Lok Sound V5

 Hello Folks - hope everyone had an enjoyable Christmas , given the pandemic restrictions and all - hopefully things will be back to normal by next Christmas. I received a Lok Sound 21 PIN V5 decoder as part of my Christmas and today I installed it in my new Athearn Genesis Maine Central GP7 that I blogged about back on 20 Nov. It was a easy install, as I had already installed a Lok Sound sugar cube speaker in the model a few weeks back in anticipation of this decoder install. The speaker was soldered to the existing Athearn mother board as it has speaker terminals installed on it. The speaker itself was installed under the short hood - it has two piece weight located there and as luck would have it, the upper piece (which is the smaller piece ) is able to be removed without disturbing the main lower weight. This created enough room for the speaker which I epoxied in place. So I took the new decoder and before installing , I updated the firm wear and then installed the correct 567 prime mover sound package that I downloaded a few weeks ago ( and modified a few things such as road # , etc). I did this by connecting the Lok Tester to my Lok Programmer. As I mentioned in a previous post, it is neat to be able to do all this before installing a decoder to ensure that everything is working correctly. Once that was done, it was a simple matter of removing the loco shell , removing the TCS EU621 non sound decoder that I had previously installed and plug in the new ESU 21 pin decoder and it was ready to go. The loco was then put on my layout and given a test run - sounds and performs great!. I will do some fine tuning , such as selecting the correct horn, bell and some other minor things, but the loco is ready for service!! Happy New Year folks and lets all hope for a much better 2021 -we all deserve it!!!!

21 PIN Lok Sound V5 decoder

Decoder Installed

Loco interior showing Lok Sound Sugar Cube and V5 decoder

Freight Car Friday

 Hi folks. Even though I had some customer work with my DCC business this past week, I did manage to complete a freight car kit. This was another Proto 2000 Gondola in Canadian Pacific script scheme. I bought it last year off of a local second hand dealer at a train show. I believe he gets a lot of his stuff from estate sales. Interesting to note that the old original price sticker on it was from "Hobby West".  This was a Hobby Store in Calgary, Alberta that had a large Model Railroading section in it - at least it did many years ago when I was living in Calgary back in the mid 80's and use to go there. I went online to see if it was still there , but using the timeline feature of google earth , I was able to determine that  it closed a couple of years ago -  Here's a google maps link showing the closed train store:

5011 Macleod Trail SW - Google Maps

Kinda makes me wonder how this kit ended up down here in Nova Scotia after it was probably purchased there back in the late 90's which is approx when this kit would have been new. Here is a picture of the finished kit - only mods were a laser cut wood floor, and Kadee #148's - things left are: I am waiting on an order of Rapido wheel sets to swap the original ones out and to give the wood floor and india ink and alcohol wash.....Till next time

Loco Overhaul

 Hello folks. Today I ordered a couple of sound decoders for my Atlas (Maine Central) GP 7's. When I purchased these locos back around 2004, they came as "DCC Ready" i.e equipped with a circuit board that had the 8 PIN NMRA socket. At the time, I immediately converted them to DCC using a TCS T1 decoder https://tcsdcc.com/1021    Although this was approx 16 years ago, this decoder is still in production today - and I must admit, the decoder still works fine to this day. I will be replacing these decoders with Soundtraxx PNP Econami decoders https://soundtraxx.com/products/econami-digital-sound-decoders/eco-pnp/  . Although I have been using ESU Lok Sound decoders lately, I decided to give these a try in my GP7's. They are a more economical version of the well know Soundtraxx Tsunami 2 decoders. When I reviewed the specs on the Ecomani, I decided that it had everything that I would need for my GP's and are a bit more budget friendly. I decided to remove the shell on one of GP7s today to investigate how much room I had for speaker placement and to ensure that the Ecomnai PNP would be a simple board replacement ( it is). I didn't remember how big the internal weights were and wondered if they filled the entire interior of the shell - to my surprise , there is no internal weight ( as there were on the Atlas GP38's that I converted to sound recently) - the weight of the loco is in the diecast frame - I really like this as it allows a lot more internal space in the loco shell (Atlas should use this arrangement more often!!!) and the Atlas is actually heavier than my recently purchased Athearn Genesis GP7. When I had the shell off, I decided to strip down the trucks and gearboxes of the locos -essentially doing a complete overhaul of them. They still ran good , but after approx 16 years , I decided it was time to give them some TLC. It is a relatively easy procedure to do and this video is excellent in explaining how to do this on a 4 truck Atlas diesel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=xt9hbfa0al0. Here is a picture of the disassembled trucks and gearboxes

One of the important things is to ensure you lay out all the parts in a manner that you will remember how they go back together again, esp the orientation of the gears themselves in the gear tower. I washed the parts with warm soapy water using a toothbrush to remove all the old coagulated low quality grease that would have been used when the locos were assembled in the factory in China. Parts should then be allowed to dry thoroughly before reassemble. I recommend using a high quality plastic compatible grease and oil applied appropriate during reassemble.  In the below photo, you can see the old grease on the gears prior to cleaning. Besides being low quality, both locos had excessive lubrication which as most modelers know can be as bad as not enough!

Well folks that's all to report today - just gotta wait for the decoders to arrive (snail mail). I will follow up with a report on how they do once I receive and install them. Till next time.....

DCC Workshop

 Hello folks. Recently I received a package from Amazon that enabled me to complete another small job that had been on my "to do" list. Here's what I received:

VCE (10 Pairs) 2.1x5.5mm DC Power Cable Jack Adapter for CCTV Camera and LED Strip - 10 Male&10 Female: Amazon.ca: Tools & Home Improvement

I used these to wire all my DCC programming components at my DCC work area to enable me to rapidly switch my programming track back and forth between my 2 DCC programming systems as well as regular DC. I also am now able to quickly change over from my programming track to my ESU decoder tester as well - no longer will I have to use alligator clips and screw and unscrew wires into the terminal blocks on various components. Originally I was going to make a small panel with a couple of rotary switches , but decided I didn't want to go through all the soldering and such. By using these quick disconnect plugs and neatly using wire clips and zip ties, I was able to make the wiring neat and out of the way for the most part. Here is my DCC work area:

In the above picture, you can see my 2 DCC programming systems 1. Digitrax PR3 (with DCC Specialties Power PAX booster) and 2. ESU Lok Programmer. Both these systems connect to the Netbook PC with  USB Cables ( both neatly coiled and hung on wall hooks in the picture above). I use the PR3 with JMRI and the ESU with the Lok Programmer software. I purchased the Netbook PC ( 10 inch screen) several years ago specifically because of its size and what I intended to use it for - it wasn't brand new, but was reconditioned and had Windows 7 installed on it. Because it is circa 2010 vintage, it sure isn't the fastest PC, but it works great for what I use it for and I love its small compact size. The only software loaded on it is the Lok Programmer software, JMRI and Digitrax Sound Loader software. It still has enough speed that if I want to look something up on the internet that I can without going upstairs to my "normal" laptop. On the shelf above the hardware, I have both HO and N scale test tracks which not only allow me to program decoders, but because both JMRI and ESU Lok Programmer have throttles built in , I can test any changes as well on the fly. In the picture above, my ESU Decoder tester is currently hooked up to the Lok Programmer and the PR3 is connected to the HO Scale test/programming track. I have a small vertical stack of drawers under the left side of the desk and my soldering station on the desktop. Having a well lite area and everything that you need for decoder installs close at hand sure makes for a more relaxed work environment. Till next time....

New Loco

 Hello folks - no Freight Car Friday this week - however I did receive a long awaited package in the mail yesterday afternoon from Pacific Western Rail Systems Pacfic Western Railway (pwrs.ca)

In August of 2019 Athearn announced a new release of their Genesis GP 7 model in Maine Central Harvest Yellow paint scheme. I had not purchased any of the Athearn Genesis locos since the late 90's when I purchased one of the lines first releases - a Canadian National SD70 (sold off years ago), so I was curious as to the quality of the line after 20+ years. I opted for a non-sound equipped version. They are offered in four road numbers  - I picked # 567 , as 2 of the offered road numbers were the same #'s as the Atlas models released back around 2005 in the same paint scheme of which I already have on my roster ( which I must say still work great!) The model was well packaged with a heavy box and foam inserts with a plastic tray that the model is secured with along with all the associated paperwork (exploded parts diagram, etc.). I did have a small disappointment when I opened the model  - one of the etched metal radiator side grills at the back end had fallen off - not a big issue as I quickly (and carefully ) glued it back in place - just a little disappointing when you pay this much for a model! Several months ago , I picked up a new 21 Pin TCS decoder (EU621) to have on hand when I received the locomotive  EU621 | Train Control Systems (tcsdcc.com)   Removing the shell of this model was straight forward - only requiring the removal of the couplers and coupler boxes and the shell lifted easily off. I installed the EU621 decoder and replaced the shell and installing a new set of Kadee #158 ( scale head whisker couplers). Removal of the shell on the model is much easier than doing that on the Atlas GP7 models. I placed the loco on my programming track in my workshop and used JMRI to change a couple of settings including the address # and to have independent control of the front and rear lights ( something I prefer). That was about it and then onto the layout for a test run - It runs very nicely with smooth slow speed performance. It seems to be slightly lighter than my Atlas models, so I would suspect that it might not be able to pull as much, however i don't think that will be an issue as I don't run long trains. Their has been a lot of discussion on the MEC Facebook page about this model - seems some folks are disappointed in the paint color - it definitely is a different shade of Harvest Yellow than the comparable Atlas models and that has caused a fair amount of negative comments. That being said ,I think it is a very well done model esp. with the MEC specific detail parts ( nose bell , horn , etc.)and am glad to have it in my collection. Till next time folks.....

Athearn Genesis MEC GP7 #567

DCC RRamp Meter

 Yesterday, I finally got around to one of those "small" jobs that have been on my list since I built my On30 switching layout several years ago. I had a DCC Specialties RRamp Meter that I purchase a number of years ago from Tonys Train Exchange https://tonystrains.com/product/dcc-specialties-rrampmeter-ii

This meter was installed on my old HO scale layout ( pictures can be seen in some old blog entries pre 2011). When I had it installed on my old layout, I only had one set of wires connect to the rails - this only showed the track voltage. I had always had in mind to install it properly so that it also showed the amperage draw as well, but never did get around to it before that layout was torn down. The meter was stored in a box ( along with several other electrical components such as PSX circuit breakers, DCC plug in panels , etc) up until a couple of days ago when I decide to install it properly on my new layout. I guess one of the reasons that I delayed, was that the thought of cutting into my fascia ( and the risk of "messing it up" didn't appeal greatly to me. I went online and found the proper cutting template and printed it off. I then cut out the template, carefully cutting the hole out ( extra care and patience doing this pays off when the actual fascia cutting starts) and then taping it into position on the fascia. I used a small hole saw in my drill to make the initial hole which I then enlarge with a keyhole saw followed by trimming with a Stanley carpet knife with a new sharp blade. It worked out well and the meter fit in perfectly. In order for both the amperage and voltage displays to work, I wired it so that the left side took the direct output of the Lenz command station and the output on the right side of the meter then went to my PSX 1 circuit break . The output of the circuit breaker then feeds the main DCC bus wires. Luckily I had two unused terminals on the main terminal block located under the layout - this made the wiring quick and easy to do. The job took me a couple of hours to do and the install maintains the "clean " look of the fascia that I like. Now I can keep an eye on the electrical status of my layout at a quick glance. Till next time....

Freight Car Friday (the 13 th)

 Hi folks - didnt realize it was Friday the 13th until I sat down to submit this post - hopefully I will make it through the rest of the day unscathed!!! I pulled out an old Walthers kit that I picked up for $8 back in the spring of 2019 at a train show in New Brunswick. It is a Maine Central (MEC) waffle side boxcar. The enclosed paperwork gave a pretty good history lesson on the origins of this car - it was an interesting read. The kit however was not all that interesting  - it was made back in the early 90's  -  at a time when Walthers was still only including horn hook couplers and plastic wheel sets - ugh! It is what I would consider an "operators freight car" i.e one with molded on ladders and other details - not a car that would be easily damaged from the rough handling common in some operating sessions. The paint work was relatively good and the kit went together in under an hour. I tried adding Kadee #148's to this car, but found that they were too short in length - luckily I had some Kadee #146"s  - - they are the long shank center set versions of the #148's and fit correctly  - The only other change I made was to install a pair of metal wheel set trucks ( 70 ton -3 spring) .It is not what I would consider a "foreground quality car" but is certainly suitable to use in making up a train and to be spotted at an appropriate industry. Another plus is that back at the time of its release, it was priced so that the average joe could afford to have several of these cars without breaking the bank. Till next time.....

Freight Car Friday

 Happy Friday all - well its been  a bit of a nail biter week with the US election and all. It still has not been decided yet and the differences in the key states at this time are very close - hopefully it will be over soon and the folks in the US can move forward. I did take some time to complete a Proto 2000 PS 2 hopper that I mentioned in my last post. It is one of their "Time Saver" kits and although it stated on the box that it takes one hour (or less) to build to have it ready to go on your layout, it took me I would say more in the line of approx 2.5 to 3 hours in total to complete. I like to take my time with a kit and take extra care when removing parts from sprue trees and clean up the parts afterward. The biggest  difference with this kit to the last full (BCOL) kit that I did (see previous posts) is that the end cages and associated break gear are already completed and installed - the same goes for the roof and the associated hatches and hinges -saving what I would guess to be a couple of hours work. I did notice that on some of the bottom pieces ( trough hatches and break lines ) that once they were removed from the sprues, you cut see the cut marks as they were off color. Luckily the bottom of this car is a flat black color, so I was easily able to touch these up with some Polly Scale steam colored black paint that I had on hand. I have seen this in other brands of kits and kinda always thought it would be a great idea if  Kit manufactures included some appropriate colored paint in the kits to do touch ups - I guess that in some cases though if a kit was not built for a number of years ( such as in this case) the included paint would be long ago dried up - oh well it was a thought!. This car is a bright yellow color ( not my favorite color for a freight car) and so once completed, got a good coat of Dullcoate to hide any glue marks as  well as to tone down the yellow - it turned out ok. The only other mod I made was to add Kadee # 148 whisker couplers - which I now add to any new freight car on my roster - cant remember last time I used the old #5's. Have a great weekend all. Till next time...

Proto 2000 PS2 4427 Hopper "Time Saver" kit

BC Rail Hopper

 Well folks I was able to finish the Proto 2000 BC Rail hopper mentioned in the last post. It took me a total of approx 5-6 hours total time and I must say that I enjoyed building the kit. Good to get "back in the groove" I built the kit as per the instructions and once it was completed, I gave the car a lite coat of Dullcoat to dull the finish as well as to hide any small glue marks (nothing worse than seeing a nice kit carelessly assembled and seeing finger prints in dryed glue marks - aka the "glue bomb"!!! The only change I made was to substitute Kadee #148's in place of the plastic Proto 2000 couplers. I always use Kadee couplers when I can. I am going to try assembling one of the "Time Saver" versions of this kit and see what the time difference will be. On the box cover it states "Complete in one hour or less" - We shall see! I will report back once done. Here are some pictures of the completed BC Rail version. Till next time...

Southern Railway of British Columbia MP15DC #151 moving the BC Rail Hopper

BCOL PS2 Hopper #2317

I am Back

 Well folks - its been several months since my last post. It was a great summer and early fall here in the part of Canada that I live in and that is the main reason why my modeling was put on a hiatus. You know you have been away too long when even your wife says " You should start doing some modeling again" . Also with the pandemic still going strong across the world ( second wave kicking in), there has been no train shows to get me kick started - So that being said, I thought that in order to easy into it, I would put together a freight car kit from my collection of unbuilt kits. I acquired several Proto 2000 PS2 4427 High Sided Covered Hopper kits several years back. I built a couple in the past when they were first available ( probably approx 20 years ago), so I would expect that once I start, I should be reacquainted with the process relatively quickly. The first one I am going to build is a British Columbia Railways (BCOL) version - I picked this one, as I remember it being one of the ones that I built previously (and later sold off).  It is the full kit version and will take more time. Proto 2000 actually came out with three versions of this - 1) full kit version 2). Time Saver version - still a kit, but some of the subassemblies already assembled and 3) Ready to run version. I have all three (albeit only one of the Ready to Run Versions). From my pervious experience with these cars, I remember the finished kit being pretty nice and like most Proto 2000 freight cars, having a level of detail that holds up well still in comparison to todays Ready to Run freight cars.  Till next time, here are so some pictures of my collection - 

BCOL  kit prior to assembly

Ready to Run Version

Collection of 4427 PS 2 Hopper kits

Freightcar Friday

Hello folks. This weeks Freight car Friday features 2 of my Proto 2000 50 foot Automobile Boxcars. These were some of the earliest freight cars that Proto 2000 did. In fact the Canadian National one shown here was the first freight car kit that I assembled after getting back into the hobby in 1996. The Grand Trunk one I assembled back in 2018. These kits are certainly more advanced than a Bluebox Athearn or an Accurail kit and even though they are now almost 25 years old, the level of detail and finish would certainly hold up well to todays high end ready to run freight cars. They do however have a couple of downsides - they can be tricky to do a good job assembling (although anyone who has assembled several model kits should have the skills required) and secondly , the detail parts such as the handrails and stirrup steps are extremely fragile and can be easily broken during assembly and handling afterwards- that being said, I would not recommend these for an operations themed layout where handling the models is common. I have a couple more that I recently picked up on eBay that will require assemble as well as one Canadian National ( wet noddle scheme) that was factory assembled. These models can still be found on Ebay in single model form or 2 and 6 pack versions. I do like that they take one back to the days where it was more common to have to put together a freight car kit to get a nice model  than having it come in RTR format, which is more common today. I found that assembling the kit made for a few enjoyable evenings of modeling time. Till next time.

Grand Trunk # 591209

Canadian National # 559003

50 Foot Automobile Boxcars

End Loading doors on Grand Trunk Car

Completed On30 Tool car

Hi Folks. This past week, I have slowed down a bit with modeling, as the outdoor weather has been turning a bit nicer. However it is still spring in Nova Scotia and rainy days are often. I managed to finish up ( for the most part) the On30 tool car that I started back in January ( see January post). The part of this build that I had to give the most thought to was what I was going to put on the flatcar deck portion of the deck to give it a used (but maintained ) look. I decided on a Grandt Line O scale switch stand, a painted fuel barrel, and a few pieces of new strip wood. Here are a few pictures. Till next time...

On30 Tool Car

On30 Tool Car

Deck of On30 Tool Car

Atlas Maine Central GP38 Upgrade

Hello folks. Spring is slowly arriving here in Nova Scotia and it sure feels different this year with the province being in semi lock down because of the Covid 19 Pandemic. One benefit is that with a ton more time being spent at home, I am getting more Modeling railroading work done this year than I would be if things were "normal". Yesterday, I installed a recently purchased ESU Select Direct V5 decoder in one of my Maine Central GP38's. I have 2 of these that I acquired back approx. 15 years ago. When I was switching over from HO scale to On30, I decided to keep a small number of locos and rolling stock (just in case 😀). The 38's spent 7-8 years in their boxes and were not run at all. When I took them out and ran them on my On30 track, they were  a bit on the sluggish side and stuttered down the track. I disassembled them and took the trucks and gearboxes apart and cleaned all the old coagulated grease out and reassembled - as expected , they ran as well as a brand new Atlas -i.e smooth as silk. Recently after comparing ( on line videos , etc.) the most current offerings of diesel sound decoders, I decided to give the ESU V5 a try. I selected the Select Direct  http://www.esu.eu/en/products/loksound/loksound-select-direct/

It is a drop in replacement board and fits perfectly in place of the original Atlas ( made by Lenz) dual mode decoder. I simply removed the wires from the old decoder and soldered them in place on the new ESU decoder. For the speaker ,  I used an a single ESU 50321 Sugar cube speaker    https://www.traintekllc.com/esu-50321-11mm-x-15mm-8-ohm-sugar-cube-speaker/

To facilitate removing the shell from the frame in the future, I used a TCS micro plug to allow the speaker to be disconnected quickly ( as it is body mounted). These particular Atlas locomotives have a removable dynamic brake blister. This was done so as to allow quick access to the original decoder so that a plug could be moved from a DC to DCC position on the decoder or vise versa - hence they were known as a dual mode decoder. The dynamic brake blister has a small recess on the underside  that is the area below the air filter area on the loco. This recess was a perfect fit for the sugar cube speaker ( see picture below).  Once that was done, I placed the locomotive on the ESU Lok programmer programming track and added the sound package that I had downloaded from the ESU website previously. The sound package is a perfect match for the engine type that was in EMD GP38's. The beauty of the V5 select decoder is that it is upgradeable in the future should a better sound package become available or more features added and you are able to do this without removing the shell of the locomotive - you just need a Lok programmer with programming track ( and internet connection of course) This decoder is future proof for sure!! I was able to use the built in throttle control that is part of the Lok Programmer to test the unit on the programming track before reassembling the locomotive. The sound is awesome!!! Probably the best sounding diesel sound decoder that I have heard. As I have only recently acquired the ESU Lok Programmer, I am thinking that I have much to discover yet and will be using it to tweak some of the settings on this new install ( volumns, Operating characteristics, etc). Although these decoders operate extremely well "out of the box", I look forward to the challenge of exploring all the options and possibilities that go into making ESU decoders exceptional - there is a lot to learn and I am looking forward to it. Now on to the second Maine Central GP38 install...till next time.

Atlas GP38 with original dual mode decoder

Installed ESU Select Direct V5 decoder and 50321 Cube Speaker

Dynamic Brake Hatch with Installed Speaker

ESU LOK Programmer

Hi folks - well the world sure has changed since my last post approx. 2.5 weeks ago. The Coronovirus pandemic has turned this into a scary time for sure. Although Canada (and Nova Scotia in particular) have implemented many changes to try and keep the virus spread in check, the news doesn't seem to be getting any better and authorities have recommended to people to stay at home except for essential trips which my wife and I are following . If there is any small bright light to all this, for me personally it has allowed more modeling time. I received a package this week from Yankee Dabbler - a New Jersey shop that specials in DCC. I visited their booth back in January at the Big e Show in Springfield, Mass and bought several items. I was impressed with the amount of stock they had and their professionalism and so decided to do a mail order through them. One of the items that I ordered is the ESU Lok Programmer ESU Lok Progammer . Although I have been using a Digitrax PR3 with JMRI for the last couple of years, I have come to realize that there is a vast number of modelers that use ESU decoders, as well as manufacturer who are using ESU brand sound decoders as standard equipment in newly released locomotives. I have decided that in order to offer comprehensive DCC installation and programming services (See my 13 Feb 2020 post) that I would need to have the ability to be able to load and program sound files to ESU decoders. In order to do this  it is necessary to have this programmer ( cant be done with PR3). As well I also have the ESU decoder tester which can be connected directly to the programmer for seamlessly programming and testing ESU decoders before installing - which is a great idea. I have started to watch a few videos on the ESU site http://www.esu.eu/en/start/  to become better familiar with the Lok Programmer. Once I feel comfortable, I will report back with an update on this new addition. Stay well everyone. Till next time

ESU Lok Programmer

ESU Decoder Tester

More decoder work

Morning folks. This past week, I completed another small dcc project that was on my list for a bit. I have a On30 Davenport gas electric locomotive that I bought when I first got into On30 approx. 9 years ago. It is a very small locomotive ( see picture below) and although it came from Bachmann DCC equipped, it had what I would consider a bottom of the line decoder - so that along with the very short wheel base meant that the locomotive had poor low speed control and stalled on any unpowered turnouts or small areas of dirty track. Overall I was disappointed with the way it ran and so therefore it didn't see much run time either on my home On30 layout or at the train shows where my On30 group set up their modules. After doing some research on line, I decided to purchase a TCS KAM4 LED decoder  https://tcsdcc.com/1479. This decoder has a built in keep alive and "should" fit under the hood of the locomotive. The decoder comes in a couple of different styles - because this locomotive comes with an LED headlight, AND because I decided to hard wire it place (removing the Bachmann circuit board), I decided on the version of this decoder shown in the link above. Others have used the NON LED version that is available with an NMRA 8 pin plug and plugged it into the 8 pin plug on the Bachmann circuit board, but I read that it was an extremely tight fit so I decided to go with removing the circuit board and hardwiring. I simply removed the circuit board, trimmed off the plastic retaining clips ( which left a smooth plastic piece sitting above the motor and used a double sided piece of tape to mount the new TCS decoder on it. The decoder was then wired up to the existing wires. The decoder comes with a few extra function control wires, which I covered the ends with Kapton tape to prevent any chance of shorts. The wires where then bundled up and taped to the top of the new decoder. The hood was then put back in place and everything buttoned up. I am still fine tuning the programming, but all I can say is what a difference in performance - where before I had to run the locomotive at least at 50% throttle to get it to be able to cross an unpowered frog ( where it would lurch through) , I can now creep through the very same turnout with out stalling. As well the slow speed performance is vastly improved. If you have a short wheelbase locomotive with stalling issues, I recommend investigating a decoder with a keep alive option. Till next time....

Bachmann On30 Davenport Gas-Electric

Original Decoder Plugged into Bachmann circuit board

New TCS KAM4 LED decoder in place ready to go

Freight Car Friday

Hi folks. Todays freight car in the spotlight is a Bachmann On30 Tank Car. These cars were just an extension of Bachmann's On30 flat car with a tank added on the top. Admittedly, when I first got these, I thought the were a bit "toy like" in appearance with the glossy plastic and such , but with a small amount of effort, it is easy to transform the model into a respectable piece of rolling stock. One of the fellows in our On30 group did a weathering job for me  and once I got the model back, I went to work on it. First I took the tank off and added a Banta laser cut wood floor deck and stained it with a couple of light coats of India ink and alcohol. I then filed down the plastic tank supports. This was necessary as once the laser cut wood deck was added, the tie down metal straps that go around the tank to secure it to the deck, would no longer fit because of the small increase in height of the deck floor. Once the tank was back in place, I used large sized ( tie sized) strip wood to encircle the base of the tank. The wood was scribed with a razor saw to create grain and then once again, I  used India ink and alcohol to stain these beams. As a final touch, I drilled small holes in the beams to accept the bolt ends of Grandt Line  NBW castings that I painted a aged rust color. These were held in place with a small drop of glue. I have several of these On30 tank cars that I did in the same manner. I think they turned out well. Till next time......

Modified On30 tank car

Decoder Replacement

Hi folks. Today I was able to get to a small project that I had on my list. I have a Proto 2000 Alco S3 that had been converted to DCC a number of years ago, however when I serviced this locomotive last year, I noticed that the shell was not sitting on the chassis correctly. Upon further inspection , I was able to determine that the 8 pin plug (NEM652) that inserted to the receiving plug on the locomotive had additional height that was not allowing the shell to close all the way. The decoder installed was a Digitrax DZ125PS https://www.digitrax.com/products/retired/mobile-decoders/dz125ps/ . I opted to change this out with a newer DZ126PS https://www.digitrax.com/products/mobile-decoders/dz126ps/ that I had on hand. The difference being is that the DZ126 PS has a plug on the wiring harness that was flatter with no raised areas where the wires were soldiered on. After the decoder was replaced, I placed the locomotive on my programming track and using JMRI , was able to duplicate all CV settings that were on the old DZ125. Afterwards the locomotive was test run and as expected ran superbly. I will be repurposing the DZ125 decoder into a Bachmann On30 that currently has the old poorly performing standard Bachmann decoder. Have a great weekend folks. Till next time...

Proto 2000 Alco S3

Old Digitrax DZ125PS decoder (note extended height of plug going into socket)

New DZ126PS - Note plug into socket is lower profile

Freight Car Friday

Hi folks. 2 more cars that I picked up at the show in Springfield last month. These are fairly new releases from the Atlas Trainman series. I had 2 of the exact same gondolas (same road name -different #'s)  back from the second run of these in Nov 2006 when they Train Man series first started.  They were road #'s 1132 and 1161 - I sold them off, back during my change over to On30 approx. 8-9 years ago. Now that I am back in HO as well as On30 , I decided to buy 2 more. So far the only change I made was to replace the couplers with Kadee #148's. Those of you familiar with the Train Man series know that this is the budget priced lined from Atlas - cars from this line have less detail parts with a lot being of the molded on variety - still nice cars, and probably better than highly detailed ones for operating sessions where cars get handled (read less damage) frequently. Till next time...

Maine Central # 1104

Maine Central #1134

One of the original 2 cars ( since sold off) on my old MEC layout. This one is # 1161

Freight Car Friday

Hi Folks - picked up 2 new Kadee PS-1 50 foot boxcars (both with cushioned underframes) at last months Big E show in Springfield. I have always liked the Kadee freight cars and think that they are pretty much top of the line - in RTR HO scale freight cars.The Bangor and Aroostook car was from Toms Trains and the D&H car was from the Kadee booth. It was marked as having minor paint imperfections and was listed at 20$ ( still factory sealed). I had to look hard to find the paint imperfection - tiny blue overspray on one corner that meets the roof line - so in my mind I got a great deal -thanks Kadee! As an aside, the gents from Kadee were staying at the same hotel as us and we sat with them for breakfast one morning and had a nice chat. Happy Friday all....

Bangor and Aroostook # 6024

D&H #50058

W2DCC Services

Hi All: Lately I had been thinking a lot about offering a decoder Installation and Programming service for local area modelers. I decided to take the plunge and see what happens. The idea is to offer a service that will do installations and programming for HO and N Scale decoder installations. I will be offering both sound and non sound installations for HO scale and non sound ( board replacement only ) installations for N scale. I have almost completed a pricing matrix  and of course there will be limitations on the services that I offer i.e will not be accepting old poorly running DC locomotives or locomotives that would need repair, etc. The service will be called W2DCC Services and I can be contacted at w2dccservices@mail.com  
To that end, I have been busy transforming my small workshop , adding a dedicated DCC work area with test tracks and work surface. A small netbook computer that I acquired a couple years back is being used exclusively for JMRI decoder pro and is able to run the software just fine. This is used with a Digitrax PR3 ( coupled to a DCC Specialties PowerPax) in stand alone mode connected to both a HO and N scale test track. At the recent Big e show that I attended last month in Springfield Mass, I acquired a ESU decoder tester, and the plan is to also acquire the ESU LOC Programmer as well. In order to facilitate testing in the future, I also plan to add a small panel below the test tracks that will allow me to switch (via a rotatory switch) from DC, DCC, Programming, and LOK Programmer. Here a couple of pictures of the new DCC work area. Till next time...

DCC work area

DCC work area 2

WOW

One of the items that I purchased at my recent trip to the Big e Train show in Springfield , Mass was a Train Control Systems (TCS) WOW Sound Kit for a recently purchased Canadian National 0-8-0 (Proto 2000 HO Scale). This kit comes complete with a Motherboard (P2K-MB1), Steam Decoder (WOW 121), and a speaker kit (UNIV-SH3-C). I followed the excellent installations instructions on the TCS website pretty much to a tee, and as a result, the installation was a snap.
.https://tcsdcc.com/installation/ho-scale/1522
 And the sound - you really have to believe it - its amazing, as well as TCS' excellent motor control complete with built in keep alive (no more stalling on dirty track or unpowered frogs). The only thing remaining , is to fine tune the bell and whistle sections ( dozens of choices each - simply by changing a CV.  I had 2 of these Proto 2000 Canadian National 0-8-0's back when they were first released by Hobby Craft Canada in the summer of 2000. I had them for about 10-11 years and then sold them off when I converted over to On30. Since I have started acquiring HO scale items again in the last couple of years, I always kinda regretted getting rid of these, so I went and was able to purchase one from a fellow member of our On30 group ( thanks Gary!!) With this models excellent running qualities, its hard to believe these models are now 20 years old!!!. With the addition of the WOW Sound kit, this model is first class all the way!!! Till next time.

Tender with TCS Keep Alive Motherboard and WOW Steam 121 decoder installed. I used a min plug (purple wires) for speaker installation

Amherst Big E Show West Springfield, Mass

Hi folks. Well it was an exciting last week. I finally attended my first Amherst Big e Springfield Show http://www.railroadhobbyshow.com/index.php   Several of my model railroad friends have been going for the past several years and have always said that I should go. Well since I retired at the end of last summer, I didn't have any excuses left and all I can say is that I was totally blown away by the size and volumes of merchandise as well as all the superbly done display layouts. Its one of those things that you have to see with your own eyes to believe. I managed to attend a great sign making clinic put on by Bar Mills - always a treat to hear how professional model makers do things to get such realistic results.
I had a shopping list made before I left ( mostly DCC items such as decoders , LED's, wires, etc. However I also spent a bit on other items that caught my eye. The attendance this year was ~21000 so I am sure that this is a huge sales event for the vendors that partake - I guess that is why there is a waiting list for vendors to get into the show. We also were on hand to assist the NBR&N (US Division) setting up their modular layout. It has been approx. 10 years since the last time I have seen it and have to say, it is still as impressive today as it was back then. We also ran into several other model railroaders from the Maritimes and shared a couple of meals and laughs with those folks. We drove down and back ( approx. 13 hours each way) and the weather was totally cooperative- which is the exception rather than the norm this time of year)!. I must say that I plan on attending again. Here are  a couple of photos that I took at the show. Till next time.

On30 Work Car

Hi Folks: I have started working on an On30 work/tool car kit that was picked up for me by a friend of mine when he was at the Big E show in West Springfield , Mass show a couple of years back. The kit is made by Banta Model Works https://www.bantamodelworks.com/T-2136.html . It looks to be  a relatively simple kit that simply fits on to a standard sized Bachmann On30 flatcar. As well I am going to use this build as an opportunity to try out my collection of Pan Pastels instead of using paint to color the shed. In preparation for that , I re-watched a Video that I obtained from Stoney Creek Designs several years ago on the in's and out's of using Pan Pastels. There sure sounds like alot of pros to using Pan Pastels. So far I have stained the floor ( India ink and alcohol) and built the main structure of the attached shed. I used Pan Pastels -Neutral Grey for the walls of the shed after I first applied a coat of Testors Black enamel wash (from their CreateFx line) to all parts of the shed ( with the exception of the laser cut floor).

On another note, I will be attending this years Big E Show in West Springfield, Mass. http://www.railroadhobbyshow.com/
Many members of my group have attended several times in past years, but that will be my first and I am really looking forward to it! It is one of the biggest annual MR shows in the US!!Expect a full report on this blog when I return. On that note, time to finalize my shopping list. Till next time...

Banta Tool Car

Shed Walls Colored with Pan Pastels