Nice little update and best of luck with the Pendos ! Also really nice to hear good work from retailers being highlighted. As ever, an entertaining video, cheers !
Great update. Couplers can be a nightmare. I am about to make some coupler changes on my narrow gauge rolling stock. Good luck solving your problems. Love the work on the station. Can't wait to see more. Cheers - Larry.
Thanks Larry, yes couplers are incredibly fiddly, but early signs are good, my most awkward carriage managed to zigzag over a medium radius crossover. Fingers crossed lol
Hi John - now I'll need to go out and listen to my own 800 for amy pulsing coming from the motor. Thanks for the heads up. Re the Pendolino's - I'd try the magnetic couplings. Must be frustrating given these weren't cheap models. For the bridge your considering building my own suggestion would be an industrial backscene - whatever you choose I'm sure it will be executed to your usual high standards. Cheers Euan
Yes it’s immensely frustrating over the pendolinos but they are still WCML staple so I don’t just want to end it. Although I’m close. I’m reluctant on magnets atm as they give a rigid connection and this needs all the flexibility it can get. We’ll see how rapidos perform. The backscene will be kind of industrial I build it from what I had before as it represents the actual buildings. Thanks for your support Euan
Hi John- I am glad you got the 800s sorted and well done to Hattons for replacing the decoder I knew they have taken some stick recently but I have always found them helpful. I do hope you get the Pendolino sorted as its such a shame to have a good looking train that doesnt run. Cheers Kev
Sorry didn't get a bell on this stream, have reset it so hopefully will get the next notification on time . Good of Hatton's to help out. Have 2 class 800 on the Wishlist so watching to see how they go over time. Looking forward to seeing the progress of the upper line. stay safe.
Nice video John. I find with every model you buy there is a small issue with it. Good thing Hattons gave you a replacement and good thing it runs nicely now.- Nicholas.
Hi Nicholas, yes it can appear that way sometimes. It’s much more marked in OO. Of 12 locos in OO Ive had ONE perfect loco Bachman 158. Generally in N locos run sooooo much better, but there’s the odd one every now and again. Then there’s the disaster train
What a faff with the 800’s John, your patience has paid off though and well done for sussing it out and as for the Pendolino’s I’d have thrown it out the window by now, lol! I’m looking forward to the track extension and what you do with it, I’m just not sure what I would do with that, I’d have to a few cups of tea just looking at it before I decided what I’d do, much like I do with my own layout! Have a good week, cheers John, John
That’s exactly what I do John, stand there working it out, it’s progressing in thought lol. As for the pendolinos if these couplings don’t work I’m tempted to sell as spares or repair. Want to try this first. Early signs are good
A question regarding your LNER class 800's... Did you install a decoder for interior lighting ? I saw your video where you installed the decoder for the motor, and the decoders for the head/tail lights; but you didn't mention having a decoder(s) for interior lighting. Regarding your Pendolinos... Presuming you contacted Rapido about the issues you're having, what was their response ? For the price we pay for these models, you'd think they'd run better -- maybe not perfectly, but certainly better -- right out of the box. I can empathise with your frustrations. Thanks for sharing your experiences so that we may learn and avoid the same issues.
Hi Timothy, no I didn’t buy the interior lighting as it would add over £200 to the cost for both models. I think it’s quite easy to fit though. I intend to fit my own using LED strip, bridge rectifier and poss resistor all can be done for less than £1 per coach. I’ll do a video when I’m ready. I contacted Rev… Trns who were useless then Rapido, but they are in Canada, bit awkward - but few emails they brought me over a load of spare parts. The guy who helped me has since left and now works for Cavelex I believe or alike. Ive been battling with them since I’ve had them. My most expensive trains by far and yet the worsed far an extreme long way
@@piccadillymodelrailways Sorry to hear your experience with Revolution was so poor. I also purchased a Revolution Pendolino (Virgin trains) set a few years ago. Silly me, I got the DC version. Last year, when I finally woke up and decided to get DCC, I contacted Rapido about installing DCC sound decoders. They were very accommodating -- treating it like a warranty repair (even though that had expired) and charged me only the cost of the decoders. The turn-around was very quick. The "pond" does get in the way. And sometimes, you fall on a "bad apple" who are (as my Dad used to say) as "useless as tits on a bull."
Yes Rapido we’re generally very helpful. I can imagine the train runs well on DC as the power cars run together. On DCC my experience was they ran out of sync, pulling coaches off the track
LOVE ! your station, its exactly what I want to do on my setup, which im about to start. (a 15 platform station based on Glasgow Central, in N guage). Can I ask, what type of roofing you are using on Picadilly ?
Hi David, that sounds fantastic, I love to hear of people tackling the bigger stations. I’ll look forward to seeing that if poss. Im not sure what you mean when asking about the canopy. If you browse in my RU-vid playlist you’ll see one called Piccadilly station and in there are videos making the canopy. Hopefully they will answer you questions. My only recent change now would be to 3d print the canopy supports as opposed to mounting them on acetate.
Hi John well done to hattons. I think it's about time though, I've had a few problems and their customer service wasn't great. That was to do with decoders as well. Anyway let's hope your 800s run ok now that you've adjusted them. As for the pendos what can one say. I have a similar problem with 1 of my mk3 x country coaches and I've had to fit a different coupling and it works to the point that it doesn't derail. Anyway John nice update and like your plans atb Andy
Hi John, great video. I am just starting out in N Gauge DCC so you have provided me with a lots of inspiration. I noticed that you use the Z21 system. Just wondering how you find it. I am looking at the z21 but am comparing it against the new Digitrax Evolution Express Advanced system with the DT602 throttle, so would welcome your comments on the z21. I am also looking at purchasing one of these AZUMA's from KATO. Can I ask, what minimum radius do you find is needed. Cheers Stuart
Hi Stuart, N gauge is fantastic and you can do so much in a smaller space. The Z21 is amazing you can use it via a phone or tablet, so it is totally wireless. No addresses to remember, nor function numbers as it’s all controlled with symbols. Ive got both black and white, and both are great. Highly recommended. Sadly I don’t have any experience with the other system. The sharpest curve I have is 2nd radius and 800s are very stable and rarely derail. Hoping that’s helpful.
Hiya John. Firstly well done Hattons 👏 and must say i have never heard about back EMF that is a new one for me but happy you have got the Azumas running. And the pendolino issues again really sorry to hear that. With regards to the couplings the pendolino has metal contacts on them to ensure their is a connection with both ends of the train as these motors are tuned to work together . I have tried to run power cars separately to run them in but did not like it so by adding coaches to run with it increased the pickup and running quality. I did notice the couplings your planning to use won't have the pickups. Are you planning to hardwire them ?
Hi Andrew, the electrical conductivity throughout the train failed quite quickly leaving the units to stall and constantly pull the train off. I created dummy cars, hardly an issue there, power unit is more than capable to haul 10 other coaches. Early signs show Rapido couplings might work. All early days. Most decoders have Back EMF now. That’s def what caused pulsing motor
John, I've got a 10 car azuma and a 10 car get, all 4 motors are silent. What voltage are you running your Z21 on as that will affect things also. On another note I've got an 11 car pendolino which runs faultless with the factory couplings over all-sorts of points and junctions
Hi Steve, the pendolinos are VERY hit and miss, many good ones many that Um are not… My Z21 runs at 14v DCC. They have a double flywheel and prop shaft arrangement that will always produce noise, it’s the vibration of the prop shaft, all those on video sound the same as mine, way it is
@@piccadillymodelrailways my Z21 is running on 18v, maybe it's the microphones that are picking it up on videos and making it louder. All 4 of my motor coaches are nowhere near as loud as 1 of yours
Hi John, Nice outcome with the Class 800 and Hattons, nice to here something good for once! Very interesting about the BEMF. you are right, it will be causing the pulsing and once tinkered with should do the job. Not many people go anywhere near the BEMF but it does alter the motor control. Regarding the chips for the 800 I knew Kato where using Digitrax but on a facebook group someone mentioned that Coastal DCC had chips for the 800 which where made by Zimo not sure if this is correct but if Zimo also make them, it would be interesting to see if they are better plus the advantage of railcom may be useful for automated layouts. Are you still planning to do a 800 in TPE. Just seen one recently in N-gauge and he used the Electra Graphics and I must say it looked good in that Livery. All the best Tony.
Hi yes The BACK EMF really cause motor issues, turned it off before now. Yes zimo have made a decoder, and Id prefer zimo as they work with ROCO who make Z21. But all out of stock. I hope to respray the 800s or more at least, that depends on the pendolinos if they run or not
Great video, you rebel. John Warner takes manufacturers to task for their models. Perhaps you could start reviewing models and disable the safety devices on the lift so it can be a Room 101 thing. John (to camera): "So do you think I like this model or not, let's see!" The model goes hurtling into the train shed and plummets to the floor. John: "yep, no need to say more!" Dave
Given your experience with the Pendos, have you placed any orders for the reruns? An Avanti would like good on Picadilly, or Flowing silk. Good work with the LNERs
More????? Are you mad??? Lol NEVER!!!! I’ll do well to get these running there’s an enormous amount of money spent on these. IF I can get them running properly I will respray them into avanti BUT that depends on these couplings. Early indications are good. Ive fitted two coaches and they ran over the medium radius cross over, all snaky like and it succeeded, Ill keep going. See what happens
Hi, DEFINITELY, they run faultlessly on track with no points. If you’ve ever seen Rev trns demonstrate them it’s always on a plain oval. They run beautifully on my test track and 3rd radius
Hi, thank you for your question. If you have a local model shop that’s a good place to start. Alternatively www.hattons.co.uk is a HUGE retailer in Widnes near Liverpool. Some toy shops, bigger supermarkets, or just search for model railways. They are commonly available. If you are outside UK I’m not sure. Hope that helps
Its all looking good, even if ive not seen a bit 😝😝, hmm, i have a challenge for you with the 3D printer if you are feeling it, some electric door mk3s to have a potential castle set ;),
related to dcc question . On analogue ie 12v dc class 66 new , laptime 15 s.Switch to dcc control, top speed set to 255, lapspeed 24 s ,33% loss of speed.Your experience does going to dcc from dc loose top speed ?of significant amount, thanks
Hi Anthony, not necessarily as lots of CVs control speed. In this video I changed 55,56and 57 and these will have a Impact on speed. Although I do want express passengers to occasionally reach max speed, model trains do look more realistic at slower speeds. IMO. The benefits of DCC far out way those of DC, but the initial cost is quite high. Good quality controller and a decoder for each loco/train, sometimes more as some trains require decoders for lighting too
Sorry but these models are not cheap and if they don’t work perfectly out of the box they should be sent back and replaced with ones that do work properly.
@@piccadillymodelrailways I have to agree I love Hattons prices and buy most of my stuff from them. I even have a couple of their class 66's and I only model HO German and a couple of American locos but when I saw the 66's I had to get some and they are great，every bit as detailed as my German locos actually a bit upset I didn't order 3 or 4 more different liveries 🙄
