PBL D&RGW K-27 #456 DCC Installation

PBL K-27 D&RGW #456

DCC Installation

Photo 1. The ballast bulbs have been discarded, and the boiler weight has been removed in order to take out the lighting module. I filed just a little bit of material off of the rear of the weight, as I like to slip my locomotive decoder up there. However, you'll note that I've added a small piece of lead in the slot where the lighting module formerly resided.

Photo 2. The classification lights on these models are conventional twin lead 1.5 volt bulbs on these new models - which is fortunate, since I blew both of them out in a momentary lapse of attention when testing for the correct value resistors! "%^&*..." (oh well!) Thus, the classification lights are able to be powered by the generally preferred method utilizing the Blue wire. The correct resistance value was calculated, but inevitably I find that you usually need to "tune" this a bit by trial, gradually reducing from a conservative, safe value until the illumination level looks right. The pair of resistors with the blue heat shrink tubing are for the classification lights and will be powered off of the Green (F1) wire, and the other pair of resistors with the black heat shrink tubing are for the headlight which will be connected to the White (F0-FWD) wire . The trio of wires that are soldered together in the center will be connected to the Blue (Function Common) wire. Not shown is the wire from the cab light which is frame grounded. It also has a resistor and will be connected to the Green (F1) wire as well so that it will turn on with the same function (F1) as the classification lights as is my practice. Note the strip of electrical tape that I have placed on top of the boiler weight, to provide an additional bit of protection where the decoder will be sitting..."an ounce of protection (etc.)", right? If you look at the rear of the locomotive chassis, you will see the two outlets mounted just inside the rear of the frame just above (or below - if the loco was right side up!) the brake cylinders. The one on the right is for the cam so it was encased in heat shrink tubing and epoxied in place; the one on the right is for the Red wire from the DSD-150 sound decoder that will be mounted in the tender. I removed the original factory-installed outlet that was on the back of the cab, and filled the opening with epoxy and painted it over...don't know why they put it above the footplate!

Photo 3. Nothing like attacking your new model with a Dremel tool, is there? I trimmed a bit of material off the sides, and removed the two posts just ahead of the tender water hatch that were there for...what, maybe the factory-installed sound? Anyway, they were in the way..."zinggggg..."

Photo 4. The Soundtraxx DSD-150 is sitting in place, with the speaker that I was going to use sitting in one of the TTX enclosures. However, I decided not to use the speaker enclosure box after testing the speaker just sitting on the floor and cupping my hand around it: the sound was fine, and the tender body itself will thus act as a perfect speaker enclosure.

Photo 5. A final check to make everything DOES fit!

Photo 6. The speaker has now been mounted on the floor with a thin bead of silicone sealant around the perimeter. I actually opened up the area of the floor between the outer pair and central trio of factory-drilled speaker holes, in order to maxtimize the exposure for the speaker. I drilled and tapped a new hole for the Black wire from the DSD-150 to attach to the tender frame. I also enlarged the hole in the left front corner of the tender floor where the two wires - the Red wire which must ground to the locomotive frame, and the Brown (Cam) wire which plugs into an insulated female receptacle on the locomotive - to 3/32" to provide adequate room for the two wires, without risk of chafing. The speaker had to be mounted a little bit off-center in order to leave room for the decoder and I covered up the remaining pre-drilled speaker holes that were exposed with a piece of styrene so that once the body was put back on, I would have a completely sealed enclosure.

Photo 7. "Wait a minute, you said the enclosure would be sealed - what about the water hatch?" The reason that I prefer to use a DSD-150 instead of a DSX is that it is a slightly more robust product --and -- it has lighting output functions. The latter makes it ideal for any locomotive with a backup light as you can power the light from the decoder in the tender, rather than having to bring additional wiring for this purpose back from the locomotive. The down side is that the DSD-150 requires a load - which is of course present with a motor attached - in order for it to register on a programming track. The problem is that the DSD-150 decoders generate motor hum through the motor when the F8 'Mute' function is engaged, so I am thus reluctant to have any permanent resistance connected to the decoder. My solution was to wire the DSD-150 motor output leads (Orange and Gray wires) to a Miniatronics miniature outlet, which I insert through a strip of styrene or brass and mount under the opening water hatch; when I need to program anything on the Programming track, I can simply plug in an old spare motor to provide a temporary load. If you're using a DSX, this step is unnecessary as that decoder uses the speaker as its load, and you hear a confirmatory 'chirp' from it when programming.