I really must stop mooching about on Ebay! Bought this (pic below) "Terrier" the other day, these are most definitely not 'DCC ready', in fact it's gonna be a 'shoehorn job' to get a decoder into this loco! It didn't stay in one piece long though, as I 'fettled' it a bit, and it now runs very well, funnily enough, more noisy with the body on than off, but it really is a basic model with a (very) basic motor, reminiscent of the old Triang/Hornby X04 one. As you can see from the pic, I've already fitted it with 'Kadee's', not easy, as I've had to butcher a couple of Kadee 148's by cutting off the 'hole' and supergluing into the alloy at 'bottom of bufferbeam' level. The only place I can see that a decoder will fit is in the cab, flat on the floor, paint it black and hopefully mount crew on it to camouflage it a bit, decoder will have to be small-ish as there's only a space 16mm x 10mm. I'll need to find a suitable small one, maybe a 6 pin since I'm not planning any 'extra's', just motor control, and don't want an expensive one as it's only a cheap loco. Maybe another candidate for my "Workbench" feature in due course! Keith. Attached files
Another terrier owner ........ Join the kennel.... I mean the club. Done a neat job with the kaddee's Keith.
It's been mistreated as it's growth has been stunted. Plenty of room in mine for a decoder - O yours is OO when I first saw the title I thought Chris had another convert. Nice loco, and I'm sure you'll crack it Paul
If you ignore the buzzing noise the motor produces (at full revs it sounds like a swarm of angry hornets, although I think the Hornby one is slightly quieter than the Dapol ones I have!), the mechanisms are actually remarkably smooth. I have now converted three to DCC, using hard-wired TCS Z2 decoders, which are very small and narrow. The first two conversions have the decoder inserted into the cab through holes drilled under the firebox door - these are hidden by the driver and fireman on either side of the decoder. With a little more ingenuity, it may have been possible to disguise the decoder itself as a crew member! For the third, most recent conversion (done last week), I lightly glued a couple of pieces of plastic card to the top of the motor to prevent the decoder dropping in and interfering with the armature, then tacked the decoder to the plastic bits, aligned with the centre of the motor longitudinally so the decoder sits into the hollow created by the top of the boiler over the motor. On DCC, all three locos (two Dapol, one Hornby) will control right down to an inching crawl, approximately one revolution of the driving wheels in two minutes, and right up to whatever top speed I wish to program in. DCC does not improve the noise levels, but the smoothness is either not affected or it is improved. I have a little video clip I did before fitting this one with a DCC decoder. You can hear the motor noise quite clearly, but it does show the smoothness and also the surprising amount of hauling power considering how light the models are.
Hi Jeff. Having looked at my Dapol version, it doesn't seem that there is enough space above the motor to accommodate a decoder, so I'm thinking of fitting flat on the floor in the cab. I guess I could remove the weight and fit in the bunker, but it's such a light loco that I'm loth to decrease the weight further. As you might see from the pic, this loco has a damaged chimney, so I'll look to either repairing the existing one or maybe a white metal replacement (Perseverance Kits do one for a couple of quid, so maybe not worth a repair). As it's a cheap loco, I'm not looking for an expensive decoder, so have ordered another "Lais DCC" wired one for under a tenner, it's small too, so should go in no problem. Keith.
'Fraid I'm not a fan of Hornby decoders, as some time ago I bought a Class 8 Hornby shunter, DCC fitted with a Hornby decoder with which I was not impressed. It ended up being slung out, and I made a mental note not to bother with any other Hornby decoders. I have seen mentioned in print that you shouldn't buy any electronics made by the big name model makers, as they make great models, but poor electronics (Zero 1 springs to mind). I've now used half a dozen of these Chinese made "Lais DCC" decoders, and found them very satisfactory (and cheap!), with a 16 page proper English language user manual available for download, and for a tenner apiece, why bother with Hornby? I accept that they perhaps don't quite have the finesse of the top brands, but they don't have the hefty price tag either, and I can only speak as I find. Many of my loco's (I have over 60 now!) are fitted with Lenz 'silver' + decoders, but these are far too expensive to put in a 'Terrier' that only cost me £25, but as I'm soon to start a 'Golden Arrow Models' "GT3" build, the kits and parts for which have so far cost me over £250, you can bet your life that it'll be fitted with a top notch decoder.......horses for courses, I guess! Keith.
InterCity72 wrote: I'm afraid I agree with Keith on the subject of Hornby decoders. Any Hornby decoders I still have (Sapphires excepted) are now treated as function-only decoders for controlling lighting in trailer vehicles. The TCS Z2 I suggested is tiny, intended for Z or N gauge installations but still with enough 'oomph' to power any reasonable OO/HO sized locos (see illustration here https://www.wicknessmodels.co.uk/shop/decoders/product/245-tcs-z2). TCS decoders used to be readily available at very reasonable prices here in Australia, but that seems to have changed more recently, so they are more difficult to obtain and the prices have crept up. Buying direct from the US, the prices are far more reasonable, but are promptly killed by their ridiculous postal charges in most cases (there are a few shops there who are more competitive).
I've also found US sites postal charges to have become outrageous in recent times Jeff. I looked at bulk buying Kadee's, especially some of the more 'oddball' versions which no-one in the UK seems to stock, but as you say, crazy postal charges killed that idea, despite the US Kadee prices being quite reasonable. Unfortunately, due to sterling having taken a hit recently, Kadee prices have gone up still further, even at that well known Liverpool store! Around 8 years ago, when I had a Honda 'Shadow' cruiser motorcycle, I imported quite a few accessories direct from the US, and postal charges then were quite inexpensive and I saved considerably, rather than ride 5 miles down the road to one of the largest UK motorcycle 'Custom' parts dealers (Custom Cruisers in Alfreton) and pay their prices, although back then, exchange rate was $2 to the £. It's all gone downhill since then! Keith.
Not really up on decoders, I generally use Bachmann but have switched to Hattons brand recently and seem to be working ok thus far. I have the 4 pins in a Sentinel and a couple of DCC ready Jintys. Interesting enough it is cheaper for my to buy Kadees in the UK than from my local shop so usually throw in a couple of packs when I am doing an order.
Hi All. Being a Southern fan and pre grouping fan, I especially wanted a small tank Loco, I do have a LSWR livery M7, another Loco from the Hornby stable. I would have preferred to buy a Bachmann pre grouping Southern Tank Loco, alas none available. Out of sheer desperation for a pre grouping tank Loco. I went for the Hornby Terrier, as it is supposed to be DCC ready. But the recommended Decoder was out of stock, since I have read about Decoders burning out, what now am I supposed to do? have a special DC Terrier track on a DCC layout? Or dedicate a puzzle plank to DC? Would one of you fine Modellers out there please tell me , is there a suitable DCC Decoder that will fit my DacC ready Terrier ? I looks as though I will have to forget about Sound All the best. Kevin.
Hi Kevin, they are not an easy loco to convert but I have done a few using a TCS M series decoder. https://www.tcsdcc.com/Customer_Content/Products/Decoders/N-Scale/N%20Series.htm It will have to be hard wired in so you will need some basic soldering skills. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of an install to post. Hopefully Keith will crack on and get his done soon and gives us his take on installing a decoder. Kim
TCS M1 or M4 decoders are very small, but for the Terrier I prefer the Z2 as it is narrower even than the M series decoders. I don't have any photos of any of my Terrier conversions, but these ones of the even smaller Bachmann Wickham trolley will give an idea of just how small the TCS Z2 decoder is. One of these two Terriers has a decoder sitting up in the cab, the other has it perched on top of the (hidden) motor - can you pick which is which?
I would agree with SRman, the Z2 is a very small decoder rated at 1amp. The M series does have a higher peak rating at 2amp, is a little cheaper, but is a few millimetres bigger. https://www.tcsdcc.com/Zen/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=43&products_id=284http://tcsdcc.com/Zen/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=46_3_12&products_id=50 Kim PS Nice installation SRman
Hi Kevin. If you refer to my "Keiths workbench" section and look under "Trying to make a silk purse out of a sows ear with a Dapol 'Terrier'", you'll find a complete 'how-to on fitting DCC to the Terrier. You will definitely need a small decoder, the one I used was a 'LaisDCC' one (available on Ebay from a Great Yarmouth seller, £9.95+80p post), much cheaper in the UK than most of the suggested ones, and perfectly adequate for the job. I only paid £25 for the loco, so saw no sense in fitting an expensive decoder, although I've now used more than a dozen of various types of these Lais decoders and find them to be reliable, cheap and MUCH better than Hornby! If you've bought a brand new loco then you may feel more inclined to pay for a more expensive decoder, but as I doubt you'll be fitting lighting, it's not necessary......you pays yer money and takes yer choice! Keith.
I had a Hornby Terrier fitted with sound - nice in the sound but stopped so easily due to not enough weight ! https://youtu.be/OuwWY7u9_F4 http://yourmodelrailway.net/view_topic.php?id=3832&forum_id=52&highlight=terrier
