DCC DECODERS FOR
INTERMOUNTAIN LOCOMOTIVES – March 2009
As our selection
of N and HO scale locomotives continues to expand, we hear from more and more
modelers who are curious about Digital Command Control (DCC) decoders for their
InterMountain locomotives. Although we do not make decoders ourselves, decoders
for our locomotives are available from top DCC manufacturers such as
SoundTraxx, Digitrax, North Coast Engineering (NCE), Train Control Systems
(TCS), Lenz and others.
N Scale:
The following
table indicates our locomotive and the appropriate board replacement decoder
model numbers from each decoder manufacturer:
|
IMRC
N Locomotive |
Digitrax |
NCE |
|
EMD FT-A |
DN163I1A |
NIMFTA |
|
EMD FT-B |
DN163I1B |
NIMFTB |
|
EMD F3 A&B, EMD F7 A&B |
DN163I1C |
No Board Replacement |
|
EMD F9B |
DN163I1C |
No Board Replacement |
|
EMD FP7 & EMD FP9 |
DN163I2 |
No Board Replacement |
|
EMD SD40T-2, SD45T-2, SD45-2 |
DN163I0 |
N12A0e |
|
More Information: |
These decoders
are available from any hobby dealer that stocks DCC products.
There are
currently no drop-in sound decoders available for our N scale locomotives.
HO Scale:
Although no
manufacturer makes a decoder specifically designed for our HO scale F3, F7,
FP7, FP9, and U18B, the models include an NMRA 8-pin socket making equipping
these engines for DCC simple and quick. An NMRA 8-pin plug decoder from any of
the decoder manufacturers will work great as long as there are wires between
the decoder and the 8-pin plug. Please
note that a direct plug style decoder, with the 8-pins directly mounted to the
decoder, will NOT physically fit.
HO Scale
sound information:
If you would
like sound in your InterMountain locomotives we highly recommend that you
purchase our factory sound equipped version. These locomotives fully operate on
DC and DCC out of the box utilizing the very realistic QSI sound system with
version 7 chip software. Version 7 chips are sound file rewritable for complete
user sound customization. For more information visit:
http://www.qsisolutions.com
If you wish to
purchase our non-sound equipped locomotives and add your own sound decoder,
there are various sound decoders available such as those offered by QSI,
Soundtraxx, ESU LokSound, and Digitrax. There is a space provided inside the HO
F units for a 1.10” diameter speaker. There is a space provided inside the HO
U18B for a 1.38” L x .640” W x .277” H (approximate size) rectangular speaker.
Speakers of other sizes may possibly be custom fit to our locomotives.