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I have a pair of MTH Centipedes that came to me converted from PS/1 to a TAS EOB TMCC setup.  However, the whole effect was less than perfect, they didn't run that well, and the smoke had one speed, Frog Choker!  Of course, the sound was also Generic Diesel, I'm actually a bit tired of hearing the same diesel sound from a ton of different locomotives.  Finally, the lighting was pretty poor, and I like having high quality LED lighting.  Also, the automatic cab light control and Rule-17 lighting that's standard with the RCMC is a nice touch.  I also wanted these to be independent units with complete electronics, no unsightly tethers, etc.  I decided it was time to improve these.

I selected the Legacy Centipede RS-Lite sound boards, one for each unit.  It was nice that the actual sound set for this specific engine was available.  I also had in stock a pair of RCMC boards with both smoke unit outputs enabled, that was essential since each of these has two smoke units.

First step was to strip everything off the chassis, then drill the slave chassis for the speaker holes since both units will have sound.  I also drilled and tapped holes for the speaker baffles and of course, the RCMC mounting.  The switch provisions were conveniently there, I had four switches to mount and there were four locations for switches!

I also took the rear pilots that had the oddball scissors drawbar and the Dremel removed all the inside posts and mounts from the pilot to make room for the standard electrocoupler attached to the pilot truck.

Centipede Legacy Upgrade N1

Next to tackle a couple of modification tasks before mounting everything.  The smoke units were all a little rough, so they got the proper resistor, new wick, new gaskets, and a couple of them got new motors.  I was fortunate that this set didn't have the zinc rotted smoke units that I've encountered in a few PS/1 diesels lately.

Centipede Legacy Upgrade N2

Of course, one of the motors for each unit has to have the Legacy tach encoder and flywheel, so those were installed next.

Centipede Legacy Upgrade N3

With the preliminary work out of the way, I mounted all the parts back on to the chassis, here they are mechanically complete.  Not exactly ready for their first track test yet, next comes a harder part, building a installing all the wiring harnesses and lights.

Centipede Legacy Upgrade N4

The first "completed chassis off the line, everything wired and tested.  Since all of the lighting is installed on the chassis, the shell modifications consisted of adding a long wire Legacy antenna.  I also repaired some mounting posts, they always seem to have some cracks in plastic stuff that's 25 years old.  There's actually quite a lot of wiring in a Legacy engine.

Centipede Legacy Upgrade N5

All together and ready for a full track test, four feet of engine ready to haul whatever load comes their way!

Centipede Legacy Upgrade N6

OK, their first load was a caboose, but it's the thought that counts!   I programmed a lash-up and everything worked perfectly, I'm pleased with my new Legacy Centipedes.

Centipede Legacy Upgrade N7

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  • Centipede Legacy Upgrade N1
  • Centipede Legacy Upgrade N2
  • Centipede Legacy Upgrade N3
  • Centipede Legacy Upgrade N4
  • Centipede Legacy Upgrade N5
  • Centipede Legacy Upgrade N6
  • Centipede Legacy Upgrade N7
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Thanks guys.

I don't recommend this as a first upgrade, but overall the individual steps are not super difficult.  After doing the mechanical mods and mounting all the components, it's time to move on to wiring.  I just take one section at a time and generate the harness for that section.  Lights, smoke, power/motors, couplers, lights, and encoder are all individual wiring harnesses.  So, you take the smoke units and measure the length of wires needed and wire them individually to the smoke units.  They move on to the next component, etc.  When the smoke settles, you have all the wiring done.  It helps to buy pre-configured connectors with wires where possible, crimping the finer pitch pins is sometimes challenging.

I've been eyeing these for quite a while for an upgrade, I thought it was time they got some TLC.

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Next up I think it'll be the TMCC Class A, I'm going to give that one whistle smoke, as well.  Since it's already TMCC, the antenna is in place, that's sometimes a complication for diecast steam upgrades.

Awesome John!   

I am elbow deep in building my train room layout, but always enjoy seeing your mods and upgrades.

I have 2 Proto-1 FEF's that are going to be getting super chuffer, CG, ERR upgrades once I have the layout running, right now it is a mess in there and my work bench is buried under clutter as lay track right now.

I think the major issue that pushed me over to the Legacy upgrade on this one is the engine unique sounds, the Baldwin prime mover on these really doesn't sound that close to anything that ERR makes.  The other issue is the variable intensity smoke, I like the idea I can turn down the smoke level, four smoke units running full tilt pretty quickly forms a significant cloud! You also have to add a relay board to run the dual smoke units with ERR, and added complication.

Truthfully, the basic running using the ERR cruise is more than sufficient for me.  Of course, since I also happened to have the two matching RCMC boards, that made the upgrade a bunch cheaper than buying two Cruise Commanders and two sound boards.

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