This post details how I modified an Accucraft Galloping Goose #7 for battery and radio controlled operation. This model provided an easy platform for modification due to the tremendous amount of room for electronics components in the large freight compartment. However, the fact that it is a closed metal container forced a few minor changes in order to get the radio signals to the receiver.
I began the conversion just like I do most others – by disassembling the model and removing all factory-installed wiring and lighting. I also removed the track power pick-ups from the trucks to decrease friction. The only tools needed for disassembly were a 3mm nut driver and wire cutting pliers. The new electronics includes a CVP Products AirWire G3 decoder, a Phoenix P8 sound card, and a Cordless Renovations 14.8 volt, 3000 mAh, Li-ion battery pack.
I wanted the motor and transmission sounds to emanate from the engine area in the front rather than from the freight compartment at the rear. I installed two speakers – a high performance, high bass, 78mm (3”) diameter, 6 Watt, 8 Ohm speaker in the freight compartment and a 40mm x 28.5mm oval, 1 Watt, 8 Ohm speaker under the hood of the passenger compartment. The bass frequencies from the large speaker are omnidirectional and appear to come from everywhere. The treble and mid-range frequencies from the smaller oval specifically emanate from the engine area in the front.
There was a circular opening in the floor of the freight compartment that was the perfect size for the 78mm speaker, but I had to drill four small holes around the perimeter for the mounting screws. The speaker is mounted to the floor with four brass 4-40 x ⅜” machine screws, washers and nuts. I used a dab of silicone to affix the small oval speaker enclosure under the hood. The two speakers are wired in parallel. The following photo shows the small oval speaker in its enclosure installed under the hood.
I replaced all five of the 6-volt incandescent lamps with warm white LEDs. There are two headlamps on the front frame, a roof mounted forward headlight on the passenger compartment, a roof mounted rear headlight on the freight compartment, and an interior light in the passenger compartment.
I used four 5mm, 20 degree dispersion, narrow beam LEDs for the headlamps and roof lights. The individual LEDs are 3.2 volt, 20 mA. I secured the LEDs inside of the light fixtures with small dabs of silicone. The roof mounted forward and rear headlights each have a 680 Ohm resistor. The two headlamp LEDs are wired in series with each other and have a single 470 Ohm resistor.
I replaced the interior light with a 3 LED segment cut from a strip of LEDs. The 3 LED segment interior light has a 330 Ohm series resistor. The 3 LED segment came with an adhesive backing and is attached to the underside of the passenger compartment roof.
I inserted a miniature 2-pin connector into the two wires going to the rear roof light on the roof of the freight compartment. This allows the shell to be removed from the freight compartment for maintenance without unsoldering wires.
I wired the front and rear roof lights to the front and rear headlight drivers on the G3. This allowed me to use the automatic functions regarding which light was on depending on direction. I wired the headlamps and the interior light to the ELITE #1 and #2 drivers on the G3. This allowed me to manually turn them on or off with function keys. I set the appropriate CVs on the G3 to run the headlamps at 25% brightness and the interior light at 6% brightness. Refer to the schematic for LED and resistor wiring details and the G3 manual for CV settings.
I used two electrical connections between the rear freight compartment and the front passenger compartment to allow the model to be taken apart and placed into the two separate packing containers. A 2-pin connector routes power to the motor. A 6-pin connector routes power to the LEDs in the passenger compartment and audio to the front speaker. In this photo you can see how I secured the connectors on the front section to the motor with nylon cable ties.
I separated the six wires on the 6-pin connector into two bundles of three wires each. I covered each three-wire bundle with heat shrink tubing and routed them down though two existing holes in the frame. I ran the two three-wire bundles under the passenger compartment and soldered the leads to thin, twisted-pair, AWG #28 wires that run to the LEDs and speaker. I insulated the connections with heat shrink tubing.
There were two holes for switches already drilled in the rear floor of the freight compartment. I drilled three more holes adjacent to them. The holes are for:
- battery charging jack
- master ON/OFF/CHARGE toggle switch
- P8 programming jack (comes with P8 sound card)
- P8 power ON/OFF toggle switch
- P8 volume momentary toggle switch (comes with P8 sound card)
I removed the external antenna from the G3 and replaced it with a short 8” pigtail. The pigtail has a U.FL mini PCI connector on one end (same connector as the G3 external antenna) and a RP-SMA bulkhead connector on the other end. I drilled a hole in the lower right rear wall of the freight section and mounted the dome antenna. I connected the antenna cable to the bulkhead connector. I wrapped the bulkhead connector with electrical tape. Here is how the dome antenna looks on the back of the model.
I used double stick tape to mount the P8 board to the floor behind the speaker, the G3 board to the back of the speaker, and the battery pack to the floor in front of the speaker. In the following photo, the G3 and P8 circuit boards, the battery, and some of the wiring are a rust-brown color. These components were recycled from a previous conversion to a Bachmann Rail Truck where the electronics were semi-exposed under a tarp. Note how the leads of the series resistors for the LEDs are insulated with heat shrink.
Here is an electrical schematic:
I placed a larger sized copy of the schematic in the Freight Shed at: larger schematic
I painted a couple of Scale Humans with acrylics and placed them on the seats with dabs of silicone.
I turned the RUN/OFF/CHARGE switch to the RUN position and turned on the P8 power switch. I programmed the G3 decoder board from a wireless hand-held throttle (AirWire T5000 or equivalent) per the G3 User Manual. I set both the G3 and the P8 decoders to the same loco address. I connected the P8 programming jack to a USB port on my PC and downloaded the Galloping Goose sound set and the “ahh-ooga” horn (PC and Phoenix Sound Computer Interface required.) If you don’t have access to a PC and the Phoenix Sound Computer Interface, you can specify the desired sound set when you purchase the Phoenix Sound Card.
On the G3, I set up the front and rear roof lights as forward and reverse headlights with rule 17. This means that the light for the direction traveled is on and the other is off. Also, when the loco is stopped, the light is dim and goes to full brightness when the loco begins moving. I also programmed the front and rear roof lights as Mars Lights when full on – not prototypical for a goose, but looks great!
The G3 and the P8 share CV numbers 49 through 53. Sending programming commands, OPS or SERVICE, to one decoder will program both. If you need to program these CVs, program them on the P8 first. Then turn off the power to the P8 and program the same CVs on the G3. The only place I ran into this problem was in programming the interior light (ELITE #2 on the G3) which used CV #49.
I set-up the function keys as follows:
- F0 Front and rear roof lights ON/OFF
- F1 Bell
- F2 Horn
- F3 Door open and close
- F4 Grade crossing
- F5 Station announcement
- F6 Brake squeal
- F7 Headlamps ON/OFF
- F8 Interior Light ON/OFF
- F9 Motor Start-up/Shut-down
It was a relatively painless conversion, once I figured how to get the RF signal through the brass shell to the receiver. It looks good, runs great, and sounds even better. I will edit this post a bit later to add a parts list and sources, and a link to a YouTube video showing a first test run.
Bob
Edit #1: Here is a short YouTube video of the first test run. I’m not sure what is causing the wavy lines on the video. I changed my video upload software recently and obviously have one of the parameters set incorrectly.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hC0W_8poNFU
Edit #2:
Here are the materials list and sources that I used for this project. Many of the electronics items are available from multiple sources. Common items (nuts, bolt, washers, hook-up wire, heat shrink tubing, double-stick tape, electrical tape, wire ties, etc.) are not listed.
- AirWire G3X DCC Command Control Decoder, external antenna with terminal blocks, available from Reindeer Pass, P/N G3X, link
- Phoenix P8 Sound Board Kit, no Speaker, available from Reindeer Pass, P/N P8SOUND, link
- Lithium-ion battery pack, 14.8 Volt, 3000mAh, available from Reindeer Pass, P/N CR-1600B, link
- Toggle Switch, DPDT Center off, available from Jameco, P/N 21952, link
- Toggle Switch, SPST, available from Jameco, P/N 72161, link
- Battery charging jack, 2.1mm, available from All Electronics, P/N DCJ-21, link
- Connector, 6-pin, available from All Electronics, P/N CON-640, link
- Connector, 2-pin, available from All electronics, P/N CON-240, link
- Fuse Holder, In-line, GMA, available from All Electronics, P/N FHP-49, link
- Fuse, GMA, 3 Amp, available from All Electronics, P/N GMA-3, link
- Resistor, 680 Ohm, ¼ Watt, 2 required, available from multiple sources
- Resistor, 470 Ohm, ¼ Watt, 1 required, available from multiple sources
- Resistor, 330 Ohm, ¼ Watt, 1 required, available from multiple sources
- Speaker, QSI, 8 Ohm, TDS High Performance 3” High Profile, available from Tony’s Train Exchange, link
- Speaker, QSI, 8 Ohm, TDS Large Oval, available from Tony’s Train Exchange, link
- Speaker Enclosure, for TDS Large Oval Speaker, available from Tony’s Train Exchange, link
- Pigtail, 50 ohm, U.FL to RP-SMA, available from Amazon & multiple sources, link
- External Dome Antenna Kit, available from Reindeer Pass, P/N AWDcad, link
- Interior Light (3 LED segment cut from non-waterproof flexible LED strip), available from The LED Light, P/N ST-5050-WW3, link
- LED, Warm White, 5mm, 20 degree (4 required), available from The Led Light, P/N LED5-20DG-WWY, link
