# LGB French Mkado + RCS BatteryR/C



## TonyWalsham (Jan 2, 2008)

As mentioned in the *LGB MIKADO + RCS battery R/C* thread I posted the other day I have also been commissioned to do the French version of the loco.

This has now been completed.

Basic dismantling of the loco has been covered in the above thread so I won't go over the procedure again.

I will add some pics and an explanation here of how this one was wired slightly differently from the earlier one.

The owner wanted to have reversing lights on the tender. 
Idea # 1. I had intended using a simple DPDT relay using the reverse light function to change the battery voltage - LGB loco wiring polarity. This worked just fine but the lights didn't flash the same as having simple LED's controlled by the lighting functions. Even I got confused as to what the blinking meant.
Idea # 2. I tried using a pair of SPDT relays wired so that when both relays were OFF no voltage was supplied to the LGB wiring. That allowed the sound to turn itself OFF after the controlled period. That didn't work quite right as the lights tended to flicker just before turning ON & OFF positively. Plus I still had to have LED's in the back head for indicating programming reactions.
Idea # 3. Here, I simply powered the LGB electrics straight from the traction batteries. Then I removed the tender lighting plug and fed a fixed 5 volt supply from the LGB pcb into one connection and took the other side of the bulb to ground via the BTL-3r reverse lighting function.
You can see the yellow and blue wires in the top LH corner of the pic below.
The two sound triggers were spliced into the correct wires on the 5 way plug coming from the LGB chuff and sound triggers. This 5x way plug is right beside the cable tie.










The next pic shows the SPEKTRUM AR500 RX plugged in upside down on the BTL-3r decoder pcb.
The standard slide in LGB tray is still able to be pulled out via the smoke box door if needed.










Then I plugged in the LGB ribbon cable. The antenna wire was simply poked into the smokebox. Range is not a problem.










The loco was buttoned up and taken back to the delighted owner Bill Wellington, for testing and approval.
Here it is stting in one of the villages on Bill's layout.










Bill is seen here putting the Mikado through its paces.










An easy to do very satisfying installation.

Next up is my first USAT Hudson. Never even seen one before. This should be fun.


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## Pete Thornton (Jan 2, 2008)

Next up is my first USAT Hudson. Never even seen one before 

One awesome loco!


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## TonyWalsham (Jan 2, 2008)

Hi Pete. 
I removed the boiler from the chassis last night. Easy Peasy with just three screws. Beautifully engineered. 

The motor is gigantic. About the size of a small fist. Not much room for anything else really. Certainly not the 14.4 volt SubC NiCd batteries I am supposed to use. 
The tender looks like it will need internal metal surgery to make it useful. 
I do have an installation layout in mind, but I would like to hear from anyone who has converted the Hudson to battery R/C to see how they did it.


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## TonyWalsham (Jan 2, 2008)

Another follow up Pete. 
I approached the Hudson with some trepidation. 
That apprehension was misplaced. 
It is really easy to get apart. Once the tender internal divisions are removed, again an easy peasy task, the tender is cavernous. 
The whole job will be very straightforward and I should have it completed early next week.


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