Bachmann Class 221 Super Voyager with DCC Sound by Olivia's Trains

[NYESCLANPS3]

This Fake Its A 220

[fiskersham]

I'm not sure what makes you say that. It says 221105 on the loco and Class 221 on the box, so I guess you ought to take this up with Mr Bachmann.

[EMUclass390pendolino]

love the sound

[fiskersham]

Thanks!

[username5515]

amazing layout! great trains!

[fiskersham]

Thank you. I appreciate the kind words.

[trainmad11]

Does anyone else find the motor to be really noisy on this model??

[fiskersham]

It's not on mine if that helps.

[mrlistera]

Great layout!!



[fiskersham]

Thanks!

[AnimeATPOStrikerS]

how much did that cost!? ive had a look and they cost over £300 on olivia's trains.

oh, are u using hornby or bachmann DCC

[fiskersham]

Hello,

Yes, Olivia's trains puts two sound decoders in their models - each with a slightly different sound programme. Definitely better, but it adds another £100 to the price. I only have one fitted.

I use a Bachmann Dynamis controller.

Bye for now.

[GeoGhostPBS]

Hi fiskersham.

I've just finished upgrading my Voyager to DCC. I replaced the old light-bulbs with LEDs and even fitted coach-lighting.

However, I've noticed that the motor and train lacks a significant amount in top-speed compared to how it was in conventional 12v DC. Did you encounter the same problem? if not, how did you wire the chip to the motor?

Many thanks!

-Geo Ghost

[fiskersham]

Yes, I had the same problem and - if you look at the various model rail forums - we're not alone! Bachmann's standard response is that it does a scale 100 mph. For me, I now run the Voyager as a four car set. I also noticed that it needs time to "warm up". I actually went to the trouble of timing it and the lap times increased slowly over a few runs. Finally have a look at CV5 and make sure it's set to maximum (64). As you'll see in "Welcome to Fiskersham", it's not too bad now.

All the best

[GeoGhostPBS]

@fiskersham

Many thanks for the information. I'm quite new to DCC. Learnt a lot and this has been my first DCC conversion. I've run it around in an oval a few times trying to get it up to speed but I don't think it wan'ts to go over 45% controller power.

Thank for you the information. I'll have a look into such.

Kind regards,

-Geo Ghost

[legomanbiffo]

@fiskersham Suggest the following fix for this; turn sound off and increase the value of CV5 until you get a top speed you're happy with (max 64). Then set CV6 (mid speed) to half the value. Since I produced this sound project for Olivia's I've recorded again at Central Rivers and will be offering a new project with additional features and more mellow engine sounds. If anyone is interested, send me a PM. I'll post a new video when it's ready. Bif

[ValentaThrashUK]

really good layout!!

[fiskersham]

Thank you!

[gtasandman]

@fiskersham have you ever thouht of making real opening automatic doors

[ApacheBravo]

I would like to have a Voyager but I have a problem as I only run DCC trains on my set up. How hard would you say it is to convert it to DCC??? Ive heard its not the most easy train to work with!!! Another great video, keep it up :)

[fiskersham]

Hello there! Many thanks indeed for this and the other kind comments - they are really appreciated.

Yes, fitting DCC to the Bachmann super Voyager wasn't the easiest installation I've done, but it's not that onerous. For the power car I used an 8 way plug harness rather than solder the decoder's wires directly. I had to take out a few of the seats to fit the speaker, but the windows are dark so nothing shows!

The lights were the hard part. More on that later!

[fiskersham]

For the lights, I fitted separate decoders to the end cars. However, the light cluster fitted to the model uses bulbs and they weren't bright at all under DCC, so I actually rebuilt the lights using LEDs and got rid of the Bachmann light unit altogether. I basically stuck LEDs to the end of the light pipes. Messy and fiddly. The first attempt wasn't that brilliant (Araldite everywhere!) and the red LEDs don't show up very well at all. Second attempt was much better, but still a little messy.

[fiskersham]

If you don't want the fuss and mess, Express models does a kit. No idea what it's like, but it can't be worse than my effort.

All the best.

[ApacheBravo]

@fiskersham Thankyou for your explanation its given me an insight in to what I might do. Im thinking pay someone who knows what their doing to be honest!!! Ill let you know how I get on if I decide to by one. Thankyou again for your great reply :)

[gbrailwayclub]

was the sound in the voyager you buyed the sound

[fiskersham]

I bought the sound decoder separately from Olivia's Trains.

[howarth004]

Sounds very good, you have made a good job with the lights, nice layout

[fiskersham]

Thanks. You're being too kind on the lights. I made a balls up of them first time around, but got it right at the second attempt. So, in one direction all's well, in the other it's a bit of a mess.

Thanks again.

[jmsschooner]

wow thats great what decoder did u use and what controller are u using

[fiskersham]

Thanks. It's an ESU LokSound 3.5 programmed by Olivia's Trains of Sheffield. I use a Bachmann Dynamis controller.

All the best.

[liketom]

just excellent bravo!

[fiskersham]

Thank you, the kind words are appreciated. I just wish the brake sound had worked properly. It's not too good on this program.

Bye for now.

[PESTinUK]

Nice video.

I bought a 221 recently but haven't converted it to DCC yet. I'm not sure whether to use a decoder in each end for the lights, or run wires from the power car to each end of the set, but then I'll end up with wires and plugs between the cars.

How did you do yours?.

[fiskersham]

Thanks. Yes, I didn't want wires between the cars which is why I have a separate decoder in the end units to drive the lights. Having said that, the result wasn't very good at first as the model actually uses bulbs and so they weren't very bright via DCC. In the end (and they're in this video) I fitted LEDs. NOT an easy job, but worth it.

Bye for now.

[hurtylfc]

Nice, do you preffer this to the hst?

thanks :)

[fiskersham]

Thanks. In a word, no! There are two reasons - one hardware and one software. On the hardware front, the motor in the Class 221 isn't powerful enough (you maybe noticed that I'm only running 4 cars in what should be a 5 car set). The Hornby HST is much more responsive. With respect to the software, the Olivia's trains sound set is not bad, but I'd only give it 7/10. However, I did use two decoders in the HST, which is what Olivia's Trains recommends for the 221, so is it a fair comparison?