Rapido Trains FP9A Product Manualline - Operation – Dc (Silent)
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multi-purpose box that the loco came in.
Remove both coupler boxes and slide them out from your locomotive. Then remove the
four shell retention screws – they are located on either side of the locomotive immedi-
ately aft of the plow-pilot and on either side of the twin air tanks just behind the fuel tank.
Once you have done that, you will need to spread the shell a bit to unlock the tabs hold-
ing the shell in place – you may find that using a couple of toothpicks is the easiest way
to do this. Pull down slightly on the rear truck and the guts of the locomotive will slide
out from the back.
Please be aware that because of the fit and design of the locomotive, there is a chance
that the pilot – which is glued in place – may stage a breakout and try to escape from
your workshop as you remove the shell. Similarly, the front buffer plate really likes to
go walkies. Thankfully the pilot and the buffer plate tire easily and, once they land, will
not make any more attempts to leave. Pick the parts up off of the floor/table/chair/
your lap/your ear/bookshelf and place them on the white tablecloth we conveniently
told you to lay out. The parts are easily reinstalled with just a couple of small dabs of
CA-type superglue to the top of the part.
OPERATION – DC (SILENT)
If your FP9A locomotive is not equipped with a sound decoder, it should function like
most other HO scale locomotives. The gear ratio is 14:1 so it may MU (multiple unit)
with your existing fleet. Put it on the track. Give it some juice. Watch it go.
In DC, the following lighting features are included:
• Number Boards: always on
• Ditch Lights: always on (should you decide to install them)
• Headlight: on going forward
• Rear light: on going backward
• Class lights: these are installed and wired, but will not work in DC. If you are
installing a DCC decoder, connect these to an available function output. Note
there are both white and green class lights installed on the model.
Our factory-installed circuit board in equipped with a 9-pin decoder socket. To install a
DCC decoder, simply plug the decoder into the appropriate 9-pin socket on the circuit
board. If for whatever reason you choose to use a decoder that does not have a 9-pin
plug then you will need to purchase an adapter harness, available from many different
decoder suppliers.