irishthump

Something a bit different on the workbench. Figures I painted recently for tabletop fantasy gaming.

As was already said, if I was starting from scratch then absolutely. But if 21mm track became available tomorrow I would probably not do it as I have a lot of BR stock that regularly run on my 16.5mm track.

been there, done that!

Nice job. I’ll be honest if the speaker failed in one of my 121’s I’d have no problem replacing it and I wouldn’t care if it was visible behind the grill! Would you be able to show us a picture of that installation with the body off the loco?

Very informative, thanks for sharing. I bought a 141 from Ebay a few years back. I got it really cheap as it was sold as a non-runner. Turns out it had a similar-but-different issue with the PCB, the track feeds at one end of the board had failed. I had to rewire to the opposite end of the board and all was fine after that.

Isn't it true you can reprogramme keys to activate different functions? That momentum button is better of left alone!

Just be careful when ordering, there's another decoder - 58449. This appears to have exactly the same specs but may not operate the lights correctly on the 121. This is to do with how the circuit board in the 121 is designed.

No problem. Let me know what you think of the horn sound.

From what I remember the Momentum button allows you to enter a value of 0-9. Entering a value of 0 turns off acceleration and deceleration. When a value of 1-9 is entered the Powercab takes that number, multiplies it by a factor of 8 and writes that value to CV3, then writes half that value to CV4. So any values you already have programmed to a loco will be overwritten, Problems can arise because some sound decoders such as Zimo have specific values in CV3 and CV4 that are neceasary for realistic operation of the sound file. Loksound decoders have a different problem; acceleration and deceleration values differ from NMRA recommended practices so that their values need to be higher to match other brands of decoders.

Here it is, V36 Top of the page... http://projects.esu.eu/projectoverviews/search?cat=7&q=V36

I found one that I thought is pretty close. I’ll have a look later and find which V5 I took it from! The V5 horn sounds seem to sound much better, to my ears anyway....

@murphaphare you using the horn sounds from the old MM V4 files or have you found something suitable in the newer V5 ones?

The MM decoders are V5 DCC which I thought was a little odd for a decoder aimed at the European market. Curiously though, I recently picked up an MM decoder for an 071 loco from Mark’s and it turned out it to also be a V5 DCC. Doesn’t really make too much of a difference to most modellers here but handy to know as they have different momentum values.

Nice! Athearn Genesis? Atlas?

Well Santa has been.....

Have to say that contrasts sharply with my recollection. I vividly remember as a child standing on the platform at Pearse Station, reaching out to touch the sides of the stopped locos and my hand coming away thick with grime. Faded paint was also a common thing. The C classes on the push-pull services from Killiney to Pearse were also never clean and neither were the coaches!

Locos and stock in the CIE Supertrain days got just as grubby!

Happy Christmas to one and all...

If you have no experience with sound chips then the Murphy Models one will do you fine. The Wheeltappers version is more customizable but if you've never used a sound loco then it will be hard you to decide on any features. Just pick up the MM one and see how you get on. There's no difference as regards sound quality as they both use the same sound recordings.

Of course it will also depend on how tight the curves are on your layout, buffer lock could be a problem if you use too short a coupler.

Yeah you probably could use a smaller one. The 20s are just what I had to hand.

Yeah I fitted mine with no 20’s and they run fine. I plan to fit them with draft box Kadees in the near future.

Just finished weathering a Bachmann Class 20. Done mainly with washes and a little airbrushing on the bogies.

Ordering from Wheeltappers (or any UK company) may prove “problematic” from Jan 1st!

Just got an email from Parcel Motel saying they will “temporarily suspending”’ receiving deliveries at their depot in Antrim. Not really surprised, and unless some form of deal is signed between the EU and the UK and can’t see them renewing their service.