For those interested, I’ve put together a how-to tutorial for converting a Walthers SW1 switcher to DCC and adding a decoder and rear headlight to it. It’s broken up into sections for easier accessibility and digestion.
Along with the step-by-step instructions and tool and material lists, I’ve tried including as many helpful pics, tips, and links as possible (perhaps overkill) to explain what I did, how I did it, and the reasons why. I may tweak the tutorial a little more. However, for the most part, it’s essentially complete.
I’m also putting together a maintenance and upgrade portion for cleaning & relubing, installing new NWSL wheelsets, and replacing the old silicone tubing drive shaft with a NWSL U-joint. That’s still under construction for now but I’m hoping to finish that up within a week.
This has been a good, challenging, and educational project for me; both to undergo and to document. My hope is that the tutorial will prove to be a help to anyone who either is interested in converting their SW1 over to DCC, or just upgrading it so that it runs better.
Any suggestions you might have to improve it are most welcome. Thanks for taking the time to look at it. [:D]
The .pdf for the tutorial is hopefully in the works. Don’t know exactly when that will happen though.
The link to Tony’s .pdf for the decoder install is only a motion decoder. I haven’t found a how-to for a sound decoder installation. It would be pretty tight because the only place to put the decoder and space is in the cab.