irishthump

6 minutes ago, MKrocker said:

An example of over the top weathering.

Nothing a bit of air brush cleaner won't remove

Looks just right to me….

41 minutes ago, JasonB said:

 

Simple touch, but always very effective. Great stuff. 

Thanks!

Just need to get back in the cab and wipe the dust from the window!

37 minutes ago, gm171 kk said:

The As derail no more than other stock. The main problem items the joins in baseboards. The track flattens out a bit and also lowers as I had to make the bed solid at the joins in order for it to not move and mess up track alignment. 

The other issue is that I have points right next to the baseboard joins. So when the derailing happens it's usually because one wheel set is hovering above the rails as the other wheels are sitting on track that it's slightly higher in level. This results in the free wheel set derailing and causing a short. The MM 071s are the worst culprit for this.

As can be seen in the photo below the level difference is very slight but the problems it causes means I can't run trains... 

Yep that sounds like a problem alright! part of the issue is the finer flanges on more modern models are less tolerant of uneven track. With the old Lima and Hornby "pizza cutter" wheel flanges that sort of thing really didn't matter. The long wheelbase of the 071 won't help matters either.

19 minutes ago, jhb171achill said:

Are these "A"s any more prone to this than other models?

 

I could'nt imagine how they would be. The fact they are so heavy would make me think they would'nt have any issues.

1 hour ago, gm171 kk said:

I'm going to have to tear all of the track up and start again. The amount of derailments are doing my head in. 

 

 

 

Curious as to the cause of this myself! Is it the locos that derail or the stock? Or both? 

Are you using code 75 track?

5 minutes ago, Galteemore said:

Not at all. Simply my elderly fingers mixing up ‘angry’ and ‘like’ on the iPhone…..sorry! I really liked the image of 142 - reminded me of the glory days of 80s CIE….

Oh I’m sorry man! I thought you were throwing me a disapproving look! 
“How dare he put a HO scale figure into a OO gauge loco!”

@Galteemore did that pic upset you?

Right. Those A Class locos need drivers! Unfortunately I only had one figure left on hand, so he went into 054.

I did manage to pick up some Preiser HO scale loco drivers online. Tried one in a 141 and they seem fine.

13 hours ago, NIRCLASS80 said:

How could you not like them!

Well I remember one decoder supplier have a good old bitch and moan about Murphy’s 121 because it didn’t like his particular brand If decoder.

29 minutes ago, murphaph said:

Great to see the A being so well received by all these reviewers. 

To be honest I'd seriously question the motives of anyone who gave them a bad review.

1 hour ago, murphaph said:

I was thinking the same that it's the MM 071 file with different engine sound, but I'm not sure it's not an 8 cylinder engine.

Well an 8 cyl is still wrong!

On 10/11/2021 at 10:40 AM, murphaph said:

Hmmmm, I was also curious what sound this is. It sounds very much like an EMD sound from the ESU library to be honest! I asked in a comment what the prototype sound is from and found my comment deleted this morning. I doubted my sanity for a minute and just to be sure I restated the question (in a polite way, giving them credit for a nice sound first) and again, comment deleted! They obviously don't like people asking too many questions!

I went through the sound files on the ESU website and I'm pretty sure it's from their file for the EMD 16-567C 4EXH NT. So wrong engine model, wrong amount of cylinders AND it should be a Crossley engine anyway! In all fairness it does sound somewhat similar to the 645 used in the reengined A Class. I know because I used a similar file in my Silverfox A Class, which is ok for your own use but trying to pass it off as a custom built soundfile pisses me off to no end. Horn is terrible as well and the station sounds have been lifted from the old 071 file. It's probably just the 071 file with the engine sound switched.

On 9/11/2021 at 11:22 PM, connollystn said:

@Westcorkrailway - Silverfox should not be mentioned on the same website (or planet) as I.R.M. Can't even say that their attempts at modelling Irish railway prototypes are a dogs dinner because if I did then my dog would starve himself to death - he's not a fussy eater but has his limits. 

The Irish Silverfox stuff should always be considered more suitable for modellers rather than collectors. If you were willing to put in some work you could end up with a very acceptable model, certainly better than anything that was produced by repainted UK outline stuff and selling it as Irish!

3 hours ago, Georgeconna said:

Personally Not a great fan of these influencers TBH plus they dont half rabbit on!. She seems a daycent ol sort though. 

Ya man Sam was on the Hornby Program,I did chuckle when he blew the trip in his gaf whilst connecting up some super controller.

Oh Sam’s Trains is fu*king painful to watch. The worst thing is he has this lovely converted loft space for his videos, high ceilings and everything, and he runs his trains on the bloody floor!

1 hour ago, Georgeconna said:

Cheers, Looking at South west digital or LMB for one at some stage! the two start sound mad!

I have the LMB one, it’s top notch.

8 minutes ago, Georgeconna said:

Had to Scramble around the loft looking for a 21 pin for it from another loco. Runs Lovely. Has the Weird wiper on it but something a bit different,

 

 

I installed sound from Legomanbiffo. There's a huge amount of room for a bass reflex speaker, and like you said they're a great runner. 

On 21/10/2021 at 7:28 PM, Georgeconna said:

The King is in the Crowd! This time he is Maroon! Looks lovely too. Tks An Post! CMC declared it as GBP50! Sweet!

Nice!

I have one of the regular production run of the Dapol Western. They're a cracking model!

On 28/10/2021 at 9:25 PM, gm171 kk said:

I've just tried it. It didn't change anything really apart from F8 now showing all marker lights on the fan end. 

Sorry that did'nt work man! Let me have  another look and get back to you....

On 9/1/2021 at 12:51 PM, gm171 kk said:

The Kadees I am using at 18s. Are these too close? Can anyone advise?

 

 

 

 

 

Depends on the radius of your tightest curves. I used 19's on my locos.

I recently converted my 141's, 071's and 201's to draft box Kadees. This allow me to attach all the buffer hook beam hoses and the valance. The hook still has to be removed though.

43 minutes ago, gm171 kk said:

For me it's:

F0 Directional white marker lights 

F1 Red marker lights (fan end) 

F2 Red marker lights (other end) 

F3 Shunt mode

F4 Nothing

F5 Nothing

F6 Nothing

F7 Both cab lights

F8 Shunt lights (fan end) 

F9 Shunt lights (other end) 

Did you try the CV changes I gave you yet?

Where you based?

22 hours ago, gm171 kk said:

They seem to yes. Once I have the current CV value of the headlights I should be able to change it following instruction I found online. 

OK give this a go. Change the following CVs in this exact order. This should give you directional headlights on F7.

CV31 = 16, CV32 = 3
----------------------
CV385 =   4

CV31 = 16, CV32 = 8
----------------------
CV385 =  16

CV31 = 16, CV32 = 3
----------------------
CV401 =   8
CV403 =   4

CV31 = 16, CV32 = 8
----------------------
CV401 =  32

CV31 = 16, CV32 = 3
----------------------
CV419 =  16

CV31 = 16, CV32 = 8
----------------------
CV417 = 128
CV418 =   0

CV31 = 16, CV32 = 3
----------------------
CV435 =  64
CV436 =   0

CV31 = 16, CV32 = 8
----------------------
CV434 =   1

CV31 = 16, CV32 = 3
----------------------
CV452 =   1

CV31 = 16, CV32 = 8
----------------------
CV450 =   2

CV31 = 16, CV32 = 3
----------------------
CV468 =   4

CV31 = 16, CV32 = 8
----------------------
CV466 =   4

CV31 = 16, CV32 = 3
----------------------
CV484 =  16

CV31 = 16, CV32 = 8
----------------------
CV482 =   8

CV31 = 16, CV32 = 3
----------------------
CV500 =  64
CV501 =   0

CV31 = 16, CV32 = 8
----------------------
CV498 =  16

CV31 = 16, CV32 = 4
----------------------
CV261 =   1

CV31 = 16, CV32 = 9
----------------------
CV258 =  32
 

If this does'nt work just program CV8 with a value of 8. That will reset the decoder back to the original settings.

And a quick shot of it in place on the layout (including the obligatory A Class)!

I plan on replacing the platforms with ones made using the same techniques used on the bridge….

Next step was to use a coating of plaster to fill the mortar lines. 
I used normal plaster of Paris, spread it on then wiped it off the raised stones leaving the plaster in the recesses.
 

Last step was apply powders and washes to blend everything in.

End result…..

3 hours ago, gm171 kk said:

I will have a go at changing the CVs. 

Hold off and I’ll have a look at my own locos in the Lokprogrammer software. At least then I can tell you which function the headlights are assigned to.

Do all the other light functions work ok?

7 hours ago, gm171 kk said:

036 on the fertiliser. 

 

(anyone know why the headlights aren't working? I'm using a LokPilot 5 59659 decoder.) 

 

 

Is it the specific Lokpilot  for the A Class? If not then the headlights probably just need to be mapped to a function key.

What DCC system are you using? Can you program CV’s with it?