Hi
I have a DC Riverossi 2 truck shay and would love to make it DCC and add sound but I don't know if that is possible because of the size.
Anyone ever do it? Can it be done? What products do I need?
Gary
Hi Gary. I believe you are referring to the heisler, correct? I don't think there is room. A simple decoder barely fits. I put sound in one of my bobber cabooses and run it right behind the loco. Some operations did do this for safety reasons (protect the crew if the logs fell off).
Simon
Yes it can be done to the Heisler, I put in a Soundtraxx Economi decoder in the cab area, lying on top of the motor, the speaker was a bit of a challenge. Luckily my locos burn oil so of course I use the oil bunker that comes with the loco that fits on the tender, Because of the speaker I was forced to cut away the tender floor to use the additional space inside the oil bunker for the speaker. Still it was a tight fit but it can be done. Unfortunately I don't recall the excat speaker used, I couldn't get a small Soundtraxx sugar cube speaker to fit (it was too tall).
Here is a link to a none sound decoder install so you can understand the disassembly procedure.
http://www.tcsdcc.com/Customer_Content/Installation_Pictures/HO_Scale/Rivarossi/2_Truck_Heisler/2_Truck_Heisler.html
Let me look around, possibly I can get you the part numbers and pictures of how I did this.
"The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination."-Albert Einstein
http://gearedsteam.blogspot.com/
I had never seen the oil tank version, and it does indeed look like you have a bit more room for a decoder and speaker than the coal version (which I have). Another factor to consider is the version of your loco. I have an early version with the old Rivarossi motor. The motor takes up most of the cab space. The newer versions have a different motor that appears to be more compact, leaving more room for a decoder attached to it and leaving the oil tank totally open for a speaker.
Let us know what happens...
The new versions came with the oil bunker option