At what point was the Lifelike GP18 changed to use a dropin decoder? There are are several N&W paint schemes. There was a black one with the hamburger herald which I think was from the last run, so I guess that would take a dropin. The one in blue with the hamburger herald was from an early run, I think, so would that take the dropin as well? thanks for any help
The last run (N&W black with script herald 919/934) is the one that changed to a drop in decoder. Blue with the Hamburger herald has to be hardwired.
Would the TCS decoder for the Atlas GP's (CN or CN-GP) work with the earlier run GP18's like the N&W in blue with the hamburger herald?
I have a number of LL GP18's and none of them are DCC ready, although the newest ones are DCC friendly. The easiest way to tell the new ones is they have the closed pilot...the older ones have the couplers mounted to the trucks and open pilots. If you have they shell off, the new versions have a split frame. My newest one in NW was the blue color scheme, and it isn't DCC ready if that helps
There have been no fewer than three chassis types for the LL GP18. Check out Spookshow's N encyclopedia: http://www.visi.com/~spookshow/llgp1820.html To answer your first question, 2007 saw the chassis changed to accept a truly drop in decoder. It looks to be the same type as used in a Kato RSC2. The second generation ca. 1999 came out with the split frame version that will accept a TCS CN-GP as shown on the TCS site: http://www.tcsdcc.com/lifelike_gp18.htm The first generation ca. 1994 had loose weights that can readily be cut down to make room for a hardwired install such as a TCS M1 or Z2. I'm not sure which paint schemes were produced in any of the releases as my two are from the earliest release... Rock Island and LV.
Thanks for the help everybody. One last question. Can the shells be swapped between the two split-frame versions--the one that is not DCC friendly and the one that is?
