I have the S-4 myself. All you need to do is remove the couplers by removing the screws that hold them in place and then you just lift the shell away from the frame.

Quote from: jonathan on September 27, 2017, 10:48:38 AM
Bob,

Consolidations run great! as a rule.

The newer consolidations come with DCC on board. So it's simply a matter of pulling the plug on the old decoder and plugging in a DCC/Sound decoder, like a Tsunami. 

Also, the newer versions already have a speaker mount in the tender.  If memory serves, a 28mm (1") speaker fits.

You will probably have to solder an 8-prong plug to the decoder wires, and solder a speaker to the decoder output wires.

This should be a simple conversion, as conversions go...

Once in a great while, on eBay, one can still find "sound onboard" connies. 

Call me biased, but you are starting off with the best all around HO steamer. 

Regards,

Jonathan

Actually, as far as the wiring goes. If he goes with a Tsunami or Tsunami2 decoder, he can get a wiring harness that already has an 8 pin plug attached and cut the shrink tubing back on the decoder just enough to remove the stock wiring harness and plug the new one (with the 8 pin plug already attached) into place. All the installation instructions can be found on the Soundtraxx website under the Manuals tab at the top of their web page.

I have a Bachmann GP-40 as well and to remove the shell, just remove the screws holding the couplers in place and lift the shell away. Most Bachmann diesels are like that.

For removing the wires I just use a flathead screwdriver or a set of needlenose pliers. And as far as the wires causeing the front tender truck to derail, I found that the trick to fixing that is to take the shell of the tender off while the tender wires are still connected to the engine and pulling the wires back into the tender until there is only enough slack in the wires to allow the engine to negotiate turns and taping the wires down using electrical tape. The wires are as long as they are so those who have to run the engine with the tender coupled using the second hole on the drawbar can still run the engine comfortably around tighter curves. I myself have the Santa Fe 4-8-4 and had that same issue with the tender truck.

Quote from: Berkshire81 on July 28, 2017, 01:38:24 AM
Thank you for your help.

This does sound a lot more positive. Its just that I bought the Hornby points and its a lot of money to lose I'd the Berk cant negotiate the curves.

I was actually looking at the Atlas turnouts myself.

You have no issues running DCC Locos over them?

Yes I have no issues with running DCC engines over Atlas turnouts as I use only Atlas track and all my engines are DCC or DCC sound equipped and I have only had problems with derailments on the turnouts when the track work itself was uneven. Though in my defense my layout at the time was made on a 1X3 frame with white Styrofoam as the base. Not the most stable material to run trains on with no plywood below it I will tell you that. Had to put my hand under the train board to keep the track level or trains would derail just coming out of the turn onto the front of the layout.

Quote from: jonathan on July 27, 2017, 07:20:31 AM
Welcome B81!

In comparison to other steam locomotives, my Berkshire was quite reliable when moving through turnouts.  That being said...

My only experience with Hornby has been their small turnouts that appear to have quite a short divergent rate, something along the lines of a #4 turnout with other brands of track.  That would probably be too tight for the berk and too tight for the Mikado.  Does Hornby make longer turnouts I am unaware of? If so, you'll want to use the longer turnouts.  I use #6 turnouts off the main line and smaller turnouts in the yard areas.

The Berkshire runs reliably on curves with 22 inch radius or larger.  Sorry, I don't know the metric equivalent. I think you'll have a tough time keeping the berk on the rails through small turnouts.

Regards,

Jonathan

A Hornby R2 curve is roughly a 20" radius as a Hornby R1 curve is about 18" radius. I personally have had my Bachmann Berk around 18" radius curves and standard Atlas turnouts which are roughly a #4 turnout but shorter in length with no issues. Even had my Berk around a bend that was flex track that was set at my estimate a 15" or 16" radius curve with no problems when running with the engine and tender coupled long.

I know they had released the Spectrum 2-8-0 in Southern green as #722 and a couple other road numbers and in Southern Black but don't remember the road number.

I already tried that Trainman. The only diagrams they have for the GS-4 is for the DCC on Board version.

Does anyone have one of these that can answer a question for me? If not can the Bach-Man answer it for me? I was looking at getting the AFT paint scheme one and was wondering if the Gyro-light is a separate LED from the headlight or if it is the same LED as the headlight like on the DCC on Board version? I only ask since the newest roadnames of the ES44 and SD70ACe have working Ditch Lights and the DDA40X had working number boards and beacon light that were lit separate from the headlight using searate LEDs.

No problem. I have had to do that myself, so I figured that I would let you know to try that first. Glad it worked for you.

Quote from: Rickenbacker 325 on May 19, 2017, 01:54:16 PM
Thats great to hear!! Hope to see some more unique roadnames in the future! Maybe some NKP silver and blue cars, or Norfolk Southern to match the full dome.

I wouldn't mind seeing some in Norfolk Southern or Norfolk & Western to go with the N&W J. Coaches in N&W are rather hard to find.

As far as the bell sound not working, I would recommend trying to reset the decoder to default by changing CV8 to a value of 8 then shutting off track power for a few seconds. Then you turn the track power back on and if the sound takes a couple seconds to come back, it worked. And if that doesn't work I would send it back to Bachmann for repairs or replace the decoder. A Soundtraxx TSU-PNP (Plug aNd Play) decoder should do the trick or it's Econami (also Soundtraxx) counter part the ECO-PNP. The plug and play ones are nice for diesel installs as they just drop in where the old decoder was. Just make sure the wires are hooked up to the correct spots. Working one wire at a time would be ideal.

That sound is normal. to me it sounds like it's supposed to be steam escaping from either the safety valves or the cylinders like you would hear when a steam engine is sationary as crews would usually open the cylinder cocks when the engine was stopped so they were already open for when they set off once more or from where the piston rod goes into the cylinder.

Quote from: Warflight on April 22, 2017, 04:50:28 AM
Fantastic! I thought about doing that (the holes in the coal) but there is a hole at the front of the tender where the coal would be shoveled, so, once I do sound for it, I plan to experiment. Try a smaller speaker there, and see how that sounds before doing any drilling, or, like you suggested, under the water tank... I'm curious, because of that hole towards the front, and the hard plastic construction of the shell, if maybe the tender itself might act as a sort of baffle for the sound, and give a rich sound from that hole? But, that's going to be half the fun... experimenting, and seeing what I can get from it.

I recently had a bad experience with a cheap decoder, so I'm doing some research into DCC (and I do want to start doing sound on everything I can) so I'll be looking into that Tsunami decoder you mentioned.

Soundtraxx sound decoders are the only ones I use. You can find them for reasonable prices online like ModelTrainStuff.com or Trainworld.com. I suggested the TSU-2200 as like the old TSU-1000 the wire harness can be switched out for one from Soundtraxx that already has the 8 pin plug installed. And the Tsunami2 decoders have all steam sounds (three light, three medium, three large and one geared steam sounds) plus 63 whistle sounds and 12 bell sounds (with slow medium and fast ring rates), plus a lot of other sounds. The sounds can be found on the Soundtraxx website under products Tsunami2 and Sound Samples if you want to listen to them. I will admit that ESU makes good decoders from what I have heard as you can reprogram the sounds if you want but I haven't used one myself.

Quote from: Warflight on April 06, 2017, 08:54:40 PM
GOOD NEWS! I have it fixed! NOW it's running like a champ, and now I see why so many folks love the 2-8-0 "Connie"! I just had it pull seven heavy cars on the test track, and it's beautiful!

So, my solution was to use some lock-tite on the loose gear, sealing it to the fly wheel (they touch anyway, so why not?) I figured if I was replacing the motor unit anyway, worse case, I ruin a already broken motor unit!

At first, I didn't think it worked... it was still slipping an hour after the repair, but today, I attempted to check it again, and it was sealed tight! (the gear, that is) Seems it just needed to cure over night. Plus, it's quite possible that last night, when I did the repair, I may not have lined everything up proper, as it was rather louder than before, but today, after getting it all put back together, it ran... on the cradle. So I applied some finger pressure to the wheels, and it still ran! So, I got out some q-tips, and some alcohol to clean the drive wheels (it was a bit greasy work, after all, and wanted to make sure they were clean) and oiled the spots that needed lubing (I have some machine oil specifically for plastic... no more "bug juice" for my trains, thanks to the suggestion from Hunt... I'll be buying the specific Bachmann oils this week) Set up the test track along my desk (I run about six feet of test track along the desktop with two 18" curves, a bunch of straights, and a slight incline towards the end) and it ran BEAUTIFULLY!

Then, to test fate, I hooked up six cars... it pulled them... then seven... then realized I didn't have a lot of room left for movement, and cars... but it still pulled them!

I am quite happy with the results.

I have a slightly later Spectrum Line Rock Island one that I got when I was 16 from my parents for my birthday and to this day it still runs great and it had been sitting on a shelf for I'm guessing a few years at that point since that road name/road number combo was made in 2005 but it is the same as the one you have otherwise. And I have had mine pulling trains up to about 30 cars in length. As for the sound install, what you can do is mount the speaker in the coal bunker facing up through the load with the sound coming through holes drilled in the coal load, or having the speaker mounted facing up to the underside of the water tank (rear half of the tender shell) which should provide plenty of room for a decoder and speaker. A Soundtraxx Tsunami2 TSU-2200 should fit no problem as I have one in a Standard line version 2-8-0 and have plenty of room left. Mounting the speaker facing up inside the tender shell is something I have tried with an Athearn Genesis SP MT-4 as there was specific place for mounting a speaker and I ended up mounting the speaker to the underside of the oil bunker facing up (so the speaker was facing the top of the tender) and the sound is great.