I recieved a couple of old tyco locomotives as a gift. One is a “Chattanooga” loco and the other one is seems to be a cross between a GP7 and an SD24 and has a mini can moter drive. Near as I can tell, it was never run. Does anyone have tips for bringing it back and converting it ti DCC? Oiling and lubing is a given.
The Chattanooga locomotive was missing the front truck so I gutted it. I’m going to add steryne exstensions on the side so it attaches like Athreans F7 shell. Ishould havevenough room for a sound chip and full light compliment.
In my opion they are not worth it. The locomotives of today are so much better.
However, if you do want to convert them to DCC they should be all wheel pick up and all wheel drive. Anything less will be unacceptable when done.
The main things needed are:
1- Test the current draw when the power is on and the wheels are kept from moving. (Stall current) If it is over one amp, again, they are not worth it.
2- The motor brushes need to be completely isolated from the frame or any track pick up contacts as these locos were not made for DCC conversions. If you miss some hidden connection, you will fry the decoder.
3- You will have to wire in the decoders. That means you will be working with tiny size wire.
Thanks for the tips. I’ve done a couple other hardwire jobs in the past so I should be okay.