FYI, Years ago I bought the C&O 2-6-6-2 with sound and it came with a CD titled "DCC SOUND ON BOARD". The CD contained 2 topics, Spectrum SteamSound Users guide and Spectrum Technical Reference. I'm not sure this in was online back then like it is now. - John

I agree with Jonathan. Try plugging the module in on the opposite side of the plug. - John

You could  setup 3 or 4 feet of temporary track on a 3% grade with one of your passenger cars and pull it with a pulling meter such as this one at Micromart?   

http://www.micromark.com/digital-pull-meter,9577.html

John

Did you Check Amazon and ebay? Several sets are being sold. Vary in price from $250  to $400. - John

Has anyone tried graphite on the railheads?  I just read an article about this on Model Railroad Hobbyist Magazine, an on line publication. Here is the link.                          
http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/17181    
- John

I agree with Alco 1000. Mine did the same thing. After troubleshooting everything I bent the wiper pickups out against the wheels a little more and that solved the issue. Goes thru all turnouts at all speeds with no hesitation. - John

 To Alco 1000,  Jack, I just completed my modification based on your "sound idea". There is a noticeable improvement to the sound output. Thanks for for the tip.  While I had this apart, I added an engineer and brakeman in the cab. - John

Alco1000, I'm going to try this but I have a couple of questions. How long is the card board, from headlight to engineers compartment or shorter? also, Did you experiment with other thicknesses of cardboard? Is the 1/8" in the cardboard in line with the open vents in the top of the loco or centered in the cardboard? Thanks, john
Yardmaster, How about deleting all these off topic posts or move them to the computer forum?

I'm not aware of any changes to this loco since it came out. Trainworld has these listed for $150 no sound and $250 with sound. -John

Blast mode is used to program some decoders. You set it with option switch 07. See dcs51 instruction manual section 28. There is a Digitrax Yahoo group that you can join that can help you by reading and searching posts. - John

As I previously said, I could never get DCS51 to read any CV. Do you know how to use the DCS51 to program CV? If so instead of reading CV just re-program the CV.

I used to have a DCS51. I never did get it to read any cv's. I now use a Sprog II to program and read CV. It is a lot easier and less stressful. You will also have a record of your settings on your computer. You should be able to program all your sound CV on the main in Ops mode. When you say blinking light, are you talking about the CVS51 or the loco headlight? -John

Search this board "GP 7 sound" in HO. You should be able to see what some others have done incl pics of their install. - John

 If the female orange connector has the broken wire I've fixed mine a couple of times as follows:  Inside the orange connector are small small metal female plugs for each wire. Each metal plug has a locking tab on one side of the orange connector. Carefully push in on the tab with a small scewdriver while pushing out the plug with the blunt end of a small drill bit. you can also pull  on the opposite end (wire end) with small tweezer. Solder a new light gage wire to the metal plug. Reinsert metal plug into orange connector making sure end is open enough to accept the male plug on the opposite orange connector. Open the tender and replace the existing wire after measuring for the correct length. This was a very tough fix for me. You need micro tools, magnifying glass a good micro soldering iron. Good luck. Let us know how you fixed yours.  - John

Thanks Yardmaster, The reason I asked, utdave said he set 130 @ 64 and got no sound. I was also under the impression along with jerrys ho that B units did not have bell or horn. I will purchase a set