Noel

Great plans Noel. Looking forward to it. Love looking at Tara Junction posts.

Looks great even with the pic upside-down - nice one

Cheers Peadair. Well another option to try might be to locate a LokSound decoder on the layout and connect the speaker outputs via suitable line-in interface to a micro home stereo system, and put a LokPilot decoder in the loco, give both the same address and identical motor drive CV settings and see what happens. The sound decoder would effectively become a mere accessory decoder, but hopefully mirror what is driving the loco. This however probably will not work if LokSound uses any form of load feedback to adjust sound tracks playing (i.e. the static decoder would not be receiving any motor load parameters, current, voltage, etc). Noel

Hi Peadair. My tuppence worth and personal thoughts are DCC loco sound is fun and a huge improvement, but the sound that is played is 'local' or near the listener, and DCC loco sound doesn't adjust for distance (i.e. scale distance and doppler effect), or tunnels, underground, etc. Wether the loco is in a model station right in front of you or 1/4 scale mile away it sounds the same as if you are still standing beside it at the station. Technically the only way sound could adjust more realistically as a loco travels around a layout is for the player to adjust the sounds based on the two separate locations of the loco and the listener. A Dobly Digital 5.1 or 7.1 surround sound system could move the sound anywhere on the layout, but you'd need some pretty neat software to adjust and play the recordings from a layout player rather than from a loco decoder/speaker. The decoder would need to transmit fairly precise loco location data to the central system so that the receiver could simulate distance and adjust volume levels, frequencies, etc. Personally I would prefer a layout based sound technology because all the ambient noises could be added, traffic, countryside, station noises, announcements, etc, but as far as I know no such technology exists. I the mean time I just play general ambient background railway noises from an old iPhone to a layout speaker, and a very old Hornby cassette tape copy, in conjunction with on board loco DCC sound. One thing though I have found is that I never run sound on more that one loco at a time, otherwise it just sounds like an unrealistic and confusing din. But that just my own thoughts. As a child I supplied my own ambient railway noises as mimic making all manner of machinery noises, engines, steam chuffs, rail noises, and hums with my mouth. Cheers. Noel

Really nice photos Broithe. Love the shot through the canal bridge of moored vessels and the lock. Family often used the Tullamore train to get to Banagher. The shot of the station is nice too.

Yes but do any of those sell modelling parts. The Model Shop used to when it was in Bride street a gazillions years ago, but not the last time I popped in, just toy RC stuff.

Thats a great idea. All the cables and parts should be easy to get from any decent RC model aero shop (if such exists anymore in ROI after W J Owens closed in bray)

Have had a lot of fun over the Christmas break tinkering around with bits and bobs, but I need to stop 'playing trains' and get on with work on the layout. Had fun over the weekend discovering more about the MM 201 sound chip. It has a rail clink which combined with the rail squeal sounds very realistic when slowly arriving or departing from a station. Woodvale Junction on a dark winters morning

Tension Lock Uncoupler tool - Bottle cork and a paper clip I have a few of them dotted around the layout for ease of use

Hopefully that might suggest pre-production samples at the SDMRC show, and if all went well perhaps retail deliveries some months after that.

Ah, vents on 40 yo Lima CIE vans

Hi John, not sure which image you saw these in, were they in the video clip or photos? The 20 ton brake van is from Irish Freight Models. Noel

Wonder if it was used in 1978 for storage off the main line during the filming of the 'Great Train Robbery' movie (Sean Connery, Donald Sutherland, Lesley-Anne Down)? I watched some of the sequences when the steam train ran through the curragh.

Legomanbiffo DCC Sound demo (supplied by DC-Kits) - LokSound decoder. I posted about the installation of large speaker in Q&A (DCC section), including the cutting and fettling to get the speaker to fit inside the body. Used a tripod and camera this time instead of phone

Nice idea. I presume it serves the race course rather than the army camp. Do you know when it was last used?

Very interesting. They could have been operated like BR 125 sets. Presume with two locos that might do away with the need for EGV.

Played with 190 and the 'Legomanbiffo' LokSound at lunch time and have to say I am impressed with the loco sound. Figured out shunting mode and how to turn the cab change sound sequence off (i.e. cab doors opening, foot steps down the walkway as driver changes ends). The sound levels of some of the channels need adjustment, the station announcement is too quiet, but the flange sequel is louder than a 737 doing a gear up landing on asphalt. Will try this chip with a standard drop in speaker in next loco 165 for comparison.

Agree wholeheartedly. We have little to complain about. We have amazing MM 141, 181, 071, and 201s to play with while we wait for 121. But a dream only 10 years ago, and a figment of any Irish modellers imagination 40 years ago. Our expectations have been raised in the past decade, wait and see within weeks of the 121 being released to much applause there will be cries for an A-Class model

Thanks Fran for that information and insight. Noel

Thanks for replies guys. Does anybody on the forum have any insight to the factors and rational that lead to the replacement of the mk3 fleet early? I suppose it could be got through FOI, but that's a tedious process and I'm sure this topic must have been discussed by the media at some stage. Heuston is an impressive place nowadays with all the extra platforms and shinny new 22k sets, online booking, reserved seat names, etc, etc. I agree with JB I find the 22k's quite warm inside, but more disappointingly the seats seem rather uncomfortable after the 1st hour. At least the seats in City Gold on the mk4 sets are comfy as are the enterprise, but all mk3 seats used to be comfy for long trips. Having travelled quite a bit on 22k's this year they do seem to be selling seats quite well. City Gold on the Cork line is practically empty during the day and there is no proper food service except 1st thing in the morning and the late evening train back to Heuston. Is that caused by good motorways, or poor in cabin service (i.e. no curtains for laptop work, poor food, etc)?

Thanks IT. I agree its not worth the work. With hindsight I should have followed your advice here DCC sound speaker comparison and just taken the back off the speaker box so it could drop in like yours. I will use the supplied speaker cradle in future and just remove the unnecessary plastic strip under the metal roof grill in future. BTW I just did the ESU CV54=0 + F1 motor calibration and it now drives better. Correct, yes thanks, I ordered the 141 chip, but decided to drop it into 190 instead of another 141 I have which is pending renumbering to 142. Hi Dave, no I didn't bother. I think the factor that has improved the speaker performance more than anything is removing the little sheet of plastic that is screwed in under the 141/181 roof grill, rather than the speaker type. It lets the sound out of the body. One really quirky little feature of the sound project is what happens when you change direction on your DCC cab. Believe it or not, it actually plays the sound of the driver opening the door of the cab, with foot steps as he walks along the walk way, opens and closes the door of the other cab. Interesting the 1st time but a real PITA because you can't drive until this little walkabout sequence has completed, so shunting is awkward. So I switched it off by setting F23/F24 to on (i.e. so when you change direction, you can drive immediately without delay). I love the sound of the EMD with this project and the long and distant horns F3 and F8. The distant horn simulates a doppler effect which is very impressive. However the short horn F2 sounds like it has a potato blocking it! The flange squeal is a bit loud but when I get a chance I will set its own individual volume lower. PS: Personally I find default volume on the LokSound chip set way too high and I usually reduce it by half. Your welcome Hope its of use EDIT: Video clip added with demo of 'Legomanbiffo' DCC sound on 181 class (same clip as on Kingsbridge thread)

Hi Richard, it is available for most of ESU's USA locos right now, but I don't know if or when MM might supply 'Full Throttle' versions of their existing LokSound chips for 071, 201. I see DC-Kits have announced 'DRIVELOCK' which I presume is their name for 'Full Throttle' on ESU LokSound diesel chips, but I don't know when they plan to re-release 141/181 chips with this software upgrade feature added. I've emailed Charlie Petty to ask. Noel

Video clip of DC-Kits (Legomanbiffo) LokSound v4 DCC sound chip with enhanced bass reflex speaker in Murphy Model 190 - 181 class. The clip was rather rushed, if I get some time next week I'll try and record some shunting operations and starting off with a heavy train. As I said in 1st post I'm not convinced the good sound quality is due to the bass reflex speaker and even if it is slightly better I wont be bothering to cut any more MMs to fit them. http://www.dckits-devideos.co.uk/shop/dcc_digital_loco_sounds/irish_diesel_loco_sounds/class_181_gm_bo_bo_dc_kits_.php http://www.dckits-devideos.co.uk/shop/dcc_digital_loco_sounds/irish_diesel_loco_sounds/class_141_gm_bo_bo_dc_kits_.php [video=youtube;QSAU1iYOg-w] We are spoiled for choice with sound on baby GMs, two LokSound options and one Zimo, and shortly a third LokSound option when 'Full Throttle' becomes available to match or possibly even exceed Zimo's superb 'Real Drive'. Happy Days for sound enthusiasts. I'll post this video clip to the layout thread in a few days.

Ok so far I have fitted DCC sound to a few Murphy Model 141/181s by installing a basic speaker in the speaker cradle provided inside the MM loco body. Really quick and easy to do all that was required was to lift off the loco body, solder the two speaker wires to the locos circuit board PCB at SP+ and SP-, plug a 21 pin sound decoder in (LokSound or Zimo), put the body back on and go. About 10-15 mins work and no cutting. However I decided to try a DC Kits supplied LokSound decoder with baby GM recording but with an enhanced bass reflex speaker. As the speaker is in an enclosed rectangular box it would not fit in the speaker cradle of an MM 141/181 nor even inside the Loco body with out some cutting and fettling to get it to fit in. It took me about 90 minutes as I was being careful to measure and weigh up options. A lot of work compared to dropping a basic speaker in the MM cradle. http://www.dckits-devideos.co.uk/shop/dcc_digital_loco_sounds/irish_diesel_loco_sounds/class_141_gm_bo_bo_dc_kits_.php Take loco body off (leave walkway side rails in place) Remove the supplied plastic speaker cradle - 2 screws Cut the two metal lugs off the metal chassis top that received the cradle screws (disc cutter) Cut away a raised section of the metal chassis just in front of the PCB (disc cutter) Cut away a small section off the underside end of the bass reflex speaker box (doesn't effect sound quality). The alternative to this is to cut a few millimetres off the end of the circuit board, but I decided not to bodge the loco anymore than I had to. (saw + knife) Remove the beige plastic support under the loco body roof grill - 2 screws (this obstructs the speaker box) Cut and file away the plastic lug on the inside of the loco body roof that received the rear most screw from above Plug the decoder in (which is prewired to the speaker) and place speaker box over the area where the cradle used to be with the cut away bit overlapping the circuit board Put the body carefully back on and pop the walkway rail ends back into both cab sides. Ok, got it done and it sounds great, but to be honest I won't bother again with all the hassle to fit a bass reflex speaker. In future I will instead just remove the beige plastic support from under the roof top grill which will let a lot more sound out of a standard cradled speaker. I didn't like bodging these lovely locos. I will post more on the sound quality and DCC operation later perhaps with a video clip. In summary, it sounds better than the Zimo with standard speaker, but doesn't drive as well (i.e. sound not mirroring throttle inputs quite as well). Ah well can't have everything. Overall though it is very good and the best sounding baby GM engine I've heard so far. PS: I would love to hear this recording in the future with the new LokSound 'Full Throttle' decoders because I suspect the drive and notching would sound and behave more realistic. PS2: I really liked the F3 long horn and F8 distant horn sounds, but the F2 short horn sounds awfully weak.

Finbar's photo review of 2016 had some great shots of BR/GWR/Virgin Intercity 125 trains. It struck me that BR and its successors have so far successfully operated these intercity mk3 coach sets and power units for 41 years, and plan to operate them until 2020 which will be about 45 years in service. By contrast our younger CIE/IE/IR mk3 coaches were only in service for 25 years before being scrapped. Our 071 class was only in passenger service for about 20 years before being replaced by the 201 class, but at least the 071s are still in freight service so thats 40 years. But many of the 201s left passenger service after only 15 years, with the Cork line retaining them for 21 years so far (excluding the enterprise). In fairness there must be a significant cost and logistical difference between operating single loco hauled passenger rakes and twin power unit push-pull sets like the BR 125s, hence CIE/IR/IE still had the costs of extra track work, coupling, time and staff, necessary for train runarounds and shunting at termini which the 22k did away with. I just can't help wondering if the mk3/201 combinations could have operated for another 15-20 years before being replaced had they all been push pull, or even the locos replaced with twin power units one at each end of each rake (i.e. like 125 sets). I know this topic has come up 'ad nauseum' in various guises in the past and not wishing to trigger any strong feelings on the matter, but curious how this came about. I assume there must have been a very strong cost saving case to take the plunge and retire these fleets early. Was this the case or were there other complex factors? A lot of capital appears to have been diverted to fleet replacement rather than the network, and there must have been a good case for this. I hope IR retain the Mk4 push-pull sets on the Cork main line. They have only been in service for 10 years. It was good to see the Enterprise DD sets get a rejuvenating overhaul last year.