I am at the point in my new layout that I am pulling steam and diesel locomotives out of storage and getting them ready to return to service. I purchased a number of BCR2's for this project. The steam engines have been easy-just remove the tender shell, pull out the old battery, and install the BCR2. All of these have gone smoothly, but I was apprehensive about tackling a diesel engine. Yesterday I tried battery replacement in my SD50 (20-2706-1). I pulled out the MTH manual: scan attached of the relevant page. I was hoping to find some information on exactly which screws to remove, but that was not to be found. With the scan as my only guide, I proceeded to successfully remove the shell. I spent a lot of time looking at the internal components trying to find the battery. As I was about to give up, I spotted a little bit of blue showing through a gap in the fuel tank. The blue looked just like the batteries I removed from my steamers. I then proceeded to remove the fuel tank, found the old battery, removed it, installed the BCR2, and put the engine back together. I now have this engine back in service.
I hope some of you may save some time and effort when you decide to replace your old MTH diesel battery. Look in the fuel tank first! All you have to do is unscrew the fuel tank and make the BCR2 replacement. You do not need to pull the shell off if the battery is in the fuel tank.
Bill
