irishthump

Yeah that's the problem. The last 2 functions are the front and rear cab lights.

What decoder are you using? The 071 needs a decoder with 6 functions to make all of the lights work.

Well that changes the game a bit! Legomanbiffo's sound projects are probably the best out there.

These are now sold. Thanks for all your interest, lads.

Nice! I believe I was watching these on Ebay myself.... I have a couple of Athearn RTR's and although they were a bit growly at first they quietened down after a while. My ones have the newer can motors so any noise is only coming from the gears in the trucks. I tried that trick with the Pearl Drops on some older Blue Box Athearns, did'nt really help. I found filing between the teeth of the gears worked much better as you can get a lot of flash and rough spots on the plastic.

I posted a link here showing how to change the individual sound settings on Zimo decoders, don't know if it's any use to you. http://irishrailwaymodelling.net/showthread.php/3357-Adjusting-volume-levels-on-Zimo-sound-decoders

Like you say, Noel, it's comes to which personal preference. As I said, Mr Soundguy's sound recordings are probably the best available, but I'm swaying towards the Loksounds. The main reason(s) for this is that I prefer the way the Loksound "drives". The hard acceleration is very good, you turn the throttle rapidly up to notch 5 and the engine sound goes straight to high revs (around notch 6-7) then settles back down to notch 5 once it reaches that speed. The ability to notch up or down with the function keys independent of speed is also great. There is also a brake and acceleration function which I have yet to get to grips with. Also, now that I have a Lokprogrammer I can download my own files from the ESU website and customise each loco; different engine, horn, brake sounds etc. can be programmed to each loco. All functions can also be remapped as I choose. That's the reason I'm selling the MSB decoders, to fund more Loksounds! Having said that I still have one of each the 141, 071 and 201 chips from MSB that I will hang on to, the 071 and 201 in particular are very good.

If you mean coreless then no, they're definately not coreless motors. As far as I know they are DC, 3 pole or 5 pole can motors. Pretty much standard across all of Bachmann's UK stuff.

Are you using Loksound decoders? As far as I know the suitable CV motor setting is simply the default value. The V4's also have an auto-tuning feature which is very simple. Here's a link to how it works... http://www.sbs4dcc.com/tutorialstipstricks/esuloksoundmotorautotune.html

There's a couple of reasons DCC runs slower than DC. Firstly, the DCC signal is modulated AC so it can never deliver the same voltage as a similarly rated DC controller, it loses a bit more as it's run through the rectifiers in the decoder. Also, the decoder itself needs a certain amount of power just to keep it "ticking over". Typically when you run a DCC equipped loco on a DC layout you have to up the start voltage to get it moving. (I tried it with a Zimo sound decoder on DC and the loco drew 7 volts before the sound came on.) Can't answer your second question, maybe it's just a manufacturer thing....

I think the OP is just trying to get the locos to run at a prototypical top speed, pulling a train is another issue.

Same problem here too.

Oh, that IS nice!

Lads, Have 2 of these decoders for sale. Bought from the Model Shop Belfast, in perfect working order. Here's a video of the same decoder in action.... Looking for €160 for the pair plus postage, or can be collected in the Dublin area.

Very useful info, Noel. Thanks for posting your results! Funny, I always thought the 141's/071's ran way too fast with TV set to 255. I usually set my locos top speed around 120!

Great work... Absolutely gorgeous paint job!

Yeah a watched a few episodes and they visited a few interesting places, but too much bleedin' steam for my liking!

That would be about right, they had shots of the "new" Luas, so 2004 would be about right. So you've seen it before? Jaysus you could have warned me!

Well it was a load of cack so you did'nt miss much! Basically a little PR slot for IE. Don't know when it was filmed but you saw MK3 push pull stock sitting in Heuston and Arrow trains all over the place. And Barry Kenny talking about huge investment in the network!

Am I missing something here or is there a difference between actually paying in advance or "pledging"? I imagine in the case of a pledge you still pay out....

Fair play, boss!

It was discussed before, but a dummy loco costs very nearly as much a one with a motor.

Sorry guys, but I can't see myself shelling out in advance for the production of any model, especially with the timelines mentioned. As for top 3... 1 - 121 2 - A Class 3 - C Class

No, it's on Discovery Shed. Part of my Sky package, don't know if it's streamed anywhere. They've had a load of railway related shows this past couple of weeks both real and model.

Absolutely!