irishthump

A very merry Christmas to all!

Never had the pleasure, Seamus, but it's always a sad day when an Irish retailer has to call it a day. Happy Christams and the best of luck in whatever lies ahead.

Let's face it, Dave. That's every night when you get to your age!

And easier to ween yourself off of as well....

Looks like about a kilo of heroin....

Try using T-Cut on a cotton bud or Q tip. Use a VERY small amount on the cotton bud and stroke the decal very gently to prevent any damage to the underlying paint. Go slowly, it takes a while but eventually the decal will be removed. Once it's gone, take a clean cotton bud and gently polish away the remaining T Cut.

Just to clarify; The process of selecting and driving a loco is straightforward enough but the process of programming CV's is a bit of a rigmaroll with the Powercab! Especially when compared to the simple couple of key presses needed on the likes of the Gaugemaster. BS819 - Don't let that scare you though! The NCE is excellent and will do all you need and it's almost within your budget. If at all possible if you can find a way to actually try the systems for yourself that would be the best thing but of course that's not too practical so I suggest you have a look on Youtube as there are many video reviews showing the operation of the various DCC systems.

Hi BS819, Although the Gaugemaster system is a fair bit over your suggested budget (it's selling now for around €200) I would recomment it for it's ease of use. The NCE Powercab can be got for around 150 Sterling but isn't as user friendly, although it is an excellent system and will do all you need it to do. It also provides less power, Gaugemaster is a 3.5amp system Powercab 2 amp. But this will only be a problem if you plan on running a lot of locos. There are a couple of other DCC systems such Lenz or Roco which I don't have any direct experience of but I believe are very good as well. Some other members who use them may be able to help though. One piece of advice you will hear a lot is to steer clear of DCC controllers from model train companies suce as Hornby or Bachmann. These would fall well within your budget but you won't find many favorable reviews! Speaking from experience hear, I had the Hornby Select which can only be described as Cheap-And-Not-So-Cheerful!

Ah come on! If you're gonna make a lightsaber you've got to go METAL!

Hi, TDR. I use the Prodigy 2 myself and I think it's excellent. It's more simple to use than a lot of other DCC systems (all the info you'll really need is printed on the back of the throttle!) and it provides 3.5 amps of power which is more than enough for 3 locos fitted with sound. As a general rule of thumb a single, non-sound loco will use about .25 amps while a sound loco will pull about .50 to .60 amps. This is assuming you're using good quality, modern models with decent motors, some of the older ones can pull up to 1 amp. Either way, you have more than enough juice!

Jayzus, that's stunning work, Eoin!

Ooooh! Aaah! Don't think I can make it, bit of a twinge in the auld back! You know yourself....

Sounds fantastic! I hope there's plans for an IRM Open Day.....

Wonderful news, Dave! Personally, I don't think I could resist the temptation to just use the spce for a huge layout...

And in fairness to Mr Soundguy his sounds are the only ones recorded from the actual locos! All of the Loksound prime mover sounds are taken from US locos and often the engines are different from the ones used in Irish locos. (Same engine model, but different cylinder number etc.) Fortutely, it's near impossible to tell the difference sound-wise!

Noel, I know you have a couple of Mr Soundguy's 141 decoders, but I think the new Loksound files leave his in the ha'penny place! I never found the engine sound very realistic on his decoder (although the sound quality is excellent) and he only produces one decoder which has the engine sound of the EMD645 which is only prototypical for the 181's and later re-engine 141's and 121's.

Thanks, Popeye. I'll try to get a couple more videos up when I get the chance. I've also loaded FT soundfiles into my 141, 071, and 201 locos and they all work as well as this one.

Hi, Noel. Glad you like the MK3's! These files can be loaded to any existing V4 decoder. However the do need a firmware upgraded to allow the FT functions to work. (The update is done automatically when the new file is loaded onto the decoder). Then I simply switched out the existing engine sound on one of my 141 files for the new FT equipped one. The functions like Drive Hold, Brake, etc. are all separate sounds that need to be added to the soundfile but it's a simple process but of course you need the Lokprogrammer to do this. To be honest my layouts loop isn't really suitable to film as it's difficult to walk around the whole circuit while videoing AND using my throttle! That's why I used the main terminus on the layout, but I'll see what I can do. Approaching and stopping at the station would be easy to simulate; the Coast function would be enabled as the train came into the station then the Brake function could be used to gradually slow the train to stop. As I may or may not have said(!) when Brake is activated the train slows at whatever deceleration rate is programmed into the decoder.

Guys, Some of the other members expressed an interest in seeing the new Full Throttle features from ESU in action. I've finally got around to putting together a short video which will hopefully give you an idea of how they work. I'll just describe the main features, all of which can be assigned to any function key you want. Drive Hold - When activated this locks the speed of the loco at whatever speed the loco was moving when the function key is pressed allowing the engine sound to be increased or decreased without affecting the speed of the loco. If this is activated while the loco is stationary it will remain stationary no matter how high the throttle is increased; very useful to simulate starting a heavy train. Brake - if this is activated when the loco is moving it brings the loco to a stop as well as triggering the sound of the brakes being "set" to the on position. The engine sound will also drop when the brake is applied even if the throttle is not adjusted. When the brakes are released there is a hiss of air before the loco moves off. Coast - When activated this drops the engine sound to idle and allows the speed of the loco to be controlled with the throttle. Run 8 - When activated this sends the engine sound directly to notch 8, again to simulate starting a heavy train. To be honest I don't use Coast or Run 8 much as I find you can produce the same effects with Drive Hold and Brake. One other thing to mention is that the engine sounds respond VERY quickly to throttle changes which makes for very realistic driving. Anyway here's the short video of 182 shunting a rake of MK3's on my layout. The decoder is loaded with the prototypical EMD 645 soundfile which sounds great. Hope that's of some use to you guys. I'll try and post some more in depth videos if anybody wants them.

Juist out of interest, exactly what type of effects are you trying to reproduce with your throttle?

Lovely work! That last pic of 220 is particularly good...

Was the 'Blended Brake' a form of dynamic braking? Dynamic brakes would be standard on US locos, but they would be of little on Irish rails.....

They look sweet! And they have a body mounted NEM pocket at what seems to be the correct height!

But in the case of the cement bubbles heavy weathering is appropriate. You've seen the pics with the thick layers of cement on them!