Drop in decoder for a bachmann 44 Tonner

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

Hey folks,

Anybody know if any company makes a decoder that will fit in a Bachmann Spectrum 44 tonner? It has a printed circut board but no place for a plug. I am currently using Digitrax if it makes a difference.

Thanks

2

Nobody currently makes a drop-in replacement. If this is the recent version with a single motor, it’s fairly easy to wire a decoder in- there is a set of pads on one edge of the board that you can solder the wires to. Bachmann doesn’t really document how to do this, though.

I used a Digitrax N scale decoder on mine (a DN143, I think), by wiring its leads directly to the pads. I didn’t keep the lighting on the one I did, since I modified the lighting pretty heavily and was using MV lenses in the light housings. It runs pretty well. Certainly better than the dual-motored model (the earlier Bachmann version) that it replaced.

3

Thanks for the advice. It is the new version with the single motor. It runs really well on plain DC so hopefully it will do as well on DCC.

So did you remove all the lighting then add your own is that what you meant? The head lights are not that hot on them so an upgraded would be considered.

4

I’d suggest removing the standard board and hard-wiring the decoder in. I did this with a Walthers Dash 8, reused the original lightbulbs (with a 300 Ohm resistor on each to stop them toasting the shell or blowing), worked well and it’s now an even better performer than before. If the 44 Tonner’s anything like their Doodlebug you’re in for a treat - mine performs superbly on DCC, the speed steps are noticable by the change in motor note - rather like throttle notches on the real thing!

5

A Digitrax DZ123 or DZ143 or TCS M-1 or M-3 will fit, just solder the leads to the solder pads on the Bachmann board inside the locomotive. Add resistors in series with the lights if desired. Remove the capacitor(s) if there any on the board. Short out the inductors if there are any.