ColinB

I know but the post I read said that they were deciding on DC or DCC, so if they are going to go DCC then they have the option. HW7000 was marketed as a system where you can control everything with your phone but it appears that is not always the case, like buying a Bachmann loco pre fitted with sound. I was just offering solutions it is up to them whether they follow them or not.

You could do as I do, just treat HM7000 as a DCC sound decoder and just use the smartphone app to load the profile and test it out. Once you are happy then revert to DCC where there are systems that will do what you want to do. I like the windows interface because you can control the loco with a mouse rather than pulling a bar graph on your phone with your finger. One of the things that does annoy me about the HM7000 interface is you cannot just point at the speed you want on the speed control, you have to "pull" the curser on the bar graph to the required value. I much prefer how my Velux windows app works where you point to where you want the new value to be and it goes there, so I know it is possible. I use a Digikeijs DCC system which I think is wonderful. Unfortunately they went bust, but there is an upgrade available from a new Supplier which I gather makes it even better, hopefully when the global integrated circuits issue gets resolved, I will get one.

I thought it was a well known fact that plastic after a number of years goes extremely brittle. Car bumpers are an example but the other thing where it really shows is in those under bed boxes. I had a couple which after a few years disintegrated as I picked them up. This definitely depends where they ate stored.

Have you done the test where you pull it off the track while it is running and see if it continues to run?

I didn't realise when I first answered this post but I have this loco. The easiest way to get it apart seems to be to slide a credit card in one side and pull it along the side of the the body being careful when getting to the moulded bogie springs. Leave the credit card in the side and do the same on the other side. I found it is easier to find a gap at the cab end to start at. Again leave this card in half way and then gently pull at either end to pull it off. You have to be so careful there are so many things you can break. There is a slot for the decoder and it needs to be small and insulated as the slot is in the metal weight. I think a Hornby one should fit, I used a really small Zimo one.

I think Hornby must be going flat out at the moment, in the last 2 months I have received about 5 preorders ordered over a two year period. It was a huge surprise because I definitely didn't budget for them coming all at once, going by past years output it would normally be about one every 6 months.

These are the instructions from the latest one.

I use old credit cards, two on each side. Sometimes the body gets stuck around the windows as the glue isn't that strong. I don't think it was that bad to get apart.

It looks Earl Marischal has the same front end as the Prince of Wales but the tender of the streamlined P2s, so the 21 pin HM7000 will fit. It comes with its own speaker which will fit the sound box enclosure in the tender. However if you want to add the powerbank it will be extremely difficult as there is no room unless you want to put it in the coal load. From my experience because the P2 has so many wheels with pickups you shouldn't need a powerbank. I have the Prince of Wales that has an improved version of the Tornado tender but it looks like the Earl Marischal has the high detail A4 type as fitted to the other P2s.

I have to agree with you Rallymatt, sent mine away on Wednesday of last week, it was back by Saturday, really excellent service.

I have exactly this model. I found you don't need the powerbank for this one as it has so many pickups so that is one option. Alternatively what I did on my other P2 is remove the speaker enclosure and replace the speaker with a square one from Road and Rails, which gives you enough room behind it. I fill the coal space with real coal, so putting it there is a non starter. I spent over an hour trying to fit the powerbank into the standard setup before realising there is no way it would fit.

So do you think they will end up only making a 100? As has previously been stated, one for the collectors.

I suspect Tony57 that todays trains will still be running in the future if enough people want them to. We already see Peters Spares resourcing replacement parts so there will always be someone like this. I was bought up with draughtsmen doing designs on drawing boards, CAD just makes it easier. The big difference is the materials and the machines that make them.

I managed to acquire 4 off EBay by waiting for the price to be right, so I kept two as original as they had boxes and converted the other two. I converted them to DCC and added lights plus extra pickups in the non driven bogie. After killing a couple of decoders, I found it was possible to convert them to take the latest class 66 Hornby bogie. I did the conversion and now they are really nice locos. I have got two of the Heljan ones, again picked up when they were cheap but I actually prefer the converted Triang ones. Depends what you want to do, I run DCC so most Triang locos take too much current plus I found with the EM2s that although I could isolate the motor, it was so easy for a short to develop between the pickups and motors killing the decoder in the process. Then there was the issue with the Triang wheels, they don't work well with Peco streamline track. We are talking up to £30 for a normal Triang loco, a decent modern loco second hand usually stat at £70, so there is a major price difference.

I figured that 96RAF. To me it should default to the last used decoder but in my case it didn't. I only use the App for reprogramming the devices, so it is not an issue, but to those that are not familiar with the system it may cause issues reporting issues that don't exist.

I don't know if this could be one of the issues. I only use the HM7000 app to update the software and to test the decoder. On my phone I have 3 decoders set, which is the number I have programed. When I was programming my third decoder, after it had reprogrammed, I went off to do something else. When I next used the app it defaulted to the first decoder rather than the one currently in use, it did not seem to realise two of the decoders were no longer connected. It threw me at first as I got the message "DCC enabled" which I knew not to be true. it was then I realised that the app was pointing to the wrong decoder which wasn't even powered.

Well I have just sent mine back for exactly the same issue. ~You need to do the standard things like do a reset on it ( write 5 for sound or 8 to cv 8 if you didn't know), because Hornby will ask you that. I suppose if you are using the plug in speaker, check that is plugged in fully. Funny that it works occasionally, mine failed completely.

I can see his point he has invested in HM7000 so that he doesn't have to buy a DCC controller, which is reasonable seeing as that was its selling point. So although he can fit a normal DCC sound decoder it won't work because he doesn't have a DCC controller and probably doesn't want to spend £200 to buy one.

Even if it does run on DC it won't run as well as if you put a DC header in the socket. If you run it on DC with a decoder installed, assuming that the DC bit is set in CV29, you will find it will only run when the DC voltage control is set a lot higher.

Ebay seems to be the place but as someone said some people charge ridiculous prices. One guy has been advertising the same set of boxes for over 3 years you would think he would get the message as with all the other parts he tries to sell. AC models seems to do his via EBay. I buy a lot off EBay but normally set a limit.

Thanks 96RAF.

Exactly, I asked Hornby when they expected to release the original Merchant Navy. I got a reply pointing to the list I already knew about. I replied that I had already read the list. I got no reply after that so either they have gone away to think about it or didn't think it was worth replying to. I bought a Zimo one in the end.

I notice on the HM7000 you cannot point to the new value of speed you want as you would with a mouse but you have to first point to the current value and pull the cursor to increase speed. Is there a way to do this in the configuration?

I didn't say it was wrong, I assumed Hornby matched it. All I said was I could understand while the model wasn't selling so well, as I got it very cheap. It is an updated Tornado tender design as is has removable coal and the insides are completely different to the Tornedo, Railroad verses high definition. Even the way it attaches to the chassis is different to the Tornedo tender.

Having received the Prince of Wales P2 I can see why it didn't sell so well, the tender is not as detailed as the one supplied with other two variants. Interestingly though this one doesn't derail like the other two. Still a nice loco.