irishthump

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.

2 hours ago, WRENNEIRE said:

This really gets my goat up
PM slogging away on his own working from detailed drawings and talking with people who worked on the locos. Then he lands out a 6 figure sum , eventually gets the locos delivered, then distributed and a keyboard warrior comes along and complains about boxes being silver not white! Jesus wept man admire the models for what they are and praise what has been done correctly, give the man a brake! And play with them

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.

2 minutes ago, Dempsey said:

Did the 121s run double headed together or was it just with the 141s 181s?

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.

12 minutes ago, DJ Dangerous said:

How about everybody holds on the bloody nitpicking for a few weeks?

I for one, will be waiting a few weeks to receive mine, and I don't want the moment ruined weeks in advance with lists and lists of imperfections.

Please!

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.

1 hour ago, Warbonnet said:

Hi Kevin,

We do not have Supertrain. This is part of the last batch to come in from Murphy Models.

Thanks,

Fran

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

10 hours ago, Warbonnet said:

Hi everyone,

We will be receiving our next batch of 121s tomorrow and dispatch will commence from Tuesday onwards.

Cheers!

Fran

Fran,

Any word on when the Supertrain locos will be shipping?

53 minutes ago, murphaph said:

Cheers. I've a few iPhone speakers here. Gonna try squeezing one of those in first rather than buying new ones. 

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

10 minutes ago, murphaph said:

Yeah I had no deep seated desire to go down that road and there's clearly no reason to. Cab straight off and then fingernail under the body gives enough purchase to pull it off. Squeezing the body just seems to anger it lol.

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!

40 minutes ago, murphaph said:

Lifesaver. First time opening one of these tonight. This is easy this way.

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

45 minutes ago, jhb171achill said:

Let's HOPE it's a bluff - however - bluff or not, anyone opening or operating a business either IN Brexitland OR the rest of the world (well, the EU and China!), will be buried in new tariffs, by the look of things........thus, prices in such a new shop might have to be a lot higher than people might assume.

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.

On 11/11/2020 at 4:21 PM, murphaph said:

According to the 567 wiki the R means "rebalanced".

Quote:

EMD Pointers publication, October 17, 1956, "NEW MODEL 8-567CR ENGINE" "Due to expanding usage in a wide variety of applications, the 8 cylinder 567C engine is now being manufactured with certain design changes to provide a better total balance. This "rebalanced" engine has the model designation 8-567CR and supersedes the previous standard 8-567C in all applications. The major change is in firing order which requires a new design crankshaft #8235623 for the 8-567CR engine. This crankshaft has 2 relocated crankpin throws as well as larger counterweights."

 

Maybe it meant something else inside CIE though?

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.

5 hours ago, WRENNEIRE said:

They have landed in London so I reckon early next week with MM and then towards the end of the week with retailers
Hip Hip.....

Any word on the Supertrain locos?

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

2 hours ago, brassnut said:

Ahh on straight. 

On curves 

On cross overs.

I'm useless at trying to explain. 

In detail..

Hopefully ye can understand my difficulties 

As I'm having trouble trying to figure out 

Thanks for all help brassnut 

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.

On 9/11/2020 at 11:30 AM, Warbonnet said:

Hi everyone,

The Murphy Models range of DCC and DCC sound chips are back in stock with IRM and ready for immediate dispatch!

The 645E sound chip is correct for 126, 127, 133 and 135 (in later years, not in grey as per the model, that should be 567), while the 567 chip covers the rest of the 121 range.

We got lots of emails asking to stock these again so we thought we better let you know! Order here https://irishrailwaymodels.com/collections/dcc-decoders

Cheers!

Fran

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?

46 minutes ago, minister_for_hardship said:

In reality, cab lighting is flicked on to read or write for a minute or so and then flicked off again. Most of the time drivers have it off anyhow.

Ever try driving your car with the interior light on all the time? No, me neither.

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!

2 hours ago, DART8118 said:

Many thanks everyone for the replies.  All very helpful and informative and appreciated.  I have an NCE Powercab since 2014 and have only used about 20% of its functionality.  I have reduced the volume on one loco to about 40% level by adjusting CVs.  If I now put that loco into a consist and later remove it from the consist would there be issues with the settings on its sound CVs?  I know I lost recall settings when I reset the sound volume CVs (might have been cab CV) so just wondering if the same might happen when exiting a consist.

Thanks again in advance

8118

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.

22 hours ago, Warbonnet said:

Ah man, not sams trains!!! Nearly want to ban you for a month for posting that

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....

27 minutes ago, Thameslink said:

Yes I have an old Hornby loco that runs fine. 

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?

7 hours ago, DART8118 said:

What does a beginner need to know about mixing a 4-function decoder in one loco and a full sound decoder in the second loco, for mixing different decoders from different manufacturers, and for mixing locos from different manufacturers?

TIA.

8118

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?

6 hours ago, Barl said:

This is an interesting topic as it can be very confusing for people to transition to DCC. In my experience DCC isn't complicated and, as the lads have said above once all the track is connected to as wire 'bus' then insulfrog points shouldn't be an issue. All of my points are insulfrog.

One point that I don't think is mentioned is that it's worth having a short section of track isolated -either in a fiddle yard or siding - that can be used as a programming track for loco's etc., rather than having to connect to a separate piece of track each time.

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. 

6 hours ago, Noel said:

 

Our layout was built 28 years ago as a DC layout with extensive wiring for block sections and isolation rails (eg loco she's, sidings, terminus platforms, etc. To convert to DCC all I had to do was connect two wires from DCC controller to my DC switch box and flick every single switch on and leave them on. It took me 20 minutes. No droppers anywhere, and no tales of woe encountered it just works, and come of the track sections are quite long. The fishplates have made excellent conductors. DCC = Simpler

No offence intended but that's really not a reliable way to do things. I would imagine the existent DCC wiring on your layout is helping conductivity to different sections. I know you say you don't have any problems but you're asking for trouble. Fishplates will conduct, that's what they're designed for, but over time they can oxidise or loosen and that will affect them. Painting and weathering track can also cause a loss of conductivity (I notice your own track isn't painted), I have experienced this first hand.

The best practice is to install a DCC bus and to use droppers every few feet or to all seperate pieces of track. I've also heard people suggesting that the track itself acts as it's own bus which is nonsense. Track is actually a poor conductor which is why a bus is the best option.