Next I went to one of the Lionel 0-4-0's. I figured it should be a snap to put a Digitrax DG583S decoder into this locomotive. I was almost right.
It really was easy to open the loco up but the problem then started when I realized that there was no circuit board and no identification to the wires (track and motor) coming up from the gearbox.
That was not a particular problem except I had to cut the wires from their connections in order to test them.
Once I identified the wires I installed them the same way as I had with the LGB 2-4-0 but Lionel being Lionel (or is it Digitrax being Digitrax) when I got the decoder installed so that the loco went in the right direction under analog track power it ran in reverse under MTS/DCC.
I tried several wiring combinations but nothing worked so I'll probably have to reprogram the decoder to run the right direction under MTS/DCC.
I'll get to that later (maybe much later). I will probably install a decoder in the other Lionel 0-4-0 just to find out if it too runs backward in MTS/DCC. Heck, if I have to reprogram one I might as well do two or three Lionel locos at the same time.
The actual decoder installation took slightly less than one hour. It probably would have been less than 1/2 hour if I had not spent the time trying to figure out how to run it the right direction under MTS/DCC.
The extra wiring in the picture is for the LGB Smoke Unit, the LGB headlight bulb and wiring assembly, a 5 volt regulator and a LGB wiring harness I added so that I can connect the loco to one of my little Sound Cars with a LGB 4135s sound unit. The LGB wiring harness also connects to the LGB ball bearing wheels in the sound car which doubles the loco's electrical contact with the tracks from four to eight which makes for much smoother and more reliable operation.
This now gives me two inexpensive trains I can let the grandkids and visitors run under MTS/DCC or under analog track power.
Jerry