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Thanks! I was going to replace the wipers with more prototypically accurate ones but the IM ones are stuck fast! 😂

Thanks!

The weathering was done by a UK company called The Model Centre (TMC). Depending on your budget, TMC can go from a basic weathering job to museum standard.

Thanks!

Thanks for the advice! Yes, it was a 11 x 15mm drive unit. I've since modified the loco's speaker housing to accept one of Scale Sound System's bigger speakers. As expected, this speaker has transformed the sound. I will be posting a new video of this loco very soon.

I use an NCE Powercab DCC control system. Its so easy to use, cheap, pretty well made and reliable. I also like its chunky 1970's Casio calculator looks! My Powercab can run two HO scale DCC sound locomotives at the same time without any problems. Would not recommend it for O scale and above without an extra power booster. NCE make plenty of good value accessories for the Powercab such as a socket for another control cab and a socket for connection to a PC/laptop. With your layout hooked up to a computer you can run your it using free JMRI software which is good fun and easy to use. As for Changming, what a superb company! It's always great to see products by a company striving to create ultimate's. EVERYTHING about this loco is exceptional with no corner cutting anywhere. Wow!! 👍

Hi Ben! It was a great video thanks and it is standing the test of time. We could not have picked a better person to do it than your good self. Most of the former band members have since gone out of their way to remove from history all traces of AVISO's on line output. Baffling. As their former manager, I am having none of that hence the posting of yours and other AVISO video material. I hope you are doing well and making more superb video content.

Merci ! Le vélo se trouve désormais dans le Queensland en Australie, où il profite clairement du soleil et des soins de son nouveau propriétaire méticuleux. ☺

Thanks for sharing that. I tried that and it improved things for a short while and then the problem returned. The bearings were just too loose a fit in the trucks. Still, my replacement CSX C39-8 has been fine.

Sorry for the pathetic slow response. Sadly, this loco is scrap. I completely dismantled it and found that the brass journals in the trucks which form a key part of the electrical pickup system were a really sloppy fit. Any vibration from the track momentarily breaks the connection between journal and pickup causing really poor running. The only solutions are replacement trucks which - hopefully - have better tolerances (not guaranteed) so that the brass journals are securely captive in them or, better still, Scaletrains should redesigned their trucks and improve quality control (I have put these suggestions to Scaletrains and even done some research on their C39-8 trucks for them showing with data what exactly was wrong). So my Conrail C39-8 - my all time favourite loco - continues to sit in a cupboard going no where fast.

Mine is still sitting in it's box as well. Will they be able to fix it if I send it in you think? Or will it come back with the same problems? 🤔

It is hard to be sure on what will happen. I live in the UK so returning a loco back to Scaletrains is a pain in the butt, but I did give it a go with my Conrail C39-8. Scaletrains attempted a repair under warranty and returned it back to me but it made no difference. In fact, the loco was worse because one of the ditch lights was no longer working!! As Scaletrains had no spares for my loco making further repair impossible they agreed to offer me a replacement new one. As they had no C39-8's available, I had to have a different loco from their range. I doubt whether Scaletrains will be able to repair your loco. They do not carry many spare parts (Athearn are much better at this) and when you send them a loco for repair, in my experience they just seem to focus on replacing parts rather than a full fix. No parts available = no chance of a repair I'm afraid. There seems to be no getting a multi-meter and soldering iron out in Scaletrains workshop... Just replace stuff in the hope that it sorts the problem. When my third C39-8 developed problems as highlighted in the video above I was given a new replacement loco as no spares seemed to be available to repair it. And at the time it was a current model!! I assumed Scaletrains would fix the loco by doing wiring continuity checks, replacing the dodgy trucks, etc. but they just gave me a new loco instead. As the supply of new C39-8's from the last run is all gone, what would Scaletrains be able to do now regarding repairs? In my opinion, Scaletrains needs better spare parts management and a better workshop with staff who can diagnose problems and fix them.

Dang that sucks! Yeah I have a Spirit Of Roanoke on pre-order from them. But I've been second thinking getting a loco from them. And Athern is a way superior product IMO anyway. I've had ZERO problems with all 3 of my Athern locos, and they don't even have capacitors! I guess I won't be ordering anymore from Scaletrains until they step their game up! Thanks for the heads up!

I've never had any problems with my 20+ Athearn loco's. What more can I say?! I think a well built loco with good pickups running on decent clean track does not need capacitors. None of my Athearn's have them and they all run perfectly year after year. Capacitors are useless in my rough running Scaletrains anyway. There are so many current interruptions due to poor pickup design that the capacitors never get chance to fully charge up! Scaletrains are so preoccupied with high levels of detail on their scale models - their USP - that it seems as if they have overlooked some of the other critical aspects of manufacturing scale models such as parts backup and having a good service shop.

Thanks! Tsunami 2 and Scale Sound Systems - cannot recommend them enough!

I think I should do a close up video of this loco so you can see its amazing level of detailing. Proto 2000 used to highlight on their models packaging, "Over 80 factory applied detail parts." This Changming DF5G has 800+ factory applied detail parts! How things have moved on. Long may it continue. By the way, a Changming DS5G is for sale here: www.ebay.co.uk/itm/185366808579?var=693150295461 Treat yourself!! 😀

Thanks, I am good. Pretty sure I had that model in my hands already.

Thanks! Hats off to Soundtraxx and Scale Sound Systems. Unfortunately, my phone's microphone failed to do the sound full justice. The sound is so much fuller and deeper 'in the flesh' so to speak. Even with the volume set to a modest level (CV128 = 120 out of a possible 255 for this video) the depth of bass response is amazing for such a small speaker. It really fills the room and dwarfs just about every other loco I have. How do SSS do it? It's not all about the bass though (apologies to Meghan Trainor) as a high level of detail retrieval brought by accurate reproduction of mid/high frequencies is similarly impressive. I know there is much debate about the scale of HO sound but I try to create the feel of a 'trackside' experience when I run my trains. So, loud it is then... 📢 One day, all HO scale loco's will sound like this. 😁

By a long shot. I got a QSI era C40-8W a month ago and did not hesistate to swap it with a Loksound 5!

@@CentralJerseyRailfan A wise move!!

Thanks Steve. Much of the scenery was done by the guy I bought the layout off.

Thanks dude!

I had the same problem with my C39. To make matters worse, the journals are a very loose fit in the trucks. There's no hope of reliable electrical pickup with these failings.

If you can, send the loco back to Scaletrains for repair. If that is not possible then you have to dismantle the trucks to get to the phosphor bronze pickups which are not transferring electricity from the wheels to the loco. It's a lot of work as you have to remove the loco's shell, desolder the pickup wires from the motherboard, remove the truck drive shafts, remove the truck lights, unravel lots of wiring so that the weight and chassis can be separated, remove the trucks and unclip the truck base plate before you can see the phosphor bronze pickups. It's all a very fiddly time consuming job. The pickups are very very thin and easily distorted during truck assembly. The pickups have to make contact with the journals in the trucks. If the pickups get bent the wrong way, then they barely or not at all touch the axle journals causing the horrendous problem you see in my video. No electricity can get through to the motor and circuit motherboard if these pickups are not making contact with the journals. My latest C39-8 is literally unusable. It's the fourth one I've owned, only one of which has worked correctly. By comparison, all my other Scaletrains Rivet Counter loco's run perfectly. Thing is, their C39-8 is my favourite loco and I so desperately want one that works in Conrail or CSX livery.. It took me 4 hours to try and fix my loco's poor running. I found that most of the phosphor bronze pickup tips had been bent downwards away from the axle journals preventing any conductive circuit from being made. There was also a lot of non conductive lubricant all over the pickups. I bent the pickups upwards so that they would touch the journals, removed all the unwanted lube and put everything back together. To my horror, all that work made no difference! I am currently waiting to hear back from Scaletrains to see where we go from here. I want my brand new unusable loco replacing. Such a disappointment!

@@StevenBrereton-y5f thank you so much I appreciate it

"im fr about to switch to athearn" I have lots of Athearn loco's. Never had a single problem with their running!

The poor truck pickups means the capacitors never get enough juice to fully charge up.

A Scale Sound Systems speaker makes a big difference. No loco modifications required either.

Fabulous bike! Enjoy many great rides on it.

Sadly, I had to sell the bike because of serious health problems. I just could not ride it. The bike has gone to a top bloke in Australia where I am sure it will be ridden and loved. Perfect!

Could not agree more! Thanks for your kind words.

Thanks for the kind words. Much appreciated!

It is a good sound file and hats off to TCS - I agree there appears to have been much work done to the sound file to make it work within the confines of a small HO scale loco.

Glad you noticed! Bankruptcy beckons unless I get some freight hauled!! Watch this space. 😀

Thanks for the information. Much appreciated. I will give it a try and report back.

I've found that reducing CV's 213 and 214 slightly is helpful too.

Could not agree more. For me, the Tsunami 2 decoder is a land mark product. As you say, you get superb slow speed running. Add to that the excellent functionality provided and sound files which have not had their lower frequencies removed. Other manufacturers take note!

@@steveb1955 I totally agree. And the sounds are very configurable

@@thebritishrailroader I love messing with the Tsunami 2's graphic equalizer. It really helps make the most of the sound file regardless of the limitations of whatever speaker you are using.

@Steve B I know what you mean. I have several GP40s and they all sound different

Yes, me too. The Tsunami decoder equalizer is a fabulous tool. All speakers/loco's have different characteristics for reproducing sound. Without EQ, you can never fully exploit their true potential (it's the same with high end hifi headphones too...). All my loco's have seen many hours of fine tuning via the decoder's equalizer. ESU have now introduced bass and treble tone controls which works with their V5 decoders. It helps introduce - finally - some bass into their sound files but it is some way behind the Tsunami decoder equalizer!

The decoder is a factory installed Soundtraxx Tsunami 2. An absolute must have! All I did was change some CV settings and upgrade to a Scale Sound Systems speaker. True state of the art gear at the moment. I will be uploading more video's demonstrating Tsunami 2 sound files soon.

Ha ha! Fair point. I didn't want my voice to distract from the locomotive's sound. I suppose the "great finger from the sky" does look a bit clumsy. Will have a think about some narration. Thanks for your comments.

I am now speaking on my latest video's. Hopefully I don't ruin the experience 😂😂😂

Thanks for letting me know. I do like the earlier Select one - it has a lovely GE growl/rumble.

Hmmm. That's the soundfile the loco came with and I've had it from new. When I had a look round ESU's website ages ago there were no other sound files which really did it for me so I didn't bother to upload a different one.

You were right all along! Doh! stupid forgetful me. I was recently thumbing through a note book I have for all my loco's CV settings and found a scribble on uploading the soundfile you refer to to this loco's decoder. To make matters worse it looks like I forgot to save the factory Rapido sound file. What a mess!

It's a superb soundfile from Soundtraxx. It just needed a SSS speaker to reveal it to the 'full' (well, at HO scale!). It sounds even better 'in the flesh' so to speak.

Just like 2 of mine!! It's so frustrating because I love this loco. Sadly, Scaletrain's quality control was a bit hit and miss with their C39-8's. Scaletrains have no plans to do another run either although that could always change of course. I hope they do.