Bachmann 80 Ton Three Truck Shay

The Bachmann 80 Ton Three Truck Shay shown prior to installation. As with most steam installations, we will be addressing both the locomotive and tender separately.

First, remove the locomotive's rear truck screw highlighted above in red and remove the truck from the locomotive.

Next, disconnect the wire connectors between the locomotive and tender, then remove the screw highlighted above in red connecting the two units along with the tender shell screw immediately behind it.

With the tender shell screw removed, slide the shell rearward to release the two rear tabs and lift the tender shell from the frame. Remove the original lighting board screws and remove the board from the tender.

Shown with the the lighting board removed. Trim, tin or lengthen the wire leads as needed and using small lengths of TCS 3/32" and 3/64" shrink tubing, insulate these solder leads.

As the original rear light bulb and it's housing fixture were removed with the lighting board, in this installation, we replaced it with a surface mount LED to allow space for the new components. To prepare the new decoder and harness for this LED, we added a 1/6 w 1k resistor to the negative lead of the LED as shown.

Using a very small dab of hot melt glue, we mounted this LED face down onto the light tube in the top of the tender shell. We then secured the wire leads to the shell top using TCS Kapton tape.

Next, we plugged the KA3 Keep Alive® and wiring harness into the WOW101 decoder and spliced this harness into the new 2 and 6 pin harnesses according to the included wiring diagram. Using hot melt glue, we mounted these components into the tender shell as shown, making sure that the components arrangement allowed space for the shell's proper attachment. We fed the new 6 pin connector harness out through the original connector holes along with the new 2 pin speaker wire speaker harness.

With the tender install done at this point, we turned our attention to the locomotive. To do so, remove the two screws highlighted above in red and lift the coal bunker from the locomotive chassis.

To allow the sound to properly escape the locomotive, it is necessary to remove the 'coal load' from the bunker and drill several small holes in both the coal bunker floor and locomotive floor underneath it, avoiding any components when doing so. Clean up these hole edges completely to prevent any loose material from contacting the new speaker. With this done, the coal bunker can be replaced back onto the frame

With the holes drilled, next using a hack saw or mill, trim the height of the 'coal load' to allow clearance for the height of the speaker enclosure. With the 25mm x 14mm WOWSound speaker inserted in to the UNIV_SH4C, place this assembly face down into the coal bunker and secure it with a small amount of hot melt glue. If your speaker enclosure installation covers the portholes on the enclosure, we recommend adding new port hole(s) similar to the original porting. Be sure that the new portholes are the same size and amount of the original and are vented freely into the locomotive We have found introducing a port of the correct size greatly increases the volume and sound quality of the installation. Too much or too little porting decreases the sound quality. When this was in place, we simply pressure fit the coal load down onto the top of the speaker enclosure. A small amount of hot melt glue might be needed if the load is a loose fit. With the wires properly pre-routed out of the locomotive chassis bottom, this step is done.

Wire splice in the new 6 pin wiring harness as well as the new 2 pin speaker harness to the locomotive and feed these wire leads through the original frame openings, keeping the wire connections trimmed for proper wire length. Insulate these connections with shrink wrap tubing.

With all the wire leads to the harnesses neat and in place, couple these four connector ends together along with the draw bar to keep them in place, then using hot melt glue, secure all these connections as shown to keep them from hanging and moving. You can now reattach the rear locomotive truck and close up the tender shell. Be sure to be mindful of wire routing and reassembly of the shell as to not damage or foul the installation. Your Bachmann 80 Ton Three Truck Shay is now WOWSound equipped and ready to roll!