I'm in a trolley/tram mood again after months of not fussing with my trains at all. Thinking of making a very narrow, mostly straight shot shelf. Having trouble finding the right unit to run on it it though. I had put a bid on a Bachmann Witt trolley only to find out that it's DCC only and doesn't have the dual-mode decoder I thought all Bachmanns came with. I'm a DC only guy, not going to go DCC just to run a little diorama. Any suggestions on a source for Witt trolleys, or PCC cars that don't look/run like dog doo, etc?
First I've heard of the Bachmann DCC not being analog enabled. I have several Bachmann DCC locos and they are ALL equipped with DC/Analog enabled decoders. I have an N scale Peter Witt and it works on regular D.C., even though it has a DCC decoder. Bill in FtL
Seems to me that it may not be too difficult to remove the decoder and wire the motor directly to the electrical pickup from the rails. If you don't feel confident in getting into it, I am sure someone can do it for you.
I have a few Bachmann locomotives, and I think only some can have their decoders removed. The HHP-8 and 1225 come with the 3 prong jumpers in DCC ready locomotives, but I think others have an integrated PC board, similar to Digitrax drop in decoders. If you remove that, then you remove the lights, and the electrical continuity to the motor. The decoders works fine on DC, so you don't need to remove it.
I can't wait to see how the new HO efforts work, but I don't think that they will be working without the decoder. Bowser used to make HO trolley/streetcar kits and LaBelle makes craftsman kits. Northwest Shortline makes powered trucks for these kits
The Bowser ones are now RTR with the option of DCC/sound. There are a few in stock on their website. I think they look better than the Bachmann PCC. The window silhouettes look outdated with today's models, and the Bachmann appears to ride too high.
