Hornby R2171 BR 4-6-2 Merchant Navy Class 'Canadian Pacific', 35005
Review & DCC Decoder installation - Text & photos by Doug Teggin
Hornby model of 35005 'Canadian Pacific' in the experimental BR blue livery she carried briefly in preservation until early 2001 but never carried in service after being rebuilt.
BR blue early crest.
The Model appeared in the 2000 Hornby Catalog. Produced to the
Super Detail standards.
Prototype Info:
Designed by Bullied for express passenger this loco entered service in1942 and was rebuilt in May 1959. It was fitted with a 5,250 gallon tender and by November that year was allocated to Bournemouth Shed eventually being transfered to Weymouth in September 1964.
For a while 'Canadian Pacific' was painted in British Railways blue livery. As this was only ever worn for a short period during the early 1950's on some unrebuilt members of this class this did not go down to well with the purists.
After withdrawal in 1965, the loco was scrapped to the Dai Woodhams Scrapyard, Barry, South Wales. It was rescued in 1973 and now 35005 is based at the Mid Hants Railway
http://www.watercressline.co.uk/. Initially it was restored in BR Blue, but now after a repaint, it is once again displaying authentic late BR colours (see photos on the right).
SR Number: 21C5
BR Number: 35005
Name: Canadian Pacific
Built: December 1941
Rebuilt: May 1959
Withdrawn: October 1965
Preserved: Yes
Class Introduced: 1956
Loco Weight: 97tons 18cwt
Driving Wheels: 6ft 2in.
35005 "Canadian Pacific"
Merchant Navy class, 4-6-2 1941 (re-built 1959)
Ropley, Mid-Hants Railway
14 May 2005
Photos credit (above & below):
the-siding.co.uk
MODEL SPECIFICATION
Length: 290mm; [
B] Running number:[/B] 35005 'Canadian Pacific';
Livery: BR blue (early emblem); [
B] Period:[/B] Mid 1950s;
Features: Sprung buffers;
Finish: Pristine;
Motor: 5 pole skew wound loco drive; [
B] Purpose:[/B] Heavy express passenger;
Suitable rolling stock: Pullman cars, R4057, R4115, R4114, R4116, R4117, R4125, R4124.
DCC Decoder Installation
Follow the supplied instructions to take the loco apart. One screw under the front bogy and a couple of clips under the cab and you're done. You don't have to force anything - if you do it right, it comes apart easily. There is a speedo to dismantle too and this is done easily if you have a wheel nut socket that fits the nut on the driving wheels. Mine came out of a Live Steam set, but I'm sure that they're available elsewhere.
I installed a Arnold Digital
81201 decoder into the Loco. As there are no extra functions required by the locomotive a simple, but robust decoder is fine. The 81201 can handle 1.5 amp. The Merchant Navy Class model draws 0.15 amp when rolling by itself; 0.35 amp when held stationary at the buffers, but with wheels freely sliding on the track. The locomotive (with tender) can pull 1.42 kg (6 x 150g coaches + 4 x 130g coaches).
The installation was a little bit tricky, not as easy as some previous installations due to the lack of NEM 652 (NMRA Medium) socket and more importantly: a lack of internal space for the DCC decoder. Where installing a DCC decoder in a loco that has a NEM socket may take about 10 minutes, this installation takes over an hour because you have to do some trial fitting and adjustments.
Below are photos of the Merchant Navy Class 'Bibby Line' decoder install. The install process for the 'Canadian Pacific' is identical as the body and chassis are the same.
Note: The TV interference suppression capacitor has to be removed for DCC use. A capacitor is only needed for conventional operations to prevent radio interference. With DCC operation a capacitor corrupts the data format and the error free data transfer is disturbed. A snip with a small cutter does the job. I removed the capacitor and exposed all the wires (below left).
Cut off the NEM Plug from the decoder if it has one and following the wiring diagram, attach it to the pickup wires and motor terminals. The red decoder wire is attached to the wire from the right wheels on the loco and the wire from the pin connector of the tender (lower copper brushes on the tender hook of the loco). The black decoder wire going to the left wheels on the loco and tender. The orange decoder wire goes to the lower motor terminal; the grey decoder wire going to the upper motor terminal.
The DCC chip sits attached to the inside of the boiler roof directly above the gearbox in front of the motor. It is cramped in there so you have to tape down the wires to prevent them jamming the chassis when it goes back into the body. A few layers of double-sided tape keeps the decoder secure. Tape everything in place with black electrical tape and close up the body.
Note: This locomotive does not have lights so the function wires are not used.
DCC CV Settings
for the Merchant Navy Class Locomotive | | |