Potrail2378

RAF96 - that is a great suggestion. I shall try that, thanks very much.

Howbiman - I thought that a class 66 would be a good option. Thanks for the speedy response, and the info.

ColinB - maybe the ebay seller will have another power unit for sale (with one sound decoder) and a dummy car very soon!

Hi, I've got a Yeoman class 59 which is running on DCC. I intend to install head/tail lights very soon. Also, is there a part number R xxxx sound decoder available? Or is there something close enough that I can use? Thanks in advance.

Fishmanoz, yes I suppose I could. But then the directional lights won't be synchronised, would they?

Hi, I have bought another Hornby class 43 HST (power and dummy cars) from ebay. Again, it's probably from around the 1983 age. It has been converted to DCC, and only the power car has a sound chip. The dummy car has a standard Hornby decoder for the direction lights. I put the dummy unit on the test piece of track in the workshop, and took the green and violet wires (along with the blue wire) and installed a cab light and a guard's light, respectively. They now operate on F1 and F2, along with F0 for the direction lights. All well and good - when I took the dummy unit off the test piece and put the power unit on, the sounds work well, and the blue & green wires become live with F25. The dummy car does not have an F25 output, only blue + and green & violet. If I couple these units together and push F1, F2, etc for the dummy's lights to illuminate, surely the sounds will alter on/off on the power car, along with the cab light and guard's light of the dummy unit. I have a Hornby Elite up in the loft, and a Hornby Select in the workshop. Is there a way around this? Or would I have to buy a sound chip for the dummy car? Thanks in advance.

Right, I've now unsoldered all the wires and started again. Under DC conditions, the Ringfield motor works OK. I have fitted an 8 pin socket and a brand new decoder. The motor now only goes in one direction - reverse even without any power from the Hornby select. Any ideas would be appreciated, thanks.

It's a Ringfield motor, and no, I haven't checked for continuity between the track and the motor. Will do that tomorrow after work.

OK, I'm not sure how to post pictures to the group but I have wired the - Red - track. Black - track. Orange - motor. Gray - motor. Blue - front & rear lights, cab and guard lights. White - white lights - power car, red lights - dummy car. Yellow - red lights - power car, white lights - dummy car. Green - cab light. Violet - guard light. Am using a Hornby Select, simply put power car and dummy car onto the track and programmed them both to address number 43. Is there a way to test the decoder to see if it has blown? Thanks.

Hi, I have a class 43 HST. I have converted it to DCC, but now the motor doesn't work. I have unsolder all the wires and put 12vDC across the brush arms. The motor works really well, but if I connect the decoder, there is nothing going to the motor. There is no plug/socket arrangement, just hard wired. Thanks.

Hi, and thanks for replying. The HST I have is around thirty years old. It was a DC unit. I have converted it to DCC and it's running quite well. It has directional lighting front and rear, and also I've installed cab and guard lights. But I'm still stuck for a coupling if I wanted to just run them back to back.

There is a coupling bar on each unit, however there is no linkage hook on either unit.

Hi, I have recently converted my Hornby HST 125 to DCC. I have three questions to ask you. 1 - I intend to repaint them (into the original British Rail blue, yellow and gray) where can I find the actual colours from, do they have codes, etc? 2 - where can I get replacement stickers for the 'intercity 125' and the fleet numbers from? 3 - if I wanted to run just the power car and the dummy car back to back, what couplings are available? Thanks in advance.

Thanks for all the info and your time in helping me out with this project. I used to work as a quality auditor for IBM computers - circuit board management, so am more than happy to take your advice and put it to good use. I have one more question though - if I wanted to just have the power and dummy cars running together, what coupling is available? They are currently fitted with S9695 (?) with two tanks, but no hooks. Must I use at least one carriage between them? Thanks in advance.

OK, what I'm thinking of doing next is to leave the green and purple wires where they are, remove the blue wires from each (cab light and guards light) and then take the live feed for these lights from the white wire in both the dummy and the power car. This will/should ensure that only the one cab/guard light will illuminate at once with the same address and using F1 or F2. For the small amount of time they will be illuminated, would the current be sufficient with a 4 amp PSU?

Hi, just getting back to my original question - I have now fitted two Hornby decoders, one to the dummy car, and one to the power car. While I was soldering all this together, I put in cab lights (green wire) and guards' lights (purple wire) in each unit. I have tested both units, one at a time separately on the layout. My question now is - will both cab lights (and guard lights) come on together? If they do, which I think they will, do I give the dummy and power car separate addresses? But if I do that, will the direction lights work as they should? Would a consist help? Thanks.

Er, well, actually I am just using the raw DCC from the track to the LEDs. What should I do to make it 12vdc from the power coming from the track? Thanks.

Hi guys, I have modified my cleaning coach by putting a blinking red LED light at the rear, those strip {on a roll} LEDs in the ceiling, and pickups to get the current from the DCC track. All well and good... until it gets to a crossover or a set of points! I read something about a 'stay alive' cap on here somewhere. Would fitting a capacitor help? And what value cap should it be, if indeed, it is possible. Thanks in advance.

Sorry, what I meant to say was - does it just get cut out, or is there any bridging to do when removing the capacitor?

Yes, Fishmanoz, I have soldered five wires onto the four pin decoder and have now got the forward and tail lights (white and yellow) wires, along with the blue wire sorted and marked out. I'm now asking for advice concerning the addition of lights on the class 08. I think they only have one white and one red at either end? Does the Jinty just have one light at the front? I have a couple of flickering led's that would be great for the firebox. Have you any ebay links for these loco's lights please?

Does it just get cut out, or is there any soldering needed?

Also if I do the same thing to the Jinty, would that need external lamps? Thanks

Thanks for the info. I now have an eight 'pin' wired decoder, rather than the original four pin and it didn't cost me a penny! Now all I need to find are some suitable lights. Any suggestions please? Thanks again

Cool. I'll get that done when I finish work. I'm assuming that I just locate the solder pads, solder the lighting wires on, and use F0? Will that keep the lights on when I change directions? Thanks

Thanks for the speedy response. I have basic model making skills, and I'm really quite good at soldering