cacole I know it's too late to be of much use, but instead of a wiring harness and large decoder, you should or could have used a TCS M1, which is only about the size of a dime. I think Lenz and NCE make similarly sized decoders.
I know it's too late to be of much use, but instead of a wiring harness and large decoder, you should or could have used a TCS M1, which is only about the size of a dime. I think Lenz and NCE make similarly sized decoders.
Yes, like this!
I'm mulling over a redo, With a Loksound Micro and soundbits from the actual Thomas, D/Led from videos. My biggest challenge right now is the speaker, because I want it all contained within Thomas.
I'll get it, just need a little time to clear the workbench (yeah right)
Karl
NCE über alles!
My grandson's Thomas has had a TCS decoder added. It runs OK for what it is. It is in Thomas, not one of the cars, and controls the motor and lights. I thought about putting a sound decoder in one of the cars, but at age 6 he is losing interest in Thomas and would rather run the real trains. We also have a DCC converted Hogwarts Express.
Dave
Lackawanna Route of the Phoebe Snow
An M1 is what I put into an HO scale Thomas. It fit into the roof of the cab.
As far as running qualities, the decoder installed in the DCC On-Board version is a watered-down Lenz decoder that is not nearly as good as their retail version. Bachmann's On-Board decoders are sort of hit and miss on running qualities.
Check the Bachmann forums. There is a Thomas forum also. Loco diagrams. All knids of good info.
http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/board/index.php
Rich
If you ever fall over in public, pick yourself up and say “sorry it’s been a while since I inhabited a body.” And just walk away.
I have a standard little Bachmann Thomas HO loco I am using for a project. I wired a harness and put a decoder in Thomas for something my group needs to show off. Its a slightly larger decoder so I have it housed in the Annie car.Everything works, but of course the motor isn't as nice as it might be. Also I had to add a bolt to give poor Thomas enough weight to pull cars.If I spring for the $115 and get the DCC Thomas, will I get better motor performance? Are the DCC Thomas trains setup so its fairly straight-foward for me to set it up with a 9 pin harness plug in the trailing car? (This larger decoder with sound is part of the project, so I need the decoder to reside in Annie).If anyone has gotten to experience both trains I'd love to hear how they compare.
The lights are nice.