irishthump

Silver Fox are moulded resin, so the finish is a lot smoother. Whatever scale your modelling in a 3D printed model will require some finishing to removing print lines but if you're prepared to put in some work or if you can live with a cruder finish then there's no reason not to use printed models in O gauge.

Despite all the hype around the advances is 3D printing, it's still a long way off being good enough for quality modelling in OO gauge let alone N gauge.

Trouble is once you ballast the track it really doesn’t make much difference, it’s only marginally quieter.

Bear in mind the 121 chips will be a good fit for the 141/181’s as well. Even though they will be programmed for the specific lighting on the 121’s PCB it should work fine on a simpler loco like the 141/181. Even if the lighting is a little screwed up it would be a simple fix.

Exactly. I ordered the MM decoders for my 121’s. I love using the Lokprogrammer but if you can save yourself the work why not? I would have needed to buy decoders for them anyway! It’s not that simple. Even a simple horn sound has quite a complex sound schedule that needs to be built from scratch.

There would be no problem arising from using a different sound decoder. All they mean is that the MM chip has already been programmed to have all the lighting functions available, any other decoder would need to be programmed with the correct functions. The 121 decoder is physically no different from any other ESU decoder, they just have the lighting functions programmed in already. If you buy a blank version of the same decoder you’ll need to programme these yourself which is a nightmare without a Lokprogrammer! I think the point of the disclaimer is so that MM don’t have people sticking in a different decoder then ringing him an complaining - “the lights don’t work”. It’s the same issue people had with the 201 when it first came out. It has so many light functions that it needs a higher spec decoder for them to work.

Sorry just saw this now! Yeah I'll do that. Come to think of it I don't seem to have an actual account at all.

Funny, I got no notification or tracking info and received my wagons yesterday morning.

The 121's were fitted with the EMD567 at that time. The pitch of the engine sound can be tweaked up or down on the Loksound decoders. I use the Lokprogrammer to do mine but it can be done with CV's easily enough. The same with the various sound functions, you can set up a loco so that only certain sounds will play while the loco is in consist. I do this with my own locos.

EMD F7 EMD GP7 BR Deltic BR Class 08 Soviet M62

VAT or no VAT, the savings from Hattons aren't always so hot. I've ordered from them once in the past, purely because Mark's was out of stock and I couldn't wait. The order was for general stuff, track, underlay etc. no big ticket items. After shipping was all added in it was actually slightly more expensive!

Something else that occurred to me, and it may be perceived as a downside to the cheap price from Hattons... How many 121's will get snapped up by Ebay Vultures in the UK and elsewhere? I can see them being bought in bulk at the cheaper price, hoarded until stocks run out, then sold off at crazy prices. Yes I know this happens all the time, but with the hype around these locos many will see an opportunity.....

What makes me laugh, and I've said this already, is that certain people are talking about saving a few quid in a situation where it's not a matter of the saving allowing you to buy a loco for yourself because you're cash strapped. It s a case of - "Oh look, I can buy 5 locos instead of 4!".

I paid for mine back in 2018.... so it’s all gravy now! And congrats to the lads in IRM. As I said on the Facebook page, these look bloody mouth watering!

Yeah, fair enough. I use insulfrogs o my own layout but I solder jumpers between the stock and switch rails so I'm not relying on contact between the two. Consequently I don't have issues, except where I've neglected to clean the track in a while! Bear in mind that's with 4 and 6 axle locos. 2 or 3 axles have issue and are always prone to that type of problem.

I think space would really be an issue there. Anyway with all-wheel pick you shouldn't have problems. I could never understand US modeller's (other than yourself) obsession with power packs. Most of there loco's are 4 or 6 axle with power pickup on all axles.

That would make sense, the Loksound tends to sit a bit higher than other decoders. I know this is a little outside your wheelhouse, so to speak, but would you guys consider offering a decoder re-blow service?

I'd be very surprised if space was the issue. Loksound are not the smallest of decoders and from what I've heard there's space enough for them to fit. I've also heard nothing on the grapevine to suggest ESU have designed a bespoke decoder just for this loco. (If anybody has heard different please chime in.) I'd say it's more to do with the array of lighting functions in the loco. Plugging in a bog standard decoder will result in some lights not working as intended, similar to what people discovered installing standard decoders in their 201's.

Those engines were originally to be used for 6 double engined locos to be used for express passenger services.

Are these PM’s sound decoders?

Here’s another one of those “on a whim” projects that every modeller is guilty of... I have an old Hornby HST which I re-motored a few years ago. It ran well but I was never completely happy with it. I wanted to find a replacement chassis that I could perhaps shoehorn into the body. I had a Bachmann class 25 chassis which happened to have the correct wheel spacing on the bogies but was too short. I ended up cutting and lengthening the metal frame and fitting it to the original plastic under frame on the HST. I then fixed the side plates from the original bogies to the Bachmann ones. I also had to lengthen the front drive shaft with styrene tube. It runs smoothly but is a little noisy, but since I’ll eventually install a sound decoder I don’t think it matters too much! First pic is the original chassis and motor bogies. Second pic shows the Bachmann chassis and bogies fitted into the original body with the bogie side frames also fitted. Last pic is the finished loco next to the dummy car from the same set.

Wow, that's great info! Thanks for the detailed response.

Thanks for that JHB!

Guys, Anybody have a timeline for when the 121's were fitted with the EMD 645 engines taken from the withdrawn class 201's? Trying to decide which engine would be most appropriate for my Supertrain 121's!

The full width cab body really does look the part! Reminds me of another one of my favourite European locomotives, the mighty M62.