irishthump

It's a process the DCC gurus call "Speed Matching". There are many good articles and videos on the subject if you Google search the term. American modellers have great experience with this as they often run several locos in a consist. Basically the process involves adjusting 3 CVs. CV2 which controls the speed of the loco at speed step 1 on the throttle. CV5 which controls the speed of the loco at max throttle speed. CV6 which controls the loco's speed at the middle speed step. Bear in mind that some cheaper decoders will not allow adjustment of these CV's. Hopefully you have a large loop on your layout as this makes the process much easier. Set the 2 locos up a couple of inches apart and run them both at speed step 1. Adjust CV2 so they are at the same speed. Then do the same with CV5 while the models are running at top speed. Once you have those set work on CV6, it's much easier when you have CV's 2 and 5 matched. You probably won't get them running identically but just try to get them as close as possible. Also try to adjust the CV's on only one loco, adjusting it to match the other one rather than fiddling with CV's on both locos at once. That can get very confusing!

They are Bachmann E-Z Mate couplers which can be found quite easily online. Hattons stock them... www.hattons.co.uk - Bachmann USA 78501 Magnetically Operated E-Z Mate Mark II Couplers - Long (12Pr/Card) This would be the easiest option if you don't fancy hacking away at the model.

That sounds dreadful! I have a couple of Spectrum locos and they’re not the quietest but there’s something wrong there. The gears sound like they are binding but it’s hard to tell without opening the loco up. If it was me I’d have a go at repairing it but if that’s not your thing then return it. If you decide to fix it post some pics here and we can try to help you out.

I have to agree, Dave. Especially when the criticism comes from a member with the grand total of 2 posts on these forums! BOTH of those posts are pointed criticism of Murphy Models products. I don’t like to demonise or single out anybody but this sort of crap needs to be called out.

Yes the 121's were often double-headed, due to them not having a cab at each end it made sense to pair them. they also double-headed with 141's and 181's all the time.

Ignore it and enjoy there lovely models when they arrive. I pay no attention to nitpicking myself, especially not from people who pop up on the forum ONLY to post negative opinions.

Any idea of a delivery date for the Supertrain locos, Fran?

Fran, Any word on when the Supertrain locos will be shipping?

Which type are they? A small sugar cube will also fit if you remove the speaker cradle.

Yes that’s exactly it! Lever the body up rather than pinching it which really doesn’t work. Problem with the handrails is that some of the posts are friction fit but some of them clearly ended up needing to be glued in. Best avoided at all costs!

Yep. Don’t know why some people insist on removing the handrails first. Probably just to prove they CAN do it!

I’ve a feeling a trade deal will happen at the last second. Trump’s loss changes the dynamic more that people realise and there seems to be a lot of wobbling from The Bowel Boris at the moment.

I had read somewhere that the "R" stood for "reversed", that is the engine was designed to have a different direction of rotation to previous models.

Any word on the Supertrain locos?

I wonder what will happen with Parcel Motel. Their business model could be dead and buried.

The frog on that point seems to be worn down to nothing! Pull out the whole point and replace it with a PECO one and all should be fine.

I assume you have sufficient stock of decoders to cover anyone who preordered them? Just asking as I ordered 2 decoders when I ordered my 121s. Should I have received the decoders already?

Yeah cab lighting has always been a take-it-or-leave-it type of thing for me. It's great to see manufacturers having the technology to add it to nearly every new model, but it does'nt add that much to the running experience. It's a bit of a gimmick for manufacturers to pad out the spec sheet!

Putting a loco in and out of consist wont affect any other settings on the decoder. The only thing to remember is that the loco will not respond to it's original address while the consist is set up. Setting up a consist sets CV19 to the consist number. CV19 overrides the regular loco address so it will only respond to the consist address so as Noel said this needs to be cleared for the loco to run normally under it's address. You can also clear a consist by setting CV19 to 0 in each loco. This is a handy thing to know in case you forget the address of the consist! On a side note when locos are in consist any function buttons you press will activate the functions on all locos in the consist. So if you press the horn it will sound in all locos. This can be annoying for some people! Decoders can be set up to change this but it gets complicated.

Yeah I feel dirty just for posting it!

Jesus! Hasn’t he heard that DCC will do the same thing more easily and a lot more safely? I’m not a fan of this guy‘s channel at the best of times but he’s hit a new low with this crap....

OK,I really think the loco will need to be opened up to locate the short. Can you do that yourself or is there a dealer near you that can offer that kind of service?

To work in a consist the two or more locos must have very similar running characteristics. Basically this means that the need to pretty much ensure that each loco accelerates and decelerates at the same rate and that they all drive at the same speed for a giving setting of your controller. Otherwise you can have the locos fighting against each other when running. Generally the Murphy Models locos are very consistent and run very well together so it's not too much of a worry. Decoders can get complicated. It's usually best to run the same brand of decoder when possible as they have similar running characteristics. The reason for this is that motor settings and acceleration and deceleration can be handled differently in different brands. I usually run sound in all my locos and I have standardized on Loksound decoders for all of my models. For the 121's it would be best to pair the sound decoder with the ESU Lokpilot which is the non sound version that MM is supplying. Hope that helps!

The red light on the controller and the heat from the loco would suggest there is a short circuit of some kind. Do all of your locos run ok?

Yeah I used Insulfrog points exclusively on my layout. I just don't want the hassle of wiring up live frogs and having and having to have a means to change the frog polarity. IAs I run mainly 4 or 6 axle diesels the dead frogs don't cause me any issue whatsoever once the track and loco wheels are kept clean. As I mentioned before I connect the stock rail and switch rail so I don't have to rely on electrical contact at the point.