Locomotive Roster: Kato DF 200 Red Bear

Another one of my recent acquisitions is the Kato model of a Japan Railways Freight DF 200 diesel locomotive. As is typical with most new Kato locomotives, the quality is great and the price and value are equally as satisfying!
Although this model doesn't come in DCC, Kato has made it very easy to convert (let's hope this is the trend, and that their friends at Tomix pick up on this!) with the replacement of the 'stock' light board with a new Digitrax DN163K0a decoder (which is also a light board and the decoder all in one unit). Digitrax describes this decoder as being for US outline locomotives (GP'9's etc...) but it works just fine with the DF 200 with the only change being that you'll need to shorten the leads to the LED's on the ends (which will require a bit of soldering). A fantastic description and tutorial of how this was done is on the Japanese Rail Forum.
I have to also mention that this locomotive and decoder were easy on the wallet! The locomotive ran about $80 USD, plus another $35 for the DN163K0a, for a total of $115 for a nice DCC equipped loco! Hmmm...in an earlier post, I praised the NEM 651 interface, but with a little soldering, these Digitrax 'drop in' decoders are a pretty good deal too (and I like the price compared to the $45 and up cost for typical NEM 651 decoders!). Although I wasn't that impressed with the process when I made a similar installation on my Kato Thalys, this was relatively pain free!

Its a fantastic, seemingly powerful little locomotive, while at the same time, being much quieter than older N Scale locomotives (which is, I find, something I am starting to expect more and more whenever I hear an old 'growler' from previous decades!). I was really drawn to the "Bo-Bo-Bo" trucks on this modern diesel, and the "Red Bear" logo and branding gives this engine some distinct character.

Yes, I will pursue my heresy and run this alongside locomotives from other countries. The only reason I might have hesitated is that the 1:150 scale of this diesel might look out of proportion to other locomotives at 1:160, but I haven't found this noticeable.

Failure! Sometimes I hate DCC! Or... Tomix Track Cleaning Car Conversion Mess!

What a mess. So, I'm on my third Tomix Cleaning Car. I've already burnt out the motor on one so far (DO NOT PUT THESE ON A DCC LAYOUT WITHOUT A DECODER NO MATTER WHAT ANYONE SAYS) and decided I would try to do the DCC conversion on this myself. Its one little car, how hard can it be? Plus, if I screw this one up, I have another one to destroy. This'll be fun.

My approach to DCC conversions is to chicken out as much as possible. Sorry, but those of you looking for expert electronics advice or bundles of encouragement with decoder installs - stop reading. Now.

I like DCC for its operating experience, but hate all the hassle with getting the stupid, expensive clumps of wire and electronics to act like they are supposed to act. All those books about "DCC is simple!" are a bunch of rubbish. Its not even electronics in my mind, more like alchemy. At this point you should realize you should never take my advice on this decoder/install stuff. Seriously. Even if you come back in a year, and I did this crazy cool decoder install that is just amazing and I'm all, like, bragging about it? I'm lying. Don't believe a word. I'm an amateur and following my example will lead to certain failure and a romantic passion for plain old DC control and all that fun you had with the 'direction' switch seeing if you could make your GP9 do a wheelie.

So, now that my utter lack of credentials in this field is firmly established, I will now demonstrate my utter cluelessness with this lame attempt at a decoder install in a stupid cleaning car.

My absolutely shameful and cowardly approach for this decoder install was to take advantage of this circuit board produced by a German company, DigitalZentrale, that uses one of the few (theoretically) simple solutions for decoder installations: the NEM651 plug. In theory, that means most decoder installs should be truly 'plug and play' (in reality, we all know that's not true). Unfortunately, the actual manufacturers who use this standard only really applies to a small set of German manufacturers. So I guess for the rest of the world its "learn how to solder train-boy!".
But I have to hand it to the Germans...the NEM651 is a great idea in a hobby that saw its last creative days when it came up with 3-rail tinplate track. Anyway, I got the circuit board (above), complete with all German instructions (although its possible to get a barely intelligible English translation from Google, but its not that helpful), and started dissembling the track cleaning car.

I did 'cheat' and peak at the garbled translation (I noticed enough "ACHTUNGS!" and "NEINS!" in the German instructions to get the fact that the photos alone may not be conveying some important information).

Taking apart the Tomix cleaner was pretty easy, once you realize that you have to remove the screws from the trucks to remove the cover where the motor is (the instructions showed both sets of trucks being removed, but I don't really see the point of removing the trucks from the side of the car opposite the switch and motor....all there is on that side is just some weights.). In fact, while the photo below shows the correct placement of one Philips head screwdriver to remove said trucks, this is actually a pointless part of the process. But enjoy the photo anyway:
So, with both sets of trucks removed, a firm grip (with -as is usual at this point- more force than you think its wise to apply to these thin plastic shells) and lots of pulling gets the little plastic covers off. You can then have all sorts of fun dumping all the parts out on a table.
So here's a more than useless tip: Once those screws are removed, all the parts really don't just fall out. You'll need to remove that 'fan' thing (round black thing on bottom of car) from the 'pole' ("axle"? "rod"?"stick"? etc...) or whatever that 'pointy' thing is that comes out of the motor at the bottom. I hope you can tell what I am talking about from the above picture, otherwise I just wrote a sentence more confusing than Google's over-rated capability at translating German N scale websites (actually, the Japanese translations are worse, but more entertaining). Anyway, the 'pole thing' on my motor inserts into the hole on the 'fan' thing, and mine was on really tight, and when it finally came off - it flew across the room (of course, I'm not worried if I lose it, cause I have extra parts from the cleaning car that I already fried a motor on! Hah!). So be careful.

Now that all the important pieces are removed and scattered across your desk and you realize you don't really remember how they go back together, its fairly easy to see how this new NEM 651 circuit board will replace the existing circuit board. Did I say I love the NEM 651 format? Yes? Okay, I'll stop repeating myself.

As you can see from the photo below, the new and the old circuit boards. The new board, which has a fancy little NEM 651, 6-pin, Lenz Mini-Gold D ($44.00) decoder inserted into it, sits next to the old one! Right now I'm thinking "Hey! This was easy!"

Yep. Just keep thinking that.
Then came the panic. See, there's this round black thing that goes into the round hole on the original circuit board. At the time, I don't really know what this round plastic thing does and I don't care, all I know is that the 'round black thing' (which also had little metal pieces on it to pick up electrical current! Oh no! Its important! Arg!) WILL NOT FIT IN THE OBLONG HOLE ON THE NEW CIRCUIT BOARD!!! I've been had! Of all the cruddy luck! To get this far, only to find out that I got a circuit board for some other model Tomix cleaning car, this really su.....wait....what's that? The round thing connects to the switch on the top of the Tomix car that turns it on, off, and to CL mode (CL mode, for those of you who don't visit the Japanese train forum and aren't versed in the world of Tomix, is a "Constant Lighting" mode that Tomix came up with so that the lights on Japanese trains always stay on under traditional DC power, or so I think. Its also rumored to be a problem for my Japanese modelling friends in their attempts to convert their Shinkansens and Thomas's to DCC, but that's another story....)?

So I start thinking....if I'm adding a decoder to turn this thing off and on, I probably don't need the "round black thing with the electrical contacts which won't fit in the oblong hole on the new circuit board". So I ignore it and move on. More fun awaits.

Unfortunately, just plugging the decoder into the NEM 651 socket isn't enough, according to the instructions and the design of the cleaning car, you need to bend the pins on the decoder so that they go at a right angle right about where the circuit board ends. With this bend in the decoder, it will neatly rest within a pocket between the weights that surround the motor and the plastic shell (or you could cut a hole in the shell and have it stick out, which will turn out, for me, to have been a better choice). So, bending six tiny little pins shouldn't be all that hard, right?

And its a really good thing I have this handy Google translation tool, because the instructions actually mention "Lenz" in this section (one word I can pick out of the sea of German), so I know I have a Lenz decoder, and I know this is important. So skipping past the original German and going to Google, here's what the translation tells me:

The legs of Lenz decoders can not bend to these break off, they see
bitte davon ab einen solchen Decoder zu verwenden. Please use them from such a decoder.

Whew! Good thing I read that! What was it? Something about 'leg's breaking off' of Lenz decoders? No problem! I get the pliers out and quickly proceed to....break the legs off the decoder! ARGGGGGGGGG! (Do you hear that sound? Have you heard that sound before? Its the sound of a decoder going to decoder heaven).

Plan B

Reminding myself that there's something redeeming about this hobby, that money isn't everything, and that this is still a better way to spend my time than watching TV, I figure out a Plan B. I decide to use one of the Digitrax DZ125 decoders I have hanging around! I am determined to get this job done and start cleaning some track with DCC control! Also, the price is great on these Digitrax decoders too ($20-$25?), so I'm not as worried about....okay, not going there...it will all be fine. Really.

Here's my plan of attack. You only need two wires, I guess. That's what I'm down to. Guessing. Two wires for the motor...that's all you need, how hard can it be? I religiously check the Digitrax instructions to confirm that the Orange and Grey wires are the only two wires I care about.

This is so easy! I should have done this first!

So I strip down the wires, tin them up a bit with my soldering iron (they need to be a little stiff to fit inside the socket) and jam in their respective holes. See photo below.
I think to myself...is there ANY REASON this cannot work? I tell myself "No, there's not! I mean, this is just a DCC decoder installation! Its not rocket science!"......

Moving along....

Put the cleaning car back together. I notice that the new circuit board doesn't sit quite as tightly between the contacts on the motor as the original curcuit board. Also, make sure you put the circuit board in 'shiny side down' (see, that's the kind of decoder installations I can understand! "Shiny side down", or "Plug thing #1 into hole #1"...THAT I can handle! Since when did model railroading become electrical engineering? Some day I should write a post about the electrical diagram I got that was supposed to help me add LED's to a control panel. There were so many weird shapes and squiggly lines...come on, just tell me the "red and black wires" go {And to make even THAT difficult, apparantly, the 'black wires' aren't shown because they are 'common', well PHOOEY! Show 'em anyway! Why are electricians so lazy about this stuff} ! I tell my son that he should go to college and major in electrical engineering if he wants to play with trains like his dad when he gets older). So, the new circuit board is not quite as tight, but it fits, and the whole thing gets reassembled.

With everything back together, I make my way to my old Windows XP PC with JMRI and Sprog II to check out my install and program this bad boy! I also discover that I'm under the illusion that, at least in this hobby, buying more junk will make problems go away. You see, and I've mentioned this before, I wasn't happy with how difficult it was to program decoders with the Trix Mobile Station...the Sprog II looked like a great solution, so i spent more money. In all fairness, its been a lot easier, the problem is you get NEW problems! So its almost like your back at square one!

With everything set to go, I hit the fateful "read decoder" button in the Decoder Pro program and .... I get this:

Error 306 — timeout talking to command station

Fantastic. I end up rebooting, reinstalling, tinkering with COM ports in preferences, updating drivers...you know, all that fun stuff I like to do that got me into this hobby in the first place.

Eventually, after a couple of reboots, I get

Error 308 — No acknowledge from locomotive

That's it. I'm done. Okay, not really. I actually take it apart, check connections, curse the looser circuit board connection, fiddle with stuff, etc... But, like that great Jerry Seinfeld joke " I don't know why I look under the hood of my car when its not working....if there's not a giant switch turned to 'off' under the hood, I'm useless" pretty much sums it up.

So, where am I now? Despair. Disgust. And one fried cleaning car, one broken decoder....and still lot's of dirty track.

Don't worry, the saga will go on. I expect there will be a "Plan C" once I can muster up the courage. I refuse to admit defeat (I'm not that smart). Apologies to all N Scalers, 3-Railers, Germans, Japanese, DCC'ers, Tomix, Digitrax, Trix, JMRI, Sprog, Lenz, electricians and electrical engineers who were offended by this post. I'll do better on my next one. I promise.

Trix Mobile Station Woes

I've installed the JMRI Decoder Pro and have a Sprog II on order. The reviews of this combination seem to be good, so I'm looking forward to actually being able to edit, read, and write CV's on my decoders in a manner that will not make my hair any more grey than it is.

I've obviously been able to read/write CV's to my other 10 or so locomotives with decoders, but I've had this problem in the past (and have somehow mysteriously been able to solve it...those 'tricks' aren't working now of course). The two installs I'm trying to program now are a pair Lenz and Digitrax decoders.

Of course, any other Trix Mobile Station owners out there who know how to get around this, please let me know!

Trix, nice 'design', but you need to work on your UI / computer programming skills my friends.

Locomotive Roster: Kato Series 787 Relay Tsubame!

My roster to date has been filled with locomotives and trainsets from Germany, Switzerland, France, and the Netherlands. Now add Japan to the roster. "Unprototypical" you say? Yes, but this is Quinntopia... where I control the people, the roads, the buildings, and even the trains. :-)

The fact is, the country of origin of each of my trains is almost as interesting as the various designs, schemes and histories, and its my enjoyment of all these assets that allows me to enjoy and appreciate the world of model railroading so much.

And there is a lot of fantastic design (in my mind) with the Series 787 Relay Tsubame. Additionally, there is a level of quality, value, and care in the model created by Kato that is almost equally amazing.

This is a seven car set of very high quality, and yet it cost at least half of what I would pay for an equivalent set of a European outline. The set also comes packaged in, what I am sure to the Japanese is the 'standard', a very nice case that allows you to easily store or display your set (in Quinntopia, however, we demand that all of our loco's earn their keep! There will be no slouching on a shelf for this railroad!).

This set was also my very first actual DCC installation that did not either already come with DCC or merely required the installation of the decoder via a NEM 651 adapter (the Kato Thalys is something of an exception, it required the replacement of the stock DC light board with a ESU light board which has an NEM 651 adapter).

Needless to say, I was a bit intimidated. We've all read the posts and horror stories of decoders getting fried, the work required to 'mill out' enough space to install the decoder, etc, etc....

Fortunately, the good people over at the JNS Forum were able to assist me with valuable photos and their experiences with similar installations.

The experience was not too bad, owing more to the fact that there is plenty of space to install the decoder for the motor - plus the 2 decoders for each of the end cars (for the lights) - than any skill I have! I made a couple of stupid errors...not only getting a bit sloppy with the solder (I'm still learning!) but initially soldering the decoder leads to the wrong side of the electrical contact strips! See photo at right...this is NOT how to do it!

Well, that error was fixed and probably wouldn't have done any damage, because once I finished that part, I realized there was no way the contacts would fit back in the shell! Cleaned it up and repaired it, and no damage done.

I was also overly generous in the length of my decoder wires, and thus have more wire than I need. Sounds like a good thing, right? That is until you have to try and figure out how to stash all that excess wire so it doesn't look like the interior of your passenger cars is consumed by some large multi-colored octopus.

Other than some decoder programming issues with my Mobile Station (more on that in a future post), I am now able to enjoy a very cool, sleek, and tough looking electric train set from Japan. This will be the first of many trains from the other side of the world.

Locomotive Roster: BLS Class 485; Fleischmann 738601

This locomotive is one of my latest additions, in fact, it was a Christmas gift from my wife, and I believe she chose very well! This has been a very powerful little engine and is able to handle up to 32 of my cargo rolling stock cars without breaking a sweat (to include climbing a 2% grade!).

I am starting to notice a 'swiss' theme to my layout with the addition of this locomotive! Well, I have to admit, both my Class 450 Zurich S-Bahn locomotive set and the BLS locomotive and cars have some of the most impressive and dynamic color schemes of almost any railway in the world. The bright green on this locomotive is quite striking and complements the smooth contours of the locomotive nicely.

The paint and detail on this locomotive is fantastic and I truly believe that we must be in some sort of 'golden age' given the quality of N Scale locomotives these days.

My one comment on this locomotive is that installing the decoder in this engine was a bit of a trial. The NEM 651 standard socket and plug for 'plug and play' installation of decoders is genius, but this would not be model railroading if it was too easy!

This locomotive presents a challenge as you absolutely need to get a decoder with the wire harness. After initially taking off the shell and attempting to install a 'standard' 6-pin decoder, I found that once the decoder is installed it sits too high and you can't get the shell back on. Well, that won't do. I ended up ordering an ESU 52680 LokPilot micro with 6 pin plug and cable. I've used this decoder on my Thalys as well and for the price and quality, they are really quite nice.

This decoder was the solution, and as you can see from the photos, I show the side where the socket is for the 6-pins to be installed (and you'll notice the line where a decoder would stick up if you don't have a wire harness) and I also show the other side of the locomotive where Fleischmann (apparently) conveniently provided a space just large enough for a small decoder underneath an electrical bracket/contact (that can easily be slid out of the way to place the decoder in the recess). Hopefully the photos will help to show others how to do this as it was not clear from the instructions that this was how it should work.

A really nice locomotive from Fleischmann.

Locomotive Roster: SNCF BB 67300; Minitrix 12150

Currently my favorite locomotive! The appeal on this one is sort of funny for me. When I was first exposed to it in the 2007 Trix New Items catalog it did not really stand out (I thought at the time that it looked like a Winnebago!). But over time, the paint scheme started to appeal to me. Its certainly one of the more intriguing and dynamic paint schemes from any railway anywhere in the world.

I've now had this locomotive since June of 2008, and I am thoroughly pleased and impressed with its running characteristics, detail, and reliability. Installing a decoder into the NEM 651 socket was simple, quick, and problem free (by the way, this is a locomotive where there is room for the NEM 651 plug decoder without the wire harness).

This little locomotive can pull quite the load based on its relative size. I can attach nearly all of my 31 pieces of freight rolling stock and it can climb my 2% grade (on a curve!) without showing any obvious signs of slipping. Fantastic!

This is also a locomotive where the price was pretty good. In US dollars, I paid well below $200 last summer (remember the exchange rates back in the summer of 2008?) which is, generally speaking, a good 'value' from Minitrix (my context for this is my past experience with O Gauge, where $400 is typically the floor price and $500 or $600 for a decent model with digital capabilities!). Yes, compared to the domestic US locomotives, this was pricey, but I am not currently in that marketplace, so this seems okay to me (FYI, at current exchange rates, this should probably be around US$160).

In sum, a great looking and running locomotive --- and currently, the only representative from France on the layout! Enjoy the photos!

Locomotive Roster: SBB Class 450; Fleischmann 775301

This locomotive, and its matching cars, quickly became a favorite of mine. I had the good fortune to spend several days in the beautiful city of Zurich in 2007, and during my time at there this was one of the striking trains that I had the pleasure to see in person. I was very pleased to see that Fleischmann has produced not only the locomotive, but the matching double deck cars.

The locomotive feels very solid, and if this (along with the V100) are any indication of the type of quality that Fleischmann produces, then I am very impressed. It runs like a charm. It is a powerful and smooth runner, I am really not sure what else can be asked of these N scale locomotives.

This engine was also a textbook example of how easy it should be to install a decoder. Of course it comes with the wonderful NEM 651 socket, and a straight-out-of-the-box Lenz Gold Mini D fit perfectly and was easily programmed. No problems fitting, or having to go with a version with a wire harness, etc...

I did learn something about this locomotive. While the Class 450 was not my first Electric Loco (that was the Thalys), it was the first locomotive I had that power capable pantographs. When I first put it on the track, I could not get it to work. Before I panicked, I sent a quick mail off to the hobby ship where I purchased it and was pleased to get a quick reply to check the screw at the bottom of the locomotive that selects between track or catenary power. I checked and it was set to the pantograph and was no problem to fix! It does seem that the pantographs reach much higher than the Thalys (which has decorative, non-working pantographs) as this is the principal locomotive that I have to lower the pantographs when going under the Kato Elevated Station (see this post for more details on that).


Another observation. The double-deck matching passenger cars are on the long side, about 164mm long, which was a problem with the Kato Unitrack single track viaduct walls (see the same post). Interesting that the same set was the source of two 'incompatibilities' with some of my track and structures. However, these are completely minor inconveniences at best.


My sole complaint, and you can be the judge of this by looking at the photos, is the very weak LED lights in both the locomotive and the control cab passenger car. Not sure why Fleischmann selected to go with an arrangement that has such dim lighting, but it is sort of distracting and is my one disappointment. If I ever have the time and motivation, this is a prime candidate for an LED upgrade project!

Other than that, an excellent job by Fleischmann!

NEW DCC System! (or why would I spend big $ for ugly technology)

"Intellivision DCC" To Be Released Soon
Check out the new DCC system ..errr.... not. For those of us that remember, the product above is actually a Mattel Intellivision. From the early 1980's. What's my point? Simple, in the age of the iPhone, Wii, Xbox 360, etc... why is it that Digitrax, MRC, and NEC (to pick on the big 3 US makers anyway) make products that would have looked like telecom utility gear even 20 years ago? Are my fellow American industrialists just completely clueless when it comes to product design? Case in point, here are representative samples of their cornerstone products in the marketplace today:

Now I realize that this will offend some users that will point out that these systems are state of the art and a 'pretty box' is no substitute for easy operation, reliability, etc... Point taken, and I agree. My point is not that we should have 'pretty boxes' with crap functions, etc... but why is it crazy to expect both? By profession, I am a marketer. I'm not an industrial designer, but as a marketer I know that design communicates (sometimes dishonestly) attributes that the product would be expected to have. The 'message' I get from the product design of the above big 3 US manufacturers is that this DCC stuff is 80's technology and does not look fun at all.


Compare, if you will, the new Marklin Central Station 2. I can't speak for the technology or its capabilities (that's not my place and there are plenty of other places online to get that perspective. Its beautiful, is it not? For those of us that like technology and its sexy design, Marklin hit the ball out of the part (as we say in the states).
Marklin is not alone. Roco, while somewhat 'toy-like' in appearances, at least avoids looking like nuclear power plant testing equipment. Viessmann's Commander and ESU's Ecos also do a great job of making the appearance of their systems attempt to communicate something about the capabilities of their product in a way that is contemporary and stylish.



There certainly are some other companies whose products almost make it, I am thinking of the Hornby Elite and Lenz systems, which, only look about 10 years out of date versus the Digitrax, MRC, and NCE systems.


In sum, this post is really about my frustration with the offerings that are available. Despite their competency, I can't seriously consider any of the above products. Is that shallow? Maybe. I am considering the products that I mentioned have design elements that appeal to my sensibilities.

I hope this post resonates with others in this hobby. Again, its not a criticism of the systems themselves, but it is a call for our US (and other?) manufacturers to not be as lazy when it comes to the hobby. After all, the benefits of products and systems with more mass appeal are obvious to anyone in this hobby.

Locomotive Roster: TGV Thalys; Kato 10910

Another non-Minitrix locomotive/train, this time the very beautiful TGV Thalys. I have been fortunate to have taken the Thalys from Paris to Amsterdam, and it was as wonderful a ride as it is a beautiful train (yep, that's yours truly in the photo with the "1:1" scale version!).


My real world experience with the Thalys was another one of those experiences that led me to 'return' to N Scale. I had seen the Thalys offered by Kato, and I knew, even if I didn't end up doing any modelling in this scale, I had to have it (of course, by now, I'm very clearly committed to N scale!).


This was actually the fourth N Scale item I got. After the Minitrix Digital Starter set with the Class 03 and V221, the TEE followed, and then the Thalys. Therefore, it was actually the very first DCC installation I had to do myself as the previous engines all came pre-installed.


The set is advertised as "DCC Ready", but what precisely that means, is almost anyone's guess. What it turns out to mean is that you need to get at least one or more of the following: An ESU manufactured replacement light board (KATO147456) and a NEM651 compatible decoder. While the ESU kit comes with 2 light board replacement boards, you are left to wonder how you get the lights to change over correctly in the non-powered unit? You could just leave the original light board installed, unfortunately, KATO's original light board has white LED's while the ESU board has yellow LEDs.


I didn't really want to have white light boards in the non-powered unit, and the only solution was to use two decoders for the Thalys. For my first DCC decoder installation, this was turning out to be a very challenging task. Thanks to the internet, there were a lot of websites with some clues as to how I should do this, but no specific instructions on how to program 2 decoders that will be installed in the same train set, but only one is powered, and the only function of the other decoder is to switch the lights depending on direction. While that may sound simple to someone who's been using DCC for years, for a newbie, this situation was fraught with questions.

Fortunately, I did not end up frying any decoders. Through a process of carefully reading the manual (which, for the Minitrix Mobile Station was neither thourough or long!) and plenty of 'tutorials' on the web, I basically figured out that giving both decoders the same address (although programmed seperately) but giving one the proper CV codes to reverse the lights, proved to not be the disaster that I thought it would be. I got it running!! Once I got it running, the sleek 10 car set looked great, but all of those 'dark windows' did not look right, and I ended up installing the appropriate Kato light kits to add lighting to the set. Not sure if that was such a good idea, as the contacts on passenger car light sets/kits are not the most reliable (can someone please figure out some new technology for this? Is there a solution?). Some of the cars look like they are having a strobe light party...oh well. Here's some impressions....

Impressions:
PROS:
- Looks great. Kato's obvious experience with these types of train sets is apparent in how well (especially mechanically) the set moves and looks around pretty tight radii. The close coupling is amazing.
- Powerful. The engine in this thing is amazing. Very powerful and very quiet. Another plus for Kato.
- Reliable. This little engine swings around its 10 car set and never misses a bit on track that may cause other engines to falter. Excellent.

CONS:
- "DCC Ready"? Come on, what does that mean? Kato needs to get with the 21st Century and start installing decoders or at least allowing for NEM651 plugs.
- Decoder fitting: As if the challenge I talked about above was not enough, once I finally got the decoders programmed, it turns out in this case that you need decoders with the long wire harness, not just the NEM 651 decoders that only have the short plug and no wires. Why oh why can manufacturers not be clear about whether there is space for the decoder and a long harness is needed to fit the decoder in the shell? Well, the good news is I ended up with spare decoders for another install! But, it keeps going....
- Weak shell to chassis connection: The method in which most N scale locomotive shells fit onto the chassis seems to be either too loose or too tight (both are bad!). In this case, the connection/tabs/friction tags between the shell and the chassis are very week, and I had significant difficulty (particularly with the non-powered unit) to get the shell to sit right on its chassis....and stay there!
- The couplers between the Powered Units and the transition (M2?) cars. For reasons beyond me, there are two types of non-standard close coupling mechanisms in this set: A very efficient and effective and easy to manage 'coupler' between the passenger cars, and then a very silly 'scissor-like', flimsy, and fragile friction type connector between the engines and the transition cars that you have to try and 'snap' together without snapping the couples or your precious train apart. I ended up actually snapping one and had to order a replacement (the ONLY source I found was MG Sharp in the UK, which thankfully had them. They are listed as "Eurostar Couplers" but are just the same. I ordered extras! And if I go through all of those, I will glue the connectors together so that the engine and the transition cars are permanently attached!).
Passenger Car lights: The kits were relatively simple to install, but getting all of the tiny brass parts so that they have good contact (particularly around curves) proved very difficult. The result is train where the lights are flashing on and off, particularly around the curves. Well, we're travelling between Paris and Amsterdam, let's just pretend those little N scale people are having a party in there....

I guess with so many 'cons' listed against this set, one might wonder if I felt it was worth it and would I buy it again knowing the problems and frustrations that I had? Yes, although the many hurdles that one has to go through sometimes to get something to work right, does have the tendency to take ones affections away, its a beautiful set unmatched or not produced by any competitor (that I know of) and franly, the price is pretty good for as much of a set that you get. When you add in decoders, light kits, etc... it does add up, but I feel it was worth it.


UPDATE: See new/updated information on the decoder installation at this post!

Locomotive Roster: DB V100; Fleischmann 8-7230

And now time to look at one of the Fleischmann models on the layout. I actually was thinking of posting some more layout pictures since I haven't really focused specifically on that since I laid the track down and completed most of the wiring connections, but I think that sharing my photos of these locomotives on the current layout - while also giving a 'user's opinion' of them-is a decent way to 'kill two birds with one stone'.



On to this post's model....this is a model of a DB V100 with a pre-installed digital decoder, giving it the '8' prefix in Fleischmann's catalog. The detailing on this, like many of the newer models from Minitrix and Fleischmann (don't know about Roco, but I assume this is true) feature a higher level of detail than past versions of these locomotives. I would go so far as to say if you did not know the scale in the photos, you could assume they were HO (except for those classic Rapido stype couplers! Which I don't mind saying that I love for their simplicity and functionality, but I know many people despise them). In fact, before I acquired this locomotive, I had a low impression of Fleischmann quality, which was probably influenced by seeing a lot of Fleischmann HO stuff in the states in the 70's that was never really taken care of (e.g. it was usually in boxes of 'junk' at swap meets). I was very young at the time, but that association sort of stayed in the back of my mind. I am glad to see that it was not true....or at least, is not true today. The locomotive has proven very durable and has even survived a fall from the layout to the floor (which has a thin carpeting material over the concrete....not much protection for the dreaded dropped loco!!!).



Impressions:
Pros:
- Its digital operation from the decoder was flawless from the start. Right out of the box, never had a problem with the programming or operation with either a LokBoss or the Trix Mobile Station.
- Detailing. As mentioned above, it looks great, the headlights have the appropriate amount of brightness.
- Motor: Not the strongest locomotive by any means, but a solid motor, although I find it does work better after having 'warmed up' a bit.
- Insensistive: This locomotive seamingly retains solid electrical contact through virtually all conditions. One of the more reliable operators on the layout.

Cons:
- None to speak of. I've owned it for about 6 months, and no issues. Let's hope that continues!

Locomotive Roster: Dutch RAm TEE; Minitrix 12440

The great thing about modeling European prototypes (for me anyway!) is the exciting new industrial designs and intriguing new prototypes that are just fascinating to one who is mostly exposed to their own countries domestic versions. I think one of the reasons I enjoy the European models (and potentially, one day, the Japanese models) is the surprise of seeing a familiar locomotive style with dramatic (some would say, exotic) differences from that which one is used to.

It was with this sense of joy and surprise that I came across the Minitrix 12440 Dutch RAm Trans Europe Express in their 2007 catalog. I have an affinity for the Netherlands, having visited there a couple of times for business in the past several years, and this interesting train set intrigued me with its somehow similar -yet very different- styling (compared to US prototypes). One can almost see a touch of early Fairbanks Morse or Baldwin in the design of this set.

As an N Scale modeler, it was also very interesting to me to see that this set already came equipped to run in DCC and... it had SOUND! Here is a video clip of the trainset backing into, and through, the suburban station on my layout:



Impressions:
PROS:
- Detail...the model looks great. Not sure that it looks as good in the photos as it does in person, but the detail and quality of construction are amazing.
- The 'close coupling' mechanism that Minitrix uses is amazing. Even on some of my very tight (242 radius) curves, you don't get that 'stretched out' look that long cars get on tight curves. Its impressive and not noticable that the radii is not prototypical!
- Sounds. The sounds are great. Whistle, engine sound (which change at different RPM's), door open and close, a 'whistle' sound, and some uncoupling sounds are all pretty much spot on. The down side (and I felt this way with O Gauge as well) and no fault with the model, is that diesel sounds are just not that interesting to listen to (there is just not enough room for bass at any scale to get the right sound of power that these things have in real life!).
- Lights already installed in the cars!

CONS:
- Sensitive. Of all my locomotives...this engine is usually going to be the most 'touchy' about the track. Whether it be a very slight misalignment at the track connection between two rails, a small 'frog' gap break in the current, or whatever, this set can pretty much be counted on to stall out at the lower speeds (of course, at high speed, EVERYTHING works great! But I try to keep my speed to something similar to real life! :-)). Is it just my locomotive? It seems heavy enough that its not going to have contact problems, it definitely has enough contact wheels, ah....just can not figure this engine out. Again, when it gets going, its fine, but its just so darn touchy....
- Car lighting. Within about a week, one of the car's interior lights started to flicker and eventually not light at all. Now another car is showing the same result. This is really a problem (that I have) with all passenger car lighting and the terrible solutions we have to get conductivity from the rails to the lights.
- The close couplers are a PAIN to get coupled. Not sure if Trix uses this method with other trainsets, but it does not use standard Rapido type couplers, but sort of 'friction'-based plug and socket system that is somewhat springy. In order to get the cars coupled, you need to very carefully press the plug into the other cars pockets, while the 'springiness' allows the diaphragms of both cars to touch at this point, which interferes with the ability to get the 'plug' to 'latch'. Annoying, and I suppose, this is minor, but it does keep me from taking the trainset apart as much as possible (and thus it stays on the layout!).
- A 'bell' sound would have been a nice sound feature, but that assumes that the prototype - or trains in general in Europe - used bells? I have to believe they did) as the horn sound is kind of monotonous and would be nice if there was another sound to go along with that horn.

Locomotive Roster: DB Class 44; Minitrix 12449

This is my most recent addition to my growing N Gauge roster, the Minitrix 12449, which is an oil-fired steam locomotive known, apparantly, in Germany as the Class 44, but better known in the US as a 2-10-0 configuration.

The features of this model are that it already comes with a DCC chip installed with Sound! I posted a video of the locomotive in action:


My impressions:
PROS:

- Sound is not only remarkable for this scale and this locomotive, but Marklin/Minitrix went the extra step with this model to give it 'smart sound', in that it will automatically make sounds and change over time as it sits idle, or will reduce / stop the 'chugging' sound as it coasts. Really well done.
- Operation so far has been excellent, although I've only run it for a couple of hours. The real test will be how it works in a year or two from now...
- Detail/construction: The detailing looks very nice as well. Additionally, the body is die-cast metal, so it is hefty and solid and feels like a quality item that can pull a long string of hoppers!

CONS:

- Really, its the price, but you get what you pay for.
I've barely had this locomotive running for a week, so still far too early to know if there is any issue to be surprised with as it ages. I expect to report back if my opinion of this item changes, but given the apparent quality and price tag of this item, my expectations at this point are quite high.