Model Railroading > Bachmann Trainline class 66 issues

I purchased several Bachmann Trainline OO locomotives when I was stationed in the UK. I installed Decoders in most of them however, I'm having issues with the class 66. This is the DCC version produced several years ago I got in in 2003 with the 8 pins. I put the decoder  in and it runs fine however the two bottom lights do not stay on together. The top light near the roof works fine in both directions. There is a switch on the bottom of the engine that reads: "Day and night". When I switch it back and fourth either the left light comes on or the right and this is the same for both directions. I know the LEDs are working. I cannot seem to get both lights to stay on. I've tried doing research online and I haven't been able to figure this issue out. I'm using a Digitrax DZ126 decoder and a NCE Power Cab pro system on my layout. Thank you for any advice,
Matt

Your decoder does not have enough functions. The 8 pin connector commonly only has 7 connections; track, 2; motor, 2; headlights f&r, 3. One pin is blank and that is the NMRA standard. A 9 pin decoder gives those connections plus two more lighting connections through the green and violet wires.

If you have enough room I would go with a Digitrax DH166P decoder which will give you an 8 pin plug plus open wires for the green and violet leads to go to the lower lights. You likely will only need one wire to keep both lights on or both if you need them to flash. You will need to find someone else to help with programming.

I chose Digitrax account that is what you are using. NCE and TCS have comparable decoders you can use.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/28/16 02:07 by fbe.

Thanks fbe I'll give that a try!
Matt

Matt,

Good luck with the project. Finding a spot on the mother board to connect the decoder wires to will be the first challenge especially since the low lights do seem to be part of the headlight circuits. The green and violet wires provide track voltage output for incandescent bulbs. You will need to add 1K ohm resistors to the wires to get an led voltage output. You might find the mother board resistors for the low lights and make your connection behind them so you don't need to add your own.

fbe, I'm half tempted to just put a wow sound decoder with an EMD 710. I may have to disconnect that day/night switch from the board since that seems to be part of the culprit. Cheers!

Check out the mother board to see if it has a dummy plug over a 21 pin plug. If that is the case the 21 pin Lok-Sound decoder is the way to go. You do not need their proprietary programming box to set the CVs for operations or lighting. If you are lucky everything might work right out of the box including the day-night switch.

Easy answer, both headlights are never on at the same time in Britain, at least from what I seen. The light on the right side of the locomotive if looking forward is the daytime light as it is closest to the opposing track. Remember Britain runs on the left on the railway as well as the roadway. The light on the left looking forward is the nightime light so that it doesn't blind the drivers on opposing trains. I hope this answers your question. There are smaller marker lights on the Class 66 but those may not be bright enough to on a model locomotive.

Check out the European Board for some Class 66 pictures with only one headlight on. I looked I have no oncoming night shots of Class 66's.

Jim

tq-07fan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Easy answer, both headlights are never on at the
> same time in Britain, at least from what I seen.
> The light on the right side of the locomotive if
> looking forward is the daytime light as it is
> closest to the opposing track. Remember Britain
> runs on the left on the railway as well as the
> roadway. The light on the left looking forward is
> the nightime light so that it doesn't blind the
> drivers on opposing trains. I hope this answers
> your question. There are smaller marker lights on
> the Class 66 but those may not be bright enough to
> on a model locomotive.
>
> Check out the European Board for some Class 66
> pictures with only one headlight on. I looked I
> have no oncoming night shots of Class 66's.
>
> Jim

Class 66's have three headlights in a triangular arrangement (one high, two low), very similar to US locos. They also have two low marker lights (less bright and very close to the lower two headlights). They exact design of these lights has changed over the lifespan of the class 66, with more recent ones having bright white LED's. The usual situation is for the upper headlight and the lower left headlights to be lit (if looking at the loco), as well as the two lower marker lights. In the dark this just looks like three lit headlights, the lower right one (looking at the loco) looking slightly less bright.   
So i'd say your models are working correctly...



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/28/16 20:11 by exhaustED.

tq-07

So you are saying the current decoder set up is working properly?

Thanks

Yeah that is interesting. The images I took of class 66s had all 3 lights on at night and the top round light on during the day. Thanks for the advice guys.

Not a Class 66 but shows the triangle arrangement at night a Chiltern Class 172 at Birmingham. Like exhaustED described the marker lights look like all three lights are on but inreality the big headlight under the driver is on full blast. I hope that helps.

Jim

---