Intemountain ES44AC. the non sound DCC ready one

[tankist]

any one has one or knows what quick plug is used on it? (8 pin or 9 pin)

i can't find this info anywhere. thanks!

 

[ggp]

Here is a link to InterMountain web page. The way I read it, this loco should operate on DC or DCC right out of the box, with sound as an extra option. It doesn't say DCC ready. Please correct me if that is not the case.
http://www.intermountain-railway.com/ho/html/49703.htm

 

[diburning]

Neither.

Intermountain has two versions, Tsunami Sound, and the Soundtraxx DCC mobile decoder that also works on DC. On the Atlas forums, a person who is responsible for the train display at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry said that the DCC (non-sound) version runs slower on DC due to the decoder. He removed the decoder and hard wired the engine and it ran fine.

If you're running DCC, you should not have that problem.

 

[tankist]

thanks for the answer. i visited this page. for some reason i was under impression that it is as usual DCC ready and not DCC installed. hmmm. can anyone with non sound model please confirm it is indeed DCC equipped out of the box?

 

[tankist]

thank you!

 

[diburning]

Here's a review:

http://www.thewhistlepost.com/forum...71-intermountain-es44ac-gevo-bnsf-review.html

Also, most locomotive manufacturers use the NMRA Standard 8-pin plug. The 9-pin JST is not NMRA standard although I prefer it since it has the capacity for 4 functions on the plug. The reason why Athearn has a 9-pin JST plug along with the 8-pin socket is because the Athearn light boards are made by Digitrax. Digitrax pretty much pioneered DCC-ready engines when they contracted with Athearn to make the boards. Digitrax came up with the 9-pin plug in the first place. Other manufacturers started making 9-pin decoders as well since Athearn has a decent market share.

 

[tankist]

that is the one i read. i guess i was to hung up on what type of quick plug that i didn't see the forest though the trees. it all adds up now