# Thomas gets the RCS treatment + MyLocosound. V2



## TonyWalsham (Jan 2, 2008)

This week I finished off another Thomas battery R/C + sound conversion.
As usual the conversion went quite smoothly as I fitted my new RCS PRO-3 ESC + Planet R/C and MyLocosound.
First up take the body from the chassis by removing the 8 fixing screws.










Take care removing the body from the chassis. Lift up the rear to clear and then slide forwards. If you simply lift it up you may damage the plastic mechanism that makes the "eyes" swivel from side to side. I advise owners to remove the front of Thomas and tape the "eyes" in the middle so that when you replace the front back in the boiler it is easier to line up the little levers behind the "eyes" with the slots they sit in. Before refitting the front, stop the mechanism in the middle of the sideways movement.










There is no particular order for installing the parts.
I chose to start with installing the speaker in the coal bunker. Cut off the end bits of plastic from the "coal load" thus.


Then I glued the low profile Phoenix speaker under the load.










Next up I made a a baffle box using thin sheets of styrene cut to size and fit.











Then I fed the speaker wires down through a small hole in the bottom of the coal bunker. I replaced the coal load cover and turned my attention to installing an LED in the rear dummy light. The LED legs are fed through the body shell and glued in place. See outside pics at end of article











I had two 4 x cell AA size ENELOOP battery packs made up in flat and block configuration. The total 9.6 volts is plenty fast enough for Thomas in the hands of the owners grandchildren.











The two different shapes were needed so they would fit as shown below.











The 2 x part RCS PRO-3 ESC/Decoder were mounted under the boiler top and on one side tank. The 4 x channel Planet 2.4 GHz RX simply plugs into the decoder part. Servo leads are not needed.











The new MyLocosound steam sound with mechanical chuff was mounted inside the other side tank.











The ON-OFF switch and charge jack are mounted on the rear buffer beam. The yellow programing pushbutton is under the floor.











Various connecting wires were fed up through a 1/4" hole I drilled in the chassis floor.











I drilled out a 1/4" hole in the front of the dummy headlight. Plus two 1 mm holes in the rear of the light to feed the LED legs through.











Two more 1 mm holes were drilled through the mudguard cover. I then cut off the flange on the bottom of the LED and fed the legs through the light. These legs were bent downwards so they could be fed through the mudguard as I gently pushed the LED into place.











This is how I set up the rear LED.











I also made up a mechanical chuff timer by mounting a small reed switch in a styrene tube and gluing it under the motor block.
I used 4 x Rare Earth magnets glued to the back of the middle driver. Even though there is a lot of side play slop the magnets never miss a beat.











This particular conversion was also supplied with an auxiliary battery supply, charge jack and ON-OFF switch for mounting in a trail car. That should be enough for at least 5-6 hours run time.


The only other thing I would do is add weight to the front of the loco to balance the batteries. Thomas is actually quite light and can derail on uneven track.
I will use stick on wheel weights.


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## Mike O (Jan 2, 2008)

Tony, 

Nice clean install. Thanks for the tutorial. Your posts are always informative. 

Mike


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## Cosmos (Apr 16, 2011)

Very cool! I like it and I bet the kids are going to LOVE IT!


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## Stan Cedarleaf (Jan 2, 2008)

Very nicely done, Tony.... Such a clean installation!!!!!!!









The Mylocosound card is a great choice.


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## TonyWalsham (Jan 2, 2008)

Thank you gentlemen. 

Neat makes them work better. Well, at least neat makes it less likely there will be a stuff up. 
But even then I mucked up the LED wiring.


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## mbendebba (Jan 22, 2011)

Nicely done Tony. I am going to start baffling the speakers in my installations, I like the idea very much.


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## NTCGRR (Jan 2, 2008)

Tony 
Have you don't this stuff before?? 

Now, what is Thomas' price tag worth now??


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## TonyWalsham (Jan 2, 2008)

Hi Marty. 
I assume you mean have I done this stuff before? 
Sure I have done a Thomas before, when they first came out. 
This version was done a little differently so I thought the new ideas I employed were worth showing. 

I have no idea how much Thomas costs nowadays. In Australia they will probably be twice what they are in the USA.


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## jake3404 (Dec 3, 2010)

Nicely done Tony. I always like your posts on this subject so I can get ideas on how install stuff in my own equipment. Of course my installs are not near as clean as yours but they work for my personal use. 

I especially like the reed switch idea. I've been having problems with the reed switch on my B'man K-27 not staying in place. This gives me a better idea.


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## TonyWalsham (Jan 2, 2008)

Thanks Jake. 
It would have been nice if Bachmann had made arrangements for a chuff timer in Thomas. 
Fingers are crossed that the 4 x glued in magnets stay in place. on the wheel rim and spokes. Super glue seems to work well in this type of application. 

As to the K-27 chuff's. I have done a dozen or more of them now and have always used the stock Bachmann chuff timer. Inverting the signal is very simple. I supply the two parts, a small cap and transistor, in my PRO-PnP kits together with instructions on how to wire them in. 
I will supply a kit of parts with instructions *No Charge*, except for postage, for those that would like them. 
Making a mechanical chuff timer for the K-27, like I did for Thomas, would be pretty straightforward. I find the best way of setting up the reed switch is to mount it end on to the magnets. The chuff has a better cut off than mounting the reed switch side on. I would use the tender wheels as they are almost exactly half the size of the main drivers and eliminate the need for another connection between the loco and the tender.


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## rpc7271 (Jan 2, 2008)

We just ordeded a Bachmann Thomas for the club modular layout to run at shows. A fellow mwmber brought an older Lionel thomas to a show and ran it and the kids went wild. I would very much like to see a video of your thomas in action. What does it sound like. Does he talk?


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## TonyWalsham (Jan 2, 2008)

Thomas does not belong to me. 
It was a private battery R/C installation job for a customer a long way from me. 
Thomas uses a MyLocosound to chuff and blow the whistle on command. 
My customer advised me that the other day Thomas ran for more than four hours using only the on board batteries before needing to be recharged. 

As to videos. I cannot take videos and even if I could I have absolutely no idea how to publish them to the Internet.


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## steam5 (Jun 22, 2008)

I do not own a MyLocosound decoder, but have heard one. They are basic simple sound cards. 
Have a look on there web page, they have links to videos. http://www.mylocosound.com/

Not all that long ago Garden Railways did a review. From memory they though it was good value for money. 

also have a read of this thread http://www.mylargescale.com/Communi...fault.aspx

Alan


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