How to convert Kato TGV to DCC

This guide the Kato TGV model and is very similar to the Kato Eurostar conversion. There is much more space inside the body however, which makes sound conversion also possible.

Models that this guide applies to include:

• Kato TGV in SNCF orange/grey livery (S14701)
• Kato TGV in SNCF orange/grey livery (10-198)
• Kato TGV in France-Suisse SNCF blue/grey livery (10-909)

This guide includes DCC conversion of motor and directional lighting control. The procedure for converting the power car and dummy car are broadly the same.

Step 1 - Remove the body

Pop the body off. Unclip the front grey plastic section and then remove the lighting PCB.

Step 2 - Modify Lighting PCB

The lighting PCB has both red and white directional lights and some other components on it (diodes). There are two metal legs that pick up power from the two copper strips that run the length of the model. Desolder these metal legs, and remove the other components too.

Solder a white, blue and yellow wire to the PCB as shown. In the other car, switch the white and yellow wires around. If you don't do this, you will need to program your decoder to switch the red/white lights around at one end later.

Refit the lighting PCB and the grey plastic piece, ensuring the light diffuser stalks are all back in correctly.

Step 3 - Connect Track Power

Solder a red and black wire to the copper contacts.

Step 4 - Connect Decoder

In this example, we will install a convenient 6-pin decoder socket. Solder the red, black, white and yellow wires to the socket. The blue lighting common wire connects to the red pin, or directly to your decoder if it has a blue wire/terminal for it. If you are using a Next18 socket instead, then the blue wire has a dedicated pad to solder to.

Step 5 - Test

At this point check there is no continuity between the motor contacts and the track pickups/wheels. Then fit your decoder into the socket, and the conversion is complete.

Step 6 - Convert Motorized Car

The process for converting the motorized car is broadly the same as for the dummy one. The only difference is that you also need to isolate the motor from the two track pickup strips, and then connect the resulting orange/grey wires to your decoder.

First, strip the model down to the chassis in the same way as before, but this time also remove the white plastic piece that runs nearly the whole length of the chassis. The plastic clips to release it can be accessed by turning it over. You may have to bend the motor contacts out of the way slightly.

Wrap kapton tape around the two long copper contact strips where the motor contacts previously touched it. When reinstalled, the motor contacts should no longer be able to touch them. Solder a grey and orange wire to the motor contacts, which ultimately go to the decoder or socket (if installed).

Step 7 - Test

Place the powered and dummy locos on your test track. Confirm that the loco runs in the correct direction, and that the directional lighting is correct for the direction of travel. If the loco runs in the wrong direction, simply reverse the orange and grey wires in the powered end. Alternatively, you can use CVV programming of your decoder to reverse the direction.

If the directional lights are reversed, i.e. the loco shows a red light at the front, and white at the rear, then you can either reverse the yellow and white wires in whichever end is affected, or you can use CVV programming to swap them round.