Walthers SW9/1200 Status?

[brokemoto]

Has anyone heard from WKW if the old shells will fit onto the new power chassis?

[Ike the BN Freak]

It's going to require a hard wired decoder just like previous releases.

Jason

However on the Walther's site they said DCC friendly..so guess its Walther's version of friendly vs the rest of the market.

[wcfn100]

However on the Walther's site they said DCC friendly..so guess its Walther's version of friendly vs the rest of the market.

Here's Walther's version.

The term "DCC Friendly" simply refers to the fact that you can change these
units from DC to DCC. It is not as easy as the plug-and-play with HO units.
You will have to do hard wiring and modifying to fit in the decoder of your
choice. In N scale, we've noticed customers have been using TCS Z2 decoders
as well as Digitrax DZ 121 decoders in this application.

Jason

[C855B]

However on the Walther's site they said DCC friendly..so guess its Walther's version of friendly vs the rest of the market.

Well, at this point they can't advertise it as anything else because even if they made changes to accommodate a drop-in, nobody offers one yet.

Other "friendly" locos I've bought were, yes, "friendly" - no drop-in available, but easily accessible solder pads for hardwiring a micro decoder like a Z1, and the space to put it. I'm fine with that.

[Ian MacMillan]

Well, at this point they can't advertise it as anything else because even if they made changes to accommodate a drop-in, nobody offers one yet.

Other "friendly" locos I've bought were, yes, "friendly" - no drop-in available, but easily accessible solder pads for hardwiring a micro decoder like a Z1, and the space to put it. I'm fine with that.

Same here. I don't mind doing some soldering. I'm looking for a few switchers and had been looking at this one.

[Ike the BN Freak]

I don't have an issue doing the wiring and soldering.  Just wondering if the frame was redone any on this run.  I know on the other runs you lost a weight because of the decoder.

[peteski]

I don't have an issue doing the wiring and soldering.  Just wondering if the frame was redone any on this run.  I know on the other runs you lost a weight because of the decoder.

Um, in a small model like that, wouldn't you lose weight whether the space for a decoder was factory-made or ground out by the modeler? Either way, the decoder has to go somewhere and most of this model is filled with metal...

[Bill H]

Peteski:
A lot of folks remove the cab weight and install a decoder there, but it is absolutely not necessary. It is easily enough room to remove the factory light board and place a decoder in that spot. This is a short description of the installation from a number of years ago.  http://www.tonystrains.com/tonystips/2007/010707.htm

Best,
Bill

[johnh35]

Peteski:
A lot of folks remove the cab weight and install a decoder there, but it is absolutely not necessary. It is easily enough room to remove the factory light board and place a decoder in that spot. This is a short description of the installation from a number of years ago.  http://www.tonystrains.com/tonystips/2007/010707.htm

Best,
Bill

Actually, with the TCS Z2 you can retain the light board in place. You an see it here http://n-scale-dcc.blogspot.com/search/label/Decoder%3A%20TCS%20Z2 (scroll to the bottom). I used this idea on mine but made one change. Instead of grinding a place in the motor for the wire, I switched the contacts on the motor from top to bottom (insulating them from the frame with Kapton tape). This puts the power feed to the bottom brush above the frame where you can solder a wire to it. A really easy conversion with no grinding and no need to remove the light board.

[peteski]

Peteski:
A lot of folks remove the cab weight and install a decoder there, but it is absolutely not necessary. It is easily enough room to remove the factory light board and place a decoder in that spot. This is a short description of the installation from a number of years ago.  http://www.tonystrains.com/tonystips/2007/010707.htm

Best,
Bill

True. I was merely questioning Ike the BN Freak's statement.

[Ike the BN Freak]

Well, at this point they can't advertise it as anything else because even if they made changes to accommodate a drop-in, nobody offers one yet.

Sure they can, Kato did it with the E5.  It happens that the loco appears and the decoder takes a bit to follow.

[SkipGear]

Just to put a final period on this topic. Our shops SW's show as shipped on the 5th.

[central.vermont]

Just to put a final period on this topic. Our shops SW's show as shipped on the 5th.

So Tony, can you open one of these up to show the guts for all of us that are less fortunate to have one
already. Oh and pics would be nice. 

Jon

[SkipGear]

I just opened the box from Walthers, no need for photos. I popped one open and they are the same mech and same annoying pickup tabs attached to the walkway.

Just a new batch of loco's.

[SP-Wolf]

I just opened the box from Walthers, no need for photos. I popped one open and they are the same mech and same annoying pickup tabs attached to the walkway.

Just a new batch of loco's.

Did they at least go with low (or lower) profile flanges-?

Wolf