I like the Bachmann Spectrum line of DCC steam. I have several DC Spectrum steam locomotives already. I noticed that I can pick up a tender frame with decoder and speaker from Bachmann Industries. Can the DC loco plug into the tender with a new DCC decoder and frame? Would the loco itself need to be prepped by insulating the motor, or would it be as simple as plugging together the two? Some look down on Bachmann decoders but they work okay for me. Thanks for any information.
Bachmann has there own forum where those kinds of questions can be asked: http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/board/index.php
Please see our policy about other forums. Especially the "References' portion. Thank you. http://www.trainboard.com/highball/index.php?threads/policy-other-forums.82366/
To answer the original question, I think a good many Bachmann steamers are wired differently, and I don't think the plugs are compatible. Having wired a couple for DCC or rewired to get rid of capacitors, I think you're talking about a hard-wired conversion, which is intermediate level.
Believe it or not, there are members here that may be able to help the original poster. Your brushing off the original poster's question by telling them to go elsewhere for an answer does this forum a disservice. It seems to be a bad habit of yours. And at least one member (jwb3) stepped forward with his opinion. Kudos to that chap.
Using the spectrum dcc tenders for your dc spectrum is making the job a wee bit harder. The wires for the spectrum tenders are all black. No color coding as to what wire goes where so you run the risk of frying your decoder. If you need help PM me. I've done a few conversions by using an analog tender and new wiring. It's pretty easy for those with experience in it. Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk
No, a forum is a forum. Let's just say that someone asked if there was a list of all Southern Pacific locomotives that were repainted into the experimental 1958 "Halloween" paint scheme, you could link them to http://espee.railfan.net/halloween.html without issue. Linking to a Southern Pacific forum is a no-no As for the DCC conversion...in N Scale, a lot of guys remove the weight and put the decoder there for the 2-8-0
