I picked up 2 of these Proto SD45’s awhile ago and finally got around to buying decoders for them. I bought 2 DH163L0 decoders, they basically are the standard for all Proto plug and play loco’s. My question is do I need to relocate the number board lights on the plug? I had to do this with the Proto GP38-2’s and the GP60’s I own or else they wouldn’t run. Thanks eh.[:)]
Dave, I think the procedure is that if the number boards have a DEDICATED bulb that is SEPERATE from the the headlight bulb, then yes, you will have to cut the number board bulb loose, and power it with one of the decoder’s function outputs. It sounds like you have done this before, so I won’t go into detail about how to do it. I also had to do this on my P2K SD60M.
I thought so. I guess the GP9’s are the only “real” Proto plug and play dcc ready loco’s. It only takes a few minutes to move the lights anyways, thanks eh.
Well, the GP9 is not the ONLY one. I also have a SD50, and it’s number boards are run off of the headlight bulb, so it also was a “true” Plug-n-Play. Surely there are others.