I have a Precision Scale N&W 4-8-0 engine that I purchased earlier this year. I need to convert it to DCC but I have been hesitant because I did not want to do any damage to my favorite engine. The pickup from one rail is in the tender and the only method on the engine for connecting the tender to the engine is through the drawbar. I did not want to run any wires between the tender and engine and I know that I do not need to as I can install a decoder in the engine itself as there is room. My only problem with this method is that on DC the engine has directional lighting. If the polarity of the track would make the engine go in reverse, then a diode in the tender will allow current through to a bulb in the tender. I do not want to lose this functionality when I go to DCC, so I am considering putting a decoder in both the loco and tender and setting them to the same address. Has anyone done this before? If so, do they make lighting effects only decoders that are cheaper than a standard decoder?
Kevin,
I don’t understand your reluctance to install a decoder and have a couple of wires between the engine and tender. There are multi-pin mini-connectors by Miniatronics that could be used to make it very easy to connect up to 4 wires at once, and made to look like the service hoses normally connecting the engine and tender. Look close at the junction between any life-size engine and tender, there are a myriad of wires and hoses there, not just the drawbar. You don’t have to use the colored DCC harness between the engine and tender. Splice the necessary wires to the 2-, 3-, or 4- conductor mini-connector and go for it.
Although they are not recommended for power bus service, I have used them (4-conductor) between MUed engines in A-B-A and A-B-B-A service, with the outside wires for track pickup and the inside wires for speaker connections. Worked great, no dead spots with that many wheels picking up power. Steam is much the same.
Good Luck.
Mark C.
Or check the RC Planes part of your LHS for Deans Connectors. Same concept as the Miniatronics things, but MUCH less expensive. They are available with 2, 3, or 4 pins, and are polarized so you can’t plug them in backwards. I got 10 packs f the 3-pin ones for $1 a pack at a local train show, I used them for the headlights in locos where the lights are in the shell - decoder is wired and mounts to the chassis, then 3 wires are used, white, yellow, and blue for the front and rear light and common, via the 3-pin connector so the shell can be totally seperated from the chassis for servicing.
Run the wires carefully, and it will look like the tender water hose connections.
–Randy
The decoders are generally programmed to automatically control the directional lighting systems. When you go into reverse, the headlights go off and the taillights come on. The higher-end decoders have additional functions for strobes, etc.
My reluctance only comes from drilling extra holes into such an expensive model. I have installed a decoder in my Rivarossi Challenger and added directional lighting just as you have all mentioned above. I was just looking for an alternative so that I would not have to drill extra holes in it as it does not have a space currently to run the wires out of the tender or into the locomotive…
A light only decoder is available from Digitrax, the part number is LT-1. I use one in all of my cabeese to turn the marker lights on and off. It can be purchased from your LHS or Loy’s Toys in Ark, he has an ad in MRR.
Teffy,
Thanks for the suggestion. I just ordered one so that I won’t have to drill holes in my brass tender and engine.
Thanks again!
Ummm… I hope you actually ordered it as a “TL1” and not as a “LT1”, since Teffy shuffled the letters around a bit.
A Digitrax LT1 is a LocoNet tester, while the TL1 is their single-function lighting decoder. Same letters, different order, big difference in product.
fmilhaupt,
I did get the TL1. I searched Tony’s Train Exchange for the product and figured he had transposed the letters.