Roundhouse 0-6-0 vs DCC/Sound

[sailormatlac]

I decided to hack and saw the Bachmann tender. Just like that crappy TV I watched last week, found out it was rather good and to not just a book by its cover!



I found out I could shorten the tender to fit the prototype dimensions without issue. Details like headlight, handrails, doors, water valve and water hatch were salvage for later.

This afternoon, I worked on the electric wiring for over 5 hours with a fellow club member. After a few trials and errors, we decided to use IDE connectors.Tender trucks were replaced with MDC archbar trucks with all-wheel electrical pickup using the classic Kadee spring trick.





Connection between tender and locomotive is made using IDE connector from defunct computer parts. These connector are heavy-duty compared to cheap sockets habitually implemented on steam locomotives.



The wires connected with the tender will then run under the locomotive cab just like real water hoses making them working details.





The rear dummy headlight was drilled and fitter with a LED.



The same thing was done with the front headlight. However, the LED is pinned directly into a IDE socket to make shell disassembly front the drive easier in the future.



I plan replacing the decoder with a N scale NCE one located in the boiler. Sound may wait until 2013.

Now the fun part start with only detailling, painting and weathering left to be done!

Matt