I went by the dealer the other day and they are not stocking cars anymore. They are only accepting orders for cars. And that is very distressing. Guess I won't get that new car after all if that is the way the deal is done now.
The dim orange LED on the FVM Gevos was a big let down, on the plus side changing out the LED is easy. Kato is who really screwed up with the orange light pipes on the 70Ace, new run 70M and SD40-2. Why didn't Kato just leave it alone? Now the fix on these is to didtch the light pipe and fabricate new ones out of fiber optics including the tedious procedure for rounding the ends to represent a lense and I still don't know if this will work for the porch mounted ditch lights. What a PITA!!!!!!!!! :thumbs_down:
One of the TB advertisers - you understand it'll be edited out if I name him, but he's in New Mexico - has a channel on You Tube, and one of the videos is a comparison of "factory" and "modified" headlight arrangement. Having a word with said advertiser might be worthwhile. Regards, Pete Davies
So is it the actual LED color or is it the Plastic tube that’s orange? If it’s the tube maybe it was bad batch of plastic and needs to replaced. I don’t know how they get different colors out of LEDs besides lens color but I know that when the voltage is low on an incandescent they appear yellow. Maybe they got the wrong resister in the decoder. baffled:
Seems like a small problem after you've built a really nice layout.. I'd just fix it myself.. Sometimes you've gotta model a little too.
Thanks for all the feedback and helping to talk me off the ledge. I have to admit my chances of changing scales are pretty low, but my frustration with Atlas/Kato/FVM is running very high. These are such great looking models, why can't the headlight brightness and color be up to par? I will be sending an email to FVM to address this issue. Am I just off my rocker on this whole issue or should I expect the correct brightness and color of a locomotive headlight to be a given when I make a purchase? One of the main selling features of the FVM model was the simple plug-N-play decoder installation, a first in N-scale. This seems to be out the window if I now have to disassemble the locomotive and solder in new LEDs (something I will probably end up doing absent another solution). It is just very disappointing that I have to do this when the correct one could have been installed at the factory in the first place. Jamie
Heck, after all the disappointment I am a patient man Although the fleet of current locos coming out by the three companies you mentioned plus some others are vastly superior to those 10 maybe even 5 years ago, there are imperfections or slight to major defects in design, workmanship or materials in almost every one, most repeat most of which are explainable and hopefully correctible. True to the fashion of the membership of this forum, many of the members have offered help or an avenue of correcting the problems, or at least troubleshooting it. Unfortunately, these and most if not all manufacturers outsource ("farm out") designs to other countries with lower labor rates for their new locos which will be sold here, and as we all have experienced, the first batch comes out with "glitches". To me these are explainable by 1. Little or no "in-progress" communication or Quality Controls in place 2. The item(s) we notice were not detected if there were progress inspections 3. There were "last minute changes" to some of the specifications or actual substitutions of actual parts during the manufacturing process for a variety of reasons, after all in those countries, the variety of available products I am sure is not as pronounced as it is here. 4. They have stringent deadline dates which promulgate the above, and I am sure their reasoning includes, "what the heck, we've been late, so let's try to be as on time as we can". 5. Oversight of all concerned for the above. Bring on the corrective kits, customer service, and make that announcement on Trainboard. 6. Methods to keep costs down -- maybe the white LED's are very expensive over there and the yellower/oranger ones are reasonably priced to keep the manufacturing costs as low as possible. 7. Pacific Ocean seawater from El Nino infiltrates the shipment on its way over here. (just trying to keep a little humor here) 8. The good news is that subsequent production runs are usually vastly corrected and/or improved 9. Other, which my old antiquated dinosaurian mind just can't think of already. Over the years since outsourcing, we have had problem children sold to us, many of which infiltrate my memory to include the Atlas/Kato trolley geeps, Model Power's first run of their Pacific, ConCor's first run of Chinese made steamers, like the Hudson and Northern, even the Kato Mike and GS4 have went and are going through respectively with some issues, I have a Kato E8 late production with an LED that literally lights up my room like a lamp, and more. It is part of N scale, and we should accept some responsibility as well. We are a demanding group, and every once in a while, I have to remind myself these little guys are harder to design, assemble and produce than corrresponding HO scale. Because we have been met with lateness of issues, (like the M1a - I removed mine from my will, heck I will be long dead before it is available), we get a little embittered when any company, no matter how hard or not they try, are late, and when they rush, we also suffer. But by and en large, the overall quality is vastly superior and reparable for the most part, than some of the duds sprung on us in the past, like Mehanoteknika, some Roco (The U636, remember), early Mintrix "skinny version" F7A's, early ConCor/Sekisui/Kato junk, and so on. Heck, even the lesser expensive Walthers/Lifelike diesels are actually good now, compared to the original hard grease wormed plastic frames we originally bought. That is my opinion based on the burn scars and other psychological damage by constant inconveniences and irritation over the years caused by the incredibly high level of anticipation, sacrificing what I consider big money, and then going through the disappointments, plus the time, effort and money spent on correction/repair and replacement. But now that I am used to it, I consider it now character building and see patience as a virtue, In Mick Jagger's words, "Hey its only rock and roll (substitute N scale) but I like it, like it, all the way". Ken "FloridaBoy" Willaman
Jamie, While I do admit that they could have done better, maybe it is time to check out a recent release of the FVM at the local shop and see if there was anything done to correct the coloration. This problem was brought to Matts attention some time ago and they may be better now. Perhaps FVM could be persuaded to make a run of light boards with different LEDS as a repalcement for what you have. Never under estimate the power of civil negotiations (ie Win-Win). Has anyone checked if the SD70ACe can use the same light tubes as the first couple of runs of the SD70's? Perhaps an older light tube set may be the fix for the colored Kato light tubes. Not sure but there are lots of parts on ebay and you may be able to find them there as well as the Kato parts site (only have the Nose headlight glass sets at this time) or at some other retailers. As for the Atlas, bite the bullet and try the TCS decoder, and if it works, only get the DC versions from now on and convert them yourself.
Glad to hear you're back off the edge Jamie. It would be a cryin' shame to see all that fantastic layout work go down the tubes. And mainline railroading in HO just isn't the same... -Gary
I think N scale is just coming into its own these days. To leave now whould be like buying high and selling low. Consider where we had been and where we are now. We have moved from C80 to C55 and the push is on to C40 or 45 rail. We have gone from #4 turnouts to #6 and now to #5,#7 and #10. Installing DCC went from a major operation requiring frame removal to a simple exchange of light boards. Steam power went from abysmal to some very nice running locomotives. Rolling stock went from toylike to highly detailed models with separate grabs and now the push is on for body mounting couplers and correct car ride height. In addition new product is being offered that is greatly improved over prior releases and some of the more uncommon prototypes or essentially one road car types are now being done. That is not to say everything is hunky dory in N scale. We still have the majority of our production eggs in one basket and what we call our 'model manufacturers', for the most part, do not have direct control of the manufacturing facilities they use. More competition on that end of the marketing spectrum may have a beneficial effect on prices as well as supply and demand. All in all, I think N scale holds a rather unique and favorable position among the modeling scales.
i cant even get the right part no. for my older atlas gp 40 lights! got some from ebay today.....wrooooong again....my fault though. finally emailed atlas with hopefully the right part this time. they are in the gp 7-9 listing...482009!!!! not really related to this thread, just venting on jamie's dime:tb-hissyfit:
AL.. u aint 'That Guy'...R ya ? :tb-wacky: Ya walk around the corner in town...come to a crowd of people all looking up. There is a guy up there threathening to jump off a building ! The cops...family...friends...even people in the crowd trying to talk the guy out of it. Then from somewhere in the back of the crowd comes a loud voice... "AH H_LL...Jump already...get it over with !!!" :tb-cool: U aint 'That Guy'...R ya ? :tb-wacky::tb-wink: .
On issues like this I have one position with two points: If you have the skills - fix it And Protest strongly to / with the manufacturer. Even though I personally do not care about historical details and the color of lights I do care that the manufactures continue to meet and improve the standards. If "we" let them get away with sub par work / details / performance - they will. Er, I personally believe they will. I'll try to find my thread on this. Keep in mind folks - it is not just the headlight. There have been quite a few issues depending on who you are and what you have purchased. This is just what appears to be "the last straw"
I have purchased a lot of locos over the years and I have a rainbow of colors and brightness variations. Its relatively easy to tone down or get rid of that white or blue white color but once its orange /yellow with the "pipe" on the ACES; its an issue and they don't look right in such a modern loco - FVM locos are too dim as stated. I have sd40-2's and all of the newest releases and they don't have the smoked pipe; as far as I know its only the ACES and I really hope that the new release doesn't duplicate the originals. Brian
When frustration builds like that; just take a momentary break and come back to it and you'll find a new zeal, and probably change out those LED's with no sweat and you never know that they might even find an easier method while your on break
I have to agree with Jamie. I'm paying 125.00 for locos that cost 90.00 a couple years ago and there should be no reason I should have to spend additional money to make the headlights the right color. The manufacturer should spec the correct ones. HO scale doesn't have a problem, why do they think we should accept it in N scale? So I spend 125.00 for a loco, another 40-60 for the decoder, and MORE money to get the correct headlight color? Not cool.
Rather than mess about experimenting with colours and brightness the manufacturers should just use plain bright white LEDs with clear optics and leave it up to the modeler if they want them yellower or dimmer lights, it's easier to add colour and remove brightness than the other way round.
