[enby]

Has anybody done a DCC conversion on a not-DCC-ready 66? I mean done it themselves, so they can describe it to us...
It's the lights that bother me. While on the subject of lights, what is the point of different daytime/nighttime configurations? I don't need to look at a loco to find out if it is night...
cheers
Norman.

 

[Ravenser]

The new 5 door Dapol 66 is DCC Ready . I gather the old one wasn't but N gauge isn't really my patch

 

[Edwin]

Haven't done one myself but from earlier postings on another forum DCC conversion (especially the lights) of the original non-DCC-ready version is a real nightmare. On that basis I decided to get the Farish one instead!

Current standards require trains to have one headlight optimised for daytime and one for night-time, not sure what the difference is but I guess the night-time one is less bright or aimed in a different direction to reduce dazzle. Only one headlight is lit at any time, along with the top light (modelled by Dapol) and the small white marker light on the opposite side (not modelled).

 

[enby]

Ravenser - why answer a question I haven't asked?
Edwin - do you still know in which forum you saw that? As for the day/night lights, probably someone from elfansafety was worried the headlights might dazzle stray rabbits.
cheers
Norman.

 

[Edwin]

QUOTE (enby @ 14 Aug 2007, 22:08) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Edwin - do you still know in which forum you saw that? As for the day/night lights, probably someone from elfansafety was worried the headlights might dazzle stray rabbits.
cheers
Norman.

I gather there's a rule against linking to other forums on here, but I think it was the ngauge-modern Yahoo group about 18 months ago. The poster had just fried the LEDs - I think Dapol had wired them common cathode so needed a total rewire to work with decoders.

The latest headlights are very much brigther than earlier types and the problem of dazzle is very real. For instance a train driver blinded by the headlight of something coming the other way may fail to see and sound the horn at a track worker, with potentially tragic consequences. I've worked trackside in the past so I for one welcome anything that makes this hazard less likely - as well as the bright headlights that make trains much more visible from a distance even in daytime.