Walthers Proto 1000 R21 Subway Car

Scale:
HO Scale


This installation uses the following decoder:


TCS recommends using the DP5 decoder for simple plug-and-play installation.

This installation documentation is for the HO-Scale Walthers Proto 1000 R21 Subway Car. The original installation uses the T4X decoder, and was performed by TCS.

Note, the T4X decoders do not include the NMRA plug, which is why the T6XP-SH is recommended.

The pictures above show the locomotive prior to the decoder installation.
In order to gain access to the factory light board for the decoder install, first remove the four screws securing the car shell to the chassis. One set of screws is marked with the red circles in the above picture. Once the screws are removed, carefully lift the shell off of the cars chassis.
With the shell now removed, we now have access to the facotry light board. Located on the left side of the factory light board is the 8-pin plug for our decoder.
Highlighted above with the red rectangle is the 8-pin plug and jumper. We can remove the jumper at this time. Next, remove the two screws securing the factory light board to the motor housing.
With the screws removed, flip the light board over to gain access to the interior light bulbs (total of 2). Since the traces these bulbs are tied into are track pick-ups, we must remove the bulb in order to be able to have control over them via the decoder. First, desolder both leads of the bulb marked with the red circles in the above picture. Do this for the second bulb as well. Note: The leads to these bulbs are delicate and can't be flexed too much.
With the bulbs removed, we can now solder our wire leads on. In this install we are using function one to control the interior lights. This means we are using a green wire for our function output, while the blue is the common plus. Cut about a 5"-6" piece of wire for each lead. Make sure to insulate your solder connections with shrink tubing.
Now that the bulbs have leads, we can now mount them back on the underside of the facotry light board. We used some medium CA glue for quick and easy adhesion.
With the bulbs wired and adhered, we can now reattach the factory light board to the motor housing using the two screws we removed earlier.
With the factory light board mounted, plug in your decoder. if you are using the DP5, plug in the decoder so that Pin #1 of the decoder lines up with Pin #1 of the socket. Pin #1 will be designated with a "1" or a small arrow/chevron. The T6XP-SH comes with a T Series harness. Plug in the harness so that the Orange wire lines up with Pin #1 of the socket. Next, we must wire our interior lights to the decoder. Marked with the red circles are the function (green) and common plus (blue) wire connections.
With all our wire connections made, we can now neaten up our install. We used some kapton tape to clean up the wiring and double sided foam tape to secure the decoder to the factory light board. Finally, reattach the subway cars shell and reinstall the four screws.

Important Soldering Tip

Please do not use any flux either liquid or paste on the mother board. Over time, the acidic properties of liquid or paste flux will begin eating away at the fiberglass PCB and will damage it. Use only Rosin-core solder or no-clean flux approved for electronics use.

TCS recommends the use of Kester "44" Sn63 Pb37, .015" diameter Rosin-core solder. Kester part number 24-6337-0007.

You can order this solder from the following retailers:
Digikey - PN:KE1110-ND
Techni-Tool - PN:488SO6775

Other solder tips

When stripping wire, only strip a tiny little bit of the insulation. Strip no more than a 1/32 of an inch. When the wire gets tinned with solder, the insulation will shrink back more. Try to not expose any more wire than half the length of the solder pad at most. In no case should solder or exposed wire wire ever be outside the boundary of the the solder pad you are attaching a wire to.
Click here for important information on properly Stripping and Tinning wire