I picked up this beauty recently in part exchange for some outgoing Athearn BB locos. If I sat down and worked it out, it probably cost me in excess of 20 BB locos[:-bigeyes][B)] - worth it too.
My first task was to soundchip it - I borrowed a Tsunami medium decoder from another loco and semi-hard wired it by soldering the leads to the NMRA 8-pin plug in the tender. After covering up any holes in the tender with electricians’ tape it sounds awesome.
Next I removed the non-working front coupler and replaced it with a 30-series Kadee - the small coupler box allows plenty of swing for the pilot wheels on the front truck.
Here are some photos prior to weathering
There’s a plastic shaving attached itself to the smokebox door - I only noticed after the photos were uploaded. D’oh!!
Hey, I noticed you got the same number Mike I did. Terrific locomotive! Really crawls! I left the Loksound decoder in mine. Over speed step 15, I think the chuff is better sounding than the BLI Mike. Congratulations on a good choice! [tup]
Jon, when you have a chance, get the Trix Mike up to about speed step 060, then “quickly” turn the dial back down to 000 and let it coast to a stop. (Oh, make sure that the sound is on, too.)
Savor the moment, Crandell. It will be worth every minute you waited when you finally place it on your layout and give it its maiden run. [:)] (Easy for me to say, right?)
Let me know if you ever figure out how to replace the LED on the Trix Mike. Thanks for mentioning about the front coupler replacement. I will be doing that myself at some point.
Beautiful detailing, as usual. You do nice work! [:)][tup] I especially like the spilled coal behind the bunker. Nice touch!!
(Jon, I just showed my wife your new weathering job. Because she likes things “clean”, she said that she’s not convinced she’ll EVER warm up to me doing that with my locomotives. [(-D])
Tom, my missus calls all diesels UGLY, and insists I do a ‘cowboy’ or a Casey Jones’ layout, so it looks like I have yet another project in the pipeline.
[bow] Terrific weathering job Jon! I have the same loco and haven’t had the guts to attack it yet. Coal as coal, PERFECT. But why did you change out the sound system? Were you unhappy with the whistle playing only --o- Other than that I’ve been pleased with it. Thanks for the tip on the front coupler too.
My Trix mike came without either decoder or sound - the instructions suggest that this is how it was packaged, although the hole is present to site the speaker and it comes with the 8-pin socket.
I haven’t got any Loksound decoders yet, but I am very pleased with the medium steam Tsunami that graces the tender.
Jon, I really enjoyed your freight car thread and am gathering stuff for a try.
Could you give a little detail on the first weathering steps of the loco? I admit to being more worried about messing up an expensive loco than a freight car.
Jon, that loco looks great! Very nice work. I’m interested in using real coal to replace the coal loads in my atlas 90-ton hoppers. (This is N scale by the way) Would you mind sharing how you used the real coal? Did you crush your own or did you buy it RTR. What do you use to secure the coal to the tender? Thanks in advance.
