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Ditch Lights Locos and rolling stock
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Active Member 92 posts Tom TAK425 Active Member 92 posts
Tom TAK425

Picked up a Scale Trains Operator w/DC only. Installed a TCS-T1 decoder in it that I had laying around.  Put it in a consist in the lead for the lighting effects with a sound unit trailing. Headlight is nice and bright, but can't get the ditch lights to work.

I am thinking maybe remove the wiring from the board going to the ditch lights and attach to new decoder. T1 says it's a two function. Does that mean the green & purple wires are of no use?

Contacted Scale Trains, they told me they can't help because I'm not using a Loc Sound decoder. They  did send wiring diagrams of the Loc Sound decoder.

Any thoughts on how to do this without gutting the innards?
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bdhicks Active Member 99 posts
bdhicks

T1 is headlights only

I haven't done any installs on Scaletrains locomotives, so I don't know what is the best decoder for you to use, but I do know that the T1 only uses the yellow and white wires, for headlight-only control.  From the TCS webpage: "Note: The Green and Purple wires on this decoder are not used. The T1 is a 2-function decoder, but still uses the 9-pin JST which includes the Green and Purple wires."
-Brian
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joef MRH Founder 17,521 posts
joef

Do what they told you

Quote:

Contacted Scale Trains, they told me they can't help because I'm not using a Loc Sound decoder. They did send wiring diagrams of the Loc Sound decoder.

Any thoughts on how to do this without gutting the innards?

I’m sorry, but they told you the answer — use an ESU decoder. The 21-pin LokPilot 5 (nonsound decoder for $29, buy it here: https://www.scaletrains.com/product/esu-ho-scale-lokpilot-5-dcc-decoder/) has all the same function power as a sound decoder, so all the lighting functions will work.

Otherwise it’s replace the loco motherboard with something like a Decoder Buddy and experiment via a hardwire install using a brand X decoder that has extra functions... but you're more or less on your own. You need to replace the loco's motherboard because it is hardwired for just ESU decoders — replacing the loco's board frees up those lights so they can be hardwired to a brand X decoder.

This has been recently dicussed on here before, and here’s the most detailed answer from Prof Klyzlr: https://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/42321#comment-470436

FUNCTION WIRES

White = Front headlight (F0, loco running forward)

Yellow = Rear headlight (F0, loco running in reverse)

Green = F1

Purple = F2

So F1 and F2 are not referenced in a two-function decoder, only F0F and F0R. You need a four function T1 decoder to get F1 and F2. Did the decoder come with an instruction sheet? It should say just that, F1 and F2 are not available.

Once you get a four function TCS T1, then you have to hardwire the green and purple functions to use them.

To set up blinking ditch lights with a 4-function T1 decoder, wire the green wire (F1) to one ditch light. ... and wire the violet wire (F2) to the other ditch light and program the decoder appropriately to get the alternating ditch lights.

Joe Fugate​
Publisher, Model Railroad Hobbyist magazine

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bdhicks Active Member 99 posts
bdhicks

FYI the 4-function version of

FYI the 4-function version of the T1 is the T4
-Brian
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