At 34 years of age, the model required quite some work to convert it from DC to DCC with sound.
The model was upgraded with the following items:
ESU 58420 LokSound 5 8 pin decoder,
Stay alive
DCCSound Premium custom twin driver speaker (4 ohm)
TCS 6 pin Micro plug & socket loom
0.8mm sunny white LED
The tender jacket was removed from the tender floor via three screws on the underside of the tender floor. The new decoder was hardwired to the following leads:
Black: LHS track power (engine and tender)
Red: RHS track power (engine and tender)
Grey: Motor #1
Orange: Motor #2
White: Front headlight (switchable function)
Blue: Common positive for headlight
Brown: Speaker wires
A stay-alive was wired to the decoder and positioned with the speaker in the tender.
Moving to the engine, the body was removed from the chassis. The motor came connected for DC, with one terminal connected to the chassis (right rail power collection) and the other connected to the tender which collects current from the left rail.
On DCC, rail power needs to go to the decoder and then to motor, so in this case the motor had to be isolated (from the rails/chassis). To enable this, power pickup of the left side would need to be through the engine's wheels, for which there were no pickups on the model as received.
Hollywood Foundry (a now closed business) pickups were used while some 3D printed parts were designed and produced to hold the pickups in position. All three left hand side driving wheels now had power pickup.
The engine and tender were then reassembled and the decoder programmed with the latest Victorian Railways coal burning R class sound project.
