Jump to content

merchant navy class loco


gragrahadea

Recommended Posts

R1038 is the analogue VSOE boxed set and the loco United States Lines is dcc ready with the 8 pin socket in the loco and Hornby even provided a decoder sleeve in the boxed set. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As a side issue, Clan Line 35028 came  as analogue, DCC Ready and DCC Fitted. I only say this as there are a number on the "market" and it can become confusing - the body internals are also different, so fitting DCC to an early model, while it can be done, it will not be as easy as in the later models. Without checking I think United States Lines 35012 always came as either DCC Ready and DCC Fitted - and I think only came in boxed sets - I may be wrong on that point - need to check the back catalogues.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As far as I can ascertain M/N United States Lines was only ever produced in Premier Boxed Set R1038  - The Venice Simplon-Orient Express British Pullman - during 2004,2005 and 2006 and came with a HM2000 Power Controller it was not DCC Ready . In 2007 the same set, renumbered R1073 came with M/N Clan Line with a Digital Select Controller - DCC was first shown in the 2006 Hornby Catalogue. However it was not unusual for sets to be prepared specially for supermarkets at Christmas time - so it is possible (?) that both R1038 and R1073 were made available with United States Line in DCC Ready format - but it did not appear in the Hornby Catalogue.

 

Just to add to the confusion, I have just checked my personal collection of M/N Class loco's , and  I have two M/N United States Lines locos, one analogue and one DCC Ready - both came from the R1038 sets!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

R1038 is Service Sheet 267C which shows as a DCC loco with a socket for DCC.  Go to service sheets on this site and download that one to give you the details.  

 

But like Poliss says, remove the body and check.  You should find it has a socket with either a blanking plate (DCC Ready, fit a decoder by removing the plate and plugging a decoder in) or DCC Fitted with a decoder installed.

 

Even if you find it doesn't have a socket, it can still be converted by a simple job of soldering a decoder into it.  All locos can be converted and for most it is a simple job.  The only more complicated Hornby locos are some ringfield motor types and this loco doesn't seem to be one of those.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm sorry if my posting was confusing, but with some Hornby models there are variations which are not always explainable. As has been suggested open the model up and have a look. If you look at the Bromsgrove Models site, they have a very good list of locos and how to install a decoder - the Merchant Navy being one of them.

http://www.bromsgrovemodels.co.uk/decoderinstallation4mm.htm

Link to comment
Share on other sites

please help i am totally confussed,the set  i am after is r1038 with loco united states line does it have a socket for dcc.many thanks.ps  it is the box set with red drawers,

Ok,,,,,,it sounds like you are looking to buy this red box set and want to know if it's Dcc ready ,we all thought you have the loco ,,,,,,,,,

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think the simple answer to your question is that the set R1038 with United States Lines was not DCC Ready or Fitted. As has already been mentioned above almost any loco can be fitted with a DCC Decoder, but in this set it would have to be hard wired - there is no socket in which to plug in a decoder. See the Bromsgrove Models Site, which has full instructions with photographs on how to fit a decoder into a  Hornby Merchant Navy Class loco. You might, when opening your loco find it has a socket with a blanking plate, in which case you can fit a decoder of your choice. As again, mentioned above, there is a degree of confusion with some Hornby loco's. This set, now numbered R1172 was dropped from the Hornby range in 2014, by which time it had reverted to an "analogue" set, but with the loco "Clan Line" that was DCC Ready - the set came with the normal Hornby controller found in most sets.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@bb

I already said my circa 2006 R1038 set with US lines loco was DCC Ready, which contradicts whats you are saying above About it not being either Ready or Fitted.

 

My set had the HM2000 controller and all I did was buy an Elite and a decoder, swap the controllers over and poke the decoder into the already there loco socket.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It is very confusing, and I don't disagree at all with what has been said. Obviously Hornby were starting to produce locomotives that were DCC Ready before any announcements were made. According to the Hornby Catalogues R1038 - produced in 2004-6, with no mention of DCC whatsoever. It was in the 2006 that DCC/Elite and Select were first mentioned in the catalogue,  so there must have been a period of transition in 2006/2007 as R1038 became R1073 in 2007 with the set containing M/N Clan Line - which at that time was DCC Fitted. So one must assume that during the latter part of 2006 this particular set (R1038) had a change of loco (well internally), that was DCC Fitted/Ready. So we have to assume that the Op. having/getting R1073 with M/N United States Lines is a set produced during this period of transition - according to the catalogue R1073 came with M/N Clan Line - DCC Fitted.  To repeat what has been said - open it up and see what you have got. Even more confusing if you have an early R1038 (not DCC) and then sometime later you get a service sheet that says it is DCC!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

please help i am totally confussed,the set  i am after is r1038 with loco united states line does it have a socket for dcc.many thanks.ps  it is the box set with red drawers,

In your first post you said the set was R1073, now you are saying it is R1038. So which set is it? The R1073 was the set that came DCC Fitted Loco with the Select controller, the R1038 was the Non- DCC Fitted Loco with the HM2000 controller. The original set I believe had non DCC ready loco but that soon changed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Op. originally asked - "please help i am totally confused,the set  i am after is r1073 with loco united states line does it have a socket for dcc.many thanks.ps  it is the box set with red drawers".

He received answers that it could - as almost any loco can. I think the confusion arose, and I might not have helped in that R1073 did not come with the loco United States Lines, it had M/N Clan Line, which was, at that time DCC Fitted it eventually became DCC Ready and the set had an analogue controller. As I explained earlier R1038 which had M/N United States Lines, and not according to Hornby a DCC Ready loco, and this loco was only available from the R1038 "red box" set. I must assume that during the latter part of 2006 (the last year of R1038) and the introduction of R1073 in 2007, loco's got packed into sets without any reference to DCC. If the Op. has/wants R1073 he should open the loco and check the internals.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 years later...

I have scanned the above posts for some help, but haven't found what I am looking for. Namely, some clarification on preparation work to fit a dcc decoder into a supposedly dcc-ready Merchant Navy(ex-boxed train set, in a red box) I had assumed it would be a simple plug-n-play as is the case with my American locos, however the "magic smoke" escaped from the decoder when I plugged it in.(once the magic smoke escapes they don't work again) There is a small capacitor bridging the two pick-up wires, should this have been snipped off before installing the decoder? I believe this is some sort of silly suppression device, only required in EU countries.(no American locos have it, and to the best of my knowledge the entire nation still manages to watch tv without interference affecting it.)

Has anyone experience of fitting a decoder with this capacitor still in situ?

tommo

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
×
  • Create New...