For the following conversion you will need:-

1 x sound decoder
1 x pair of micro male /female electrical plugs
Soldering iron and solder
Kaftan Tape or Sellotape / similar
Wire (preferably wax coated copper (single strand)

We have used a “Loksound” decoder for this conversion. This is not an endorsement but merely an example of some of the sound chips available on the market.

Firstly you must remember to DCC chip each end car to convert the lights to DCC or you will blow the light unit (which is factory wired for DC) and invalidate the guarantee. See “DCC conversion” folder on our web site for pictures and instructions on how to achieve this.

Remove the body of the motorised unit.

You will notice that there is a ‘jumper plug’ in the DCC socket. Remove this plug by sliding it out of the socket.

Plug in the sound decoder with the yellow wired terminal to the upper left when plugged into the onboard socket.

Unsolder the existing speaker, and solder either male or female, micro electrical plugs.

Remove the end vestibule glazing and plastic window divider from the end of the body furthest away from the onboard DCC socket. This will allow the electrical connectors to be joined from the ‘speaker coach’.

Turning now to the adjacent coach in the ‘rake’, remove coach body.

You will need to trim down the width of the speaker supplied with the sound chip (which can be done carefully with a razor saw) or even purchase a narrower speaker of the same type.

WARNING!

Do not mix speakers from other manufacturers, unless you are satisfied that they are electrically compatible.

Drill sound holes into the base of the coach floor, drilling as many holes as you think fit to match the size of the speaker. You will also need to lower the internal raised edges of the coach chassis so that the speaker can sit on them.

Now attach extended wires and micro electrical ‘plug’ to allow connection to the motorised coach DCC sound chip.

Returning to the motorised chassis; it is now necessary to make a ‘cradle’ for the sound chip to sit on and to leave enough clearance for the fitting of the coach body and clearance of the mechanism during operation. This can be done using plasticard, and it is suggested you check the fitting and then recheck before carefully gluing into place (we used superglue applied by a cocktail stick).

You will then need to add a ‘platform’ for the chip to sit on, and again make sure that the platform is long enough to support the sound chip, whilst also ensuring that it does not impede the mechanism by being too low.

You can now fit the sound chip by attaching the plug to the socket ...remembering which way round it should go (yellow wire upper and to the left).

Trail the wires from the plug, over the motor to the ‘cradle’ and lay the chip on the cradle, attaching the chip to the cradle by using either ‘Kaftan tape’ or a small strip of ‘Sellotape’.

You can now reassemble the body onto the chassis you have just converted and also reassemble the ‘speaker coach’.

Place both onto your DCC track and plug the connectors into each other, allowing the magnetic couplers to pull the 2 coaches together.

Test and programme your chip now according to standard specifications laid down by your DCC equipment.

If you have chosen to use a ‘Loksound’ chip and speaker, it is possible to download sound files from the web and save them to the chips ‘flash’ memory for accurate sounds of the real locomotives.