I saw a Bachmann Spectrum 2-10-2 Canadian National locomotive at the hobby shop yesterday.I have been out of HO trains for 20 years and would like to get back into it.So I have questions.
On the Spectrum 2-10-2 it says it is DCC equipped.How does that work?
Will it run with a MRC Tech II 1500 controller?
3)What about sound?What will I have to do or buy?
4)Will the MRC DCCC Decoder w/steam sound work with it?
What about the Prodigy Express DCC system?
How is the Spectrum 2-10-2 locomotive?Quality?Dependability etc.
Thanks for any help and info.[:)]
Hi, welcome to the forum. I can give you a partial answer. If it says DCC equipped, then the motive decoder is already installed. Depending on the decoder you “may” br able to operate it using the older DC controllers of the type you describe. You’ll have to check the manual that comes with the loco. Oftentimes, you cannot run a decoder with a DC current. The newer sound decoders will operate with DC.
You will probably want to yank the installed decoder and install a single combo decoder like a Tsunami from Soundtraxx. Otherwise, you will have to ask the folks at Tony’s Train Exchange or Litschfield Station, online, which ones to get that could be mated to the extant decoder.
The Prodigy Express gets good reviews, as does the Prodigy Advance, Digitrax Zephyr, EZ-DCC, and others.
Generally, the Spectrum steam is good quality, nicely detailed, and runs well. There is always the individual exception, but that is true for all manufacturers.
OK I will try to answer this best I can and in order
DCC equipped means that there is a DCC decoder installed and it works by recieving signals transmitted through the tracks to the decoder. ( that is the simple explaination)
It might but that is going to depend on the decoder installed. If not the decoder can be removed and the loco can have jumpers put in place where the decoder plugged in to make it work with DC systems.
Sound system that is compatable to your control system. It should not matter if you go DCC, if the sound decoder follows NMRA specs it will work with any DCC station.
As I stated in #3 if the decoder is NMRA approved yes it will. most sound tho needs to come from a sound dedicated decoder ro be “realistic”.
I dont have any first hand experience with this system but I read on the forums here that it is a good starter set.
The Spectrum locos I have are all steam and they are are good quality. Rating them on a scale of 1-10 and 10 being on top I give the Spectrum steam locos a 9 in detail and an 8.5 in preformance. and a 9 in dependability.
I hope this answers your questions. If you need more help on DCC there are a few topics going right now that may be able to answer more of your questions.
If this locomotive is built like another Bachmann Spectrum DCC Equipped steam engine I saw, the DCC decoder is already installed in the tender and it will operate on either DC or DCC. But changing the decoder is not going to be easy – Bachmann seals the tenders shut on these models with some type of glue.
Both are very good with DCC parts, information, and installations.
While you are also on the TTE site, click the link entitled 2. DCC For Beginners. It’s a very good and handy resource and will give you a better understanding of how DCC works and what it can do. You can either read it online or download it as a .pdf file.
The locomotive has a DCC chip equiped to it meaning that it will work with a DCC system as soon as you set on the track. Ususally the default number to aquire the loco on your controller is address 3.
If that controller is a DCC unit then yes it will run with it. As long as your able to get the number to run the loco, such as address 3. If you want you can reprogram the number of the chip to match the last two numbers on the loco #. Sorry if I can’t explain it the best.
For sound you would need to go buy the chip and speakers for a steam locomotive. They usually range around 100 dollars and on ebay less.
That decoder with the sound should work if you install it correctly. Pretty much any chip will work with the loco. As long as it meets the needs for the wiring of the loco or what ever system is set up in it.
Yes. As long as its a DCC system I would think you would have no problem running the loco. How many loco addresses can it hold?
6)They are great locos and are quite dependable. Detail is great and run very nicely. If you wanted to get a steam loco with sound you might want to think about going to Broadway Limited. There locomotives come DCC/sound equiped and the detail is excellent. Thay also make the 2-10-2. So look in to it.
[#welcome] to the Forums.
Hope you have fun, and welcome back to the modeling world.
To answer question #5. The MRC PA would be a good DCC system but there are better ones for not a whole lot more.
The majority of times, the decision on which DCC system to buy comes down to preferences:
How does it “feel” in your hand?
How easy is it to program decoders/run trains with?
Does it have an LCD display?
Will it fulfil what I’m trying to accomplish on my layout?
Other things to think about/questions to ask when buying a DCC system is:
Is it easily upgradable?
If my layout expands, will this DCC system expand with it?
What will it cost to upgrade or expand?
Can I use other throttles with this system, or am I locked into their product?
Lotsa of things to think about and read up on. The DCC For Beginners would be a good place for you to start.
There is also a book called “DCC Made Easy” by Lionel Strang that puts the DCC terminology in very straightforward and plain engli***hat is easy to understand. It’s put out by Kalmbach Books, the same folks who put out MR magazine.
i’ve been doing some bench testing of sound decoders today , i have two of the older MRC steam decoders (the ones currently selling for about $40 , not the new Brilliance decoder) and a light steam soundtraxx Tsunami (sells for around $80)
well let me tell you , the difference in sound is like night and day . the tsunami is so much clearer and crisper sound . think 8 track vs cd .