Iron Horseman
Well-Known Member
Good old split frame construction.The Sad - opened up three other locomotives I was planning to upgrade to DCC to find they don't have the option for the drop in decoders,
Good old split frame construction.The Sad - opened up three other locomotives I was planning to upgrade to DCC to find they don't have the option for the drop in decoders,
Well, I think this installation would be a lot harder than wiring in a decoder harness. Everything in a split frame arrangement is electrically hot. One has to be very careful to isolate everything from everything else in very tight quarters. There is no room for a superfluous plug or the extra wire from a harness. The author of the directions given at the TCS site given by Burlington Bob above agrees. Quoting his directions, "... make sure to decoder would fit ... had to mill the frame so ... isolated the frame from the decoder ... isolated the motor from the frame with tape. I then cut a notch in the plastic frame ... " While I still wouldn't put this installation the "hard" category (as a decoder will still fit and the milling is just a bit-off-the-top) it certainly isn't just a couple of easy solders.Steve it's very easy to wire in a dcc decoder. You just have to solder in a dcc harness to drop in a decoder
You should consider joining the Santa Fe Railway Modelers and Historical Society. At the convention this year there was only 1 entry in the BNSF loco and BNSF loco consist categories. There were no entries in the BNSF maintenance of way category. I think you would have beaten the models that did show up.Thanks all for the comments and feedback.