I have an MTH f-3 with loco sound from about 7-8 years ago. This loco has been back to Mth a couple of time with it being stuck either in neutral or reverse. At this point in time I also can’t stand the sound and the horn the way it is now. How much of an expense and how difficult is it to put a modern e-unit and plain horn in a unit like this. I did notice Williams had reverse units and tru blast horns for separate sale. Does anyone think it would work in this case?
I have put Lionel e-units into my MTH Big Boy and Big Blow locomotives, and an air whistle into the Big Boy. It’s no big deal. If there is not enough vertical room for it (as in the Big Boy), there is a version with a spring that you can use.
The direction of a locosound locomotive is controlled by small relais which tend to stick. One of my trainfriends also had that problem. The relais is the black block on the print inside the locomotive, a gentle tab with the fingers can solve the sticking, but probably only temporary. Swapping the relais for a better version also could be a solution.
Swapping a 6amp directional board with trueblast is easy, since the setup of the williams locomotive is the same as the mth ones (2 dc can motors) so the wiring is fairly simple. The horn outlet can be connected to the speaker already inside the mth loco. Another option, but a bit more difficult, is to get hands on a proto1 or proto2 board and not connect the coupler outlets. You’ll have sound as well as horn and bell, but you’ll have to find an EMD sound (an F3 with a rough alco motor inside is a bit odd).
You’ll loose the option of cruise control though.
Both guys give sound advice. You can also add TMCC and Railsounds for about $150 or so. I’ve done that to several MTH PS-1’s.
I have installed the williams units in quite a few MTH deisels.The intructions with the units are clear and there is more than enough wire to do the job.They also use modular plugs to the board wihich make the job easy.
Ed