SWMBO bought me a Hornby Dean Goods loco a couple of Christmas's ago and I had never done anything about installing a decoder. :oops:

A quick search of internet came up with this: http://www.tcsdcc.com/public_html/Customer_Content/Installation_Pictures/HO_Scale/Hornby/Deans_Good_0-6-0/hornby_deans_good_0_6_0_P1.htm

I found a spare unopened Hornby decoder in my stock box and decided to install that.

The first problem was with the decoder itself. Despite all the packaging being secure and undamaged before I opened it, the black wire was found to be detached from the decoder. :???: It couldn't have been one of the other wires - the ones I didn't need, could it?! :roll: A quick dab with a hot soldering iron soon fixed it though. I then removed all the wires that were not going to be used, cut the plug off,  and slipped some heat-shrink tubing in place over the wires ready for soldering up.

I took the body off the loco chassis as per the instructions above. Just three screws - no problem. The instructions indicated that the decoder could be fitted into the rear of the forebox and upon inspection, the space did look big enough. The only problem was a round section of plastic that protruded into the middle of the void. Having looked at it carefully to make sure I wouldn't damage anything, I cut the protrusion off with a sharp knife. A metal weight forms one side of the void and so the decoder had to be wrapped in insulation to prevent short-circuits.

I continued as per the instructions.

Once the four wires were soldered to the appropriate places, I put the loco on the track to test it. Without the metal weight being in place in the plastic body, the loco chassis doesn't have enough weight to make the wheels turn properly. The drive is from the tender but the pick-ups are in the loco.

Once I had checked that it responded to the controller, I put the body back on, being careful to push the wires out of the way.

That was it - job done. Simple and quick.

The loco has plastic gears in the tender that tend to be rather noisy, more so in reverse than going forward. I'm hoping this will settle down as the gears and the motor bed in with use.

Perry

I have been intending to write about the Dean Goods for a while

My Dean Goods was a lousy runner with DC no matter what I did in terms of wheel cleaning and pickup adjusting………I chipped it with a Lenz Silver and that improved things a little but it was still unacceptable………..it is such an iconic loco on GWR layouts (congratulations on your long overdue conversion Perry:pedal )………………………………….

I kept hoping that Hornby would introduce the model with loco drive in the end I finally splurged and bought a Lenz Gold with a power pack……..the one where the loco will run on for a few seconds after all power has ceased…….at a price that was considerably higher than the original cost of the loco:shock: 

Had a lot of problems installing it because of the lack of space (the power pack is quite bulky)…..had to remove some of the weight and as you noticed that effects the loco because it is pushed along by the tender drive…….the tender would go anywhere but the loco wheels didnt always turn:twisted::twisted: …………… I added bits of lead wherever I could to the underside of the loco and that has brought the traction up to a reasonable standard although the number of wagons it can haul is limited but thats fine it is perfect on the branch line of Granby. 

  Dean Goods have such a fascinating history……….introduced in 1883. Many of them served in France in the First World War and again in World War II with the BEF after being captured at Dunkirk they were pressed into service on the French and German Railways….after the War a number were sent to China! Several remained working in the UK and were not withdrawn until the 1950s…………..real GWR work horses




Hope you enjoy running yours Perry

Regards    

Fortunately, SWMBO knows better than to buy anything for me with the dreaded G*R anywhere on it.

Mine is black and has British Rail logos. :thumbs

It's a noisy little beast, due in no small part I'm sure, to that horrible collection of nasty little plastic gears hanging out of the tender chassis. The amount of backlash induced by such a gear train is great fun! I try to guess when the thing is actually going to start moving after a change of direction. :shock:

It has to be run occasionally, particularly if SWMBO is 'visiting' the line, but I think it's going to spend a lot of time in the MPD and very little in the goods yard. :twisted:

It was fun hard-wiring a decoder into it though. I haven't done one for quite a while.

Perry