Does Bachmann have a good line of DCC-ready trains (that you can just plug a decoder into)? I don’t see a section for that on their website, and I also wandered onto an article on Tony’s Trains that made me wonder more on the topic
http://www.tonystrains.com/technews/loconews/bachmann-revisit.htm
Almost all of the current production Bachmann HO locomotives are equipped with some kind of DCC decoder. The non-sound one are labeled ‘DCC on Board’ and have a copy of a Lenz decoder. The ‘Sound on Board’ engines have a Soundtraxx Tsunami decoder.
Jim
The GP7, GP9 and GP38-2 are all DCC OnBoard. I have a GP38-2 and two GP7’s that I’ve refitted with Digitrax decoders and they run great. The GP38-2 has to be hard wired, same with the GP40 but the GP7 has an 8-pin plug and is plug and play. The GP9 is also plug and play.
Thanks Jeff! I sent you a ‘message’ using the forum message button about my decoder project. Did you get that?
Can’t say as I did.
If your screen is like mine, look over to the right where it says your name and has a little avatar head. See if there is a red link at the top of that section that says “new messages”
I know all about that. There’s no new messages. Look at the message on your end and see if it has two names or only one. If only your name that means it didn’t go through. I’ll send you one from my7 end and you can put your message in it and send it that way. We’ll see if that works.
I have some HO Bachmann. The issues I see are, the LED resistance is too high so we gat a noticeably dim light. Some steamers us the LED down inside the smoke box with a light pipe up to the headlight lens.
The capacitors have to be removed from the PC board or from the motor contacts.A couple locos, the inductors and caps are hidden in the loco.
The two inductors are not an issue when the caps are removed. Clueless think they are resistors.
The DCC on board are low level Lenz. Junk them.
The DCC onboard do well with a NCE Bach DSL board type non sound decoder. NCE makes them specifically for replacing the Bachmann decoder. If yours has the eight pin socket, then a plug in decoder is the way to go.
The On board Tsunami and the sound value are quite nice.
Some steamers, if one of the tender trucks can swivel 180 degrees, you get a short.
Bachmann so far does not use NMRA colors for the DCC wiring.
Join the Bachmann forums. All knids of diagrams and specs there with a couple Bachmann reps…
Rich
I do know SoundTraxx has a recommended list of sound decoders and speakers for Bachmann and other brands of locos.
Rich