Time flies...

Wow, you don't notice how time flies past, and your life with it. Over 18 months since my last post.
Well, on a personal note, our third child was born since then, but the main lack of updates is our moving house. The "rails" are still "in the roof" of our old house, bought by good friends of ours. Everything up there is mothballed, waiting for me to make a decision on what to do with it all!
My thoughts right now are to probably sell my locos (they won't keep that well over time), but keep my rolling stock. In good condition, it will probably increase in value over time.
Now I'm approaching the ripe old age of 35, I'm considering a small N Gauge layout. I've got plenty of space in the new place, but the smaller size is appealing. Currently googling for small track layout ideas - we'll see!

Coach Lighting

With a spare hour or two, I've had fun tonight with DCC controlled coach lighting.

Bachmann are now producing a good range of coaches with built-in lighting. I thought it would be good fun to have these DCC controlled using the function buttons. Express Models also produce some great LED oil lamps for your coaches. These two combined in one coach was just too much for me to resist. Out comes a used (spare, having replaced 08419 with a Gold and Power1) Lenz Silver Decoder (overkill, I know), the tool kit and soldering iron, and here we go.

I fitted the decoder inside the coach, the LED tail lamp on the rear, took the wiring from the internal lighting and connected it all together. The internal lighting was wired to function output A, and the tail lamp to function output C. Function output A was mapped to the F0 key, and function output C to the F1 key. A"flashing" lighting effect was added to function output C (Function outputs A and B share the same lighting effect, so the tail lamp had to be on C).

The end result was terrific. There's nothing like pressing a button on the controller and watching the tail lamp on your rake start flashing.

Maybe I should get out more?

Fitting a Lenz USP Power1 Module to a Hornby Class 08 Shunter

Perhaps "squeezing" is more appropriate than "fitting"? Phew, this was a tight one!

My previous post explains the issues I've been having with my Hornby Class 08 stalling on insulated frogs. Well, after some of the most delicate soldering I've done, and many attempts with the Lenz Gold decoder and Power1 module in different positions, I've finally found a snug fit.

The macro mode of my camera doesn't do justice to how fine the soldering of the Power1 onto the Gold decoder is. Had to be very careful not to short the three wires with stray solder, whilst at the same time not overheating the tiny circuit board.

Here's the Decoder and Power1 wired up to the loco. I tested by coupling a truck behind containing the decoder and Power1!

After fiddling with several combinations, here's the location of Gold decoder and Power1 that I found you could fully refit the body shell on. The decoder is plug-side down and facing the decoder socket. The plug/socket arrangement itself is slightly recessed over the brass flywheel. The Power1 module just fits snugly in the nose of the loco. If I could have been bothered, I'd have shortened the wires from the Power1 and re-soldered them - I thought that was tempting fate somehow though!

The end result had the desired effect. No more stalling on those blessed frogs! That fact that the electronics inside now cost more than the loco is neither here nor there!

Of slight note, the Power1 does get very hot in a very short space of time when the loco is running slowly. I've seen other posts concerning this. I'll report on any smoke I see churning out of the loco. Still, would add to to the realism wouldn't it?

The Trouble with Insulated Frogs...

Sounds like a great song title...

Anyway, Since upgrading to DCC, I've got a minor problem with my Class 08 shunters going at slow speed over some points. The insulated section at the join of the rails (go google if you want to know more, or start here) causes a rather jumpy motion for the loco as it looses power.

There are several resolutions to this. The one I've decided to try is implementing the Lenz USP feature - Uninterruptable Signal Processing. This involves upgrading the decoder from a "Silver" to a "Gold" and adding the optional "Power1" module.

As far as I can see from the photo, it's just an electrolytic capacitor and probably a diode or two on a circuit board. The idea being, that the capacitor stores a charge to power the loco and decoder during brief (sub 1 second) power interruptions (dirty track or insulated frogs) and keeps everything running smoothly.

I've found very few retailers stocking Power1. I've eventually bought one from eBay.

Having taken apart one of my Hornby Class 08s and looking at the dimensions of Power1 from the manual, it'll be a very very tight squeeze indeed. Watch this space to see my progress of the next week or so. I want to see if I can get a Power1 to fit in the chassis before I splash out £25 or so on a Gold decoder!

Fitting a DCC Decoder to a Bachmann Deltic (Class 55)

Nothing too difficult here, but thought I might aswell document it. Here's how to fit a DCC decoder to a Bachmann Class 55 - a.k.a. Deltic.

My "standard" decoder is the Lenz Silver Direct. However, and extremely annoyingly for a loco of this size, obstructions in the chassis prevented this. Instead, I implemented the good old Plan B of the Lenz Silver decoder.

First task as always is how to remove the body shell. On this model, three screws under each bogie did the job - two of the three are pictured here under the bogie. Once these are all removed, the shell can be removed.

Here's the bare naked loco. Reminicent of a Heljan loco. First things first, snip off that capacitor labelled "C1". It'll only cause problems on a DCC layout. Next, remove the little plug on the DCC socket.

Once that's done, simply plug the decoder in to the DCC socket, taking care to ensure the orange wire is at the Pin 1 end. Apply the supplied double-sided sticky pad to the circuit board and attach the decoder as shown.

After a little fidding with the positioning of the wiring, the body shell can be screwed back into place. Then, you're all ready for the programming track!

Don'cha Just Love eBay?

Further to my Hornby Class 37 upgrades of previous posts...

My two new Hornby 37s cost £37.50 each - and after a few eBay auctions, the unused, new DRS body shells, and two old motors and chassis sold for... £54.52!! What a bargin upgrade!!!

Fitting a DCC Decoder to a Hornby Class 37

As described in one of my previous posts, I've purchased new chassis frames, bogies and motors for my Class 37s. Finally (after 20 days!!) the locos arrived from Rails of Sheffield. Having not seen it documented elsewhere, here's how I fitted a DCC decoder to a Hornby Class 37. The photos may not be as pristine as other sites, but here goes...

Firstly, here's the new loco. The cheapest available was a DRS liveried one. To remove the body shell, slide your fingernails alongside the edge of it, just under the doors, and release the four clips.


Naked Class 37! There are three pairs of pickup wires (red/black), each soldered onto the capacitor that sits across the two motor terminals.

These six wires need to be un-soldered, and the capacitor removed.







Once this is done, the six wires should be floating free, and the two solder terminals of the motor disconnected.







Now, you'll need a way to solder together the three red wires to the red lead of your decoder, and likewise, the three black leads to the black lead of the decoder. I'd suggest some veroboard, available from stores like Maplin. (I've only got "triboard", but it'll do!)
Solder the three red leads together on one strip, leaving a hole for the decoder wire. Solder the three black wires together onto another strip.

Now attach the red wire from the decoder to the "red" strip, and the black decoder wire to the "black strip". (I'm using a Lenz Silver decoder here). I've tied the five function wires out of the way for now as this model doesn't have lights.



Now solder the orange decoder wire to the left-hand terminal of the motor, and the grey decoder wire to the right hand terminal of the motor. This results in the motor end of the loco becoming the "No.1 End". Stick the decoder down on top of the loco weight using the sticky pad supplied with the decoder.
Test the loco on your decoder track, set the loco ID, and check it runs fine. Then replace the body shell, and away you go!