All,
Tony sent me one of the wiring kits recently. The kit is professional! Very nicely done! Wiring directions were easy to follow. I couldn’t tell from the instruction pics what loco Tony used but after emailing him he told me it was a GP 38 loco.
However the install in the SD40 is not as easy as it looks in the instructions. The SD40 has that articulating motor block that caused some problems. I installed the wiring kit in my SD40-2 last night.
First the locations shown in the instructions won’t work well on the SD40. The combination of the guide for the articulating wheel set and the support slide for the rest of the front of the motor block make it a poor location for wires. Too many things sliding back and forth rubbing the wires. There is also the problem of the wires interfering with the articulation of the front wheel set.
I originally tried that spot but it was clear it wasn’t going to work. I drilled a hole at the highest spot under the deck for the wires to keep them as close to the deck as possible. I then routed them to the side of the articulating wheel set all the way to the edge of the deck. I siliconed them there. That bead of silicone slightly reduces the amount the motor block can pivot but is needed to protect the wires from the slide.
I then routed the wires thru the gap under the motor block and between its pivoting carrier. From there I ran the wires thru the hole for the motor wires and inside the shell.
While getting the wires inside sooner would be a good thing there is not a spot that accesses inside the shell in that area that isn’t either covered by the weights or in an area that has a slide moving in the same location.
The wiring was a piece of cake. Easy to follow and do. Mine was only complicated by some wiring repairs I had made previously due to damage from a derailment and subsequent short. Even so it was very simple to do.
Good news is it works like a charm! I am very happy with it! I removed the unused sliders as well as the plugs. I can make better use of them in another battery car!
My only suggestions would be to alter the directions for the SD40-2. My way is probably not the best but the wires shouldn’t run thru the maze of sliders and pivots the SD40 has on the ends of the motor blocks. I am interested in Marty’s approach to wiring this loco…at least I think he may have an SD40.
Andre’