I found a MRC sound decoder for a good price, so I picked it up for my Bachmann J class. I really wanted to put sound in at least one of them because I really liked the sound in my K4.
I am underwhelmed.
First, the MRC doesn't have the right bell or whistle for the J class, which turned out to be a relatively minor thing overall.
Second, getting the chuffs to start when the locomotive does instead of having it sound like it's moving when it isn't was not an easy thing to do, compounded by the fact that the motor control for MRC isn't the same as the Digitrax, or so you are led to believe from the MRC instructions. MRC uses 32 steps from 0-32 instead of 0-255 like the Digitrax. I managed to get it right though, by using the 0-255 settings instead of 0-32, but then that led to the next problem.
Synching the chuffs up with the wheel movement is not going to be possible because they really need to have one more chuff rate past what is programmable. Not only that, but when the loco slows down due to hills or curves the chuffs do not. On the K4 the decoder uses motor BEMF (back electro-motive force) to control the chuff rate, but the MRC does not. That means the MRC decoder has no way of knowing when the locomotives electric motor is being bogged down, so it has no way of controlling the chuff rate.
Next, the noise control keys are different between the MRC and the Soundtraxx in the K4, so the key that is used to turn the steam release petcocks on for the K4, for instance, is different from the J class. Fortunately the headlight control, whistle and bells are still the same so the hard keys on my NCE PowerCab for these functions still work like they should. I suppose if I was more DCC savvy I could re-map those functions.
Last but not least, getting the decoder itself to fit into the tender required that parts of the tender be cut out. I got it to fit, but as a result one of the screws that hold the tender shell in place had to be eliminated. It does fit and it is staying in place, but I really don't like the fact that there is only one screw holding it on now.
It's not all bad, there are some sounds in the MRC that are not available on the K4 (at least not that I've found). I don't know that I will use couplers clanking or a conductor saying "All Aboard!" but it is there if I want to.
Eventually I think this decoder will find its way into another locomotive (perhaps a Minitrix K4) and I will end up getting some Soundtraxx decoders for the J class since that is what Bachmann uses for them. Hopefully they will use the motor BEMF to control the chuff rate. Fortunately for me (not that I planned it that way but this is the way it worked) I did not cut the wires off short, so it can be used elsewhere.
It would really be nice if I could buy the J class tender with a sound decoder already installed, but unfortunately that is not an option, at least not yet.
Saturday, August 25, 2018
Sunday, August 12, 2018
Catching Up
Several things in the hopper today:
The rebuilding of the DPM kits goes well, so far I have four of them rebuilt, plus a new one, plus an old Bachmann (I think) kit and a Woodland Scenics building. I have already shown the theater, the next three are a bank, a donut shop and a yarn store. The new building is a hotel and the Bachmann building is a cafe.
The lastest of the rebuilds to be completed is the First National Bank of Midland, which is not really the name of the town but of the region. It comes complete with a guard and two glass enclosed offices. It's a busy day today, the workers in the offices are both tending to clients at the moment.
Next door to the bank is the Dunkin' Donuts, its appearance is mostly due to my wifes addiction to their coffee.
As with the bank it is lighted with a full interior, although when I
looked again at the placement on the layout I wondered if it was worth
all the work. More on that later.
The knitting club meets at Sahady's tonight (see below), in fact they are there right now. And of course the knitting group must have a place to buy their supplies, although the store's owner behind the register is a knitter, too, and just hates to give up all that yarn. The room upstairs is a classroom where you can go to learn to knit, the stairs are to the left. This is my best paint job so far.
The theater was the first of the DPM buildings to be redone and I have written about it before. Since then it has also gotten a lighted interior. I put some moviegoers inside after I took this picture, but it has been installed on the layout behind the hotel so it is kind of difficult to get good pictures of the interior now. For some reason the lighting in the theater is more blue than any of the other lights.
The Bachmann building is on the other side of the Dunkin' from the bank. Those familiar with the kit can see that it has been removed from its base, this was necessary to make it fit on the layout since the large corner on the kits base didn't fit in at all. It has been decorated as Sahady's Mediterranean Cafe, once again with a lighted interior. The windows are a bit fogged so you can't really see the knitting group meeting in the far back corner, nor can you see the chef in the kitchen, but they are all there. The lighting in here is kind of blue also, but not as bad as the theater.
The new DPM kit was originally a department store, but when I saw it I knew just what it had to be.
The building was the second one (the theater was the first) that really insisted on it's identity. The original Coachman Hotel was on the northwest corner of the square in Clarinda, nowhere near the train station. The original is long gone, torn down over forty years ago, but on my layout it lives again. As a side note, it is right in front of the theater; on the prototype the theater was a couple of buildings down but they were on the same block until the theater caught fire one night.
Weary travelers can find a place to lay their heads and the hotel bar caters to the upscale crowd. One suited man is looking into the fireplace while another junior exec has removed his coat on his way in the door. The bartender is trying to take the confused patrons order while another waves on her way in.
Check in time has commenced, one tired guest rounds the corner on his way to the elevator while another takes his place at the desk. Some earlier check-ins have decided to relax in front of the fireplace in the lobby. I meant to put a TV on the wall for the folks in the corner to watch, but I forgot it. I don't think it would be visible on the layout anyway.
Speaking of, its placement on the layout is on the corner with the theater across the alley behind it and the Yarn Vault across the alley to the left; across the street to the right is the Greyhound bus terminal and the passenger station is cross-cornered. The fourth corner of the intersection is taken up by a large manufacturing facility, on the prototype (which has no hotel or bus station but is in fact next to the old passenger station) it is Lisle Corporation's main manufactory but since the building looks nothing like the prototype, and since by now the only thing the layout has in common with its prototype inspiration is the track arrangement, I haven't decided what is manufactured there yet. I will, give me time.
And speaking of placement, this horrible picture shows the bank, the Dunkin' and Sahady's as they sit on the layout. The buildings at the bottom of the page are not yet finished but are in their respective positions. With everything situated in the final arrangement it is somewhat impossible to see the interior of the donut shop with the awning although if you look around either side of the foreground buildings you can sort of see inside.
The last building to be completed was a Woodland Scenics kit of Davenport's Department Store. The top of this building is actually visible in the above picture to the far right in the foreground although the pictures below (taken on the construction table) have it next to the hotel.
After I put all the work into the building I realized that the only thing you are really going to see of it is the back, so the man looking out of the turret window won't be seen.
This is the only building so far to get outside lighting, but the only two lights you will really be able to see are the gooseneck lights on the long side and over the back door. That's a shame because the carriage lamp beside the apartment stair door is really neat.
All of the lighted buildings have been put in place on the layout with their light cords dangling underneath to be connected. I have decided to go with Woodland Scenics Just Plug lighting system because it really is just that easy, just plug them in and adjust the intensities and there you go.
A word about Just Plug, I first saw them in action when one of the club members was showing off the interiors he makes for his buildings. He uses the same Just Plug lights, as do several of the other club members (although one of our number builds his own lights).
The club has a diorama they built several years ago for the town of Apex NC, and they have decided to turn it into a T-TRAK module. This meant an interchange had to be built to incorporate it into the T-TRAK layouts. Thus Apex Junction was born.
Apex Junction was nothing but a blank board, which just will not do. Therefore plans were made for several of the club members to scenic the junction. Among the structures to be included on the junction was a train station, which I volunteered to do. Inspired by what I had seen so far I decided to do the station up right with an interior and full lighting (I'll have to get pictures of it when I can).
The station I built was an Atlas kit and it got lighting underneath the canopy (Just Play nano lights) plus gooseneck lights at each end over the station ID boards and one over each of the entrance doors. It also got a printed picture of the Selma NC passenger station ticket counter as its interior along with an interior light. I was surprised by how easy the lights went in, so I decided to use them on my layout.
The components are a bit expensive and I must say I am somewhat disappointed in the light hubs. I have three of those and so far only one of them was not broken out of the box. I have some trim pots on their way that should solve the issues, I could send them back to Woodland Scenics I suppose but I can fix them myself so it just isn't worth it to me. The gooseneck lights and the carriage lights are wonderful things, and since it is beyond my modeling capabilities at present to make such things they are welcome additions. There are also street lights available although I probably won't use any of them.
Moving right along then, the scenery is coming along nicely but it is taking far too long and I have had the layout apart all this time. I finally got to the point where I just couldn't stand it any longer, so I put it back together so I could just run some trains. I'm happy to say that operations on the Path Valley Railroad re-commenced last night. The tracks needed a thorough cleaning of course, but within an hour of squeezing the halves back together the Burlington SD9 redbird was once again making deliveries on its scheduled route.
Passenger service took a bit longer however, the Minitrix suffered a terminal drawbar failure and had to be sidelined to the RIP track. Its duties were taken over by the new Bachmann K4, but it, too, had issues while traversing turnouts. A new brass drawbar was made for the Minitrix and it resumed its role while the Bachmann took its place on the RIP track. Fortunately the issues with the Bachmann were quickly tracked to a bent contact on the tender trailing truck and just as quickly corrected. The Minitrix has once again been placed on the backup motive roster and the Bachmann is now heading up the passenger trains.
But wait, you say, Bachmann K4? When did this come about? I see that I am remiss. Allow me to correct this failure.
As I have previously stated I have wanted one of the new K4 locos since they were introduced but didn't want to pay the price. A member of one of the online groups I belong to had one at a great price so I snapped it up. I wanted one with the pre-war pilot and the one I got was post-war, but it was a minor thing that I was more than willing to overlook. And besides, it looks great so no complaints.
So how does it stack up to the Minitrix?
First the tender is more closely coupled and the cab is smaller, so closer to the prototype. The drivers are also more correctly sized and as can be expected the details are much better.
What is particularly noticeable though is the Minitrix is a really really well done locomotive for its age, especially given that it is put on a European chassis. The firebox is squared off a bit more but all the details are correctly positioned.
The Bachmann comes complete with a functioning front coupler so the locomotive can be double-headed if there are two of them. However, as can be expected the running characteristics of these two are so wildly different that they can't be run together. The Bachmann also has better details, including the Keystone number plate, but this too is to be expected given the age differences of the locomotives.
The Bachmann has nicely detailed steps leading from its solid post-war pilot to the running boards while the Minitrix had to have its steps carved out from the solid block of plastic that it came with.
The cylinder detail is also much better, once again understandably so given that the Minitrix uses a European prototype chassis.
The valve and steam pipe detail is also much better for the same reasons. Once again, though, much credit has to be given to Ted Branson who designed the Minitrix shell. It still looks very good given the design constraints and the materials he had to work with forty years ago when the shell was designed. The Bachmann has the post-war arrangement of the steam generator and smokebox step to go along with its post-war pilot.
The tender is likewise more detailed with its underframe water scoop. The Bachmann locomotive has been slightly weathered, and due to the improvements of materials and techniques the detail is again much better, but once again the Minitrix has aged pretty darn well. I would like to be able to get some of the trucks to put under the Minitrix shell, they should be easy to swap out with the Bachmann trucks that are already installed on it but so far they haven't showed up as available spares on the Bachmann website. Until they do I am still pretty pleased with the Minitrix.
One thing that the Bachmann does that the Minitrix does not, however, is sound. The K4 is my very first locomotive with sound, and now I am just crazy to get some sound decoders for my J class locomotives. Although Bachmann will be happy to sell me some sound READY tender frames for those locomotives they are not sound EQUIPPED, so either way I'll have to install my own decoders and speakers. But until then the K4 merrily huffs and chuffs its way around the layout, blowing its whistle and ringing its bell.
Last but not least, I wrote before about building an Nn3 East Broad Top locomotive number 11 in a previous post, and to that end I had acquired a Marklin 4-6-4 chassis. There were some significant hurdles to overcome with that chassis however, and one day as I was skimming the popular online auction site I came upon another possible donor in the form of a brand-new Marklin BR64 series of Z scale locomotives. They are pricy, about twice what I pay for the Mikado chassis when I can find them, but I did locate one at a price I was willing to pay.
The box is much different these days than the vintage Marklin boxes of old, it consists of a sleeve and insert rather than an attached lid.
The detail is much better on these new runs, as can be expected. Since AZL entered the Z scale market, followed quickly by Rokuhan, Marklin has had to up their game to stay current with the scale that they pioneered.
The most impressive feature of this chassis was the working valve gear. This presents its own problems for modeling EBT 11, however, since the steam chests, cylinders and valve gear are way different from the prototype.
The first thing that is immediately obvious during the comparison is the main drive rod on the prototype is attached to the last driver and the model is on the middle driver. I have some brass etchings from RLW that was designed for converting the Marklin 0-6-0 chassis to a Consolidation so they might have something that works, but the valve gear is going to be another story.
The valve gear on the prototype had all its fiddly bits behind the first driver instead of in front of it. I would love to have the operating valve gear on this loco but I'm not quite sure if I will be able to pull it off. I will have to re-arrange what is on the model to match it, and even though I'm sure some other modelers would be able to do it without breaking a sweat I am not one of them. I may end up taking all of it off and faking it, but at least I'll be able to used the spoked wheels from the lead and trailing trucks.
With the lid removed more changes are glaringly obvious. The 4-6-4 chassis also had directional LED lighting, but the motor on this new chassis is extremely different.
Lo and behold, instead of the open frame motors that tend to cog there is a brand-new enclosed can motor that I believe is coreless. When it was put on the track the locomotive ran extremely smoothly, especially at lower speeds, and started at a lower voltage (and ran slower than both the 4-6-4 and the Mikado).
The best thing about this new motor is that, unlike the 4-6-4 chassis, I shouldn't have any problems getting it to fit under the cab in the RLW kit. Some of the details of the bottom cover will have to be sacrificed (the brake detail between the wheels, for instance) but I think this chassis is going to be a much better starting place. The drivers are the right size and the wheel arrangement is correct, although the trailing truck wheels will have to be brought in closer to match the prototype.
So the 4-6-4 chassis has been reassembled except for the front light lense that has gotten lost somewhere. The bad thing is I remember finding it but I can't remember what I did with it. Lucky for me they are still available through the Marklin website. I don't know what I will do with it now, but it is complete (once I get the light lense) and runs well so maybe I can sell it to fund other projects. Or maybe I'll keep it and run it as a curiosity...but if I do that I'll have to get some cars for it...German passenger cars maybe...
And I think that catches us up.
The rebuilding of the DPM kits goes well, so far I have four of them rebuilt, plus a new one, plus an old Bachmann (I think) kit and a Woodland Scenics building. I have already shown the theater, the next three are a bank, a donut shop and a yarn store. The new building is a hotel and the Bachmann building is a cafe.
The knitting club meets at Sahady's tonight (see below), in fact they are there right now. And of course the knitting group must have a place to buy their supplies, although the store's owner behind the register is a knitter, too, and just hates to give up all that yarn. The room upstairs is a classroom where you can go to learn to knit, the stairs are to the left. This is my best paint job so far.
The theater was the first of the DPM buildings to be redone and I have written about it before. Since then it has also gotten a lighted interior. I put some moviegoers inside after I took this picture, but it has been installed on the layout behind the hotel so it is kind of difficult to get good pictures of the interior now. For some reason the lighting in the theater is more blue than any of the other lights.
The Bachmann building is on the other side of the Dunkin' from the bank. Those familiar with the kit can see that it has been removed from its base, this was necessary to make it fit on the layout since the large corner on the kits base didn't fit in at all. It has been decorated as Sahady's Mediterranean Cafe, once again with a lighted interior. The windows are a bit fogged so you can't really see the knitting group meeting in the far back corner, nor can you see the chef in the kitchen, but they are all there. The lighting in here is kind of blue also, but not as bad as the theater.
The new DPM kit was originally a department store, but when I saw it I knew just what it had to be.
Weary travelers can find a place to lay their heads and the hotel bar caters to the upscale crowd. One suited man is looking into the fireplace while another junior exec has removed his coat on his way in the door. The bartender is trying to take the confused patrons order while another waves on her way in.
Check in time has commenced, one tired guest rounds the corner on his way to the elevator while another takes his place at the desk. Some earlier check-ins have decided to relax in front of the fireplace in the lobby. I meant to put a TV on the wall for the folks in the corner to watch, but I forgot it. I don't think it would be visible on the layout anyway.
Speaking of, its placement on the layout is on the corner with the theater across the alley behind it and the Yarn Vault across the alley to the left; across the street to the right is the Greyhound bus terminal and the passenger station is cross-cornered. The fourth corner of the intersection is taken up by a large manufacturing facility, on the prototype (which has no hotel or bus station but is in fact next to the old passenger station) it is Lisle Corporation's main manufactory but since the building looks nothing like the prototype, and since by now the only thing the layout has in common with its prototype inspiration is the track arrangement, I haven't decided what is manufactured there yet. I will, give me time.
And speaking of placement, this horrible picture shows the bank, the Dunkin' and Sahady's as they sit on the layout. The buildings at the bottom of the page are not yet finished but are in their respective positions. With everything situated in the final arrangement it is somewhat impossible to see the interior of the donut shop with the awning although if you look around either side of the foreground buildings you can sort of see inside.
The last building to be completed was a Woodland Scenics kit of Davenport's Department Store. The top of this building is actually visible in the above picture to the far right in the foreground although the pictures below (taken on the construction table) have it next to the hotel.
After I put all the work into the building I realized that the only thing you are really going to see of it is the back, so the man looking out of the turret window won't be seen.
This is the only building so far to get outside lighting, but the only two lights you will really be able to see are the gooseneck lights on the long side and over the back door. That's a shame because the carriage lamp beside the apartment stair door is really neat.
All of the lighted buildings have been put in place on the layout with their light cords dangling underneath to be connected. I have decided to go with Woodland Scenics Just Plug lighting system because it really is just that easy, just plug them in and adjust the intensities and there you go.
A word about Just Plug, I first saw them in action when one of the club members was showing off the interiors he makes for his buildings. He uses the same Just Plug lights, as do several of the other club members (although one of our number builds his own lights).
The club has a diorama they built several years ago for the town of Apex NC, and they have decided to turn it into a T-TRAK module. This meant an interchange had to be built to incorporate it into the T-TRAK layouts. Thus Apex Junction was born.
Apex Junction was nothing but a blank board, which just will not do. Therefore plans were made for several of the club members to scenic the junction. Among the structures to be included on the junction was a train station, which I volunteered to do. Inspired by what I had seen so far I decided to do the station up right with an interior and full lighting (I'll have to get pictures of it when I can).
The station I built was an Atlas kit and it got lighting underneath the canopy (Just Play nano lights) plus gooseneck lights at each end over the station ID boards and one over each of the entrance doors. It also got a printed picture of the Selma NC passenger station ticket counter as its interior along with an interior light. I was surprised by how easy the lights went in, so I decided to use them on my layout.
The components are a bit expensive and I must say I am somewhat disappointed in the light hubs. I have three of those and so far only one of them was not broken out of the box. I have some trim pots on their way that should solve the issues, I could send them back to Woodland Scenics I suppose but I can fix them myself so it just isn't worth it to me. The gooseneck lights and the carriage lights are wonderful things, and since it is beyond my modeling capabilities at present to make such things they are welcome additions. There are also street lights available although I probably won't use any of them.
Moving right along then, the scenery is coming along nicely but it is taking far too long and I have had the layout apart all this time. I finally got to the point where I just couldn't stand it any longer, so I put it back together so I could just run some trains. I'm happy to say that operations on the Path Valley Railroad re-commenced last night. The tracks needed a thorough cleaning of course, but within an hour of squeezing the halves back together the Burlington SD9 redbird was once again making deliveries on its scheduled route.
Passenger service took a bit longer however, the Minitrix suffered a terminal drawbar failure and had to be sidelined to the RIP track. Its duties were taken over by the new Bachmann K4, but it, too, had issues while traversing turnouts. A new brass drawbar was made for the Minitrix and it resumed its role while the Bachmann took its place on the RIP track. Fortunately the issues with the Bachmann were quickly tracked to a bent contact on the tender trailing truck and just as quickly corrected. The Minitrix has once again been placed on the backup motive roster and the Bachmann is now heading up the passenger trains.
But wait, you say, Bachmann K4? When did this come about? I see that I am remiss. Allow me to correct this failure.
As I have previously stated I have wanted one of the new K4 locos since they were introduced but didn't want to pay the price. A member of one of the online groups I belong to had one at a great price so I snapped it up. I wanted one with the pre-war pilot and the one I got was post-war, but it was a minor thing that I was more than willing to overlook. And besides, it looks great so no complaints.
So how does it stack up to the Minitrix?
The valve and steam pipe detail is also much better for the same reasons. Once again, though, much credit has to be given to Ted Branson who designed the Minitrix shell. It still looks very good given the design constraints and the materials he had to work with forty years ago when the shell was designed. The Bachmann has the post-war arrangement of the steam generator and smokebox step to go along with its post-war pilot.
One thing that the Bachmann does that the Minitrix does not, however, is sound. The K4 is my very first locomotive with sound, and now I am just crazy to get some sound decoders for my J class locomotives. Although Bachmann will be happy to sell me some sound READY tender frames for those locomotives they are not sound EQUIPPED, so either way I'll have to install my own decoders and speakers. But until then the K4 merrily huffs and chuffs its way around the layout, blowing its whistle and ringing its bell.
Last but not least, I wrote before about building an Nn3 East Broad Top locomotive number 11 in a previous post, and to that end I had acquired a Marklin 4-6-4 chassis. There were some significant hurdles to overcome with that chassis however, and one day as I was skimming the popular online auction site I came upon another possible donor in the form of a brand-new Marklin BR64 series of Z scale locomotives. They are pricy, about twice what I pay for the Mikado chassis when I can find them, but I did locate one at a price I was willing to pay.
The first thing that is immediately obvious during the comparison is the main drive rod on the prototype is attached to the last driver and the model is on the middle driver. I have some brass etchings from RLW that was designed for converting the Marklin 0-6-0 chassis to a Consolidation so they might have something that works, but the valve gear is going to be another story.
The valve gear on the prototype had all its fiddly bits behind the first driver instead of in front of it. I would love to have the operating valve gear on this loco but I'm not quite sure if I will be able to pull it off. I will have to re-arrange what is on the model to match it, and even though I'm sure some other modelers would be able to do it without breaking a sweat I am not one of them. I may end up taking all of it off and faking it, but at least I'll be able to used the spoked wheels from the lead and trailing trucks.
Lo and behold, instead of the open frame motors that tend to cog there is a brand-new enclosed can motor that I believe is coreless. When it was put on the track the locomotive ran extremely smoothly, especially at lower speeds, and started at a lower voltage (and ran slower than both the 4-6-4 and the Mikado).
The best thing about this new motor is that, unlike the 4-6-4 chassis, I shouldn't have any problems getting it to fit under the cab in the RLW kit. Some of the details of the bottom cover will have to be sacrificed (the brake detail between the wheels, for instance) but I think this chassis is going to be a much better starting place. The drivers are the right size and the wheel arrangement is correct, although the trailing truck wheels will have to be brought in closer to match the prototype.
So the 4-6-4 chassis has been reassembled except for the front light lense that has gotten lost somewhere. The bad thing is I remember finding it but I can't remember what I did with it. Lucky for me they are still available through the Marklin website. I don't know what I will do with it now, but it is complete (once I get the light lense) and runs well so maybe I can sell it to fund other projects. Or maybe I'll keep it and run it as a curiosity...but if I do that I'll have to get some cars for it...German passenger cars maybe...
And I think that catches us up.
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