Fitting Sound to Hornby W1 Rebuilt & Hush Hush

[zr2498]

I purchased the D & H sound decoders from Locoman Sounds for these locomotives some time ago, but have only just carried out the installation.

The plan was to fit a large speaker to the tender, install a stay alive, and perhaps firebox flicker.

 

The first, is the W1 rebuilt, 10000 with corridor tender

On this occasion, I managed to keep the original weight in the tender, however to get a large speaker to fit there was a fair amount of cutting and carving.

 

Here is the kit:

 

 

Parts removed from the tender.

 

 

The Zen stay alive can fit under the weight. Start by clipping away the standard speaker housing.

 

 

Stay alive fitted under the weight. Zen label underneath gave the best fit.

 

 

Now for the cutting and carving to remove most of the coal pan. I have used a combination of a short razor saw and scalpel, which seems to be the easiest method for me, but it does take a while. A couple of views:

 

 

 

Now for the sound decoder, and preparation for an extra 2 pin micro-connector to the loco, for the firebox LED.

 

 

Wires soldered to the decoder for the stay alive and firebox flicker.

 

 

Here are the connections - see D & H manual - SD22A decoder.

 

 

Insulation needed before loading the decoder.

 

 

The speaker was moved to one side of the weight (fixed with black tack). The decoder, first small pieces of 'hot' tape were added, where black tack used to fix the edges of the decoder to the weight. The decoder is set at an angle to reduce the height, just enough, so then it fits into the upper corner of the tender body.

 

 

 

Tender body back on.

 

 

Original coal load fitted.

 

 

Now for the locomotive firebox flicker. There is very little room between the end of the motor and the back plate of the firebox. So, the LED had to be pushed through more than is usual (needing a larger hole than typically 3mm), and the connections and resistor were moved to the shallow space underneath the cab.

 

 

 

Followed by insulation.

 

 

Ready to go.

 

 

It's a 'big' sound, with lots of functions provided by Locoman. F10 is the coal shovelling, coupled with firebox flicker.

A note of warning. The rod between chassis and body is not in the instructions for loco body removal! That has to be disconnected from the rear driving wheel before lifting the body off.

Edited October 24, 2023 by zr2498
Revised kit diagram

[zr2498]

Just to show how 'you learn as you go along', the Hush Hush was sound fitted before the W1 rebuilt above.

 

 

The kit:

 

 

I had filed off some parts from the weight to get the 55mm long speaker as far back in the tender a possible. This also meant that the tender body screw was removed.

 

 

I suspect, that I could have done the same as the W1 rebuilt above if I had removed more material from the coal pan.

 

 

Anyway, too late now but it goes to show how the process develops with practice 🙂

The sound was excellent though, and fortunately it's all hidden on the inside!

Edited October 23, 2023 by zr2498
Extra info added

[zr2498]

Third, sound fitting of the W1s.

W1 Rebuilt 60700

 

 

This model has a very much smaller (narrower) tender, so the method used for 10000 as up thread was impossible to use in this case.

 

Kit used:

 

 

The Zen decoder when fitted under the weight was about 2mm too wide.

So, the weight had to come out, and some lead shot added to the tender floor to compensate for some of the weight loss.

Again, the speaker rim was trimmed off, and also the pair of spigots for the weight fixing screws were cut-down. This would enable the 55mm long speaker to sit as low as possible, giving more headroom.

 

 

Wiring of the stay alive and speaker to the D & H decoder.

 

 

The tender body was modified by removal of the coal pan, however on fitting the tender body, the decoder was sitting too proud. So the stay alive was moved from the side (as above), and moved to the top of the speaker. Fixed with black tack, and ensuring clearance of the speaker diaphragms. This gave sufficient room for the decoder to sit alongside the speaker. Hot tape was added to the decoder at the positions where black tack was added to fix the decoder to the tender floor and speaker. Firebox flicker may be added at a later date?

 

 

Tender body fitted.

 

 

And coal load.

 

 

Sound of course was the same, and as good as the 10000. It's always a challenge to work out the best speaker installation method. The 55X20X10 Rail Exclusive speakers do give a powerful, full range sound. For me, on this size of locomotive this is the usual starting specification, and I will only reduce the speaker size as a last resort.

 

 

Edited October 24, 2023 by zr2498