I've known Chuck for quite a while and I have seen a lot of in-progress photos of his work and he is very very meticulous. I'm honestly not sure I've even seen that GP30 operate before he sold it. How does it run with the MTH motor blocks? One thing is for sure, with those motor blocks it will be bulletproof and should last a lifetime. I've had a few apart and all the gears and axles are solid metal.
I do like the bright LEDs too, they do really set it off. You have any more pics or video?
I'm not sure if I'll have any displays setup at home this year but I'm sure the kids love the setup you have. I have light colored carpet and found how quickly dark dust from the track and wheels can darken up the floor. Fortunately the vacuum pulled it all out. Thanks for sharing the sights and sounds!
That looks great Kevin. The overall appearance gives for a very realistic look. Aside from the engine and paint work, very good job on the lighting for the picture as well.
- Android/Apple(iOS) App: (Available for download via the Apple iTunes and Google Play online stores on your Android/Apple iOS device.)
- Free version: Controls up to 3 locomotives w/limited light and sound control (Available now)
- Standard version: ($4.99 cost) Controls up to 99 engines and more sound/light control settings. (Available now)
- Premium version: ($24.95 cost) Provides Lash-ups and switch/accessory controls.
Note: 1) To purchase the upgraded Standard or Premium version select "...More" then "Upgrades" within the DCS app itself
2) Once you have purchased the app (either Standard or Premium) you can use it on as many other devices that are linked to your
Google/Android or Apple iOS account that you want at no extra charge. You do not have to purchase the app again for each device.
- WIU (WiFi Interface Unit): Now available to purchase (Click here to purchase: Buy WIU)
- Note: WIU comes with USB cable for direct connection to the latest Rev L TIU that has USB port. If you have older TIU you will need a serial to USB adapter cable
- Note: Not all USB to serial adapter cables work or are reliable. Be sure to get a high quality brand name cable or purchase the one I have available.
- Multiple WIUs (Connecting via Ethernet cable): To setup do the following for each WIU -- Connect the Ethernet cable from your home router/network, USB cable from TIU to WIU, attach Antenna, leave switch set to MTH, and plug in the WIU power cable. When the app first starts it looks for available WIUs. Hit the Refresh button once for every extra WIU you have on your network. (ie Press refresh once if you have 2 WIUs) Your active engine list will now be updated or you can now add engines and run trains.
WiFi Firmware updates: (ver 1.1 Released 02/03/2016)
- You will download one file (example: WIU_1.1.0.bin). No need to unzip, this is the file you select to update the firmware (See instructions in WIU user manual)
- Log in to the WIU with your PC (refer to pages 9-12 in the WIU user manual *Click Here to download*) (WIU interface is called "LuCI")
- Flash the WIU per the instructions in the User Manual
Troubleshooting Tips:
Key items to note:
Some are having issues related to their devices and/or wifi networks themselves that are getting blamed on the MTH DCS app. (OS problems/Cheap tablets/Power save feature in phone/table OS/etc) Read through the items I have provided below.
Some are also having issues with their App auto updating but they aren't updating the TIU to the latest DCS version when the app update requires it. So some are running old DCS versions 5.00 loaded to the TIU trying to run the most current version of the App and isn't working correctly. See the note I have below on this issue along with recommendations.
Make sure your tablet/phone is actually connected to the MTH created Wifi network.
Picture (Connected to Wifi) (You need to specifically confirm you are connected to the MTH wifi network and not another like your home network)
'No TIUs Found' error message: Note, I have found that upgrading the WIU to the firmware v1.1 (released on 2/3/16) has resolved all occurrences of this issue. However if you get this message first make sure you are properly connected to the MTH WIU Wifi network or have it configured for your home network correctly (as noted in the Wifi DCS Users Manual - See above for link). If connected to network, close the DCS app and restart. (you need to manually close the app not just hit the home button). If you are unsure how to close the app, try rebooting the Smartphone/Tablet. If you still get the message, Cut power to the layout/TIU and WIU and power back on. Then hit the refresh button.
Engine not responding: Hit the Refresh button to update your active engine list. Make sure the engine has been added to the App by adding 'New Engine'
Connecting to WIU Wifi network: Network Key for logging into WIU wifi network directly is: mthdcswifi
Power save mode on phone/tablet: Make sure you deactivate power save features applied to the DCS app itself and turn-off power save mode on the tablet. I generally recommend changing the screen time blank timeout to longer periods of time.
MTH Wifi/vs home network: If you have issues with app and you are using your home wifi or Ethernet network, connect your tablet/phone directly to the MTH WIU Wifi network it creates.
Tablet lagging/Slow: When tablets get to low battery levels it typically goes into power save mode and runs the processor at lower speed levels that can cause apps to lag and may cause issues. If your tablet is running low and lagging, stop using and charge it back up.
App Auto-updates in Google Play store/Apple store: If you are someone that can't update your TIU/Remote software yourself or don't stay up-to-date on when new DCS versions are released, you may want to turn off App Auto-updates. Some App updates will need updated DCS version loaded to the TIU/Remote.
Tablet quality/Price: Remember that you do get what you pay for. If you are willing to spend $1000s on your train collection, be willing to spend a little bit on a good quality tablet to ensure you get good battery life, decent speed and avoid strange issues that can come up with some of the cheapest tablets out there. The application itself may be a relatively simple and lnot very demanding on the tablet processor, but you still need reliability & stability! I have personally used the inexpensive Amazon Kindles with good result but in general I recommend considering a good quality name brand tablet like Samsung to minimize the number of issues you might encounter and to get good battery life. My personal preference has been the 7" tablets but 8" is likely close enough in size to feel the same. I would expect all Apple tablets to be of high quality and not have issues noted here on very low end Android tablets.
- Note that the DCS Explorer (50-1035) isn't a replacement for the WIU device (50-1034) and will have a more limited feature set. It is intended for small starter sets with a 5amp limit.
- This is a new item: DCS - Explorer Track Interface Unit w/Wi-Fi built-in (50-1035) - $129.95 MSRP
Hmmm... On the sierra board if you can't improve the power pickups enough, how about adding a bridge rectifier between the board and the track power pickup and then adding some large capacitors between the bridge and the sierra board. Maybe that would provide enough power to keep the board from resetting?
Thanks Mark. I have yet to see product from any of the G scale manufacturers that is completely unusable or unreliable and there is no engine or rolling stock that I would think twice about ordering because it was from XYZ mfg as opposed to ABC mfg so I not only believe what you're saying, it also agrees with everything that I've experienced over the years.
I assume there is space up in the boiler for additional weight to be added. Anytime I need to add weight to an engine I hot glue lead weight (wrapped in electrical tape to limit the spread of the lead during handling) to either the bottom or even the lower sides of the boiler if I have to. Should be more than enough room in the boiler for folks to add as much weight as they desire I'm sure.
Have you added any weight to yours and if so about how much you think?
For anyone interested, I detailed the painting of my Aristocraft Mallet drivers on my site:
Thanks for posting Jim, looks like it runs very smooth and it does sound really good. Interesting on the switch points. I know we talked about that in the other post.. let me know if you end up coming up with a good solution to grind out the inside rail and I found like you did that SS is very hard to grind.
How many of you guys have an Aristo 2-8-0 Consolidation? I'm curious if anyone that has one can post some pictures (maybe video) and share their thoughts on it. I know I saw one in Mark's video from one of his open houses but wasn't sure if someone had some vid of just it.
Sounds like you did a nice bit of work to the Kalamazoo and now you have a great finished product Looking forward to seeing the pics of it as I'm not sure I've ever seen one before. I'm sure your son will love it, I think you said he was 5? Great age I tell you
Hey Joe, Yeah I do think ultimately that was what they were looking to do as I think sales really flattened out.
Oh and I do agree on the Vision line stuff, it's part of their new top tier product line. Very very impressive stuff! Manufacturers keep raising the bar and we all benefit
Glad to hear that helped Nick. Let me know what you think on the roofing material too.
Good point on the switch points Jim, that was something else I looked at a bit but never really turned into a full fledged project. The little bit of grinding I did on the rail was so difficult because it was stainless steel I got one switch to a certain point and stopped. I'll be interested to hear and see what you used and how you made out cause I would like my points to recess back into the side of the rail some.
Just as an FYI, the only sales MTH has had direct has been the inventory they are trying to finish clearing out, they don't actually have an on-going program to sell all their One Gauge product direct to the consumer. Generally when companies don't have product that's moving (as happened in G due to the economic collapse), they will choose to just clearance it out so they can convert it back into cash for reinvestment. In MTH's case it was likely to free up that cash for other scales that were more profitable and were still seeing decent sales. I think some other mfgs do this so they can have the capital to finish placing/paying for new large orders of a production run of product. MTH chose not to pick favorites amongst its dealers as some of the other G scale mfgs have done when they blow-theirs out and just chose to sell direct. As a dealer it would bother me more if the mfg I sold for picked another dealer over me as opposed to just them selling direct.
To hear that even USA Train's inventory is very low is very troubling as well. I agree they are all probably trying their best to just weather the storm. When times are tough you may not have the capital to invest in inventory and instead need keep as much inventory converted to cash as possible to cash flow the business just to pay the bills. Hopefully things turn around sooner rather than later for it would be a disaster if we lost either USA or Aristo. (I think MTH is in good shape as they are so well diversified)
I agree!! Those Lionel Vision line engines are just over the top, but boy are those things expensive!
Hehe I know what you mean on the availability. Well I look at it this way, when it comes to affordable steam, they've rolled out more of the big famous steam than any of the others have to date so I'm grateful already for that!
So was the Pennsy Dash-9 factory original from Aristocraft? I have to say that is my very favorite new NS heritage paint scheme and it's going to be hard to not want to buy one. You had such a selection of stuff running that alone must have made the open house a very interesting and enjoyable time.
Hey Mark, I'm the same way, the steam engines are what I've liked best too. (Guess I prove that from the fact that all the MTH stuff I've bought in One Gauge is all steam haha)
I agree and if I had to guess at the most likely new steam offering it would be either a Dreyfuss Hudson (4-6-4) or an N&W J (4-8-4) either of which I would love to own. I think both of those engines would have wide enough appeal to probably sell well.
You know I hadn't even thought of them running a Reading T-1 and doing it in AFT colors, that's a good point. Same on the point of the Aristo 2 bay hoppers.. I think Chuck has a number of those. Chuck, do you have any videos of the 1:32 Challengers or Big Boys pulling those 2 bay hoppers? Just wondering how they might look. I know I've been happy with my Bachmann coal cars behind all my 1:29 and 1:32 engines.
Mmmm my dream list... Outside of the Dreyfuss and N&W J, I would have to say a UP9000 (4-12-2) would be at the top, next would be a DD-40(although I know that's not a steamer ), Pennsy T1 (4-4-4-4) and Allegheny (2-6-6-6), ATSF 3751 (4-8-4). I would really still like to see an Aristo ATSF 3751, that would be one nice Big engine! I'd also love to see a Virginian AE class (2-10-10-2) but I know it will never be made in this scale.
Virginian 2-10-10-2 (in O gauge):
Another 2-10-10-2 (ATSF): (Talk about impressive sound and smoke effects, this is worth the watch)
Joe, that looks amazing! Are you taking an existing body and modifying it or is that completely scratch built?? Looks like you might mount it on a USA Trains SD70 chassis and motor blocks?
Jim brings up a good point, I didn't even think about the battery...
Gavin, I would guess that this is one of those things you will most likely get guidance and advice rather than a hard answer.
For me, extreme cold temperatures bring two things to mind:
1) Possible damage to the electronics
2) Possible cracking of the plastic bodies on some engines.
As far as possible electronics damage, I think the question would be would the extreme contraction caused by the extreme cold could cause issues with either the integrated chips or solder traces etc and cause something to sever. My guess is that it would probably be best to keep them in a temperature controlled environment like Jim does just so that the electronics don't experience such extremes of expansion and contraction, otherwise something could fail within a chip and you would never be able to identify what exactly was wrong. My reading just a bit on the operating temperatures of Integrated Circuits in general shows mfgs do list minimum operating temperatures, one I saw was at -40 deg C. So generally I would say probably not good to expose any train electronics to extreme cold. (This would go for all electronics not just any particular manufacturer.) With that said, automobile mfgs have quite a bit of electronics in their vehicles today and they seem to hold up so perhaps electronics are more durable than we might think.
On the plastic bodies/frames, if the plastic used is a harder type of plastic, it will likely be more susceptible to cracking if exposed to extreme swings in temperatures. Another reason to maybe keep them inside.
None of this is hard fact but just my own thoughts...
Thanks Joe. Yes it is Aristocraft. I didn't realize they were out of stock on them, hopefully they will make another run here at some point soon because if I needed more switches I would buy more of these. The plastic has held up well after years in the sun and have felt they are well made.
Nick, I bet it probably will fix it too. That is shinle under the rail. I went with rolls of 'rolled roofing' that I got from Home Depot. Each roll is 35ft long and 36inches wide so it allows you to minimize the number of pieces and therefore the number of seams you have so it gives a pretty uniform look. Overall, I've been very happy with the decision to use it.
For more info you can see my Modifications/Repair page and see the Layout section:
One issue I encountered on my layout for some time was the periodic issue of rolling stock (freight and passenger) wheels occasionally hitting the frog point and sometimes derailing when entering the mainline from the side of the switch. After watching the cars go through the switches and doing some testing I determined that the wheels were being allowed to move too far over when going through the frog allowing the wheel's flange to catch, sometimes ride up on and others derailing on the frog.
The cause of this was the flange rail guide on the other side (other rail) for that path wasn't over far enough (closer to the other rail) to actually touch the passing wheel and thus guide the wheel/truck through the frog properly. As you can see in the first photo, the flange guides are already as close to rail as possible as the bottom of the rails are touching.
Here is the original flange guide configuration:
What I found necessary was to remove the flange guides and grind down the lower base of the flange guide rail with a bench grinder to allow the top rail of the flange to be moved close enough to the outer rail to actually have an impact. As a part of this I gave the flange guide a slight bend and ground down the top edge of each end to provide a little more gradual transition. On the bottom of the switch, you may need to open up the retaining screw hole in the tie so you can slide the rail over.
Here is the final result:
To determine the desired position, I took measurements of the back to back distance between the inside of the wheels of my diff mfg engines & rolling stock and picked a test car that was representative of the group and did testing. (particularly I used a car that was giving me a problem) The key was to move the flange out just enough so the rolling stock that was giving me the problem was properly guided through without causing binding with it or any other cars. This actually was fairly easy and found it to not be that big a problem to do. If you set it up so it just takes care of what you need for a specific car, you shouldn't have issues with the rest of the fleet... there will be enough play to allow slight variations in other engines and cars so that it works fine.
Since the modification I've been perfectly happy and have had no problems. Love my affordable Stainless Steel #6 switches
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Glad to see it
Thanks for sharing the sights and sounds!
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USA GP30 Conversion
in Locomotives
Posted
I've known Chuck for quite a while and I have seen a lot of in-progress photos of his work and he is very very meticulous. I'm honestly not sure I've even seen that GP30 operate before he sold it. How does it run with the MTH motor blocks? One thing is for sure, with those motor blocks it will be bulletproof and should last a lifetime. I've had a few apart and all the gears and axles are solid metal.
I do like the bright LEDs too, they do really set it off. You have any more pics or video?
Thanks for sharing.
Raymond