My DCC Journey

[Tallpaul70]

Hi All,
It is 3 months since my last update, apologies for the long silence!
Currently working on chipping locos, and finalizing layout plan.
Since starting on sound chip fitting I have concluded that I will sound fit more locos than I first thought which increases the cost.
So I am looking at using the Hornby TTS rather than £100 sound chips in a number of locos that they were not originally aimed for, such as fitting them to other manufacturers locos and to different types of loco than they were designated for.

There are some nonos in this.
Not a good idea to fit 2 cylinder sound in three cylinder locos or Great Western loco chips in other company locos,

I will try to keep you informed of how I get on.

Best regards
Paul

[Tallpaul70]

Hi All,
It is 3 months since my last update, apologies for the long silence!
Currently working on chipping locos, and finalizing layout plan.
Since starting on sound chip fitting I have concluded that I will sound fit more locos than I first thought which increases the cost.
So I am looking at using the Hornby TTS rather than £100 sound chips in a number of locos that they were not originally aimed for, such as fitting them to other manufacturers locos and to different types of loco than they were designated for.

There are some nonos in this.
Not a good idea to fit 2 cylinder sound in three cylinder locos or Great Western loco chips in other company locos,

I will try to keep you informed of how I get on.

Best regards
Paul

Hi All,
So far, so good, here is the first of my monthly updates:-

I have managed to locate a couple of people who can do maintenance/re motor/chipping of my Lima locos and units. I have one back after treatment and while there is still some noise from the gears, it does seem to run quite well. I am about to send off a HST pair for treatment including TTS sound modules. I will post how I get on.

I had been debating whether to change the "modern" version of my layout from running c2007 to c2016.

The original decision was made some 10 years ago in 2009. However I really like the new 800 series sets and the new GWR livery.

So I have taken the plunge! This means some of my locos and units bought over the last ten years or so are in obsolete liveries. So I have been going through these planning which to sell and which to have re painted (Spray painting is not one of my skills!).

I have managed to find someone who can do the work at a rate I can live with and whose results look good. The first loco, a class 58 in Virgin livery will be sent off this week to return in DRS Large Compass colours. Again, I will post the results on it s return.

I wondered if Lima fitted the nice motor in their class 67s to other locos but it seems that the only Lima locos that did not get the standard pancake motor apart from the Class 67s were later class 20s.

Thinking about putting loco TTS chips into DMUs (Not HSTs!), I found someone who put a class 31 TTS in a class 105 DMU, and the posted video sounded reasonable. I am considering whether the difference between seamless sound of a loco with electric transmission and the gear changes of the DMU is an acceptable compromise given that my layout will not have a station so the DMUs will mainly pass through and would not have needed to do gear changes. The jury is still out on this!

Now I need to get down to trying to decide between two alternative layout plans, each with their own pros and cons but of all the ones I have considered closes meet the sort of WTT I seek to run.

I also need to keep my eye out for Hornby sneaking out TTS chips and change my chipping plans accordingly.

Cheers for now
Paul

[Tallpaul70]

Hi All,
It is 3 months since my last update, apologies for the long silence!
Currently working on chipping locos, and finalizing layout plan.
Since starting on sound chip fitting I have concluded that I will sound fit more locos than I first thought which increases the cost.
So I am looking at using the Hornby TTS rather than £100 sound chips in a number of locos that they were not originally aimed for, such as fitting them to other manufacturers locos and to different types of loco than they were designated for.

There are some nonos in this.
Not a good idea to fit 2 cylinder sound in three cylinder locos or Great Western loco chips in other company locos,

I will try to keep you informed of how I get on.

Best regards
Paul

Hi All,
So far, so good, here is the first of my monthly updates:-

I have managed to locate a couple of people who can do maintenance/re motor/chipping of my Lima locos and units. I have one back after treatment and while there is still some noise from the gears, it does seem to run quite well. I am about to send off a HST pair for treatment including TTS sound modules. I will post how I get on.

I had been debating whether to change the "modern" version of my layout from running c2007 to c2016.

The original decision was made some 10 years ago in 2009. However I really like the new 800 series sets and the new GWR livery.

So I have taken the plunge! This means some of my locos and units bought over the last ten years or so are in obsolete liveries. So I have been going through these planning which to sell and which to have re painted (Spray painting is not one of my skills!).

I have managed to find someone who can do the work at a rate I can live with and whose results look good. The first loco, a class 58 in Virgin livery will be sent off this week to return in DRS Large Compass colours. Again, I will post the results on it s return.

I wondered if Lima fitted the nice motor in their class 67s to other locos but it seems that the only Lima locos that did not get the standard pancake motor apart from the Class 67s were later class 20s.

Thinking about putting loco TTS chips into DMUs (Not HSTs!), I found someone who put a class 31 TTS in a class 105 DMU, and the posted video sounded reasonable. I am considering whether the difference between seamless sound of a loco with electric transmission and the gear changes of the DMU is an acceptable compromise given that my layout will not have a station so the DMUs will mainly pass through and would not have needed to do gear changes. The jury is still out on this!

Now I need to get down to trying to decide between two alternative layout plans, each with their own pros and cons but of all the ones I have considered closes meet the sort of WTT I seek to run.

I also need to keep my eye out for Hornby sneaking out TTS chips and change my chipping plans accordingly.

Cheers for now
Paul

Hi All,
Apologies for the time that has elapsed since my last update, but judging from the deathly silence that has greeted my last couple of posts, I am largely talking to myself so I don't think it matters much.

This being the case, I am thinking that I will save myself some time and not bother with any further updates.

Clearly my modelling problems and successes are of little interest to members of the forum, or not sufficient interest to be worth commenting on!

I have plenty to occupy me on the modelling front and I think I will limit myself to contributing to others threads that I find of interest and asking the occasional question on a particular point I need information on.

Best regards
Paul

[Walkingthedog]

It’s not unusual (I feel a song coming on) not to get responses to your kind of post. Maybe the occasional 'very nice' or 'interesting' so keep them coming with pictures, we like pictures .

[Steve M]

It’s quite normal - after all you can only say well done (or similar) so many times. It’s nothing personal.

[Tallpaul70]

I not after being told "well done"!

It would be nice to have people agree or disagree with how I am approaching things, or answer the questions I pose in my posts!

There! that's got that moan off my chest.

Cheers
Paul

[Walkingthedog]

You don’t actually ask many questions. We are usually good at answering them. Honest.

[Tallpaul70]

You don’t actually ask many questions. We are usually good at answering them. Honest.

OK,
Lets try turning some of my comments into questions and see what happens!

1) Is it sensible to have maintenance/re motor/chipping of my Lima locos and units? As my layout will be code 100 track I intend keeping the current wheels. Will this work?

2) I am debating whether to change the "modern" version of my layout from running c2007 to c2016. The original decision was made some 10 years ago in 2009. However I really like the new 800 series sets and the new GWR livery. This means some of my locos and units bought over the last ten years or so are in liveries that are not suited to 2016 running. Is it worth the cost of respraying? (spray painting is not one of my skills!).

3) What are peoples experience of putting loco TTS chips into DMUs (Not HSTs!)? A video of a class 31 TTS in a class 105 DMU, sounded reasonable. Is the difference between seamless sound of a loco with electric transmission and the gear changes of the DMU is very noticeable or an acceptable compromise given that my layout will not have a station so the DMUs will mainly pass through and would not have needed to do gear changes?

Any comments or advice on the above would be welcolme, particularly other peoples experiences in these areas?

Cheers
Paul

[Walkingthedog]

I only have one Lima loco and fitted a new CD drive type motor. Runs beautifully, DC not DCC.


I have painted locos but only with a brush. I was very pleased with the result. You can either do it or you can’t.

[Steve M]

1) can't comment, never done it but many report favourable results when they have.

2) get them all repainted (but then I am biased )

3) not sure any of the currently available TTS decoders offer a reasonable compromise for a DMU fitting and as yet Hornby have shown no inclination to fill that particular gap. They'll probably announce something next month now I've said that.