# Ebay



## bewhole (Dec 31, 2016)

Sigh I realy have to stop buying off ebay( I am my worst nightmare) LOL. I take it this locomotive is not Dcc ready. This Decoder is made for a Kato emd SD45.... Just not for this one.

I should have waited on the decoder just to see. Oh well back to the drawing board.:goofball:


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

Just to clarify, it's made of a "DCC-Ready" version of the Kato loco. It looks like you have an older model (a frequent issue on eBay) made before DCC was a thing.

You could mill the frame and resolder all the connections to make it work, but it'll be a real project.


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## bewhole (Dec 31, 2016)

Myself I have too many "Projects" started now.LOL That is the end of my buying locos on ebay tho. Unless it says dcc ready I will not touch it. I know there is some that still use dc on this forum so I will put it out there. It runs real nice tho it is not what I was looking for.
Thanks for the help.


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## traction fan (Oct 5, 2014)

*Another solution*



bewhole said:


> Myself I have too many "Projects" started now.LOL That is the end of my buying locos on ebay tho. Unless it says dcc ready I will not touch it. I know there is some that still use dc on this forum so I will put it out there. It runs real nice tho it is not what I was looking for.
> Thanks for the help.


behole;

Another possibility would be to mount the decoder in a dummy second unit. If you don't want to buy another expensive Kato, Bachman made an SD-40-2 way back. It looked fairly decent, and you don't need the inferior motor. The gearing could go in your scrap box. A draw-bar could permanently couple the two locomotives. I think the only wires that would need to pass between locos would be the motor and headlight leads. They would look like M.U. cables on a pair of prototype locomotives. You could also connect the track pickup wires if you wanted the extra reliability of pickup from all wheels of both locos.

regards;

Traction Fan:smilie_daumenpos:


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## rrjim1 (Mar 12, 2015)

I have several of those original Kato SD45 locos. I replaced the Kato motor with the better running Atlas Scale Speed Motor and install a TCS CN-GP DCC Decoder. You don't need to do any milling but you have to solder wires to the motor and DCC decoder board.


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## Cycleops (Dec 6, 2014)

It takes the TCS M1 small decoder. Shouldn't be too onerous to fit but if you're not comfortable with it why not get a specialist shop to do it for you?


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## rrjim1 (Mar 12, 2015)

Cycleops said:


> It takes the TCS M1 small decoder. Shouldn't be too onerous to fit but if you're not comfortable with it why not get a specialist shop to do it for you?


That's just one install showed on the TCS web site and requires milling the frame. You can also use any small wired decoder. 
Better install without having to mill the frame is to use a TCS Z2. 

http://www.tcsdcc.com/Customer_Content/Installation_Pictures/N_Scale/Kato/SD45/N_Kato_SD45_Z2.html

Better yet the TCS-GP works great and contains leds on the boards. 

https://www.tcsdcc.com/Customer_Content/Installation_Pictures/N_Scale/Kato/SD401/Kato SD401.html


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## ClarkW (Mar 14, 2017)

Bewhole I feel your pain... I've learned that even a dcc ready loco might have an MRC chip in it that doesn't play well with an NCE ProCab!
CycleOps what is or where an I find a specialty shop like you are referring to?
Thanks,


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

ClarkW said:


> Bewhole I feel your pain... I've learned that even a dcc ready loco might have an MRC chip in it that doesn't play well with an NCE ProCab!
> CycleOps what is or where an I find a specialty shop like you are referring to?
> Thanks,


See your other post on this topic. A "DCC ready" loco is ready for you to install a decoder. It doesn't have one installed.


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## Cycleops (Dec 6, 2014)

ClarkW said:


> Bewhole I feel your pain... I've learned that even a dcc ready loco might have an MRC chip in it that doesn't play well with an NCE ProCab!
> CycleOps what is or where an I find a specialty shop like you are referring to?
> Thanks,


Sorry, just seen your reply. You might try Mike Fifer of Fifer Hobby. He's on here as Fifer.


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