Athearn RTR DCC Retrofit

[rrinker]

One thing I would suggest, as is also typically suggested when hardwiring a decoder the old way - that front light bracket isn't the most reliable source for pickup from the chassis. The couple of old BB locos I have, that piece is loosely riveted to the chassis and moves around quite a bit. A better way to get power from that side of the pickups is to drill a small hole and use a brass screw, then solder to the screwhead. BEST is to go right to the brash bushings - I have 2 RTR RS-3s (that already have the circuit board) and one was intermittent even after I soldered a wire to the metal sides of the truck frames. Wipers on the bushings is my next step with that one, in the meantime I got the second one and it worked fine out of the box!

--Randy