The carbody comes off just like the passenger cars seperate the glass fingers from the chassis using the toothpick method. The flanges do need to be turned down and there is no alternative wheelset that I am aware (the wheels appear to be slightly small). Remove the fuel tank first...pry the fuel tank down far enough push on the tabs to loosen it. Repeat three more times. Removing the fuel tank first allows you to pry the nibs from the floors/seats from the bottom versus prying the seats breaking the cleats.
With this loco there is no such thing as Plug-N-Play, just a decoder that "fits". First modification to the decoder on the workbench is to remove the orange headlight LED and replace it with a golden white LED I used the miniatronics T1 IIRC. I used a pair off Xiron flush cut rail nips, and a larger diameter mini drill-bit (something in the #60-70 range) to clean out the pilot holes. Then soldered the new LED in place. Easy operation, just pay attention to the original orientation of the orange LED to get the polarity right.
The next item is hiding all those stupid wires. I cut two channels in the frame following the vertical lip running down the chassis from the decoder "bay" to the rear. From the "bay" forward I cut a channel in the center 4 wires wide.
In my first few attempts following the guidance provided by Digitrax, I let the smoke out of a few decoders (keyword few). I learned from my mistakes and "lined the decoder "bay" with capton tape as well as the deocoder with the exception of the contacts.
It's at this point in time if you wish to paint the fuel tank and truck frames you will want to get it complete now. I used Testors Acrylic - Stainless Steel in my airbrush. It is about 25% of a shade off in direct light but matches the best to Kato factory paint. Final coats I used Testors Acrylic again this time I used their "Satin" top coat straight out of the bottle with my airbrush. You get the thin coat of a flat with the "factory sheen" versus a flat which would diminish the luster of the silver paint without the heft of a gloss.
The next hellatious steps are reassembly, in the shell add a Kato light kit "lens" with the reflective material. Next the LED light boards need to be trimmed and channels cut to allow the light boards to fit the silver "cab" peices. When you test fit these it will be readily apparent what needs to be done. Just dont to get smart and cut the guiding nibs, you need those for the whole show to work. Next I exaggerated the bends in the cab contacts (there are 4 pieces) to ensure good contact. I dont understand the logic in using 6 contacts but the lights will not work without them, guess the white and yellow wires close electrical loops and the pick-ups provide the power. This is about the time you want to start guiding the wires in the chassis and marking the seats/floor for wire guide channels to allow the wires out for the passenger compartment lights, SMLED up FYI. You'll also want to consider where the headlight wires flow in regards to the contacts. (I wish I had taken more photos). If you leave the wires straight from their channels, they'll interfere with the contacts so you have to use the center channel in the seats/floor as your wire guide and make the appropriate cuts. I know this part is really vague, but once you get in there and start test fitting it'll become apparent what you need to do wisely.
Add trucks, dogs etc. This is where it gets interesting. If you did everything correct, you should have lights, but they are reversed. And if you lined the "bay" correctly you should be able to turn on/off the interior lights with F8 without letting the smoke out. Program and test as appropriate.
When I tear back into my four that I currently have the only changes I would make would be to add some weight to the loco's to help with electrical connectivity. Maybe some sticky wieghts to the carbody to keep it simple.
The second to last part you want to assemble is the fuel tank, for reasons specified above. Finally add the body.
HTH,
The S.
