Walthers mainline GP9, DCC decoder & speaker install, super detailing. Illinois Central Death Star

[@Beanbag753]

Many thanks from a de facto newbie who has returned to the hobby after a decades long hiatus.

[@scotabot7826]

Yes, #8394 was a GP10 for sure!! Cool video! The Scale Sound System speakers take any loco to the next level. They are flat out amazing. I love them!!

[@garypyke1576]

I really enjoyed your video. It was great had you showed how you put the speaker and decoder in. The sound file you choose really had some richness in it. The horn also was distinct. I like also the detail parts you chose and how you installed them. It really was enjoyable to watch. I got a lot out of it.

[@ronaldjoyce7374]

It looks great and thank you for the lesson on setting the decoder. I just got my first Altas Master Gold Series N scale, SD 7, along with a Digitrax DCS 52 which I’m still trying to learn on. I’m sure once I figure out how to put the long address in (loco # would be what I want), I’ll get right, one of these times, it takes patience and being new to DCC will be fun, I’m sure. Ron

[@ck7813]

Thanks, Ron. I did a video about 5 years ago on programming a decoder with the DCS 52. Here is the video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gqClk3Sog5WoZ7s. The decoder programming starts at about the 13 minute mark.

[@ronaldjoyce7374]

Thank you sooo much for that info, I'll be sure to check it out very soon. I appreciate any help I can get. THANKS AGAIN!

[@daninraleigh]

Wow. Very impressive sound. I can't believe how expensive these are. But, I grew up with N&W GP9s and they just don't look right without the dynamic brakes.

[@ck7813]

The video doesn’t do the sound justice, the Scale Sound System speaker is phenomenal in person.

[@keithdenner9441]

What is the part number for the two wire plugs you got from Amazon?

[@kwf484]

Use the plastic sheet like a cradle to lift the loco from the formed plastic packing shell

[@joelrichardson8751]

Great job on the super detailing. I might've missed it, but what kind of paint did you use? You mentioned flat black. Since I haven't started painting yet, I hedged my bets and bought Tamiya spray cans of TS-14 black, TS-29 gloss black, TS-6 matte black, TS-13 clear coat, TS-79 semi-clear and TS-80 flat clear. The plan is to paint several plastic spoons as samples so I can find the best match to factory paint.

[@ck7813]

Honestly, I used Testors flat black, it matches perfect. Also, I was just on eBay scrounging for parts and there is an Intermountain GP10 with sound, Death Star (#8042). It is currently at $200 and it ends on Saturday, February 24 at 10:37p.m. Good luck!

[@joelrichardson8751]

@@ck7813 Thanks for the heads up! Different question relating back to super-detailing: What's your rule of thumb on small differences that you're willing to overlook? Case-in-point: The IC's 2-bay, 50-ton hoppers had seven struts under the top flange of the car body sides but the only car body I've ever seen from every vendor has nine. After coming up empty, I decided that using the nine-strut car body will be fine; especially considering that there's still plenty of affordable, undecorated blue-box stock from Athearn out there. The only guide I'm using is the law of diminishing returns (i.e. time spent getting it perfectly right vs. time spent getting it 90%-95% right).

[@ck7813]

@@joelrichardson8751 Yeah, the best answer is, it depends. If they are going to sit in a yard or at an industry and from a distance nobody can tell, I don't have a problem with that. If you are putting it up in a contest for judging, the more accurate the better. Case-in-point, this GP9 locomotive, it isn't even 50% prototypically correct, but it is good filler for sitting in the yard/engine shop.

[@joelrichardson8751]

That's a good way of looking at it. There are a few items in my collection I might be willing to take to the county fair so to speak but the vast majority of my collection is strictly for recreational purposes. Here, you've done a great job detailing a great locomotive, Walthers inaccuracies aside. If I saw this running on a layout, I'd have to stop and get close before noticing anything was amiss.

[@ronduz1281]

Lov your GP10 lol👍

[@ck7813]

It's a GP9.5 🤣

[@WestCoastRails]

Nice job, could you post the p/n for the speaker? Also the plug wire pigtail as well. Many thanks

[@ck7813]

The sku for the speaker is: WLPM-UNI1-RC1. I do not have a part number for the wires, I got them off of Amazon probably 5 years ago and I don't have a record of the product number. They are 1mm, 2 wire plugs, the package I purchase has both the male and female ends.

[@PhilKnox-q8h]

For the programming on the ESU decoder, I was surprised that you used CV4 = 255 for a range for deceleration. Does it take a lot of braking in momentum (I.e. Iowa scaled engineering proto throttle or NCE)? Your explanations for programming were excellent, it sure helped me better understand ESU. Thanks Kman

[@ck7813]

Thank you! Yes, I predominately use a ProtoThrottle to run my trains. Using CV4 = 255 with no braking will take the train a long time (5-8 seconds of actual time) to stop. Applying braking with either the PT or my hand throttle shortens that to 2-3 seconds). Like anything, this is all about personal preference. You could easily reduce this to around 200 and still get the effect of coasting after moving the throttle to zero but have a quicker stopping time. It is whatever works best for you!

[@PhilKnox-q8h]

Thanks for the advice, it was appreciated. Kman

[@farmerdave7965]

I have two of them and it bothers me that they only have one flywheel.

[@ck7813]

I agree, but I ran this loco for at least 2 hours yesterday and it runs great. I have one turnout that has an electrical dead spot and this loco had zero issues of not having enough flywheel momentum to short it out. As much as I don’t want to admit it, this runs better than most of my Athearn Genesis units.

[@72zodiac]

What part number is the speaker

[@ck7813]

WLPM-UNI1-RC1

[@72zodiac]

Thanks