🔥 DIY Firebox Flicker 🔥 in a Hornby Jinty plus DCC Sound Conversion

After seeing the firebox flicker on the Bachmann 92xx I decided to see how easy it was to recreate the effect in another model.
The Hornby Jinty (R3587) was the perfect candidate because it's not too expensive (in case I messed it up), there's already a convenient hole in the firebox area and there's plenty of space in the body.
This was an analogue model, so at the same time as fitting the firebox flicker I decided to install digital sound with a stay alive. I've found that this model can be a bit fussy on my point work and with sound it was really important that it didn't cut out so the stay alive was pretty essential.
I didn't film the work at the time I was doing it because I was just messing around, but I think the result is worth sharing. There's more to be done to neaten up the wiring and to stop light leakage, but hopefully this video will give you an overview of what I did and might inspire you to give something similar a go.
The LEDs and resistors needed for the flicker work out at around £1, so it's a very cheap effect to create and I think it looks pretty good.
If you have a fancy decoder that has the flicker functionality built in then check out this kit from Road and Rails (www.roads-and-rails.co.uk/pro..., otherwise all the components for my DIY project with the Hornby TTS decoder are listed below.
Ebay and Amazon Affiliate Links
(Full disclosure, as an Amazon Associate and Ebay partner I earn from qualifying purchases through these links and this helps to support the channel)
Flickering LEDs - ebay.us/hIBa7i
Hornby Jinty - amzn.to/3g0QZFA
Hornby TTS Black 5 Decoder - www.timetunnelmodels.com/live...
Tablet Speaker - www.roads-and-rails.co.uk/col...
Lais DCC Stay Alive - ebay.us/du1igl
Various 1/2 Watt Resistors - amzn.to/31ZMmmW
Black Tack - ebay.us/ycAhEn
Chapters
00:00 Introduction
00:41 Why the Jinty?
02:06 Analogue to Digital Conversion
04:02 Speaker upgrade
04:47 Stay Alive
05:18 Firebox Flicker
08:36 The Results
09:18 Summary

[@davidsheriff8989]

What intricate work....what patience and a great result...well done

[@LittleWicketRailway]

Thanks David 👍

[@paulmcmahon1129]

That's brilliant! Thanks for that. Especially like the 2 led,s in series idea.

[@trapdriver7006]

Excellent informative video 👍😁😁😁🚂

[@LittleWicketRailway]

Thanks Tony 👍

[@stufindlow6664]

So simply explained and with all the detail included. Subscribed. I've used the black 5 decoder in my fairburn tank. Weird how Hornby have stopped bringing sound decoders out and there's no choice for tank engines. Firebox glow here I come. Thanks buddy

[@LittleWicketRailway]

Thanks Stu. Agreed, Hornby's approach to sound decoders is a bit odd. People want them, they can't be expensive to produce once you've got the sound file, so why are they always going out of stock!?! Any why don't the speakers fit in even the most modern locos that should have been designed with sound in mind?!?

[@stewshore5508]

Great job!

[@LittleWicketRailway]

Thanks 👍

[@xxc4ssiusxx]

Nice little video. Still very informative, even without a step-by-step guide. Rob, you always seem to post a video about a project just before I'm looking for a reference. Same thing happened with the HST light mods. Keep up the great tinkering work!

[@dukhinda100]

Thank you for the instructions

[@speleokeir]

Looks and sounds excellent. A great budget conversion. Thanks for putting this up.

[@andrewstephenson3594]

Really good effect. The foil probably improves the effect by making the light more diffuse and mixes the colours more

[@LittleWicketRailway]

It definitely looks better with the foil. Just need to be careful that it doesn't touch the motor contacts and cause shorts. I put some black electrical tape under it 👍

[@RobA500]

A neat project, it turned out very well.

[@LittleWicketRailway]

Cheers Rob 👍

[@OlivierGabin]

Very clever upgrade, with a nice result. By the way, you show us an Hornby TTS decoder. This device seems pretty decent on a quality to price ratio, and you made a very intelligent use of it.

[@PaulinesPastimes]

Excellent improvement. Gives it a new life. 👍😊

[@LittleWicketRailway]

Thanks Pauline 👍

[@TheHeritageLine]

Nice upgrade with the flickering led's another trick is that if you put a normal led in series with a flickering led the normal led will then flicker, very useful for smaller scales as you can the use a wired smd led as the flickering element and just paint the original flickering led black so no light can be seen from it. All the best Tony

[@LittleWicketRailway]

Thanks Tony, good tip! 👍

[@jackiedowse1097]

That's so cool.

[@stig5516]

Brilliant Very impressed with the result. I can certainly use these tips on my O Gauge locos - loads of space. Look forward to the next innovations from you.

[@LittleWicketRailway]

Thanks. They also do 5mm LEDs with the same built in flicker which might be good for O gauge. Especially if you've got space to mount them properly.

[@paulpkl624]

nice video will give this a go on my loco.

[@karlshurskis3823]

nice job

[@LittleWicketRailway]

Thanks! 👍

[@the_failed_states]

This is very good, love the firebox flicker, and you have really bought that Jinty to life. I had an idea regarding the the placement of the LEDs. I have applied lighting to a couple of locos via their lamps using fibre optic cable. The trick is to totally encase the LEDs - I use bluetak (poster tack) so there is no leakage, then you can run the fibre wherever you want- with the fibre leading out of the glob of bluetak. So the LEDs can be in the smokebox or the side tanks, and you can run multiple strands to vary the colour mix/intensity. I love the way you fearlessly hack in to a decoder. Very cool.

[@russellbertrand3242]

brill

[@blairleipst4508]

Re the light leakage from the sides of the LED’s, one could use either some black paint or heat shrink tubing to reduce the leakage

[@LittleWicketRailway]

I like the heat shrink idea 👍

[@User-3O3]

Looks good, man. :)

[@LittleWicketRailway]

Thanks 👍

[@goofyahhoc]

Nice

[@44662dc]

Very good video Rob may I suggest that if you do another consider an 8F ( if Hornby do one) sound chip. The black 5 has much larger driving wheels. As a consequence the beats per revolution in the Jinty was out of beat. Just something to think about Rob

[@LittleWicketRailway]

Great suggestion and excellent driving wheel knowledge 👍

[@IronHorseRailways]

Good job mate, I've fitted stay alives to TTS decoders on a few of my locos now - They're an absolute MUST for older and smaller locomotives, and like you say sometimes you have to use a sound decoder which is almost right.... I think I'll be using a Black 5 for my eBay Jinty now anyway and a class 31 for my HyMek. Never understood the obsession with fire box flicker, for me it really is something I can live without - same as a Cab lighting? Why??😁 Oh also Try adjusting your Accel and deceleration rate to get the chuff to match up better. I set mine to 31 for both CV 3 and 4

[@LittleWicketRailway]

Cheers, I'll have a mess around with the CVs, although I'm not too sure when it should and shouldn't be chuffing tbh. I never thought that I'd be bothered about flicker, viewed it as a gimmick, but I really liked it on the 9400.

[@IronHorseRailways]

@@LittleWicketRailway oh it looks nice to be sure, I'm just rather sinical and see it as a cheap way for manufacturers to "add value" to models... Yeah the chuffs should be about 2/3 per rotation depending on how many cylinders the loco has... So 3 cylinder will have 3 and 2 would have 2 etc etc. So our jintys ideally want about 2 per rotation, but three would work! Doesn't need to be super spot on but I'd say you want at least a couple of chuffs, and the only way to do that with these basic decoders is to slow the loco down a bit. There's even a note on this in the TTS instructions, at least there was in my A3! Good luck buddy!

[@bentonbuilds3525]

Which wire did you solder the sound decoder to?

[@modeltrainfan1026]

Looks good I want to do this to my Hornby 27xx pannier but am not all that experienced would you say it was a simple process ?

[@LittleWicketRailway]

Once you know where all the wires go and how you're going to fit everything in then the hardest part is the soldering. The connections, especially on the decoder can be very small so you have to be quite careful. I'm not great at soldering, but it's all about practice 👍

[@modeltrainfan1026]

@@LittleWicketRailway brilliant thanks mate

[@billhughes5489]

My Hornby Jinty doesn’t have a boiler front. A bit disappointing that, to see a gaping hole.

[@LittleWicketRailway]

I'm sure you must be able to get a replacement for that.

[@_RandomPea]

Hey Rob, great video, can this be done on DC out of interest? Sorry its an old vid 😮

[@LittleWicketRailway]

You could wire in the flickering LED on analogue, but it would turn on/off based on track voltage and the brightness would vary based on loco speed.

[@_RandomPea]

@@LittleWicketRailway so is there no way to get flickering effect on DC then? Shame 😔

[@LittleWicketRailway]

@A_Random_Pea the LED has the flicker built in, so you definitely can get the flickering effect, you just won't have the same control as you would on digital. For example you couldn't turn it on/off, it would be linked to the loco speed.

[@_RandomPea]

@@LittleWicketRailway gotcha. Thanks 👍 weird one but would a capacitor not help keep it lit ? Showing my basic electrics knowledge now lol 🤣

[@LittleWicketRailway]

@A_Random_Pea it would for a short period. You might struggle for space though.

[@lauriepocock3066]

Its all your fault. I am now the proud owner of a DCC fitted jinty, a Arduino Mega and motor shield and a DCC++ex sketch loaded to my Mega/PC; but because Im new to the hobby I thought I was doing it all wrong because all I got from JMRI was error code 308. Turns out the decoder fitted to my Hornby jinty is not fully NMRA compliant. I have now sorted things out with a TCM decoder but its a bit big to fit in, so please can I ask what decoder do you have and will your loco work with your DCC++ set up? ps Any body know how to fit a decoder to a Hornby Dutchess of Sutherland?

[@MRIWILLPLAY]

Is there yellow wire there because you are colour blind and thought it was green?

[@LittleWicketRailway]

I am quite colour blind, but that's not the reason. On this occassion I was just an idiot and got my functions mixed up. Originally connected it to the yellow wire and it all worked fine, it was late so I turned it all off went to bed. Next day I turned it on to take a little video and nothing happened, spent ages scratching my head, checking my connections my until by chance I changed the loco direction and the LEDs came on. Then I realised my mistake and that I'd used a directional function. I'd already removed the green wire, so just moved the yellow to the green connection on the decoder (lazy). Hence the warning about using the white and yellow wires. Told you it was boring.