Loksound in a KATO Mikado?

[jdcolombo]

Group:
Thanks for the input on wiring between the loco and tender. I remember back when LL released that very nice 0-8-0, there were a number of persons, myself included, who had issues with the wiring sometimes lifting either the back of the loco or the tender.

John, and others, in your thoughts on "bundling" the wires with copper or thread, are you not concerned that the bundle, which logically would be stiffer than individual wires, is going to cause some sort of issue?

Kind regards,
Bill

No issues.  But I do what Peteski does - if I have, say, six wires, I bundle 3 on one side of the drawbar and 3 on the other.  And I only bundle with a couple of wraps of brass wire, so the individual wires still have a lot of maneuvering room where they enter the tender and exit the boiler.  As long as the wire going from the engine to the tender is very flexible and the tender is properly weighted (which it needs to be for electrical pickup anyway), you won't have any issues.

John C.

[peteski]

Here are some photos of the FVM 4-4-2 I reworked.  At that time (back in 2011) I used TCS black decoder wires.  30AWG for track pickup and 36AWG for the headlight.  Those wires are quite flexible and the ESU wires are even more flexible.  As you can see I left slack inthe wires so they hang down like hoses.







While here I just reworked the factory-installed wires (which were stiffer than the ones I  used), a similar method will work for a retrofit connection between the tender and loco.

[Bill H]

Pete:
Nice work. Like the idea. Thanks. Seems to be similar to what John described as splitting into bunches of three. I will try doing that with the TCS six wire mini...

Kind regards,
Bill

[peteski]

Pete:
Nice work. Like the idea. Thanks. Seems to be similar to what John described as splitting into bunches of three. I will try doing that with the TCS six wire mini...

Kind regards,
Bill

Thanks Bill!  I'm not sure if there is a need to bundle the wires into mini-harnesses. The separate wires to me look more like the hoses those wires are mimicking, and they don't seem to tangle either.

[conrad]

Group:
Has anyone ever put a Loksound in a KATO Mikado? Did some searches and came up empty...

Kind regards,
Bill

I took a completely different tack.  I installed an non-sound ESU LokPilot nano decoder in the engine's boiler per the many how to videos.  Then, using JMRI's Virtual Sound Decoder with a Digitrax system and a desktop computer ran steam sounds next to my hollow core door layout.  Great sound, lots of bass, and wall vibrating volume.

[conrad]

All for a grand total of $32.

[peteski]

Great sound, lots of bass, and wall vibrating volume.

To me, totally unrealistic for a 5" model.    But we all have different views about model sound.  The important thing is that you are having fun with it.