Vandy tender DCC sound

[RRGrampa]

Is there room in the N scale Vanderbilt tender for a Tsunami 750 sound decoder and a mini oval speaker and enclosure?  If not, how about a 1/2 inch round speaker?

[skipgear]

I have one on my workbench as a project but haven't dug deep enough yet to see what will fit.

[RRGrampa]

I have the tender now and have opened it up.  There is room for the Soundtraxx 750 decoder under the coal space, but in order to have room for the speaker I would have to remove part of the circuit board.  My plan is to remove the center, leaving both ends holding the contacts for the conductors from the contacts that ride on the axles and also the mount for the rear LED.  After all, my whole reason for changing to this tender is to get improved pick up from both rails through the tender.  But I don't know what the ramifications of removing the circuit board might be.  Ordinarily one would connect the grey and orange decoder wires directly to the motor brushes and connect the red and black wires directly to the pick ups from the track, so what does the circuit board do for me besides provide a resistor for the LED?  I got no documentation with the tender, which was purchased new as a separate item with no locomotive.

[skipgear]

What loco are you mating it with? If it is a Bachmann with the 6 wire umbilical cord, then it makes your life a lot simpler. If it is a kitbash then you really don't need the board other than the pickups for the trucks and even that can be gotten around.

[RRGrampa]

Rivarossi 4-6-6-4

[RRGrampa]

I take it you're suggesting I could solder wires directly to the contacts that stick up through the floor of the tank.  How do I do that, in a space that's crammed full of other stuff, without unduly restricting the movement of the trucks?
Also, if I don't use the electronics board how large a resistor should I use with LED2? Or to restate the question a different way, what's the voltage rating of LED2?

[skipgear]

If you pull out the "light board" completely, then there is plenty of room. I don't normally suggest soldering direct to the truck pickup posts but in this case, it is by far the easiest solution. Just make sure you pull the trucks apart to solder to the contacts. I've seen quite a few trucks screwed up by people taking the lazy way out and trying to solder to them while still assembled. You can probably even trim a little off of the posts so they don't stick as far into the tender shell.

As far as a resistor goes, almost all LED's max out at 3 volts so somewhere in the range of 500-1000 ohms is where I start. It really depends on how bright you want it to be and what track voltage your DCC system runs at. I use a Digitrax system set to 12V so I usually settle on around 600-700 ohms. 1000 ohms is always the safe bet and will be fine on systems up to 18V.

Everything about this install is a tight fit so it may take a bit of trial and error, thus the reason I haven't gotten around to finishing mine yet.

[RRGrampa]

Success!  I got the decoder installed.  It was a real shoehorn job.
Now a further question:  I have New Haven tenders because unlettered tenders were all sold out in stores and on line, including the Bachmann site.  How can I remove that lettering without marring the plastic?