How To Make a Hornby Pug Your Best Performing Loco on DCC

If you like the locomotives and fancy one for yourself, the latest model from Hornby is available from:
Hattons: bit.ly/3byfFAM
Rails of Sheffield: bit.ly/2Sff53h
Our sponsor today is Train-O-Matic, who produce the best DCC chips I've used; including the chips and stay-alive capacitors used in today's video. Visit their site at www.train-o-matic.com to see their full range of products! Also available through UK stockist: www.tramfabriek.nl/decoders.html
If you like the video and want to help me make more, take a look at my Patreon page: / jenniferkirk
Want to buy the mugs? Go here: teespring.com/en-GB/stores/al...
Want to buy my books? Go here: www.allmousemedia.com/books
My website: www.jennifer-kirk.com/

[@AGregPalmer]

Lead free solder is a pig compared to 60/40 that is still available for hobbyist use. don't mix the 2. So if there is solder on something commercial that you need to redo, either redo it with lead free solder or get the old solder off and use lead free. look up info on solder suckers and copper braid. after tinning trim the wires very sort. It took some finding but there is some very fine heat shrink available. There is also some paint on insulator. Alternatively get some larger heatsink for covering the end of the decoder. You only need a narrow ring. Heat shrink that over the wires and area that you soldered onto the pads and any bare wire ends that hopefully you have short if you trim them short. Nail clippers are good for that but nice sharp rail cutters do a good job too. Consider using an open wagon to put the bits in rather than hoping that nothing shorts as you drag stuff. Good outcome.

[@geoffgardner7945]

Great video Jenny. Just had a L&Y Pug bought for me at Christmas and was in love with the cute little model until I realised it wasn't DCC Ready, but now you've solved all the issues with it and I can't wait to get it fitted out and running. Thanks.

[@JenniferEKirk]

Geoff Gardner you’re welcome!

[@Kettenhund31]

Thanks for this one, Jenny, it's a real confidence-builder!

[@JenniferEKirk]

Kettenhund31 you’re welcome!

[@musoseven8218]

Interesting and informative video Jenny, I was pondering a replacement Chassis (kit). Looks very fiddly but well worth the effort.

[@lesliedickinson198]

That is an awesome video Jenny and so glad you did it as i have a similar pug and after this i will get more as i remember these little titans being shedded at agecroft shed. So good to combine happy memories with model railways. Keep up the good work

[@JenniferEKirk]

leslie dickinson thanks!

[@JamesPetts]

I approve of gubbins. Stay alives are splendid - I use them on my N gauge layout. They make a huge difference.

[@LeslieGilpinRailways]

I model n scale (1:160) but I can't see how a stay alive would fit my loco. Agree they would be most useful on n.

[@JamesPetts]

@@LeslieGilpinRailways Use tantalum capacitors for N gauge - very good space efficiency.

[@JenniferEKirk]

James Petts they transformed the pug into a fully usable loco. Very impressed.

[@lifestyleunleashed8046]

A great guide. It will be interesting to see how this works on one of my Andrew Barclay fireless locomotives

[@JenniferEKirk]

Lifestyle Unleashed thanks!

[@lindylou59]

Hello Jenny, if you take the motor out you’ll either get the decoder or the stay alive in, or both in the boiler, I’ve just bought one in pieces, but I’ve not fitted dcc to it yet,

[@JenniferEKirk]

That does involve removing the lead weight that is in there which renders the loco far too light to run well.

[@BAMBAM5476]

Put the decoder on a wagon if you are testing. It only takes a small time in contact with the rail on the wrong point of the decoder and it is gone to decoder heaven.

[@JenniferEKirk]

BAMBAM5476 the magic smoke was carefully restrained from fleeing!

[@durhamranger988]

Another good video Jenny. Really helpful. Are you going to try the N gauge stay alive in one of your OO gauge Locos? It will be interesting to see how it performs.

[@JenniferEKirk]

David Andrews I’ve tried one and they actually work really well. Essentially same run time but different shape depending on space available. They fit into the boiler of the Bachmann Jinty where the short fat ones won’t.

[@SammoKarm]

The website says that all there decoders are suitable for connecting the SPP capacitor, however I have bought the 7 wire Art 02010223 decoder and on the board at the other end of where the wires are connected I have 4 terminals on one side and 7 on the other, all the gaps between the terminals are the same so not giving any connection indication. I've been on the website and can only find a connection diagram for what you have here. Have you any ideas please?

[@jamesgilbart148]

Thanks, that's really useful - I'll have ago with my pug! Do Train-o-Matic make a combined decoder and smart power pack? I am wondering whether this approach might improve a Wickham trolley - but space is a real issue in those

[@JenniferEKirk]

James Gilbart you’re welcome. No one makes a combined DCC+SPP as far as I know.

[@davidhylands4555]

Would have been nice to see the loco running before you upgraded it as we haven't seen if in fact the running was improved.

[@JenniferEKirk]

David Hylands the comparison was with the straight DCC hard wire as shown in the video. On DC which I have no track for, they run at warp speed with a tendency to stall on points.

[@chazzyb8660]

Jenny, I wonder if there was room to attach the decoder to the inside of the cab roof, with the power pack tucked into the boiler gap and sprayed or covered in tape to disguise it, if that wouldn't have worked and left a bit more space in the cab? Bang up job though, opening up all sorts of possibilities.

[@JenniferEKirk]

Chazzy B the boiler is a solid block of lead. The cab really is the only space available.

[@chazzyb8660]

@@JenniferEKirk Fair play, I thought I saw a gap, obviously not! Thanks again.

[@Zebrails]

Granted, the wheel base over express points is where this Smart Pack works. There is a drawback if your track or wheels are dirty if the locomotive to keeps going, right? Not knowing when it's not the express points. John Kamloops, BC Canada

[@MR66HD]

I love stay alive in my locos

[@foorcscale]

Clean the wheels, track and remove all the crusty big lumps of ballast off the inside of the rails to give it a chance and only a small stay alive capacitor would be required to get it over insul frog points.