Example 1 - Sound, Stay-Alive, and room for lights/smoke

Some simple photos of a Bachmann BR Standard 9F, showing the positioning of a Zimo MX645 sound decoder, small stay-alive and SugarLump speaker in the loco. A small angle is ground off the top/back of the motor housing so that the decoder can sit comfortably at a diagonal angle. DCC socket removed and mount points ground flat to provide maximum space. This approach even provides enough room for a single Seuthe #27 smoke generator (not shown here).

It's a different one, but looks good all weathered up! This one used MX648 hard-wired, SugarStrand9 speaker, SACC16 and SuperCap17000...

Example 2 - Easier approach, but with big stay-alive

Kit: MX645; IceCube18X13X10-1W; SuperCap17000uF

Since we are not going to be adding lamps or smoke in this model, we can use the whole platform in front of the motor for the MX645 decoder and an IceCube speaker. A 17000uF SuperCap can be placed at the rear behind the motor, which will give lots of stay-alive backup power.

Remove the 8pin DCC socket, which is located at the front on this model, and flatten the platform down to maximise space.

SuperCap (wrapped in Kapton tape) sits at an angle behind the motor, with decoder and speaker on the platform at the front.

Example 3: Now with MS450

Kit: MS450 hard-wired, SuperCap (or MGOLANG), IceCube18X13X10

Just a brief revisit of Bachmann's older 9F (starts with 8pin socket in the loco of this one). Similar approach to the previous example, but updated here to use the MS450 instead of MX range.

We've used a SuperCap for stay-alive again, but the MGOLANG would have fitted instead, in the same location.

Please note that these guides are provided as useful resources for you, as-is. YouChoos cannot be held responsible for errors in the information, or for any damage caused to your models or equipment if you choose to follow any of the steps detailed here.