a line speed over 100. I honestly think the amount of money the 201 shape saved in fuel economy could be counted on one hand but that's a gut feeling and I absolutely stand to be corrected! Perhaps the intention was there however. Unfortunately Irish Rail made a number of senseless decisions along the way, the needless scrapping of the mkIIIs a few years after buying all those locos being the most obvious. Still plenty of push pull and loco hauled trains here in Germany, despite the advent of the multiple unit.

I wouldn't think it plays a significant role at the fairly sedate pace most Irish trains run at but maybe it was more a cosmetic decision.

Appetite sufficiently whetted. 4 or 5 IRM announcements would be great stuff.

Yeah ok but the 66, has a similar engine to the 201 got a body style very similar to the 59. That was really my point, if made in an unclear manner. I always wondered why the 201 received the different front rather than just using what they already had.

Why did they create a new body shape, rather than use the class 59 one?

Yeah that one I know about lol!

I was thinking the same about the shipping costs. Can't have actually been much in it as you have those fixed port costs in either case. Did they ship the locos via the Great lakes or by land to an East coast port or how was it handled?

Dead locos? I wouldn't say so. The drivetrain is surely made of generic parts or parts you can substitute. The PCB is a simple passive affair that you could bridge should anything really bad happen. Handrails can be replicated. I'd say the only thing that will cause a MM loco to be retired is a smashed bodyshell.

Piko here in Germany also has different ranges with differing levels of detail and price (eg Hobby, Expert).