Good day all,
I know a lot of you will knock my choice for Bachmann but that is not the issue here. Anyway I want to go DCC and my LHS can get me the loco at the link at the right price. It has limited functions but I am wondering if it can be upgraded with a better decoder and sound. Before you chime in, I know that I can spend extra dollars on an Atlas or whatever and get all of that but for now, I think the Bachmann will be good. I have a Bachmann GP-40 from a train set and it runs great, lots of pulling power and smooth stops and starts. Can this be upgraded to DCC? Thanks for all replys.
swapping in a better decoder can probably be done , adding sound can be more of a problem because you have to find a place to put the speaker . the fuel tank seems to be a good spot for diesels . if you’re lucky someone here will have done a conversion on this particular loco and can pass along detailed info
have you tried just googleing something like ‘dcc decoder bachmann gp35’ ? it’s surprising how often something shows up
You may end up spending as much $$$ on upgrading as you would on buying a similar locomotive with DCC and sound. It all depends if you plan on doing the work yourself and what DCC/sound decoder and speaker you are going to use.
Now, you could either save money, break even, or spend more in the process of trying to upgrade the Bachmann. If you save money - great! But if you spend AS much and/or more for installing DCC and sound in the Bachmann, then the Atlas (which is a better locomotive) would be a wiser move for you. Most DCC systems will allow you to run at least one DC locomotive on your layout.
I don’t know if that is what you wanted to hear or not…
I agree with Tstage, it may be breakeven or slightly less and a great deal of work. Read up on the web about conversions to sound for your engine, this is where it is usually tough because there is so little real estate to work with for sound installation. If you think you can, price it out at today’s prices, figure in how much time you may have to spend installing, then make your decision. Good luck.
Upgrading the decoder is easy; the Bachmann decoder just plugs into an 9 pin NMRA socket onboard, it is not hardwired like Atlas, and others.
Sound: figure around $100 for decoder, speaker and misc items. You will need to machine the frame for a location for the speaker. See: http://www.tonystrains.com/technews/tank_spkr.htm
for a method.