One of those days when I didn't find the time to get anywhere near as much done as I'd planned, and I wasted an awful lot of the time that I did find. When test-running a Super Voyager that I'd finished late last night (or early this morning) I noticed that the lights weren't working as expected. Either all of the tail-lights were on, or all of the headlights, but not that subtle blend of the two that we've come to know and love. After nearly 90 minutes of head-scratching, testing and double-checking of wiring, it eventually dawned on me that the wiring was, in fact, 100% correct. As I'd re-used old decoders to control the lights in the end cars I'd managed to pick one where CV29 had been changed to alter the direction. Ten seconds to fix, but only once you know what the problem is.
Bachmann's Voyagers and Super Voyagers are nice models indeed. I'm not much for the prototype, if truth be told, but as models they're just fine. I've had a good hour or so tonight just playing trains and admiring them. A great shame, then, that the Dapol Pendolino is of little use as anything other than a toy - I think the real Pendolinos are fine machines and would kill for a decent model.
The Pendolino isn't converted to DCC (I'd judged it to be a waste of a decoder) but was having a quick wobble round the layout as loco zero. If you are tempted to convert one then be very careful of which decoder you choose. My model has a stall current of well over 2 amps - a figure that will blow most normally-rated chips. A heavy duty decoder would be required, which given the poor quality of the model would probably be throwing good money after bad. A better bet might be to replace the motor with a superior model and take it from there, but personally I'm unlikely to bother. If it looks like a turkey, sounds like a turkey and moves like a turkey, then the odds are it's a job for Bernard Matthews rather than Bernd Lenz.