irishthump

Don’t worry about reading CV8, the value simply tells you who manufactured the decoder. 151 means ESU who manufacture the decoder for MM. This value won’t change even after reprogramming CV8 to 8 so don’t worry you haven’t done anything wrong. Did you try the decoder after the reset?

First thing I would try is resetting the decoder. Program CV8 with a value of 8. This won’t affect the sounds in any way.

Never mind that. I can’t understand why they didn’t just blow it out of the sky!

@Richie Any chance you can share the exact materials and techniques used?

They look stunning! The "wash-on-wash-off" technique produces a much more realistic look than airbrushing.

Noel that's nice work, and not overdone. Is that a paint wash or a weathering powder mix?

I'm no steam enthusiast but to me that looks awful. I may be wrong but does the picture in first post on this thread seem to have a similar problem? Are these cast in one piece or is the whole loco assembled from separate sections? No offence but I wouldn't be happy if it were me!

Yeah I get that BosK, and just to be clear the kinematics work perfectly! My reason is that I'm slowly installing draft boxes on all of my Irish/UK stock, locos included. I prefer the way they look and operate. But the kinematics are excellent and will be perfect for people who are not as obsessive as myself!

Unpacked mine last night and finally had the chance to examine them up close. Lads, the build quality, detail and finish on these wagons is absolutely top notch! Can't wait to give them a spin on the layout..... Yeah the nem pockets are absolutely spot on these wagons, another welcome detail. To be honest I'll probably add draft box Kadees to these in the future, like I did with the cement bubbles, but it's great to have perfect compatibility out of the box and not have to faff around with plastic shims or glueing Kadees under the pockets!

Mine arrived yesterday! Haven't had the time to even take a proper look at them yet but I will tonight. But they look fabulous! Unfortunately due to the fact that I'm doing some major changes to my layout's track plan I won't be able to give them a proper run. But I'm hoping to get that sorted by the weekend...

Thanks, Railer! If I'd bothered to Google it I wouldn't have had to ask.... caws

Quick question, lads... I'm just confused as to what the CAWS equipment looks like. ,Is it the vertical metal bars protruding down from under the buffer beam?

I think that was Anthony’s one which used the nem mount. Don’t know where that one went!

I had some intial problems with long stock, mainly combos of 201’s / Mk3’s and 42ft flats. The coupler on the 201 swings wide and I would get buffer lock on the 3rd radius curves on my layout when propelling stock around the curve. The lighter 42ft flats were also prone to derailing even while being pulled but I think this was mainly due to their light weight. (They’re converted Hornby freightliners.) I took the decision to widen the curves to about 28” which cured the problem and to be honest I’ll never be propelling stock through those curves. By the way my 141s and 071s have no problems at all even on tighter curves and 4 whell stock is also fine. I’ve had no problems propelling over points and crossovers. All points are peco streamline small radius. Uncoupling is fine with the standard kadee magnets between the tracks. But coupling needs to be done on fairly straight sections or the couplers won’t line up. Again this gets much easier with smaller locos and 4 wheel stock.

Well I recently fitted all my 141's/071's/201's with body mounted couplers so I removed all of the coupler mounts. On the 201 I ended up just snipping off the coupler pocket as I didn't the time or patience to disassemble the loco to remove it! The whole gory tale is here.

Do you actually need to remove the coupler mount to fit the plate? I think the blanking plate just clips in front of the mount.

Jesus, you had to say it didn't you.....

Jesus lads youse are gonna break me! Think I’ll have to take the plunge with one of these. Was looking at the Bachmann version but this one looks the business.

Guys, Just looking at the CAD renderings on the IRM page. The CAWS guard seems to obstruct the NEM pocket, is the CAWS guard removable or is there further tweaking to be done?

Thanks, Fran. 054 is fine!

I've pre ordered 051 do I need to change the order?

The announcement of these locos is as good as a dose of Viagra! I'll get me coat....

Yeah I hear you. When it comes to creating sound files from scratch I haven't had the time to go down that particular rabbit hole! But there are other reasons I strongly recommend the Lokprogrammer... Blank decoders can be got for 99euro from supplies like Modellbahne. The cheapest decoders I can find from the UK (with a loaded soundfile) cost around £115 and if for some reason you're not happy with the file, you're stuck with it! (I realise suppliers are accommodating and will probably change a file for you but that necessitates you sending the decoder back to them). Legomanbiffo, who uses Loksound, will sell you the file if you wish for £10 so you can load and fine tune it yourself. Also, ESU are constantly upgrading the firmware and features on the V4 decoders. Full Throttle, for example, needed a firmware update for it to function, the improved brake function is the same. Without the programmer I'd have had to send my decoders off to be reblown before I could use those features.

The soundfiles for the MM 201 and 071 decoders are available for download from the ESU website (they do this with all soundfiles they produce for other manufacturers). You can then simply swap out the prime mover sound (or any other sound in the file) for the one from another file. The Lokprogrammer software also contains a library of sounds for this same purpose. Sounds from other files can be saved to this library for convenience. There is a shortage of prototypical Irish horn sounds but Euro and US horn sounds can be altered in pitch to make them more suitable. My own 141/181 soundfiles use the MM 071 file as the basic template and I just switch out the prime mover. Sometimes I also change the flange squeal and alter the pitch of the horn sound slightly. There are 6 or 7 versions of the EMD567 available on the ESU website, including the prototypical 8 cylinder model. Even if you use the same engine sound in several loco the pitch can be altered slightly to make them sound different. All of this is simply a matter of "dragging and dropping" in the Lokprogrammer software, it takes no great skill at all.

Hats off, Lads. Must be a massive undertaking!