Recently bought a K-Line Western Pacific Porter from Western Depot on sale, K2631-11. Had seen one in their old catalog and instantly fell in love with it's diminutive size. Looks like a Mastiff in the body of a Terrier. I also ordered a set of six small ore cars to pull behind it that came originally in a set with a Diesel Switcher.
Figured since it was relatively inexpensive and small it might make a good candidate for my first attempt at upgrading a steamer to TMCC Command from conventional. So I ordered the Mini-2 Version 3 Command board from Electric Railroad. In fact, the day I ordered the Porter was the same day a fellow OGR Forum friend told me about ERR who I didn't even know existed. What a great find!
Few days later the ERR board and engine arrived. This was last Saturday. What ensues is an nothing short of an exercise in patience and throwing caution to the wind.
- Day 1, Saturday, Nov. 9: Run porter for a few minutes. Decide that I definitely want the joy of running it with command. Disassemble engine which led to the conclusion that there was no way on earth to fit the Mini-2 board in the engine. So carved out room in one of the ore cars with a Dremmel for the board. Mounted the board inside and by 2am decided better to stop while I was ahead.
- Day 2: Monday, Nov. 11: Get home from work determined to start working on it right away; The kids had other plans. After bath time, story time and 'climb out of bed a dozen times' time, I finally get to work on it at 11pm. Read the instructions that come with the board several times and I rip out existing reverse board and start prepping and labeling wires. 2:30am, call it day.
- Day 3: Wednesday, Nov. 13: After a marathon session of assembling the engine back together, I start wiring the wiring from the engine (pick up rollers, smoke unit board, headlight) and the wiring from the board. Putting the engine back together took the longest. Started work at 9pm, by 3 am I was ready to test.
To my utter amazement it worked! I am definitely going to venture into doing this more often. I have a K-line Coca Cola Diesel switcher coming in the mail and it will be next in line.
In the video below please ignore the messy wiring sticking out of the ore car. I am now hunting for a small/very small tender that I can put the board in since the ore car is very limited for space. And I also plan to install an ERR sound board so more room will be a must.
But all in all this was great fun and any reservations I had about trying my hand at upgrades from conventional to command are gone. I'm glad I started with an engine that cost under $100 but it's a boost to the confidence to know that it's possible even without a degree in electrical engineering.
Any questions, please let me know. Or any suggestions on a tender that would be a good match please share them.
