Hi All,
Please can you tell me of you all who advises the cutting of the connection to the capacitors in the new Bachmann 66's when inserting the DCC decoder into the socket. I have read some literature which goes out of it's way to point out they should be removed, and other pieces say nothing at all abou their disconnection.
TIA Graham
Bachmann themselves recommend removing the suppression capacitors. With older decoders using low frequency drive circuits and no feedback this was not essential. Usually still not if you use a basioc decoder like a Lenz 1000. Modern decoders with high frequency ( silent) drive or feedback or both you will need to take the capacitors off. Try leaving them in and you usually get very poor low speed control, cut them off and it becomes smooth and sweet. Keith
>"Graham Kendall" wrote
I've always suggested removing capacitors from locos into which DCC decoders are to be fitted, but with the latest generation of decoders (Lenz Gold, Silver etc) I'm not totally sure whether this is now absolutely necessary. I'd be inclined to suggest that you try the loco through its paces without removing the capacitors but if you're in any way disappointed with the performance under DCC then those little yellow bits might just be the cause.
John.
I concur with JT. If fitting the likes of a Bachmann decoder (a re-badged Lenz 1014) then remove the capacitors. If fitting a Lenz Silver or Gold, then leave well alone.
Cheers, Mick
"Mick Bryan" wrote
Ironically Mick I never had any running problems with LE1014 decoders, but I certainly had to snip the capacitors with LE1024 or LE1025 chips with feedback.
John.
Where did this post come from? I cant see it on the list? is it an old one?
anyway, using lokosound sound chips i have removed all capacitors from my
66's.Simon
Newsgroups: uk.rec.models.rail Subject: Bachmann DCC Ready '66s From: "Graham Kendall" Date: Thu, 26 Jan 2006 23:06:38 GMT Hi All, Please can you tell me of you all who advises the cutting of the connection to the capacitors in the new Bachmann 66's when inserting the DCC decoder into the socket. I have read some literature which goes out of it's way to point out they should be removed, and other pieces say nothing at all abou their disconnection. TIA Graham
HTH
In message , Piemanlarger writes
My Locsound decoders worked fine without removing the caps - had to have them out for the Bachmann decoders though.
"MartinS" wrote
It's standard practice as recommended by Steve Jones on his
John.
My problems were with the Bachmann 4 function decoder (a re-badged and slightly re-specified 1014), when switched to "silent drive".
Cheers, Mick
I haven't gotten any 66s yet, but I am wondering how they run. do they have good motors inside or are they powered by bogie-mounted "pancake" motors. (Sorry, I don't know the correct UK term for this kind of motor yet).
In all the photos that I see of 66s they all seem to be carrying dedicated cargo, or unit trains. I can't recall any of my photos showing 66s on general or mixed goods trains. Are they used in this way at all? Do the railways even operate trains with a variety of car types any more? When I do get my 66s how should I run them, meaning what type of service emulates their prototypical use? How many wagons are in a normal
66 hauled train and at what speeds do they typically operate? Text messages and/or links to other sites would both be welcome here.
Twin flywheel motor driving both bogies, so no problems running.
I dont think so, nor come to that are any others much these days, well not in S.Wales
Do the railways even operate trains with a
Intermodal, hea coal, mgr coal, steel, ballast, pretty much so anything up to a limit.
How many wagons are in a normal
depends on the train and its wagons plus route. 66 are seen around here with
19 x 104 ton HEeA on coal trains.Text messages and/or
I don't know what that means. Nineteen 104 ton coal wagons? Is that metric tons- 1,000Kg? So then that's about 2,000 tons That's an awfully light train for a locomotive with the power of a 66 class. Ah, but it does have the advantage that the modeler can run prototypical length trains on a model railway. That's something we cannot do here in the land of
125+ car trains with car lengths of 15+ meters.
Remember that our railways over here are primarily geared to high speed passenger services, the freights have to get over the road fast to keep out of the way and that power is used for the acceleration. Our axleloads are also rather less than in North America so, although a 66 may have the power to shift a bigger train it does not have enough adhesion. Mind you there are very few layouts around in 4mm scale that can cope with 19 car trains, OK in N gauge.
NB. I think Simon meant the HHA or HTA bogie hoppers, HEA are 2-axle wagons, if you want to get up to speed with wagon types visit
Keith
Yes, i did, and its meant to have been 18 not 19! This is what i runoon our club layout.
With 100,000 lbs of TE it should be able to accelerate and pullsomewhat more than
2000 tonnes. Maybe there are steep grades that I don't know about that would limit the maximum tonnage on the grade to 2000 tonnes. On "my" railway (Southern Railway) we could haul considerably more per unit than that, but we were restricted to 1800 tons per unit (1,772 UK) with 6 motor, 2400 HP units over one particular grade. A 6500 ton train would almost always have to make two trips to get over being pulled by three 2400HP 6 motor units. Eighteen powered axles were the maximum allowed. But I kind of like the idea of short, fast trains. We don't have many freight trains running at 120KM/hr in my area of the country.
Many of our lines have grades of 1 in 100 or so. Hence the lower train weights. The line outside my back door is about 1 in 120 and I've seen a 66 stall with 1200 tonnes on the back. Not helped by the 25mph or so speed restriction at the bottom of the bank! This happened on a Sunday evening, just as there were about 4 diverted West Coast passenger services due................... After 2 hours, they managed to summon a spare driver to jump in the dead 66 that was tagged on the back to help!
As for use of 66's - it depends who operates them and where in the UK. EWS, Freightliner, DRS and GBRf. Mostly used on "block" trains of coal, oil, steel, cement, gypsum, household waste ("binliners"!) for example, but also found on intermodal and container trains, engineering work and other "mixed goods", such as the "Enterprise" freight services that have a network of services across the UK. Also used on transfer moves delivereing new stock or taking it to store/scrapyard. They also have duties on the Sandite and water cannon trains that operate in the autumn leaf fall season.
HTH, Mick
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