Big DCC order came today!

[rrinker]

Time to get busy. I FINALLY have a DT400 throttle for my Digitrax system. Much nicer than operating from the Zephyr console. Along with a couple of UP5 panels - now I REALLY have to get going and get my fascia installed so I can mount the plug panels.
And a 10 pack of decoders. Lots of installs, and I will try to get pictures of them all.

--Randy

[dave9999]

Randy,
Sounds like your going to be having fun tonight!. I just got a UT4 throttle so I could have some
walkaround control, but a DT400 is on my short list of near future purchases... somewhere
before or after the Walthers 130" turntable... haven't decided on the exact order of necessity
yet. The DT400 could get bumped up the list if I don't find some room for the turntable.

Speaking of Digitrax, when I took the excursion on the Blue Ridge Scenic Railway last month,
word was that the owners of Digitrax where on the train to record the deisels for an upcoming
sound decoder. i don't know how true this is, but I hope it has some truth to it. Digitrax has earned
my business and I would love to see them put out a quality sound decoder. Have fun, Dave

[Anonymous]

whoa have fun (not like i have to tell you)

[WilmJunc]

Randy:

Have some fun with the new equipment. Are you a DC to DCC convert?

[tstage]

Randy,

Sounds like your going to be one busy puppy for a while. Do keep us up to date on your progress.

Tom

[rrinker]

I surely will. 7 of the 10 decoders are for my father-in-law's locos, although I may have to adjust that to 6 since I aquired the Athearn F7 chassis/Stewart F7 B shell project. I've got 2 Trainline FA's, my RS-3 project, and the Athearn/Stewart project all needed decoders now, although only the FAs would be ready to roll after that.
Oh and I got a DH163L0 so all 3 of my GP7's are rolling again, I had taken one out to prep my father-in-law's P2K SD45. That one I did tonight, those are ridiculously easy to install.

--Randy

[SpaceMouse]

I ordered A Zephyr, DT400, a UP5 and 5 decoders two weeks ago through my club, my club pres is going away for 2 weeks so it will be at least that long before I get them.

Sigh. Well, I'm supporting where I run my trains.

[rrinker]

Good deal - you'll have even more fin once you have DCC at home as well as at the club.

I can't say enough abou Empire Northern http://www.empirenorthernmodels.com I emailed theem because a couple of things I was interested in weren't listed on their web site (DT400 and UP5's). Tim the owner answered my email in MINUTES and added the page for the throttles and panels, and said for the one other item I wanted just add it to the comments when I ordered.

At every step I got confirmign emails - he doesn;t charge your credit card directly from his web site, he first sends a confirmation with actual shipping (which turned out to be much lower than the already fair price showing on the web site), and then once paid you get ANOTHER confirmation email with a copy of the invoice. Great Service all around! Another one to add to the list of GOOD Internet retailers.

My 10 decoders are NCE D13SRJ's - they were less than $12 each. Perfect for any new Athearn with the 9-pin plug, or for any hard-wired installs - plus I bought some 8-pin NMRA plugs which were also very inexpensive so I can use these decoders for plug in installs as well.

--Randy

[tstage]

I have to put in a HUGE ditto on Randy's post about Empire Northern Models. I just ordered a Stewart Baldwin VO-660 switcher and Digitrax DN143IP decoder from them. Even including S&H, it all cost me less than $100! (Absolutely the best deal that I could find from one dealer!)

Tim Smith (owner) literally bent over backwards to help me. Just like Randy experienced, I sent a number of e-mails to Tim and he usually e-mailed me back in a very short order. I inquired about putting in golden-white LEDs for the front and rear headlights. Tim said that he'd charge me $4.99 for a pair...and the installation would be FREE! And it's not just a quick in and out. Tim told me:

""I have a jig for making the LED's fit the factory spec in size and shape. I also can a little magic on the rear for you too so that the headlight doesn't make the windows light up like the factory ones do. The headlight lens and windows are one piece, so the light transfers like fiber optics. I can fix that, no charge."

When I inquired further what his "magic" actually entailed, Tim told me,

"In this case I cut the lens off of the bigger window piece and then let the LED hold it. I then apply black paint to the top edge of the window panel (this part is not visible) so that it does not pick up light. If you don't do this, you get kind of a fi***ank effect in the cab. Not pretty."

Wow! I'd call that above and beyond! I can guarantee you that I'll be going back to Tim to look into purchasing more locomotives in the future. I just wanted to put in a good word on this guy. Empire Northern Models can be found at:

http://www.empirenorthernmodels.com

If you can't find what you need or want, don't hesitate to just drop Tim an e-mail.

Tom