An undecorated Kato Dash-9 has been sitting on my shelf for a few years, and I finally got some motiviation to finish it. Part of the sluggishness has to do with my overall upgrading of my motive power to DCC with sound. Being a stock, older-issue loco, this Kato had neither. So a hunting I went for the parts to start the conversion.

My undec Kato Dash 9 needed a decoder and a speaker. I chose the MRC Decoder/speaker combination, as I wanted simple and cheap. Wiring is not my thing (I've tried, with very limited success). The decoder was drop in, but a fair amount of work was needed to hollow out the radiator housing for the speaker. Test fit, Dremel, repeat. In the end, there was plenty of room.

The model disassembles pretty easily, so that helped. A coat of light gray, and then masking for some Insignia Yellow.

Decals were purchased from Highball Graphics. Then came the weathering- the proto photos show some weathering, but not crazy amounts.

Lights and sound work, and I'm really happy with the outcome.

Some additional detail decals from Highball Graphics. Lots of unique decals for northeastern roads.

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