I guess I like a challenge. Tonight I began installing a TCS decoder in a Kato HO scale switcher. This loco has a split frame which picks up track voltage and provides motor, rear lamp, and front lamp power. The lamps are LED’s which provides directional lighting in DC. The split frame fills every cubic centimeter of the shell. So far I’ve cut out enough of the frame halves so that the decoder has a little opening to live in on right on top of the motor. I insulated the frames where the motor brush clips used to pick up power and soldered decoder wires to the clips. So far so good! I reassembled the frame halves. Temporarily, I wired decoder power to the front lamp circuit board. Put it on the programming track and it sent back the decoder info. Fired it up as loco #3 and it ran great.
It’s a little nerve-wracking doing a frame modification. This is the second time I’ve threatened to make the conversion. It looks like it will work out pretty well. Tomorrow night, I’ll decide if I feel the need to wire the lights to the decoder. As it is, both lights will run continuously on DCC - maybe I can live with that. The other option is to sever the lamps from the frame and wire them to the decoder instead. The front lamp is mounted on a small circuit board that I think could be modified easily by cutting traces. The rear lamp is fed by two metal strips that plug into the frame. I could cut these and wire them to the decoder (rather destructive, no going back to DC, maybe ok) or run a couple new wires up to the circuit board there and cut traces. I’ll see how I feel tomorrow. I solved the important problems tonight.
No questions… just thought I’d share. This is one aspect of the hobby I really like.
If you’re talking about the Kato NW-2 switcher, I have put decoders into 4 of them, but I used the Lenz LE077FX, a dime-sized decoder which was the equivalent of the TCS M-1. If you use the M-1 instead of the T-1, you won’t have to grind away as much of the weight to make room for it.
I’m pretty sure I’m putting in the smallest TCS decoder - don’t remember the number sitting here. It fits nicely in the window I cut out over the motor. Tonight I wired the decoder power and headlight wires to the lightboard at the front of the loco. I changed the resistor to a 1K, but it’s not overly bright - probably could have left in the 270 Ohm resistor that was already there. I cut one trace on the board so I could use the board for power pickup, and made a new hole for the resistor so I could effectively cut that trace too. I’ve got the wires taped to the top of the frame, but I’m not sure the shell will fit over them. I may have to cut channels for the wires.
Now, the rear light… that’s going to be tough to wire! Thats a project for another evening.
My Kato NW-2s all had yellow LEDs for lights. It’s been so long ago that I installed the decoders I don’t remember all of the gory details, but for some reason I did not wire the LED on the cab end to the decoder, and it is always on.
I thought of just letting the lights run continuously. That would certainly be the easiest thing to do, especially with the light in the cab. I haven’t got a clue how I will run the wires yet, so maybe I’ll reach the same conclusion. Even the front lamp was a bit of a challenge, but it’s done now unless the wires interfere with the shell.
Project Kato is complete - successfully I think. This was a tough one. Here’s a few highlights. I did a writeup with more details that I just mailed of to TCS for their website. I bet they’ll be posted there in a couple days.
