Do you want chips with that?

'Do you want chips with that?' is something that is usually heard in the type of eating establishments that I take Mrs. Woody to. You can tell I take her to classy places! However in this case the chips I am talking about are DCC chips for model railway locomotives. Having gone to the Spalding Model Railway Exhibition last weekend it was inevitable that something would come back with me and it did although it also cost me a handbag for Mrs. W in the nearby retail center!

These two are old Hornby locomotives. The Britannia steam loco is a model probably over 30 years old and was made in the UK, whilst the Class 86 Virgin loco is about 20 years old. They cost just £38.50 and £31.50 respectively. Both come from an era prior to DCC. So the question is - Do you want chips with that? - to which the answer is Yes! However I am going to have to wire in the chips myself.

First job was to remove the body of the tender as this is where the motor is. With that off the wires to the motor were removed and desoldered.

Having decided where the chip was going, bearing in mind there is not much room, I applied two sided tape to the ballast weight to fasten the chip to.

Next up the decoded wires from the harness were wired to the pickups and motor and sealed with heat shrink.

With the wiring done the job of convoluting the wiring into a form that fitted inside the body was undertaken., It may ot look neat but it is functional!

The body fitted back on and the chip was programmed.

Then the moment of truth - will it run? Yes it did and very nicely too! For an all in cost of just over £50 its not breaking the bank either especially as the newest Hornby Britannia, which although much more detailed, comes in at around £250!

I did video all this so that will be on YouTube soon! Right better go off and cook Mrs. W's dinner - will she want chips with that?