It seems that after three years in the box that some of the lubrication was missing from where it was needed. In this case it seemed to be the bottom of the motor shaft. Fortunately I was able to get everything back together again with no extra screws or pieces. The one casualty was a broken bell but I was able to glue it back on with CA glue.

I put the little engine back to work quickly and again enjoyed the sound of the steam chuffing, whistle blowing, and bell clanging.

Most people don’t install their own sound decoders any more since so many engines come with them pre-installed as an option. Installing sound decoders is not the easiest task in the world as it requires stuffing the proverbial 10 pounds of crap in a 5 pound bag. The Soundtraxx instructions are great and simple to follow. I will not repeat them here.

Here is the list of tools I used:

• Pencil type Soldering Iron and Rosin Core Solder
• Flush Cutting Rail Nippers
• Long Tweezers for holding screws, wires during soldering, plastic washers, etc
• Wire Strippers/Cutters
• Small Phillips Head Screw Driver

It took about 30 minutes and I was off and running, literally. Here is a picture of the installed decoder before I put the tender shell back on.

The new Climax next to the Shay, ready to make another loop. Looks like the Shay needs to hit the wash rack to clear off the accumulated dust.

It was a fairly simple project that I was easily able to complete this evening. This was followed by an hour of running two trains around the layout. I could feel the stress of work escaping with each chuff of the cylinder.

It was really a simple project but from past experience I have found that getting the hole precisely cut is important as the mounting holes are very close to the required opening. Using a dial caliper I measured the required opening to be 1″ X 3″. I marked it on the profile hardboard, drilled the corners using a 5/16″ drill bit, and used a Dremel Tool with a large fiberglass cut off wheel to cut the opening. It did burn quite a bit but seemed better than trying to use a jigsaw.

I test fitted the plate and marked the holes for pilot holes. Make sure the plate is level. I then used a 1/16″ drill bit for the pilot holes for the mounting screws.

I now have a nicely mounted plate. The only remaining thing to do was connect the included cord to the control module. This is why I said ‘mostly’ complete as I just draped the cable over the benchwork versus permanently routing. Once I install the other panels that will all be daisy changed together, I will deal with the cabling in a more permanent manner.

The switch machine moves the switch turnout by level action through the roadbed with piano wire. The first step is to mark where the 5/16″ hole should be drilled. Then move the turnout and drill the hole.

The next step is to assemble the actual Tortoise machine according to instructions. I do replace the light piano wire that comes with the machine with a heavier .034 gauge wire due to the thickness of my roadbed. Cutout the template from the instructions in order to help with drilling the mounting holes. At this time I also solder the leads onto the PC board. The two outside leads will connect to the decoder and the three inner ones are used to power route the frog. I use red for the frog wire because I always forget which one is the frog lead of the three.

The next step is to use the drilling template to drill the mounting holes that will later be used to screw the machine to the underside of the roadbed. I drop a pencil into the previously drilled 5/16″ hole in order to properly align the template. I then tape the template to the underside and drill the holes. I will use 1/2″ #6 pan head screws to mount the machine so I use a 1/16″ drill for the pilot holes.

Now comes the fun part that also requires some preparation and manual dexterity. Make sure your #1 phillips screwdriver and screws are within easy reach. Connect the turnout to the adjacent track using rail joiners and spike the turnout down to prevent movement. Next starts the fun. Feed the control lever through the roadbed and thread it through the hole in the turnout throw bar. Hopefully you ensured that the hole in the throw bar is big enough for the piano wire. With some wiggling and try and error it can be done. Once you get it, don’t lose it. Holding on to the machine with one hand, use your other free hand to screw in the first screw. With the right screwdriver I use the tip of my finger to hold the screw on the point while I position the screw in the hole and start turning. It takes a little practice and a few dropped screws to get it right.

The hard part is done! Now we just need to wire up the decoder and do something with all of these dangling wires. Before doing that, use a Dremel with cut-off wheel to trim the piano wire that is sticking up through the throw bar. I won’t go into the details of the decoder wiring as the NCE directions are plenty clear. The two outer control wires will go into either set of control terminals (Switch A or Switch B) as one Switch-It controls two motors. Two wires go from the bus wires to the track terminals on the Switch-It. Finally, we need to deal with the frog power routing. Solder the frog lead wire to the frog. Manually align the switch machine and use the voltmeter to confirm polarity of the other two frog leads from position 2 and 3 on the Tortoise PC board. Once confirmed, connect those two leads to the bus using suitcase connectors.

All that is left now is to test. Make sure the switch machine can freely move left and right without binding. If it binds then adjust the switch machine or the turnout until it doesn’t. By default the Switch-It is accessory decoder #1 and #2. They can be programmed differently but I’ll save that for another blog post. Fire up the DCC system and cycle the switch. That’s it! You now can control another element of your miniature world without leaving your comfy stool.

I had heard of some mythical entity called a “suitcase connector” over the years but to find one would require dealing with a specialty electronics dealer, digging through an obscure catalog, and placing an order of 12 pallets of 100 gross each that would be delivered by LTL freight. So I continued soldering, cursing, and praying. As I began my latest iteration, I was browsing through my micro-mark catalog looking for some other supplies when lo and behold there they were. I quickly added two packages of 50 to my order.

The beauty in this magical thingamabobs is that they connect my 20 gauge feeder wires to the 14 gauge bus wire with a simple clench of the pliers. The result is a very neat, very simple connection that doesn’t require second degree burns to create.