http://www.logicrailtech.com/

if I recall you take the front truck off and there will be a screw that holds the boiler shell on. then remove the screw at the rear under the cab.

then remove the 2 smoke box suppor rods that run from the front walkway to the smoke box sides.

the shell should pull up and away from the frame. the light will run thrugh the weight. you may need to remove the screws to get the halves apart. then the light can be replaced

Trent

Logic rail sells a block controler that works very well. They use photo cells to detect a train and have automatic "signal reset" if a train enters and leaves at the same end of a block. you can use 2 color or 3 color signals,adjust the sensitivity, and delay time for signals to operate.

they also have a crossing gate that operates the same way with photo cells

trent

my Blueline heavy mike is a 2-8-2
and my Spectrum heavy mountain 4-8-2

both locos make the 18" radius in the yard area and in a section of track that climbs a grade to make it up and over itself. Obviously They perform better on 22" but I can leave them both running for hours and rarely have an issue. Track work is good and all tacked down to a solid base so that helps

trent

I run 2-8-2 and 4-8-2 with 18" radius in the yard aeras of my layout with out issues.

just keep the track work good and all will be ok

I would not reccomend anything less than 18" but that is just from my experince. 15" should be ok for the size engines you mention and lots of people who make logging layouts will use tight curves. the only issue you will have is that at that tight of a radius any bad sections of track or large caps at rail joints will be apperant real quick!

Hello

I have not used any MRC decoders but I have heard that the are not the greatest. I also heard that you cant read them back? If this engine was DCC ready a digitrax decoder might be a better option if you have a program track to read decoders??
I installed a Soundtraxx decoder and had to program it to get The headlight to work properly. It is a LED so depending on the decoder you will have to tell it that you have an led. Function 5 turns the light on and function 7 dims the light. I then set it up so that only in forward the light is on.  It was a PITA to configure but It works now. The track pickup is very poor and I had to make adjustments to both the tender and engine. the engine is one of the worst designes I have seen. The little tabs bend and get cought in the drivers to reduce this I removed the axel cover and re bent the tabs to make better contact. wile this cover is off i pulled the maindriver out and made the spring that pushes it down a little stiffer so that the wobble was reduced. at this time I also removed as much of the stock grease and installed proper lube.

hope this helps
Trent

Can you set up this engine to have a firebox flicker? Basicly I would like to know if the firebox light is on a seprate wire that can be accessed thru the decoder?

also is there a motor upgrade for this engine. Mine seams to slow drasticly when pulling a heavy train up any incline or in a curve. I know a loss of speed is normal but This engine will slow about 15 scale MPH and the chuff is way ot of time.

Thanks
Trent