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Hello, I was hoping to get some insight on this or recommendations on who to go to to get this done, I've been modeling 1890s-1919 California for some time now and have really been trying to incorporate Sierra Railway No. 3 into the layout somehow, however nobody produces a similar enough engine to kitbash without massive work being put into it or having to scratch build. I have decided to just convert an albeit rather oversized and older Tyco No. 3 to look as it did between the mid 1970s and into its early 1990s appearance, however there are two major problems with converting to DCC: it's old motor and it's frame. Now I've seen there are motors on eBay to replace the old outdated one however I believe the frame will also need extensive work as well as to not cause any issues. I've seen a couple people do this conversion before with great success, however its certainly above my skill level. Would anyone here happen to have any recommendations of people I could pay to send this rather large project to and have converted?
Welcome to the forums!
I'm not able to help you, but I am interested in your project.
Hopefully, somebody will come along who can help.
I wish you well!
Let's see a picture of motor.
If it looks like this it is a simple job to isolate the motor...
I have decided to just convert an albeit rather oversized and older Tyco No. 3 to look as it did between the mid 1970s and into its early 1990s appearance,
Hmmm, why would you say it is oversized? Comparing pictures they look very close to me. Maybe a bit too long a space between the 2nd and 3rd driver, but even the boiler size increase over the firebox looks right.
I think I would consider finding a smaller can type motor for changing over to DCC. Those open frame motor usually have a high amp draw and can be, in some instances, detrimental to a decoder. Plus the can motor will be, in most cases, smaller than the open frame motor. If you do this change over, pay attention to the motor shaft diameter and match the original shaft size.
There are lots of YouTube videos on motor upgrades and DCC installs into older locos. Might want to check them out.
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