Kato Lemke N scale German ICE4 w/ ESU LokSound installed

Kato Lemke N scale German ICE4 BR412 Green Line 4 unit set (10-1542) fitted with ESU LokSound V5 'Kato Japan' 58731 sound decoder.
This was all shot quickly in one take as I have things to do and I'm not a professional CZcamsr.
11x15 sugar cube speaker fitted in power car along with isolated 58731 decoder. I also had to build up the pads on the decoder a bit so there would be positive pressure and it wouldn't be intermittent. The speaker wires were routed up and the last set of seats had to be cut off for the speaker to be properly fit.
Once working, ESU file S0217 ICE3 sound file was loaded. Currently there is not ICE4 file, but I'm pretty sure there is not much difference in sound between the two. The sound file can always be updated if ESU ever does release a ICE4 file though, which is the beauty of ESU decoders.
The two tail cars needed the contacts to be bent into shape so all pads on the Kato/Digitrax FL12 decoders would make positive pressure. These boards in the tailcar control the forward headlight and rear marker lights and are reversed 180 degrees from each other so that one is forward, one is reverse.
At this point, since things were going swimmingly, I figured I would throw in Kato interior lighting kits. Of note, you use the light bars that come with the ICE4's...they're different than the ones that come with the Kato interior light kits. Some of the L shaped strips had to be mutilated a bit to hold proper contact. After that, a dab of hot glue holds them in place (I prefer hot glue because it's removable if necessary...this also works well for speakers.)
After testing everything a piece at a time on a test track (which is always a good practice when installing DCC so you minimize the release of factory smoke :) ) I built it up on my test track and noticed if the end cars and interior cars were orientated the correct ways...the power car was reversed. CV29 had 1 added to it to reverse direction.
This one came to me from someone who got in a bit over their head and these things cost too much to just start wailing on. When in doubt when things arn't going right, just set it aside and walk away. Then come back later and study what isn't working. The biggest problem I've noticed with these (and Shinkansen sets and the like) from Kato is that 'drop in' rarely ever is...the contacts need to align just right so it can be a bit frustrating and if someone doesn't know what they are doing, it can turn from a minor easy fix to a very expensive mess.
Anywhoo...that was enough rambling on my end.
Of course, if you have any questions, feel free to email me at
[e-mail]
or visit me over on facebook at
dufordmodelworks
As always, I hope you learned something and have a great day!

[@wilsonbroughman850]

Another fantastic mod

[@jameslai9994]

Do I need install 2 EM13 type decorder in 2 motor cars ?

[@jellybean187]

One big problem, the sound is from the ICE 3 and NOT of the ICE 4

[@nightmare0331]

welp...that's an easy one...that's all ESU has available. So ICE3 it is. That said, I'm pretty certain most people in the US either don't know the difference or honestly don't care as there are so few of these sets in North America it's a moot point anyways. ;)

[@bishopcool]

世界のKATO