Another Look At The Walthers Triclops SD60M

When I got a Union Pacific Triclops SD60M, I noticed that Walthers switched the DCC plug to the 21-pin version from the 9-pin. This came as a surprise, but it seems to have gone along with their switch to ESU decoders on their sound equipped locos from SoundTraxx. But there was an advantage that I didn't notice.

Below is a Triclops SD60M chassis with a Digitrax DH126MT decoder installed on the 21-pin socket.

What I didn't notice was that the change to the 21-pin socket means a smaller DCC decoder, and this in turn allows enough room to place a Digitrax Power Xtender on top of the chassis weight instead of trying to shoehorn it into the speaker enclosure. You just have to Dremel off a couple of bosses that now don't seem to serve any function behind the current PC board.

This means a lot less work installing a Digitrax Power Xtender in these locos. The one here is the SOO SD60M:

I'm going to install as many Power Xtenders as I can in new locos for main line service. I've mentioned before that my layout is in a semi-finished basement room, and there's a dust problem. Running a track cleaning extra over the mainline once or twice a week keeps this to a minimum. Both SOO 6029 and SOO 6059 have Power Xtenders and will see this sort of service now.