Hello MRH,

I recently installed a TCS WOWkit into my Athearn GP35. While everything seems to work okay and the sound does come out of the speaker, I have to prop up the decoder on the board for it to work. It seems a bit loose connecting to the board. Is there something I'm missing?

I had seen the install of this decoder on the Soundtraxx YouTube channel in early 2021 and it looked like something that I could do. When I got the decoder, it was a pretty straightforward install similar to most drop in decoders for Kato engines. There was also plenty of room for the speaker immediately behind the decoder and forward of the high portion of the rear chassis. Because of this, I bought two more decoder kits for installation into an N-Scale E8 A/B set. This is the story of that install in three videos.

I am not having any luck locating a source for prewired, 3mm red/green (bicolor) LEDs, preferably diffused (not water clear).

I know Evan Designs has them, but they are 4x more expensive than the LEDs I was able to purchase on EBay  however, I can no longer find them on EBay  

Anyone have a source they use?

I'm sure we've all been there - having to get more space inside our loco shells to accommodate DCC decoders, or in my case RailPro receivers. Usually I've had to take a hacksaw, or port-a-band saw, to those white-metal weights to cut off some height to gain the space needed. Not a fun or easy process. Fortunately I've got a connection to someone with a CNC mill. The pictures & video are posted below.