Today I finished installing battery R/C in the Bachmann 3 truck Shay. This is the first example of the 3 truck Shay that I have seen. Installation was pretty straightforward as there is plenty of room in the rear tank for the batteries, charge jack and main poer ON-OFF switch. Here is how I did it.
This should be self explanatory. I used the RCS # BIK-TENLOC installation kit noI normally use with the Bachmann Connie and other tender locos. The charge jack is mounted downlow at the backas this will permit extra run time batteries to be plugged in to the jack. It is pretty well hidden by the step ladder. I had to make a styrene platform to lower the switch so that it could be mounted under the water hatch for easy operation. I drilled a small hole through the floor for the battery cable to pass throug to the underside. Then I drilled a hole right through the buffer beam on the front of the tender so that the cable came out the front at a convenient height.
The switch and cable are also shown here.
The next job was to remove the frame that holds the stock Bachmann pcb in the small water tank behind the cab. I was left with this.
I removed all the wiring from the pcb and bundled the various common wires together and tagged them. Those that are not needed were tucked down into the tray under the floor. This left me with the wires like this.
Then I made a styrene plate on which I could mount the RCS components.
This shows the measurements in mm.
I removed the tall mounts from the floor and dug out some small self tapping screws to mount the plate on the low mounts. Any other wires not being used were tucked out of the way under the plate. The RCS # BASIC-5 ESC was stuck to the styrene platform with non conductive silicone adhesive. Make sure the screw heads holding the platform do not touch the back of the ESC. Next to it is the 5 amp # RF-CHK pcb with the bundled motor wires inserted straight into the terminals. I rewired the lights using a RCS # LT-SW pcb and 470 ohm dropping resistors. The # BASIC-5 also has a regulated 12 volt output so I used this to power the smoke unit and cab light. The flickering fire box and ashpan lights are not connected any more. They may be reactivated at a later date.
The 3 truck Shay has a nice wide trough under the floor for the loco wiring. I used this trough to mount the metal cased RX-8 receiver with silicone adhesive.
I drilled a hole through the floor at an angle that came out just in front of the tool box. Then I threaded the antenna wire up through the hole, shortened it to suit and soldered the end to the hand rail as shown here.
Please note that this is a pic of a 2 x truck Shay cab. The wire comes out right in front of the toolbox, not where it shows. Sound is going to be installed later. There is plenty of room in the top of the tank for a Phoenix. The peaker is located in the rear tender and the Bachmann wiring has been left inplace to connect the speaker to the sound unit. I must say I am impressed with how smoothly this loco runs. That should be expected as this loco has had the benefit of the earlier truck problems being sorted out completely. The only real criticism I have is the flimsy wiring between the main chassis and the rear tender. Do not try using the existing Bachmann wiring to carry the battery power from the tender to the loco. It will fail. Also, I recommend you put a smear of silicone around where the wires go into the plug to act as strain relief. Otherwise after two or three plug insertions and removals the wires will break off. The range was pretty good using the handrail as the antenna. Over 100’ on Gordon Watson’s layout. Questions are welcome.
