my plan to limit top speed), they would need more than a sim-
ple HO scale decoder. Josh at QSI suggested that one of the
Titan Magnum decoders [8] would fill the bill and he was, jus-
tifiably, proud of the sounds that they put into the decoder.
Next came the speaker selection. There was a 50 mm diam-
eter boss molded into the fuel tank. I had a 50 mm speaker
with a tall magnet structure in my stock, but it was rated for
¼ watt. With the decoder able to supply 2 watts of power, I
wanted a more robust speaker. Chatting with Jack at Litch-
field Station, I found exactly what I needed, a thin‐profile 50
mm speaker with a 1½ watt rating.
The next stumbling block was fitting the decoder into the
loco. The Magnum is designed with garden scale in mind and
the RS3 is a very narrow and low hood loco. Well, I was all
set to install the decoder on the floor pan of the loco when I
realized that the hood opening is narrower than the decoder.
9. Decoder installed in the loco floor. Bruce Petrarca photo.
9
DCC Impulses Column - 11
MRH-Nov 2014
