Hi all
I've been browsing Railwire for a while and recently signed on. So this is my first post.
I have an N scale layout, DCC, with several sound locos, but these are hard to come by unless you do it yourself. I wanted to put a sound decoder in one of the earlier Kato locos, and I was inspired by the installs done by John Colombo.
I was initially looking to install a LokSound Select in an early version SD40-2 and purchased a decoder with an EMD645 sound file and an 8x12 sugar cube speaker. However I found there wasn't room for both, and I didn't want to locate the speaker in the fuel tank. So I looked for another loco I could modify and found that an early Kato GE U30C or an early Kato C30-7 were both suitable (they have the same frame). They are the older style locos with small light boards at each end. So here is the result and some photos of how I did it.
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Please excuse the extra sounds which were made by me trying to juggle a camera and a throttle. I will change the sound file for a GE engine later
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Most of the frame modification is at the rear for the decoder and at the front for the speaker, but also along the top making a groove for the wires and down the side for the motor wires. A Dremel with a good cutting tool does a quick job although it doesn't look too pretty.
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The decoder fits quite well at the very end of the shell but not where the shell narrows, so I had to carefully trim it using a Dremel with a small cylindrical stone.
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I cut down the light board to make room for the speaker and soldered the red and black wires to it. I replaced the original LED with an SMD LED which I super glued onto the inside of the plastic lens in the cab. I had to paint the LED and plastic black to stop the light bleeding into the cab. I needed a new dropper resistor and had to make a space for it on the right side of the frame. Shown below.
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The decoder fits at the rear of the frame protected by Kaptan tape. I didn't need to remove the decoder's plastic cover.
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The speaker is an 8x12 from Streamlined Backshops mounted on top of their sugar cube with gap filling CA ensuring there were no gaps. The speaker contacts are facing up, not down into the sugar cube. The overall height is 6mm or 1/4 inch. The sugar cube is held in place with Blu Tac.
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The grey and orange wires are soldered onto the motor contacts, ensuring they don't touch the frame. Plenty of Kaptan tape anywhere there could be a short.
I think the hardest part of the install was convincing myself that it was physically possible and that I could do it. Thanks again to John Colombo.
John F
