METRA F40PH HEP sound & driving coach effects

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warbonnetuk
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METRA F40PH HEP sound & driving coach effects

Post by warbonnetuk »

Hi all

Am taking delivery on Sat of one of the new HO KATO METRA F40s plus 3 coaches. I'm looking to put sound in the loco and possible some sort of accessory chip to control the coach lighting.

Ahead of this I'm after some prototype info:

1. Does the prime mover on the F40 stay constantly at Run 8 even when stationary in order to power the HEP as per Amtrak's version
2. What's the arrangement for the ditch lighting on the loco i.e. alternate flashing, activated with the horn?
3. Is there a similar arragement on the driving coach

Cheers

Dan
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torikoos
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Re: METRA F40PH HEP sound & driving coach effects

Post by torikoos »

I think this is a good question to ask Mike Ruby and Brian Moore, they've got experience with setting up the sound on FP40H's units .

Koos
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BrianMoore
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Re: METRA F40PH HEP sound & driving coach effects

Post by BrianMoore »

warbonnetuk wrote:Hi all

Am taking delivery on Sat of one of the new HO KATO METRA F40s plus 3 coaches. I'm looking to put sound in the loco and possible some sort of accessory chip to control the coach lighting.

Ahead of this I'm after some prototype info:

1. Does the prime mover on the F40 stay constantly at Run 8 even when stationary in order to power the HEP as per Amtrak's version
2. What's the arrangement for the ditch lighting on the loco i.e. alternate flashing, activated with the horn?
3. Is there a similar arragement on the driving coach

Cheers

Dan
Yes to 1. Best to ask Harry Wong's crew in respect of the other two, although Mr Ruby will probably be of assistance.

Brian
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warbonnetuk
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Re: METRA F40PH HEP sound & driving coach effects

Post by warbonnetuk »

To be honest I was expecting young Mr Read to be first off the mark here. Busy getting preped for this weekends bash not doubt!!

Cheers

Dan
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Re: METRA F40PH HEP sound & driving coach effects

Post by Gloriousnse »

To 1 - yes they are 'proper' F40PHs so the HEP comes from the main engine as per Amtrak's.
To 2 - Can't recall what the ditchlight setup is though, will have a dig tonight & see what I can find! Bound to be some shots on YouTube that will help?
To 3 - yes the cab cars also have ditch lights, they might need retro-fitting to the Kato ones if you wanted to be totally accurate as my guess is they will not have changed the tooling to add them?
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Re: METRA F40PH HEP sound & driving coach effects

Post by Gloriousnse »

Okay - some quick digging...I think I need to update my own lighting rig even if I don't add sound!

Startup and then to Run 8 for HEP



Alternating ditch lights (sloooow) plus flashing gyralight (fast)



Cab car (modern Nippon Sharyo style) - again slow alternating ditch lights (linked to horn) & fast flashing gyralight on all the time (edit - watching this again at home with the sound higher - I think the ditch lights are more likely linked to the bell not the horn...?)



Looking at the PS car tooling there are no ditch lights & the top gyralight is a red emergency one not a white one...struggling to find a shot of a PS car leading though to see if that's changed - the ditch lights I'm sure will have been added, what i'm not sure is whether the gyralight will have been changed...
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Re: METRA F40PH HEP sound & driving coach effects

Post by Gloriousnse »

Okay, a former Metra car now in Nashville (so not conclusive) - this one suggests added ditch lights, removed side tail lights, red warning gyralight replaced by a plain red tail light?

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warbonnetuk
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Re: METRA F40PH HEP sound & driving coach effects

Post by warbonnetuk »

Martyn

Thanks for digging that out.

Dan
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Re: METRA F40PH HEP sound & driving coach effects

Post by 102614 »

Dan,

Interestingly, if you are sad, I was at the CNW Station and videod the first metra F40 with ditch lights. The nice engineer walked up the platform to tell us this fact! He flashed them and pointed this out by leaning out the cab window as he left.
He also demo'd the beacon on the roof.
At the time that had no railings on the back, not sure if they have now.

Andy
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warbonnetuk
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Re: METRA F40PH HEP sound & driving coach effects

Post by warbonnetuk »

Andy

Nice story re: the Metra ditchlights - the good old days when railroad where a bit more friendly towards enthusiasts.

Kato model comes sans handrails - must check some photos as looking to set my one around 2007

Cheers

Dan
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Re: METRA F40PH HEP sound & driving coach effects

Post by Gloriousnse »

Sans-Handrails at the rear is correct for Metra's fleet, Kato have correctly modelled the differences between the Amtrak and RTA/Metra loco's which is a very nice state of affairs!
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Re: METRA F40PH HEP sound & driving coach effects

Post by torikoos »

I recently found this article on the web, on how to program a Tsunami sound decoder to mimic F40PH with HEP power.
Might be useful for some?
Quote:
This is a way to set up a loco for a straight to Notch 8 feature using a single Function button with our Tsunami decoders. For F40PH Head End Power (HEP), the prime mover ran in notch 8 at all times to supply electrical power to the passenger coaches garnering them the nickname "Little Screamers".

Using the Tsunami decoder, this can be achieved by using the Dynamic brake application feature set in CV 116. When the Dynamic brakes are applied, the different manufacturers of the locos had the prime mover do different things based on the needs. For an example that relates here, GE and ALCO typically had the prime mover run up to notch 8. To set this up, we’ll apply this Dynamic brake logic, but to prevent the dynamic brake fan sound, we’ll set this volume to 0. Here’s how it’s done. First, add 192 to the value in CV 116. Default value is 39 (7 (7 speed steps up or down notched the diesel engine) + 32 (Auto Start, loco sounds start up upon track power.)=39). Add in the 192 so the prime mover runs to notch 8 when F4 is applied. CV116 then will be 39+192=231. Next, set the volume level for the dynamic brakes (CV133) to 0. Now when F4 is pressed, the diesel engine will ramp up to notch 8, with no dynamic brake sounds, a perfect reproduction of the HEP sounds of a loco at the press of a button! " End Quote.

Koos
Koos Fockens -Devon UK. North American Model Railroading
Age is just a case of mind over matter. If you don't mind, then it doesn't matter.
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