Doodlebugs...

[Franz T]

It has been over 10 years since the release of the N-scale Doodlebug. Now that there is a re-release in HO, how about bringing them back out in N again, preferably in DCC and with a trailer like the new HorriblyOversized version???

[ABC]

[H]ow about bringing them back out in N again, preferably in DCC and with a trailer like the new HorriblyOversized version???

The problem with DCC is that there is no where to put it that wouldn't be in plain sight and obvious to someone who's not even looking for it. Also the trailers are not likely because the heavyweight passenger cars are not in production any longer either.

[skipgear]

I just looked at a friends Doodle yesterday to look at adding DCC to it. There is plenty of room. For Bachmann, it would just be a point of making a lightboard decoder similar to the 44T that replaces the circuit board in the loco now.

For add on DCC, you can cut the rear shaft off of the motor and mount a small decoder (DZ125 etc.) vertically in the space between the motor and the interior. You could also remove the crude lighting for the interior and hide the decoder in the roof of the car, completely out of view of the coach section.

As far as the coaches, the heavyweight that comes with the HO, it's not really right behind a Doodle but it is the closest they had to offer. The shorty heavies would be interesting again in N but I'm not sure that is the right thing behind a doodle either. The coaches that a doodle pulled were smaller lighter coaches or a mail coach.

[ABC]

I just looked at a friends Doodle yesterday to look at adding DCC to it. There is plenty of room. For Bachmann, it would just be a point of making a lightboard decoder similar to the 44T that replaces the circuit board in the loco now.
For add on DCC, you can cut the rear shaft off of the motor and mount a small decoder (DZ125 etc.) vertically in the space between the motor and the interior. You could also remove the crude lighting for the interior and hide the decoder in the roof of the car, completely out of view of the coach section.

I was a assuming most people would want to keep the interior lighting and add people inside in which case there's a problem. But physically there's plenty of room for a decoder as long as you don't care if someone can see it.

[skipgear]

All three instalations I described would be invisible. You could install the decoder in the roof, by removing the factory light diffuser and adding LED lighting. There is plenty of room and you would not see a thing.

If a decoder can be installed in an Atlas Shay without any external modifications, a Doodlebug is easy.

[ABC]

Here's a picture of the interior:

Here's where some suggest putting the decoder:

[skipgear]

A DZ125 is half the size of that decoder. The Lenz is even smaller. I just pulled a DZ125 off the shelf at the shop to look at it, you could stand it up verticaly in the small slot between the seats and the motor bracket. It's thin enough you may be able to put it under the seat insert.

I'm not sure I understand mounting it under the frame. That is a more obvious and distracting location than installing it in the coach section of the car. If that was the smallest decoder available at the time, I would rather take up some space in the passenger section and pull the window shades down where the decoder was so you couldn't see it.

I'm sorry for being blunt, but that is a hoaky install. If somebody paid for that, they deserve their money back.

[ABC]

That photo was from when decoders didn't come any smaller than that size (as pictured). I just got out an N/Z scale decoder and you're right it will fit okay in several places. That photo was taken right after Bachmann N doodlebugs were released according to the website, so there was not as much DCC technology back then and things were considerably larger.

[PRRnTX]

i would ask for a more efficient motor (needing less amperage!!)