All modifications described herein are done at your own risk !
| Home Garden Railway Digital Conversions | |
Into this engine, I installed the ATL2054 decoder manufactured by UMELEC (Switzerland). Another choice would have been the DH142 decoder by Digitrax. The dimension of the decoders is critical to get it to fit. The other decoder parameters I felt were required included back emf load control and at least 28 speed steps. The ATL2054 decoder provides integrated steam sound. The sound is not terribly realistic, but this was my very first LGB engine where I installed a DCC decoder and I wasn't as particular about the sound at that time. Another decoder that could be considered here is the one from ESU Loksound (Germany). This decoder offers very good sound quality and the sound can even be modified using a PC.
At the same time, while I was installing this decoder, I also tried to increase the weight of the loco at the driving wheels. This was not very easy as there was very little room in this loco to add weights. However, I did manage to increase the weight of the loco from 990 grams (manufacturer's specification) to 1113 grams.
The following schematic shows the connections to the decoder:
For the connection of the loudspeaker, please consult the manual provided with the ATL-plus-Decoder ATL2054.
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The two domes on top of the boiler can be opened from above. I filled both cavities and the smoke stack with small lead pellets and fastened them with a little bit of glue. |
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Then I removed the cover in the front underneath the coupler and disconnected the wires from the motor block. The complete drive mechanism can be separated from the chassis once the 4 large screws have been removed. |
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I fastened small, flat lead pieces inside the cylinder blocks, note however that
there are moving parts of the drive train inside the cylinder. Just above the motor drive there is an approximately 6mm high cavity. I filled this with lead as well. I used flat lead pieces (item. 46067) supplied by the company 'Old Pullmann' (Switzerland, email: oldpullman@swissonline.ch). |
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The small, black loudspeaker (yellow rectangle) was glued to the inside of the cab. The wires were threaded towards the front of the loco through a small hole in the cab floor. |
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I then slipped the decoder in the cavity under the boiler and in front of the drive train. For safety reasons I enclosed the decoder with a piece of shrink-fit tubing. |
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Finally, I connected the decoder to the motor block per the above schematic and reattached the cover. |
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As a last step, the decoder has to be programmed correctly (address, sound). |
Translated by Knut Schartmann