Example 1: Bachmann OO Hall Class with full sound, lighting and smoke

The Bachmann Hall Class is put together very well, but is rather limited for space inside. However, YouChoos has really gone to town with this install, cramming in just about everything you can think of, although this did require a fair bit of re-working of the body including a new white metal chimney to replace the existing plastic one.

As well as the Seuthe #27 smoke unit, our Hall Class also includes directional lamps on the buffer beam and tender. It has a firebox glow, cab light, crew, and preparation for coach lighting via the tender too.

The 'Guild Hall' example here is partly experimental with all of these features squeezed in, and acts as a show piece for YouChoos. In general, I wouldn't try to cram this much into such a small model, but it proves the point that it can be done!

Example 2: Bachmann Hall with Zimo Sound and Stay-Alive

Kit: MX648 hard-wired, SugarCube8 speaker; SACC16 + 5x 330uF Flat Tantalums

"Foremarke Hall" is our donor here - everything in the loco, and no pickups in the tender, so some thinking to do to get sound and stay-alive into this one. Intended kit also shown...

Off with the body and it reveals just how little space we have to work with. The 8pin DCC socket is hidden underneath the cab floor. We remove the little circuit board behind the motor with the intention of putting the MX648 decoder there instead. We also remove the 8pin socket, though in retrospect we probably could have gotten away with simply plugging it in (force of habit to remove all the gubbins before starting!).

The SugarCube8 speaker is protected in Kapton and mounted vertically at the front of the chassis (only a little modification required to create this space).

The MX648 soudn decoder has the unwanted wires removed and is re-covered in Kapton tape too, which allows it to just fit vertically behind the motor.

For stay-alive, we connect a number of 330uF flat Tantalums in parallel, via a SACC16 kit to the decoder. We find a way to slot this into the space in front of the motor, which is intended for a decoder really.

Some careful routing of the wiring is required to avoid fouling on the worm, but it all goes in, nice and snug.

The finished model...

Example 3 - similar, but different arrangement of stay-alive

Kit: MX648; SugarCube7; LifeLink + 4x 470uF Flat Tantalums

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.