ELECTRIC RAILROAD CO INSTALLATION VIDEO

Thanks for posting the link.

Jan

Ray, That is a great video. Kudos to Legacy Station for taking the time to create it.

Just be aware many installs are not that easy, especially if you have to replace the tether to accommodate more features like class lights or puffing smoke.

Diesels on the other hand should be as straight forward as that video shows. The hardest part is finding a place for the speaker.

Pete

Pete, yes I understand about the tether. On my Hiawatha, I was able to use the existing cable, cut off the connectors inside the tender, and just had to connect these to the screw terminal on the board. 

Also, forgot to mention that I installed the ERR chuff reed switch on one of the wheels, and so I have chuffing sound. May not be accurate or synced to the actual rotation of the drivers, but for my taste is works just fine.

RAY

Eric Siegal from Eric's trains, a forum sponsor uses & recommends Legacy Station.

Thanks for sharing the video.  He did do some round about things, but overall a good overview of the install process.  He didn't clearly show switching the motor wires, and didn't show installing the caps for the brushes at all, or hooking up lights or smoke, but the basics are there and it looks a lot easier then I thought it would be.  I just might start doing mine.

So, which size steamer sound board for a Camelback?

He must have started with the AC-DC Commander kit. The caps are used with Pulmore motors but not needed for the DC motor in that engine.

Pete

Great video. It gives me confidence to tackle it myself. Thanks for sharing!

Here is an example where more extensive mods were required. The engine was a Railking ESE Hudson that a friend wanted TMCC installed. It would have been much simpler if the motor driver and R2LC could have fit in the engine but there was not enough space in he small engine shell so everything had be installed in the tender. The 4 pin tether was replaced with a fabricated 8 pin one along with a new connector on the engine. Not shown are the puff n chuff board and smoke unit mods for synchronized smoke and installing of a tender backup light where none existed before.

Milling of engine.

Tender tether slot widened:

Tender Trucks modified for pickup rollers and roller mounts fabricated.

Tender Frame modified for wiring:

Pete

Pete, you do know there are rollers made for those trucks, right?

No doubt John but as you know I have yet to master finding parts at MTH. The rollers were taken from an MTH caboose that I had swapped trucks on but I had to make mounts and machine the truck frames.

Are the ones you are referring to drop ons? If so a part number would be appreciated  in case I have to do something similar again.

If this had been my engine I would have just installed PS2. Much easier.

Pete

I believe those are BD-0000062, they also fit most MTH rolling stock.

Those appear to be the same ones I used but it was not a drop in installation. The truck had to milled out for clearance and bracket made (I used blank epoxy PCB board). Appreciate the part number though.

Pete

I just stuck a couple in a tender, they dropped right in.  I can't see the mounting hole since you have it covered up, maybe those are different trucks.

Pete, You mention you had to make some mods to the MTH smoke unit. I am familiar with smoke unit mods when upgrading to PS-2 but not with TMCC. I will be using an ERR Cruise Commander, RS and the ERR puffer board in an MTH PS1 steamer.

Can you share what mods are needed to the smoke unit? Were they only needed because you were using the ERR puffer board and, if so, do the puffer board instructions show what the needed mods are?

Thanks much for any info.

Regards,

Mack

Here is a pic you can blow up. Note the space on the truck frame next to the roller base. Thats where material was removed from the truck. The hole for the round head screw had to be drilled and tapped. It wasn't there originally.

I was hoping to use knee action rollers but they would not fit between the axles.

Pete

Hard to tell, but the net result is you got it in there.

A million thanks for posting the video, I have installed many of these boards

and have found they are pretty much straight forward instruction. But it is nice

to see how they go about doing it. Iam sure this video will help many out there!

Thank You Legacy Station!

I really liked this video.  I think, I would have used the old speak location for the new speaker location in the front of the tender closer to the locomotive rather in the back where Barry put it.  After all, the sounds should be coming from the locomotive and the speaker holes are already there.

There were a few things left out, like the caps where never used or not needed on the dc motor.  When he ran the locomotive for the first time, it ran backwards, so he needed to switch the brush wires to correct.  Also, he should have mentioned that the antenna should be taped to the top of the tender shell for good reception.

These are all minor things that they could easily edit back in, but it was a very good video and I will be referring to it in the future for sure.

Thanks Legacy Station (my LHS) for creating this!

It was a very good video. I've been thinking about installing one for a while now. I would like to see them do a video for a diesel. 

I'd love to see a video for an install on a Williams BL-2 control with cruise and a sound board too. This video was most helpful, thanks for taking the time to make it and posting.

Pete,

Nice job!  It is good to see some precision.

Dave

For many TMCC installs, I use the MTH tether sets, you get ten wires in a neat package.  You can get them either straight or 90 degrees, depending on your requirements.  Frequently, even with MTH stuff, I have to mill out the engine frame for the tether connector.

This is great and gives me hope to attempt an install myself on one of my Williams loco's. Can you upgrade to a fatboy speaker? Also at the end of the Video on the final run, It seemed like he was operating in conventional. Just noticed the light headlight blinking on and off when he changed directions. Anyway, Thanks for sharing.

Uncle, the Railsounds kit comes with a 40mm baby Fatboy. You can use any 8 ohm speaker that will fit. You can also program the engine to keep the headlight on all the time or have it toggle depending on direction.

Pete

BTW thanks Dave. As you know there are a lot of crossover benefits between trains and motorcycles. Having a full machine shop is one of them.

Pete

Thank you for posting the link to this Legacy Station video.  Although I have installed several ERR kits, it is great to see how others perform the task.

Only the track lockon was also coming on and off with direction change, so yes, he had to be running it conventionally at the end.  I'm guessing as a way to show that the sounds work in conventional as well as command.