billyboy

On a roll here today What is generally the best lubricant to use on locos ( Have Bachmann (UK & US) , Lima, Hornby and Athearn locos) Where can I get it? Bill

I've used Coastal DCC and can't fault them, fast service and they take paypal. Digitrak for DCC control and chips as their after-sales support is pretty good.

Hi Lads, I've my old Lima 201 which I tried to update to DCC running but the canmotor just isn't up to it. Its currently sitting on a siding looking pretty. I can't afford a MM201 or the 071 just right now and I've heard that the Bachmann Class 66 is a good donor chassis for the 201. Is it and how much work involved? Thanks, Bill

Grand looking loco there.

Yep , Divecontroller you're right its an Alco S2 , currently boxed up and under the tree the 7020 from what I read is in preservation now. http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/locopicture.aspx?id=62324

Yeah I sure do, I've still some Lima BR Mk3s and Mk1 and a few bits an pieces I bought from them. Jesus thinking back that shop is gone more than 20 years, I'm getting old disgracefully.

Hi Martin, if you're planning a layout best place is B&Q out in Ballysimon to get the baseboards, Woodies in Jetland- Limerick I'm reliably informed are a bit pricier ( My father has very set opinions on wood and where to buy it). There is a hobby shop in Lwr Gerald Griffin st in Limerick that you can track from and other stuff , I think they are still selling railway stuff as I haven't been in there in a few years. Bill

You could try the Digitrak DCS51 , I got one about 18 months back and its a fine bit of kit, bit more expensive than the NCE powercab . I was lucky at the time I could get it but it was 2-3 months before I got a chip to fit to a train ( Buy DCC chips or eat were choices, I like to eat) Running older Lima trains generally won't work that well, lack of pickups and the can motors that run OK on DC will break your heart on DCC. I alway wondered why people complained about the older Lima\ Hornby locos until I started to get new Bachmann\Hornby\ Athearn locos and saw the difference. But saying that no harm in trying, I tried with a Lima IE 201 which ran like *hite on DCC but I'm going to try again in the new year with a 5 pole motor and more pickups ,thats the plan anyway.

I picked up a Bachmann 158 DMU a good couple of years back with the eventual plan to get it resprayed to Class 2600 DMU IE colours. Anybody know who does that? Just trying to gauge pricing on it. I know I was talking to a lad on the previous forum we had who I sent on some Airfix Napoleonic French troops that he either did or knew somebody who did the resprays?? Anyway who does this sort of thing? Bill

Well lads Christmas came early and the wife let me but this in from Hattons, even with the exchange rate it was value for money. Its the Bachmann Alco RS2, It was DCC ready so I put in a chip and it runs like a charm , great level of detail as well. I was having problems getting the bigger 6 axle engines into the yard as they occasionally jumped the points. Problem solved with this beauty.

DCC in the 201 was a non-runner. I removed the chip and put it into another loco , its back as a straight DC loco now. I'll keep it for static display either on the layout or a shelf. Railway Lyons use of his 201 seems like a good idea, I might try that though.

I fired the 201 up this morning and played around with CV2 and the speed tables, its still runs like badly on DCC. Once you hit notch 2-3 its fine....slow speed running is non-existent. Back to DC for that engine then. I'll use the chip for an N Class bachmann steam engine I have. Anybody want to buy a Lima Class 201 that runs great on DC?

Yep, it was a hornby hst , just re-read your thread, i did work on CV2 no noticable difference. I'll see how it goes and revert to dc and sell if not happy. Thanks for the feedback. Bill

Its converted now and running fair to OK, I checked on the cap and its recommended to remove it which I did. The pickups, yes definately need more. The 201 running in DC was pretty good but DC seems to be more forgiving than DCC, I now see why people say the old Lima motors weren't the best. I'll fit the lights in a week or two as the wife wants her table back. I ended up stripping the engine down to it component parts and doing a rebuild...cleaning and adding a small drop of oil where necessary. That helped . Its very poor on slow speeds and only when the notch hits 1.5 to 2 on the controller does it move. But once going it tears along and runs extremely well. I remember a thread on here where somebody had fitted a motor belonging to a CD-Rom unit to Lima BR HST and that made a massive difference to the Loco. Compared to the other three engines I've converted so far its actually a pretty poor runner . At this point its either rebuild the motor, static display or ebay and I save up for a MM Class 201 , 141 or 081. I also converted an Athearn F7A unit and that runs like a fecking sports car and to me it seems to run better than it did on DC. I even fitted the led as the MARS light, I bought that unit 14 years ago in Canada along with a B unit , an SD40 and some freight cars. Far different motor though. Worse comes to worse I'll jsut convert it back to DC running and sell it. I'll fit the chip to another loco. Been fun though. Bill

Hi guys, I'm going to be starting the switch-over of my Lima 201 to digital running, using a Digitax DH126. I'm going to fitting leds to replace the existing bulbs and also fitting red leds for the reverse lights. Any thing I need to watch for? Is the capacitor fitted to the engine requried? Bill

Find looking engine , GP38?

Yep , thats the one. A bloody god send.

One of my locos was running like a pig, stopping for no reason, lights flickers for seemingly no good reason, I checked the wheels and they looked clean. I also was running my Class 37 which as per usual tore around the track at a rate of knots. I got out my fancy Peco wheel cleaning gizmo I was kindly given by an old model railroader. Hooked it up , watched the dirt fly, wheels that didn't look dirty were pure filth. Lesson learned there The train is rumbling around the track quite nicely with a freight load as I type. all is good again.

Hi lads, looking at buying two more DCC mobile decoders, wife is in a good mood but the exchange rate is *****. Was looking at DCC concepts chips, are they any good. I've started with Digitrax and like them and love their idiot proof warranty but willing to try other brands. Bill

Off to Easons I go them to buy that magazine!

Fair enough suspected as much, the opinions of those older and wiser than me always welcome. Thanks lads.

This should be an easy one My main run is a loop with a spur off to one side for the station but the question on the running loop is do I create a electrical loop for the DCC but or just terminate at a point? Bill

There's a worldwide problem with DNS so some sites are timing out. Fixed now I'm told but servers worldwide are catching up.

I've two tracks that run parallel , main up & down. Prior to the rewiring if I ran the Athearn SD40 on down line and it met in parallel the Class 37 coming towards it on the up line they would both halt and stop momentarily and move on or trip the power on the controller triggering a shutdown. This didn't happen with the previous chip in the SD40 . Except for one glitch I noticed late last night when the SD40 crosses over a Peco point to the main up its running just fine. The shutdown may of been down to my wiring , since I re-wired it running a lot smoother as well.

Class layout.