irishthump

Me secrets out!

Damn you all with your nice clean workbenches!

Thanks for that! Well the F7 chassis should fit easily, time to start tinkering...

That would be a last resort. But I think the longer bogies would work, and I have a few spare. So can anyone tell me the dimensions of the resin body?

I'm thinking of using an Athearn F7 chassis and fitting it with 6 wheel bogies from an Athearn SD40. Mind you I have'nt even got a Silverfox kit, that's why I'm asking about the dimensions of the resin body!

Does anyone know offhand what length the chassis has to be to fit the Silverfox kit? I'm sure you could find an Athearn or kato HO chassis that would fit without major surgery...

Yep, I've been meaning to do something with those support beams in the front!

Although I should say the concrete on the refuelling point in the first pic was done slightly differently. I used 5mm MDF covered with the same mixture of paint and plaster but filled between the rails with tile grout. I did'nt come up any higher than the sleepers which meant I did'nt haveto cut channels for the wheels. I think it turned out fine.

Yes I'd seen that video. Although he does get a lovely finish on the hardstanding I did'nt fancy the idea of having to use a Dremel to gouge out the side of the tracks.

Thanks! The shed floor is 5mm foamboard (I cut strips of thinner card to fill between the tracks). For a concrete finish I used grey acrylic paint mixed with a little plaster which gives a nice rough texture. I used a normal bag of plaster from Woodies. As far as I can remember I toned down the finish with a thin dark wash sprayed on with my airbrush as it was a little light and too clean looking!

Long time since I did any work on the layout, but I went mad placing some figures on the diesel shed this evening!

Lovely job, they really look the part!

The current Zimo decoders support the manual notching feature, the soundfile itself has to be modified to allow manual notching to be used.

The actual sound from Mr Soundguy's chips is not the issue, the recordings are top notch and are most likely the best available at the moment. The main issue is how the soundfile is set up on the decoders themselves. Like I said, if he simply made manual notching available on the Zimo decoders then they would be pretty much perfect. To be honest I don't understand why he switched from Loksound to Zimo.

Yes, Noel, That's pretty much all spot on. I simply asked Olivia's Trains to replace the engine sound on the 071 sound file. I did'nt use manual notching at all in the second video, the spooling sounds were the result of the throttle changes. The braking sound is automatic but it's adjustable or can be turned off altogether. The Model Shop Belfast chip just is'nt as responsive, I think part of the reason for this is that the Zimo chips link the throttle changes to the actual speed of the motor rather than to the throttle setting. The 141's and 181's were fitted with different engines and there was a noticable difference between the sound of the two. The 141's were originally fitted with the EMD 567C while the 181's came with the EMD 645E.

Sorry lads, had them set to private! Try now....

Here's a couple of quick videos.... The first one just has the loco standing still while I run up through the engine notches. The second one is 142 shunting some container flats. It was difficult working the throttle while trying to film everything with my phone but hopefully you'll get the effect of the engine sound! [video=youtube;_NTj-YS61WU]

Hi, Noel. That's my loco in the link that Glenderg posted. I have to agree with Dhu Varren that the Loksound decoder has much better response when driving it. The problem with the Zimo decoders from MSB is that the engine sound does not respond quickly enough to throttle changes, which would'nt be so bad if they had manual notching but they don't! As for the engine sound in the Loksound; it is pretty accurate. It's an EMD 567 which is what was originally fitted to the 121 and 141 class locos. Dhu Varren is quite right in pointing out that it's a 16 cyl rather than an 8 cyl engine which was fitted in the 141's but it's pretty close. Like you said it does'nt really get a chance to spool up to hi revs as it's just shunting, but it sounds great when notched right up! With the Loksound decoder you can have the loco stopped and then turn the throttle straight up to say speed step 10 and the engine sound will go straight to a high notch which is very realistic. That just does'nt work with the Zimo decoders where the loco will be up to speed long before the engine sound catches up with it. You literally have to adjust the way you drive the loco to how the decoder behaves. As for installing the speaker, here's a link to my workbench where I describe how I did mine in detail. It's a simple enough job. http://irishrailwaymodeller.com/showthread.php/77-Graham-s-Workbench/page10

Noel, you could also try remapping the notching feature to lower function buttons. I understand it's a bit involved with Loksound decoder, but it might be worth a try.

That's why I had mine assigned to "one push" function keys, the notching is much easier to control. I think it stems from the fact that most function keys on DCC controllers are set to "latching", that is once you press them they stay on until pressed again. This is actually a setting on the controller and not the decoder. Some controllers allow you to change the latching settings for function keys, the Bachmann Dynamis is one that I know of.

When using manual notching on the Loksound you have to press the necessary function key once to notch up, then press it AGAIN otherwise the engine will continue to notch up. The same applies to notching down. Now this can be awkward on the Loksound as they assign notching to high numbered function keys. I don't know what controller you are using but on my Gaugemaster Prodigy to access functions above 12 for example I have to press SHIFT+F1+F2 and then do the same to deactivate the notching. That's why when I bought my Loksound chip from Olivia's Trains in the UK I asked them to reassign the manual notching to F4 and F5.

It allows you to hange the engine revs independently of the loco's speed. You can rev the engine right up to simulate trying to get a heavy train started or you can lower the revs to simulate coasting.

I have both Loksound and Zimo decoders. I think the sound files on the Zimo chips are better quality recordings, also they are taken from actual Irish locos while the Loksound equivalents use genric engine sounds from US locos that use the same prime mover as Irish locos. Having said that I prefer the Loksound decoders. Zimo's motor control is second to none but Loksounds are much faster to respond to throttle changes and they have a manual notching feature.

You'll have to make them yourself using copper or brass strip. Here's a video showing how to fit extra pickups to another a class 55; the basic design is pretty much the same for all Lima models. [video=youtube;-8UQ6wiowoI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8UQ6wiowoI

Like Riversuir said servicing the motor would be the first think I would look at, then strip down the motor bogie and give it a clean and lubricate it. Also check the existing wire connections and resolder them if necessary. It's possible to add extra pickups which would be a good idea if you're planning to convert it to DCC. It's quite possible to get Lima motors to run well, but the performance will be nothing like a Bachmann or Athearn.