News:

Please read the Forum Code of Conduct   >>Click Here <<

Main Menu

new forney tank

Started by yeorail, May 28, 2010, 04:38:24 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

yeorail

Hi, Whilst the Forney is a great locomotive, why do we all have to pay for the expense of optical chuff when I guess only 1 in 5 will add sound. Most like me would rather put that cash toward another locomotive also once you've heard it over & over it gets switched off anyhow! Likewise firebox glow & smoke, unless someone can produce a chuff synchronised smoke with plenty of the stuff so it looks like a steam engine not a diesel. Now you've gone to all the trouble to make a movable main chassis can we expect (Or hope for) a Mason bogie,please. Hell the forney is good though! Hey guys someone in Germany reads the page - Massoth have launched a syncro chuff -  looks fab see their web site OK

NarrowMinded

My six year old has a speacial addition tomy battery operated Thomas, you add a few drops of water to it and as it moves around the track it chuffs and blasts what looks like steam/smoke out of the stack, I almost wish she would get tired of it so I could take it apart and see how the unit works and how big it is. Bachmann should have a look at it.

NM

Kevin Strong

I think about that every time I fill my kids' humidifiers. Nothing there but water going in, and what comes out looks quite like a steam plume. It's cool to the touch, so it's not actually steam. I, too, am waiting for one of them to die... I'm not much on smoke units (though there are some pretty good ones out there now), but if I could do it with water so it doesn't stink up the place, I'd certainly reconsider.

As for the optical chuff, with the motor block of the Forney being how it is, putting a mechanical chuff contact in there would be quite problematic. The only loco with an optical chuff I've put sound in so far was the K-27, whose optical chuff was wired backwards from anything that could be easily used with it, so I just added magnets to the rear axle (or used QSI's BEMF chuff, which isn't quite as accurate). I've got a 2-6-6-2 here on loan, so I'm going to try playing with the optical chuff on that. I've nothing against optical chuffs (though Stan Ames and I have a friendly debate going surrounding uneven chuffs if the flags on Bachmann's system aren't centered properly), though I think a small reed switch and a magnet would work equally well in Bachmann's installation. (Perhaps that's more expensive, though?)

Personally, I can't imagine adding the optical chuff sensor adds that much to the expense of the loco. Electronics are part of the equation in any locomotive these days, whether we ultimately use them to their full potential or not. I can't imagine the electronics are that much of the total cost to where omitting an optical chuff circuit is going to make that big of a difference in price. I much prefer that a manufacturer accommodate those who would want to add sound and other controls to their locomotives. Having installed my fair share of control and sound systems, anything done by the manufacturer to make that job easier for the consumer is greatly appreciated.

Later,

K

Doneldon

Kevin -

The stuff which comes out of humidifiers is exactly like steam except it isn't produced by heat.  Modern humidifiers produce water vapor with an extremely fast oscillation, but the product is identical.  Regarding the steam from steam engines, most didn't produce much visible steam or smoke unless the engineer was pouring it on or the fireman threw a shovel of sand in the firebox.  That would blast through the tubling and scour out all kinds of soot which made a wonderful smoky plume.  But it really wasn't either steam or smoke.

You are certainly right about electronics being part of a modern train model.  My guess is that it costs no more to put things like sensors and DCC connections in locos than it would to make them both with and without those components, and then have to deal with larger inventory investments and hassles. 

As for smoke, well, I think it looks lousy, isn't prototypical (I'm not a rivet counter), stinks, and makes a mess which attracts dirt and crud.  Most of that winds up on the loco and rails but people who use their smoke units a lot will also find it attracting dust to walls, ceilings, lights and window treatments, if any.  I wouldn't even use it outdoors.

                                                                              -- D