Sound decoder for Mallard/Scotsman

[Potrail2378]

Hi guys, a bit of advice is needed please. I have a TTS Mallard which I bought without a sound decoder from my local dealer. It was my first loco and I wasn't too bothered (at the time) about the sounds. I have since bought the Flying Scotsman with TTS, alas this has broken and it's almost as cheap to replace it rather than repair it. My question is this; can I take out the sound decoder from my broken Scotsman and put it in the Mallard? 

Thanks in advance

[Bulleidboy]

Hi Potbus 

I would say most certainly yes. All the new Hornby TTS loco's have the sound decoder and speaker in the tender, and the actual kit is bound to be the same with just different sounds. When you say your FS is broken is this the loco or the sound equipment? As you may be aware Hornby are now introducing the sound decoder and speaker as a separate piece of kit for home installation. I'm not sure without checking what is currently available, but I'm awaiting the A3 kit to install into a Flying Scotsman and I'm told this is due very soon. Most new Hornby steam loco's that are DCC Ready have provision for fitting a speaker in the tender along with the decoder. I hope this is of some help. BB

[Potrail2378]

Hi, thanks for the reply. My Scotsman went in for repair because the wheel linkage rods came apart and it cost me £12.50 to get repaired, this has happened twice now. The repair guy reckons it will cost £32.50 (but no labour charge) to replace them. The sound decoder is fine. 

[mjb1961]

Hi ,,,,,,yes it will fit no problem ,,,but the f/Scotsman sounds are different to the mallard ,,,,also to avoid the valve gear from getting damaged keep a check on the screws that hold them in place ,they can undo themselves ,also don't drive them too fast in reverse,,mjb

[morairamike]

roI am awaiting TTS decoders from Hornby for A4, Castle classes.

Recently I was passed a Mallard with running troubles, the con rods were a mess and the quartering on the centre driven wheels a mess. I bought new con rods for it as the originals were well bent. After fitting these and test running for 20 minutes I decided it was now OK to go back to the owner. I tried it one more time and wham the quartering went out again. Further examination showed it was the splines on the lefthand centre drive wheel that had worn so I attempted to buy new wheels. The loco is a railroad version and the parts list gave various wheels BUT not for the R number on the box. Wasn't even listed. So I contacted Hornby via the help section on this site. That was in late June, to date NADA no help. I eventually used stealth and found a set of black wheels that would fit my duplicate Mallard (now renamed Falcon by rebodying from ebay) A4 and I transferred the red wheels from that to the other Mallard. Also found a front bogie with black wheels, a black set for the dummy pony and a full black set for the tender. The cost was reasonable.  When the loco went back to its original owner he was over the moon and then I heard that it was his young lads and it transpired he liked to handle the locos and picked them up by the wheels which I think squeezed the con rods so they touched the other moving parts, jammed and the motor stripped the splines on the wheel.  During my examination I also found that the screws that hold the rods onto the wheels are NOT all the same thread size and can jam in the wheel threaded holes, I even recieved a set with a broken screw in the wheel. Also make 100% sure that the conrods are on the wheels correctly they are hande and that all the spacers are in the correct position and the squared holes on the speedo, oiler and the regulator are properly aligned.  I hope that this is of some help.

[Potrail2378]

After a quick look on YouTube, I was quite prepared to swap out the sound decoder, however, in the end all I had to do was to swap the tender covers as they are the same. Their only difference is the colour of the tender cover, then I changed the code to the Mallard's original code. 

[mjb1961]

After a quick look on YouTube, I was quite prepared to swap out the sound decoder, however, in the end all I had to do was to swap the tender covers as they are the same. Their only difference is the colour of the tender cover, then I changed the code to the Mallard's original code. 

Happy days,