I bought five factory sound-fitted Class 37s from Accurascale’s latest Batch 3 release, including catalogue number ACC-154668, Class 37/4 37421 in Colas Rail Freight livery. The decoration and overall finish are excellent, and visually it is a very impressive model.
Unfortunately, this particular locomotive developed a fault almost immediately. The DCC sound cuts out after around 45 seconds of running.
This does not appear to be a controller or dirty track issue. I am using the ECoS controller supplied through Accurascale, and other Accurascale sound-fitted locomotives including other Class7 locos batch run 3 run correctly on the same track. The problem appears specific to this locomotive.
My concern is that this feels similar to sound cut-out issues I have experienced with earlier Accurascale releases, where the sound would simply disappear. I do appreciate what Accurascale are trying to achieve, and when support is available the team do try to help, but resolving faults can be slow because customer support appears stretched.
Based on my experience, I would stillstrongly recommend buying Accurascale models factory sound-fitted if you intend to run them with sound. It is usually cheaper than buying a DCC-ready model and fitting sound separately, and it also avoids any argument about whether the problem is with the model, the decoder, or the installation.
I have learned this from previous experience with an Accurascale Class 55 Deltic, Black Watch. That model ran perfectly well as DCC-ready, but when decoders were fitted, including the ESU decoder supplied for it, the decoders all failed and blew them. DCC plate put back in and ran as normal. I also had issues when trying other decoder options, including a Hornby HM7000 in another Accurascale DCC-ready model. In my view, the issue appears to be with the locomotive’s PCB on that Deltic rather than the decoder itself, and that matter has still not been resolved to my satisfaction. That is why despite sound issues if you want to run DCC you should buy the loco factory sound fitted.
If this Class 37 were being judged purely as a DCC-ready locomotive without sound, I would rate it five stars . The finish, decoration and presentation are excellent. Price untouchable by other manufactures. However, because this is a factory sound-fitted model and the sound cuts out after around 45 seconds, it is disappointing. I would advise caution on this 37 in run batch 3 until Accurascale confirm and resolve the cause of these sound issues. This deserves a five star if the sound was not faulty.
