Santa express to DCC

[Potrail2378]

Hi, I still have a £50 Christmas Amazon voucher from work, and was wondering about getting the Santa express train set, which is conveniently priced at fifty quid. I think it's R1248.

Simple question - Can it be converted to DCC?

Thanks in advance.

[Howbi]

Yes you can convert this loco to DCC but will need you to solder the decoder wires in place. The Hornby 4 pin decoder is ideal for this .........HB

[Potrail2378]

Thanks, lt looks pretty straightforward.

I'm just hoping the loco will be heavy enough, and reliable enough.

[96RAF]

The 0-4-0s are quite light. I couldn’t get one to trip my DC auto-shuttle, whereas a heavier tram and a diesel did trip it, although I spent a lot of time trouble shooting until I worked out the tiddler was the problem.

[Fishmanoz]

Converting modern 0-4-0s and 0-6-0s is dead simple. Pickups to decoder red and black, motor connections to decoder orange and grey (first disconnect everything from the motor and discard the capacitor). Check running before putting the body back and, if the loco runs backwards when your controller says forwards, swap orange and grey.

It also matters not whether you use the 4-pin or 6-pin or 8-pin. They are all the same decoder except more functions can be accessed on the 6 and 8. You just have more function wires to cut off and stow with the larger decoders.