Revisiting the NSB Di5 one more time
On this page we are revisiting the Norwegian Di5 once more. First some basic history; Between 1985 and 1987 the NSB bought 17 DB V60 switching locomotives. The V60 (later 260) was a large serie of diesel hydraulic locomotivies and to this date some are still in use in Germany. The NSB renumbered them Di5.861-877. They remained in use until the mid to late 1990's. All are scrapped. The last one in service was the Di5.861 and that will be the subject of this page.
Di5.861 - Trondheim - July 4, 1995
As described on
NSB Di5 models Roco makes a nice model of the NSB Di5. On other pages I've described installing
DCC and
Loksound in the second generation of the Roco Di5.
I really enjoyed the sound in the Di5 install that I did and I got some good reception on it as well. One this page I took the original run, which wasn't setup for DCC and renumber it and also install sound in it.
The result will be the Di5.861 which was the last Di5 in service.
DCC Sound Installation
The first run Roco Di5 is the Di5.867. The 867 is the former
DB 261 705-8. As stated, we will renumber this to the Di5.861 (the former
DB 261 640-7).
The parts for the installation:
- ESU 50321 - Small speaker kit
- Train-O-Matic - Power Pack
- 58823 - Loksound 5 Micro DCC (with wires)
- S0031 - Loksound 5 V60 sound file
- Di5 decals from Electrade
The original Roco Di5 doesn't have any space for a decoder. The shell is filled with large molded piece of metal. To make the necessary space we are going to cut the metal piece in two and only install the front piece.
Some test fitting of the parts after the metal block has been cut in two. The decoder and powerpack will fit under the short hood. The frame sits higher in the cab space than with the later model therefore we can't place the speaker and the powerpack in the same way. But this shows that it will fit.
After the test fitting of the decoder it is time to renumber the locomotive. With masking tape the number area is masked off. I typically use Isopropyl alcohol or Testors paint thinner for number removal. In this case the number dissapears very fast but unfortunately the yellow paint dissapears as well. I decided to mask off a larger part of the shell and remove the paint. Then I used a Tamiya spray can to respray that area and then put the decal number on it. The result is pretty good and won't show that much when the model is on the layout.
The decoder will be hardwired to the original printed circuit board. This requires the removal of the existing diodes and capacitor. Also the lights needs to be isolated from the power pickups. This was done by cutting in the PCB. This is visible in the photo where the blue wire is connected (right).
Time to assemble the model again. As you can see the model has now the new number (Di5.861). The speaker is is mounted, as is the decoder and the powerpack. There is no space anymore for the original cab insert. To still have a free view through the cab windows I installed a large piece of plastic as a cover.
Created: 2021-01-24. Updated: 2021-01-24
