DCC Conversion

[Jim_irene]

I have 2 of your old 2-10-4 Texas chugger locomotives. I want to convert them to dcc but as they your pancake motor and split chassis I have been told this cannot be done without serious surgery. Can you help me out. I purchased these locos in the late 60;s
    Jim More Riverton New Zealand

[trainman203]

Professionals can do it.  But it will cost more than the engine is worth.

[jward]

Split chassis locomotives are pretty easy to convert to DCC. But with a pancake motor it is probably not worth it.

Keep in mind that the chassis halves are opposite polarities, and insulated from each other my plastic T nuts and bushings. The ones I've converted, with the newer can motors, have the motor held in place by the chassis halves, with contact strips that rub against the halves. To Isolate the motor from the chassis, you need to cut off the metal contact strips, solder the motor lead wires to the brush caps on the motor, and cover those caps with electrical tape. You can also use the plastic T nuts to hold the track leads from the decoder in place against the chassis halves. Watch out for things like smoke units, and headlights that also are held in place by the frame halves and must be removed or they will short out the decoder. This procedure applies to both the steam locomotives and the dieaels (spectrum and Bachmann plus) that used this split chassis design.

[jward]

Here is a tutorial on a K4 pacific. The procedure should be similar for your locomotive.




https://drupal.tcsdcc.com/index.php/installation/ho-scale/1229