Rapido Trains british rail APT-E User Manual - Dcc Functions
11
If you change your mind and want to turn the turbine startup delay back on, give CV 124 a value
of 21.
If you completely mess up and the train starts to do weird stuff, see Factory Reset below.
DCC FUNCTIONS
F0 Directional head and tail lights
F1 Gas turbine unit
F2 Two-tone horn (low-high)
F3 Playable low horn tone
F4 Playable high horn tone
F5 Hydro-kinetic (HK) braking fan
F6 Driver’s door slam
F7 Dale auxiliary diesel generator
F8 Air purge
F9 Directional cab lights
F10 Additional gas turbine start
F11 Additional gas turbine start
F12 Crew access steps
F13 DC lighting
F14 Tilt pump
F15 Speed-dependent detonators
PROTOTYPICAL OPERATION
We’ve enlisted the aid of Ian Bishop, otherwise known as Legomanbiffo, to record and master
the sounds. Legomanbiffo is widely regarded as the most accomplished and most accurate sound
engineer in the British model railway community. It has been a pleasure to work with him on this
project, and we hope that you will consider Legomanbiffo for all of your diesel and electric sound
needs in future. The following text was written by Legomanbiffo.
The DCC sound project for the APT-E was developed with the assistance of Kit Spackman, other-
wise known as “Mr Tilt,” a member of the original APT-E project team. Some sounds are from origi-
nal recordings of the prototype, some are from common components used in other trains, some
are generic and some had to be completely synthesised where no alternatives were available.
Auxiliary power for various systems on the train came from a Dale diesel generator, and this
had to be running before the gas turbines could be started. Pressing F7 on the model before start-
ing the turbines allows this to be recreated. Alternatively, F7 can be left off to allow enjoyment of
the turbine sounds alone whilst driving, albeit not technically accurate.
As there was no recording of the generator available, Kit listened to a number of similar record-
ings and settled on the one that sounded closest to his memory of the original. It would spoil the
illusion to say what the recording is actually of!
(Jason adds: “The pickers of nits will note that in the very early years of operation the turbines
were started by battery power or via a 440V AC land line connection. But for the rest of us, the
Dale diesel sound is a must.”)
The tilt pumps were normally started next. These are on F14. Again, these can be left off when
driving, if preferred. The same type of tilt pump was used on the APT-P (Production) train.