Fleischmann SBB Re 460 With Sound

It seems last years pre-orders are all coming in now.  Today a shiny new engine arrived for me!

 

I will do an in depth review later but I wanted to share my early impressions, as I'm quite excited to have something work so nicely right out of the box.  The photos and video are taken with my phone, and not in great light but I do think it does the model justice. The printing is very fine, as you would expect, but the model is not loaded with detail.  That said, it's my impression that the real thing is similarly devoid of bits and bobs, so this little guy certainly looks the part to my eye. The side texture is subtle, and the pantographs are the finest of any of my fleet.

The big feature here is the sound of course, and this model delivers.  DCC Functions 1-18 are all allocated to various functions, including 3 station announcements, door sounds, direction appropriate interior cab lighting, front and rear light overrides, numerous horns and whistles and all the rest you would expect.

I filmed a short video, (handheld with the iPad while operating the controller so it's a tad shaky) taking you through some of the sights and sounds on my rolling test bed).

So there you go.  Straight out of the box and it's looking and sounding great!  Factory sound seems a much more reliable choice today than it was just a few years ago.  

Oh, and the best part?  This locomotive is only $200.  For a European import I'd call that a steal!

Fleischmann 731372

We have normality!

I the game I've been working on for the past four years is on the verge of complete, we have submitted it to the publisher and I once again have time for some life outside of work! 

In the past week I've built myself a newer and bigger storage shelf for rolling stock and resumed ballasting my track. I've also picked up some old Fleishmann signals and semaphores that will be going near my main station.   I'm not sure how prototypical they may be for Switzerland but I don't really care, I'll be the only one who knows better and seeing a moving semaphore responding to traffic is just too cool to pass up!

My German crocodile has arrived! The Fleischmann FL-739401 E94

The E94 with the new decoder installed.  I used an ESU LocPilot Micro 3.0 with a 6 pin plug on a wire harness.  Fitting a decoder with the plug mounted on the decoder body is impossible with this engine.   Even with the plug harness, it's a tight fit because of the length of the wires, but it works.  I could have trimmed them down and soldered them back onto the plug but carefully squishing it in there proved much easier.

It's a smooth runner though mechanically rather noisy.  Perhaps all those gears needed to drive 8 wheels on a three part articulated body? When running at speed there are vibration noises, as well as substantial gear noise.

Happily, all that noise seems to fit the engine, it being a 1930's electrical  behemoth!  Note the light weathering on the trucks and grills.  If you look at my images posted earlier you will see these were previously all black.  I like to dry brush some grey highlights and then spot some grimly black on the lower surfaces, nothing too extreme, but I like to bring out the details.

The trouble with weathering is once I start I tend to get carried away.  I have a brush in hand and just look for something else to paint! When you have a hammer every problem looks like a nail...  This poor little boxcar took the brunt of my creative enthusiasm. 

Fleischmann E94 DCC Blues: I chicken out! (FL-739401)

I got a new locomotive today!  I've really been holding back on new acquisitions for some time now but the lure of Black Friday prices and 1920's electrics won me over.  It is a Fleischmann E94, (model FL-739401).   

As pictured in the catalog

I happily unboxed and and took a quick picture or two with a macro lens to show the detail:

Thus far all is well, but now onto the tricky bit: the DCC install.   Opening this up was no problem, but look at the space for the decoder!

The weight lifts out and in fact you are obliged to remove it permanently with any decoder installed.  I'm not keen on that but I can live with it.  Given my inclines more tractive power is a good thing, but with 8 wheels driven I should be okay.  Bot look at the space provided!  That is space for a plug, not a decoder.   The decoder must be seted above, where the weight is.  This is not ideal.  I had a plan.  I had a nice ESU Lokpilot Micro ready and waiting.   I planned it!  

Not to be deterred, I popped it in just to run the locomotive about a bit and get a sense of how it runs (and it runs well, a proper review will follow).  

Well, this is not quite ideal...

Sadly, with that chip sticking out I didn't have clearance for my tunnels and I found myself worrying that I might glace away at a key moment and have it go smacking into stonework so it's run tonight was quite limited.
  

I contemplated snipping the DC placeholder plug in half and using it's terminals to solder wires that I could then solder to my decoder.  I considered my experience of doing similar surgery to a CE 6/8 and the hours of frustration that entailed.  While it all wored in the end, I had to conclude it was not worth the grief.  So, now it's $40 later and I've ordered a new decoder with a prewired plug, it should arrive next week and the install will be the trivial experience I had anticipated. 

What will become of my E94?  Click here to find out!

Here's what Fleischmann has to say about this model:

Electric loco of the DRG, class E 94 (2008 Limited Edition)

Overall length: 116 mm. Super-detailling, -livery and -lettering. Inset windows. Interior details in driver’s cab. Sprung pantographs. Current pick-up from the rails or overhead catenary. Cast metal chassis. Motor with flywheel. With standard NEM 651 socket for installation of a decoder. Drive on 8 wheels, of which 2 are fitted with traction tyres. Double headlights at each end, co-ordinated with the direction of travel. Automatic couplings at each end. Slot-guide mechanism at each end for true close coupling by using the PROFI-coupling 9545 (delivered with standard couplings). Standard NEM 355 coupling socket. Epoch II

Once I'm properly setup I'll post my thoughts on this.   So far, I'm impressed with the appearance and disappointed it did not accept the decoder I had on hand.