Product Review: Athearn Genesis 4-6-6-4 Challenger Locomotive

Today we are going to take a look at a recent release by Athearn, in their Genesis product line. I actually preordered this locomotive, and the model I got was Union Pacific #3985. This happens to be the one that is preserved by Union Pacific as part of their steam program, although it has been laid up for some time. The reason for the lay up in unclear, although there are a number of rumors that speculate on some major mechanical issue. However, the HO scale counterpart operates very well!

UP #3985, at the Northern Lights Model Railroad Club.
All Photos by James Ogden.

Athearn's Genesis line of products are generally high quality models, and the Challenger locomotives are no exception. They are offered in three road names and undecorated. In addition to Union Pacific, for which there are five road numbers to choose from, they are also available in Denver & Rio Grande Western and Clinchfield Railroad. DRGW and Clinchfield are each available with one road number. All models come factory equipped with DCC and with Tsunami sound, by SoundTraxx.

Exterior
The exterior of the locomotive is primarily black, but features numerous separately applied detail parts. The model includes numerous pipes and hoses, as well as all the grab bars and hand rails found on the prototype. The wheels are all metal, as are the various side rods, connecting rods, and valve gear. All the drive wheels actually provide pulling power and electrical pickup. The locomotive includes crisp, clear lettering, and includes some of the smaller lettering, such as the builders plate, and various other data and information, all of which is readable. The locomotive features an LED headlight and even has lighted number boards. The pilot comes with a non operating, scale size coupler, but a replacement coupler pocket, with an operating coupler, is also included in the box.

Cab and Firebox detail.

The tender also features a high level of detail and equally crisp lettering. The tender also has numerous separately applied detail parts including hand rails, grab bars, and piping. The tender also features metal wheels, which also serve as electrical pickup. The locomotive and tender together have at least 15 axles with electrical pickup, making this a very reliable locomotive, even on dirty track. There is a rear headlight on the tender, which functions automatically when the locomotive moves backwards. The tender is connected to the locomotive with a drawbar, which is permanently attached to the locomotive. Additionally, there is a small bundle of jumper wires that connect the locomotive to the tender.

Tender Detail

Overall, the engine and tender feature a high level of detail and an excellent paint job. Additionally, the model comes with a small bag of additional detail parts which can be applied by the modeler.

Operation
The Challenger models are dual mode, and can be operated on a DC system or on a DCC system. Some of the sound functionality is reduced when operating on a DC system, since there would be no way to activate many of the sounds without DCC functions.

When the locomotive is placed on the tracks, it immediately begins making sounds, although the number of sounds coming from a stationary, idling steam locomotive are considerably less than a diesel locomotive. Once the locomotive starts moving, the sound picks up dramatically as the locomotive begins to work. This particular locomotive sounds like it is chuffing very quickly when it moves, but that is due to the two sets of cylinders. The exhaust chuffs would be twice as frequent when compared to a simple steam locomotive.

Running Gear and Firebox detail

The locomotive operates smoothly at low speeds, although there seemed to be a slight delay in the response time. It was almost as if the decoder had to think about what it was told to do. Besides the short delay, the locomotive operated very smoothly and very well. The decoder can sense how hard the locomotive is working and adjusts the sound effects and volume accordingly. When the locomotive is pulling a heavy train up a hill, the chuffing becomes noticeably louder and sharper. When the locomotive is headed downhill with the same heavy train pushing it, the chuffing becomes much quieter and the locomotive sounds like it is drifting.

The one thing that really stands out about this locomotive is the pulling power it can achieve. I brought it in to the local model railroad club the day it arrived to take it on a trial run. The club layout includes some grades, one of which is pretty near three percent. Towards the end of the evening, I decided to couple all the cars I could find together and see what the locomotive could pull. Originally, I found 58 cars, coupled them all together, and began pulling. About halfway up the hill, the locomotive pulled the coupler and coupler box right off one of the freight cars. I decided to try with the remaining 57 cars, and the locomotive successfully pulled them around the layout numerous times. It slowed down dramatically for the big hill, and the chuffing became very loud and sharp, but it never stalled. In fact this locomotive by itself out pulled three locomotives that another member had brought in that same night. I was astonished at the pulling power of this locomotive. I have never had a locomotive that could pull as much as this Challenger can.

Sound
The sound decoder for this locomotive came factory installed. Athearn contracted the sound to SoundTraxx, which makes some very good mobile DCC decoders. The decoder equipped in this model is no exception. The decoder is located in the tender, as is the speaker. The quality of the sound is very high, and the number of effects are also very high. Besides the obvious sounds, such as the exhaust chuffs, air brakes, and horn and bell, the locomotive also features some of the less obvious sounds, such as the blower, injector, and the dynamo that powers the headlight. Not all sounds are used though. For example, the decoder comes with the sound of coal being shoveled into the firebox. This one can be activated by the user, but comes deactivated, because these locomotives were converted to oil. Currently, UP 3985 burns oil when in excursion service.

Overall I am very pleased with this model. While I do not usually model Union Pacific steam locomotives, I must admit that the quality of this model makes UP steam a tempting prototype! The model looks great, performs (and pulls) exceptionally, and sounds impressive doing it. Besides that they have a reliable Athearn drive system, with outstanding electrical pickup.

Manufacturer: Athearn Genesis
Part Numbers:
G97223 (UP Black #3707)
G97224 (UP Black #3710 w/ Smoke Deflectors)
G97225 (UP Grey/Yellow #3977 w/ Smoke Deflectors)
G97226 (UP Black #3982 w/ Smoke Deflectors)
G97227 (UP Black #3985)
G97228 (DRGW #3800)
G97229 (Clinchfield #675)
MPRP: $599.98
http://www.athearn.com/Search/Default.aspx?SearchTerm=Challenger+ATHG&CatID=THLS

Bonus! I took a couple of videos of this locomotive pulling its 57 car train.

This first video is coming off a grade, over the trestle by a glacier on the Northern Lights Model Railroad Club layout.

The second video is on more or less flat track, across a drawbridge.

Product Review: SoundTraxx Tsunami TSU-1000

This week, I thought I would do something a little bit different.  We have done several product reviews in the past, but they tend to be locomotives and rolling equipment.  Model railroading encompasses more than locomotive and freight cars, so I thought I would do some equipment that makes it operate.  Today I want to talk about a DCC sound decoder, which I rather like.  SoundTraxx offers a wide range of DCC decoders for mobile and stationary applications.  I have known about them for quite some time, but because of the price, I have been hesitant to purchase any of their products.  Recently, I found a distributor offering a kit to upgrade Athearn's recent P42DC locomotive models to DCC and sound.  These kits featured the TSU-1000 decoder, which is part of SoundTraxx's Tsunami line of products.  The decoder in the kit was programmed with modern sounds from General Electric's FDL-16 prime mover.

The Tsunami line of products is SoundTraxx's line of sound decoders.  They offer both sound and non sound decoders for stationary and mobile use, although they are best known for their sound decoders.  The TSU-1000 is a one amp DCC sound decoder, and they offer different options for the sounds programmed onto the decoder, which encompass a variety of steam and diesel sounds.  They generally specify the prime mover programmed onto the decoder, and then several options for horn, bell, and other sounds are also programmed onto the decoder, allowing the user to customize the sounds to match the prototype.

When my kits arrived, I discovered a few things about SoundTraxx decoders.  When one purchases a decoder from SoundTraxx, that is all they purchase.  Even if it is a sound decoder, it typically does not come with a speaker, baffle, or harness for easy installation.  The distributor that sold me my decoder kits had included all of those additional parts, which is a good thing because I would have not known that they are not included.  While a complete package, including all the required parts would be nice, I can see the benefits to not including them also.  It does allow the user to buy speakers and other parts specifically suited for the locomotive in which the system will be installed.  It also gives the buyer the option of finding the parts from another supplier, possibly at a lower price.  I can appreciate these benefits, but I would also think that a first time buyer with limited electronics experience may want something that includes everything.

Assembly of all the parts was not difficult.  It does require some basic soldering skills and some patience, but it was not difficult.  Assembling the baffle is a simple matter of gluing a couple of plastic parts together.  Once assembled, the speaker can simply be pressed into the baffle.  The speaker must be soldered to the leads that come from the decoder.  All the decoder leads must also be soldered to their appropriate location within the locomotive.  The decoder does come with a diagram, which shows where each wire should be connected.  Additionally, NMRA compliant 8-pin plugs are available, and the decoder leads could be soldered to that instead, if the user wanted an installation that could be easily removed in the future.  I tried this method on one decoder, but found it difficult to solder the wires to the tops of the pins.  On the second decoder, I connected it directly to the locomotive.

Once everything is assembled, it must somehow all get inside the locomotive.  With any sound decoders, this can be a little tricky.  It always seems as if there are about a thousand miles of wire, and finding a place for the speaker, where it will not cause other problems can also be challenging.  Fortunately, Amtrak units are car body type engines, and while space is not ample, it is not too cramped inside either.  Before I closed up the locomotive, I set it on the tracks to test everything.

When the locomotive is placed on the tracks, the decoder goes through a start up sequence.  It produces sounds that sound like a locomotive starting up and then idling.  I was actually quite impressed with the sound quality, although I did find the default volume level to be a bit loud.  That is easily adjusted, and can be adjusted on the main track if your DCC system allows main track programming.  After I got the volume turned down a little, I pulled out the cheat sheet, included with the decoder, and tested the various sound functions.  The only one I really did not like was the horn.  There was another cheat sheet with the various horns on the decoder, and instructions on how to change the horn sound, so I changed it, and tested it again.  Then I throttled up slowly, so I could hear when the decoder went to the next notch of power.  Overall, I was impressed with the sounds.

I have a DCC system that allows programming on the main track, provided the DCC decoder in question can be programmed on the main track.  I find this feature very handy, and I am not sure I would ever buy a system without it.  Every decoder I had used previously  had been fully programmable, as far as I was able to tell, on the main track.  I tried to change the address on this newly installed decoder, and found that it would not accept the new address.  Having never run into this problem before, I looked through the documentation included with the decoder, and found nothing.  There were several references to a complete decoder manual online, and so I checked that out, and then found that SoundTraxx decoders cannot have their address reprogrammed on the main track.  Most other things it seems are programmable on the main track, although there are a few things that SoundTraxx decoders will not accept unless it is moved to a programming track.

Overall, I am happy with the pair of decoders I purchased.  Eventually I would like to put sound in all my engines, because I like what it adds to operations.  I do plan to purchase more decoders from SoundTraxx, though I will probably purchase the speakers elsewhere to save a little money.  I do think the decoders are a good purchase, and a good value.  The sound quality is high, yet the price is comparable to most other sound decoders.  I have three SD70MAC's, and I am eager to try the TSU-1000 with the EMD 710 prime mover sounds next.

Product Review: Athearn 54' FMC Covered Hopper

Last spring I wrote an article about weathering a covered hopper. You can read that article here. Today I realized that I never did a product review of that car, so today I will do that. It is a 54' FMC Covered hopper, made by Athearn. In my article on weathering, I weathered a Union Pacific car with CAGX reporting marks, the one I am reviewing today is another one I bought recently, which is Union Pacific with DRGW reporting marks.

These cars were built in the 1970s in large numbers to haul grain. Today there are bigger grain cars on the rails, but these exterior-post cars can still be found on many trains. Union Pacific acquired these cars from DRGW. Many are still in their faded DRGW paint, but some have been repainted, keeping their DRGW reporting mark and number, which is the case with the model I have.

These models are part of Athearn's Ready-To-Roll line and they are very nice cars. They feature etched-metal walkways and all grab irons come factory applied. The paint scheme is accurate and the paint is neatly applied. All data can be read under magnification, and is correct. The conspicuity markings are all present, in an unusual pattern for this car type, but accurate for the paint scheme, making it apparent that Athearn did their research before producing these cars.

The cars ride on free-rolling trucks complete with metal wheels. The cars feature McHenry scale size knuckle couplers for added realism. The cars weighs in at 4.58 ounces, a little lighter than the NMRA recommended 4.75 ounces for this car, but this can be fixed by adding weight to the car.

Overall, this is another excellent model from Athearn. The only things I can find wrong with the car are the weight and the shiny paint job, both of which can be fixed in a matter of minutes! If you are modeling today's grain industry, a string of these cars will make a great addition to your fleet. I know I'll be buying more of them!

Manufacturer: Athearn

Price: $26.98

Available road names: Burlington Northern, BNSF, Chicago & North Western, Cotton Belt, Denver & Rio Grande Western, FURX Leasing, Union Pacific, Western Pacific, Other various carriers.

Product Review: Athearn Genesis Trinity Covered Hopper

Today I am reviewing a covered hopper from Athearn. It is part of their Genesis line. It is a Trinity 5161 cubic ft covered hopper, the sample I have is BNSF 471745. These are used on the prototype to haul grains, and can be found anywhere. Out here in Montana there are unit trains of these cars, and out east I've seen nice long strings of them as well. They really are everywhere.

This car features all the special goodies found on Athearn Genesis cars. The paint and lettering is all clean and accurate. All the warnings and labels can be read. Some of the details on this car include see-through metal walkways, coupler lift bars, brake piping, doors and latches, rolling roller bearings, and AEI tags, just to name a few. The simulated reflective stripes accurately represent one of the common patterns found on these cars. The car comes equipped with accurate trucks, chemically blackened metal wheels, and knuckle couplers. The wheels roll freely and smoothly.

This car looks and operates extremely well. It is detailed exceptionally well and a unit train of these cars will look great operating on any modern layout. With 12 packs available from Athearn, it is not hard to do just that!

Manufacturer: Athearn Genesis

Price: $34.98

Available Road Names: AG Processing; Archer Daniels Midland; Burlington Northern Santa Fe; Canadian Pacific; Cargill; CSX; Dakota, Minnesota, & Eastern; General Electric; Illinois Central; Norfolk Southern; NorRail; Southern Illinois Railcar; Undecorated.

Product Review: Athearn AC4400

Today I am reviewing another recent release from Athearn.  While this did not get nearly the attention as the SD70ACe, it is still another quality release from Athearn.  Their latest AC4400 locomotives have again proven to be a great buy.

Exterior:
The model I have is in the latest BNSF paint scheme, and represents unit number 5840.  There are three road numbers available in this paint scheme.  The paint scheme is accurately represented on the model.  The paint is crisp and lines are clear and clean.  None of the lines are blurred between colors. The logos, numbers, and warnings and information are in the correct places. The warning signs are all present, and at a glance look great.  Under close inspection, some of them cannot be read, and a couple of them have colors that do not line up quite perfectly.  The builder's plate is also found on the nose, just above the F symbol.  It looks good, and it is accurate, although I was unable to read the information on it with the magnification available to me.

The level of detail on the model is good.  Hand rails, grab bars, ladders, and railings are all present and are separately applied in the factory.  Additionally, sun visors, mirrors, and sand filler hatches are there.  The locomotive does have ditch lights, although they are not operable.  The MU plugs and dummy plugs are present on the end of the model, however there are no air hoses or cables.  The most obvious thing missing is the windshield wipers, although one will also notice that the steps behind the cab are also missing.  The trucks have the important details, such as brake cylinders and suspension parts, but the lack sander hoses and many of the finer detail parts.  This locomotive does not feature an interior.

Operation:

This locomotive is considered a "DCC Ready" product.  Out of the box, it is a DC model, but by removing the couplers and removing the plastic shell, the user can add a DCC decoder.  There is a 9-pin plug, and a standard 9-pin DCC decoder can simply be plugged in and programmed.  The locomotive started fairly smoothly.  At extremely slow speeds, it is a very slightly shaky getting going.  When decelerated to an extremely slow speed, for some reason, it operates more smoothly.

The model features working headlights on both ends.  Out of the box, they are directionally sensitive.  The ditch lights are simply plastic models of ditch lights, and as such, they do not operate.  These could be replaced with operational ditch lights, although that project would be a bit involved.  The model comes with McHenry knuckle couplers.  I chose to replace them with scale couplers from Sergent Engineering.  Typically these locomotives can be found sporting AAR type F couplers, so that is what I put on the locomotive.

Overall, I am pleased with this model.  While it does not feature an exceptional level of detail, and it is not the best locomotive available, it represents a very good value.  At $109.98, it is very affordable, and represents the prototype well enough to satisfy even the most demanding modeler, even without all the bells and whistles available on other models.

Manufacturer: Athearn
Model Number: ATH77642
MSRP: $109.98
Available in the following paint schemes:
BNSF Railway
Canadian Pacific
Ferromex
Ferrosur

Upgrading Sound for an SD70ACe

As many of you are aware, we recently wrote a review of Athearn's new SD70ACe models.  These are one of their latest releases in their Genesis line of locomotives.  They are well known for their outstanding level of detail, which sets a new standard for plastic models.  The paint job is excellent, and the overall quality of these locomotives is very good.  They are offered as with a DC control system, or with a factory installed DCC system, which includes sound.  I got my first sound locomotive just over a year ago, and since then I have been hooked, so I purchased two of the DCC and sound equipped models.  I had heard good reviews, and they sure looked good in the pictures, and I was sold on them.  One just did not seem like enough, but three was about of the budget, so I settled for two.  If you read my review, or if you are reading it now out of curiosity, you know I was very happy with the models.  I was quite content with them without making any changes, until the other day.

A couple of days ago I was browsing through Tony's Train Exchange, for some DCC components, and just for kicks, I clicked on their locomotives section to see what they had.  I stumbled upon an article that described how to improve the quality of the sound.  As I read the article, I found it was a simple project, and I decided to try it.  I figured, I had two locomotives, if I made one sound strange, it would not be the end of the world, and I would just undo what was done.  The article describes a flaw with the speaker housing, inside the locomotive.  The flaw is actually surprisingly obvious, and it is a bit disappointing that it was overlooked by the folks at Athearn.  There is a hole in the speaker housing.  For the highest quality sound, and to emphasize the bass sounds, the speaker should point into an airtight housing.  This amplifies the sound, and especially amplifies the lower pitch sounds.  To hear the difference, click on the links below, and turn up the volume!  I recorded similar sequences of the modified locomotive, and the unmodified locomotive.  Pay special attention to the differences in the bass sounds.

• SD70ACe without any modifications
• SD70ACe with modified speaker housing

Now that I have have teased you with the result of this project, let's do it together.  It really only takes a few minutes, and it is fairly simple.  I will be modifying my second unit as I write this, and there will be pictures, for anyone who finds those helpful.  The first thing you will have to do is remove the plastic shell from the frame of the model.  To do this, you will need to remove the couplers and two screws in the bottom of the frame, above the fuel tank end of either truck.  I found it helped to access them by also removing the fuel tank, but that is not necessarily required.  Once you have removed the screws, carefully pull the plastic shell straight up and off the frame.

Screw locations for removing the shell.  All photos by James Ogden.

Be very careful removing the shell from the frame, as there are wires that connect the light bulbs in the shell with the electronics fastened to the frame.  The speaker housing can be found right behind the cab.  After removing the shell, you will need to remove the speaker housing.  This is attached by a single screw on the engineer's side, which connects it directly to the frame.  Removing the screw will not immediately free the housing.  Once the screw is removed, you will have to carefully slide the speaker housing forward and up for it to come away from the frame.  I found that it helped to remove the tape on top of the housing to do this.  It gives you a little more wiggle room.  The frame and speaker housing are both very durable, so do not be afraid to wiggle the housing gently if you need to to get it out.

Location of the speaker and speaker housing.  The screw to remove the housing is on the other side, see the next photo.

This screw needs to be removed to remove the speaker housing.

Once the speaker housing has been removed, you will need to remove the speaker.  This is attached by two screws, on either side of the speaker.

These screws hold the speaker itself in place.

Once the speaker has been removed from the housing, the hole will be obvious.  It is in the bottom of the housing.  Placing a piece of styrene or similar material in the hole will solve the problem.  Some suggestions I found specified that 0.020 inch styrene would do the trick.  I found it was even simpler than that, and you will probably laugh when you read this.  I had an expired MetroCard from the New York subway system.  I cut that into pieces that would fit in the hole, and glued one piece in the hole from either side.  I also glued them together to prevent them from vibrating together and rattling.  Primitive?  Maybe, but it did the trick!

That hole is what needs to be filled.

I told you I cut up a fare card!

In the above picture, you can see two screws in the speaker housing.  Unscrewing those will allow the two halves of the speaker housing to be separated.  A gasket can be placed between the two halves to create a better seal, or they can be glued together, as I did.  While I had the halves apart, I first glued the plastic into the hole, since it was easily accessible that way.  Then I put glue all the way around one half, and placed the other half on it, and screwed it back together.  Once the plastic and housing halves were all glued together, the speaker can be mounted in the housing again, just like it was.  The housing can then be reinstalled in the locomotive.  Make sure to screw it back into the frame, or it will make awful vibrating noises, and you will wonder where the extra screw came from!  Once the speaker housing is replaced, it is time to replace the shell.  This is a delicate operation, because all the wires have to be stuffed back inside the shell, and the sanders have to be gently pushed apart to allow the shell to slip over the frame again.  It can be tricky, but patience is key.  Be very gentle, so none of the details are damaged, and double check often to make sure you have not pinched anything.  Once  you have the shell back on, replace the screws and couplers, and then find some track and fire the engine up.  Sit back and enjoy the diesel rumble!

Product Review: Athearn Genesis SD70ACe

Today, I have chosen to do another product review.  This time, I will be reviewing the new SD70ACe, which has been added to Athearn's Genesis line of products.  This locomotive was offered as a direct model, or with DCC and sound installed.  I bought a pair of the locomotives, both of which have DCC and sound on board.  Before I get started, I just want to say, EMD designed some really ugly locomotives this time around!  Personally, I think these are ugly, yet somehow really attractive.  Having said that, I do think Athearn did well representing these units.  Let me explain.

Exterior:
The paint job on this locomotive is excellent.  The paint is very crisp, and all the lines are neat and clean.  The model I have represents a BNSF Railway locomotive, and the paint scheme is very accurate when compared to the prototype.  The details on the model are outstanding.  Warning signs are in the correct locations, and most are readable under magnification.  Additionally, all the reflective safety strips are in the correct positions.

The individual details on the locomotive are all factory applied and separately applied.  The details are what you would expect to find on a brass model.  All the grab irons and hand holds can be found on the locomotive and they are delicately thin.  All the hand holds, grab bars, ladders, windshield wipers, pipes, air hoses, and cables are present on the model, and are in their appropriate places.  Fan grilles are see through.  One grille is definitely wire, but the other two are hard to tell if they are plastic or wire.  Because they are so thin, it seems like they would have to be wire.  Other grilles and vents are see through, and even have equipment behind them.

Interior:
That is right folks, I am talking about the interior on a locomotive, and I am not talking about the engine room!  The cab roof is attached to the locomotive by a pair of magnets.  The roof can be lifted off the locomotive by carefully grabbing the sides and simply lifting.  Inside the cab, you will find three seats in their proper locations.  You will also find controls modeled somewhat roughly, although basically accurately.  The controls are modeled accurately on the engineer's side of the cab, as you would expect, and also on the conductor's side and the back wall of the cab.  Additionally, there is an event recorder on the cab, behind the conductor's windshield.  All of these interior details are visible through the cab windows.

Operation:
The SD70ACe operated moderately well at low speeds.  Right out of the box, the DCC model jumps to a start, however by adjusting the starting voltage settings, this minor problem can be eliminated.  Once eliminated, the locomotive starts quite smoothly.  The locomotive accelerates and decelerates smoothly.  It runs  well, with a minimal amount of motor noise.

Out of the box, the locomotive operates with directional headlights and ditch lights.  In the DCC model, the ditch lights can be programmed to flash alternately, burn steadily, and they can be turned off using a different function than the headlights.  Headlights can also be programmed to have a dim and bright setting.

Sound:
When the locomotive is placed on live rails, the engine goes through a startup routine.  The locomotive will not move until it has completed the startup sounds, just as the prototype would be unable to move under its own power until the engine is running.  The startup routine includes an alarm, followed by the starter motor noise, and then the loading up of the engine.  After a couple of seconds, the engine settles into a fairly quiet idle.  When you throttle up, the engine takes a minute to load up, and then begins to move in response to the throttle change.  Out of the box, the locomotive goes through the throttle notches automatically.  This can be set to be controlled manually.

Besides basic engine sounds, the locomotive also includes horn and bell sounds, are dryer and compressor sounds, brake sounds, coupler sounds, dynamic brake sounds, radiator fan sounds, and an engine shutdown sequence.  Coupler sounds, dynamic brake sounds, and the engine shutdown sequence must be activated by the user.  Once the engine has been shut down, the locomotive will not respond to throttle commands until it is started up again.  The air compressor and air dryer sounds, as well as the radiator fan sounds are activated automatically.  The radiator fan sound can also be activated by the operator.

Out of the box, the volume was a bit loud for my taste.  Of course, this is a matter of operator preference.  The volume can be adjusted by changing a configuration variable value in the decoder.  Instructions on how to do this, as well as other things are included in the documentation that comes with the locomotive.

Overall, I am very pleased with this locomotive.  As I mentioned, I do think it is ugly, but that is more a concern with the design department at EMD!  Athearn has very faithfully represented the latest addition to the AC locomotive fleet.  The model has outstanding detail, excellent sounds, and a high quality paint job.  I was not disappointed at all with this purchase, and I anticipate that it will spend many hours pulling coal on my railroad.

DCC and Lighting Upgrades

(James)

I recently completed an upgrade project with one of my locomotives.  When I say recently, I mean this morning.

Several weeks ago I acquired an Athearn F59PHI, in the Amtrak Cascades paint scheme.  This is a 2001 model, and so it did not come with Digital Command Control (DCC), or even as a "DCC Ready" model.  Seeing as I just got a DCC system up and running for my trains, I wanted to upgrade the model so it could be operated on DCC.  With "DCC Ready" models, there is usually a printed circuit board inside the model, with some sort of plug where a DCC decoder can easily be added.  The National Model Railroad Association (NMRA) has standardized DCC to some extent, and so most "DCC Ready" locomotives either come with an eight pin plug or a nine pin harness for the decoders.  It is quite simple to install them, as they only need to be plugged in and programmed and then everything is ready to go.

When a locomotive is not "DCC Ready," it can be a bit more involved to get a decoder inside it.  That is what this project was.  This was a very basic Athearn locomotive, with no wiring.  The electricity traveled from the trucks via metal tabs to the motor and the headlight.  The light and the motor were both grounded to the frame, which in turn was grounded through the trucks.  The headlight was simply a light bulb cradled in a metal post, bolted to the frame.  There really was not much to it, but it made the locomotive very simple and easy to work on.  Adding DCC required a few things though.  Since DCC requires all the electricity to be routed through a decoder, the motor and headlight would need to be electrically isolated from the frame of the locomotive.    Those metal tabs were removed, and electrical tape was placed along the frame, beneath the motor, so there would be something between it and the frame.  Leads were soldered from the decoder socket to the motor commutators and to the frame and trucks.  I chose to use a nine pin socket so I could remove the decoder if needed.  All the wires are color coded, and the color code is something else that is standardized by the NMRA.  That color code is the same regardless of who makes the decoder or the locomotive.

Once the motor was isolated from the frame and connected to the decoder harness, it was time to think about lighting.  This locomotive had one light bulb in it originally, which was on regardless of the direction the locomotive was going.  It lit the headlight and the cab windows.  I decided I wanted directional lighting, if nothing else.  Basically, when the locomotive would be moving forward, I wanted the headlights on, and in reverse I wanted the rear headlight on.  Since I had several headlights lying around from a different, simpler DCC upgrade, I decided to just use those.  As I was trying to figure out how to mount the headlights, I discovered that they fit perfectly into the holes that the light was supposed to shine through!  I figured putting a light bulb in each of those holes would be the easiest way to do it.  That's how they really do it anyway!  Since I was doing that, I figured adding marker lights, and programming them to operate in reverse, would not be that much more difficult.  I glued the headlights in place and then began wiring for that.  In all, seven light bulbs were added.  Two main headlights were placed in the center of the nose, and two ditch lights in the lower corners.  I also installed two red marker lights on the front of the locomotive, and a single headlight in the rear.

Once everything was in place, I tested it before I soldered anything.  The first good thing was that the locomotive moved in the right direction when I told it to do that.  Next was the lights.  I tested all the headlights and marker lights, and those seemed to work fine.  Since I had not actually programmed the decoder up to this point, the ditch lights acted a little funny, but they did operate.  Once all that check out, I programmed the decoder.  Since it was locomotive #468, that is the address it got.  I looked through the instructions on how to program the ditch lights to work with the headlights.  Once I got through that programming, they operated the way they should.  Once everything was programmed and operating as expected, I took the locomotive back to the workbench and soldered all the electrical connections.  I placed a bit of electrical tape over each connection to prevent short circuits inside the locomotive.

The next step was to put the locomotive back together.  This is a locomotive which once had no wiring in it at all.  After all that, there was quite a bit of wiring, and a decoder to cram in there.  It was getting pretty crowded!  That proved to be a bit more challenging than I had anticipated, but taping some of the excess wire in place did help.  Once everything had been reassembled, it was time for one more test, just to make sure I had not damaged anything as I was trying to cram it into the locomotive.  Everything worked.  To prevent light leaks, I added some putty for hanging posters around the back of the light bulbs, on the inside of the locomotive.  It was easy to install, and easy to form around the light bulb and seal the light out.

For anyone trying to upgrade a locomotive, here are a few reference items for you.
Red wire: Right (Engineer) side electrical pickup
Black wire: Left (Conductor/Fireman) side electrical pickup
Orange wire: This goes to the motor, where the right side pickup went.
Grey wire: This goes to the motor, where the left side pickup went.
Blue wire: Common wire for all lights.  If you use LED's, this goes to the positive side.  Make sure you install LED's correctly or they will not work.
White wire: This goes to the headlight.  If you use LED's, this goes to the negative side.
Yellow wire: This goes to the rear headlight.  If you use LED's, this goes to the negative side.  I also used it for wiring the marker lights, since I wanted them to come on in reverse.
Purple wire: This is a function wire.  Not all decoders have it.  If you are wiring ditch lights, wire this to the left side.  For LED ditch lights, this goes to the negative side of the LED.
Green wire: This is a function wire.  Not all decoders have it.  If you are wiring ditch lights, wire this to the right side.  For LED ditch lights, this goes to the negative side of the LED.

When you wire light bulbs, make sure you check the rated voltage and amperage.  You can operate 12 volt bulbs with no resistors, but there are also 1.5 volt bulbs out there and various LED's.  Light bulbs will explode if you let too much voltage through them, so make sure you use resistors if needed!  The amperage is also important, although the results are a little less drastic!  I used 30 milliamp, or 0.03 amp bulbs.  You want to watch these numbers so you do not fry a decoder.  They fry if there are too many amps.  Typically, on one function, you do not want more than 100 milliamps, or 0.1 amps.  In wiring my headlights, I had multiple light bulbs on each function, but I stayed under 100 milliamps.  On the white wire, I had two light bulbs, or 60 milliamps.  The green and purple wires both had one bulb, for 30 milliamps each.  The yellow wire had three lights on it.  The rear headlight and two marker lights were all on that one, for a total of 90 milliamps.  Make sure you are conscious of this so you do not overload your decoder.  The results could be fatal for it!

Now that the project is complete, I am a lot more aware of how DCC is wired.  I am by no means a professional, but it was a leap I had to take.  I was quite nervous about pulling apart a locomotive and rewiring everything.  It is not nearly as hard as I imagined it would be.  If you are nervous about taking the plunge and upgrading to DCC the hard way, I would recommend you start with an Athearn locomotive.  Since they are so basic and simple to start with, it makes life a lot easier when you go to upgrade.   They are very simple, and easy to understand, and they generally have a bit of space to work with inside them.  If it is the soldering that worries you, get some wire and practice a bit first.  It also helps if you have a 30 watt or less soldering iron and the thinnest solder you can find.  Another useful tool for troubleshooting is a multimeter.  It will tell you easily if you have isolated everything properly, and what is connected and what is not.  Once you do it once, you will not be nervous about it in the future.  Even on different locomotives, the principles are all the same, and you'll be able to do it again.

Programming can be a whole different beast, and we will cover that in a future installment.

For pictures of the project, check out our Facebook photo album.